Country Roads

Country Roads

ASIN: B00068CV7Q

Track Listings

1. Me & Bobby McGee - Loretta Lynn

2. Today, Tomorrow and Forever - Patsy Cline

3. Stardust - Willie Nelson

4. D.I.V.O.R.C.E. - Dottie West

5. Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain - Roy Drusky

6. Johnny One Time - Brenda Lee

7. Another Place, Another Time - Jerry Lee Lewis

8. Help Me Make It Through the Night - Charley Pride

9. Little Green Apples - Roger Miller

10. Old Time Religion - Jim Reeves

11. Tears - Don Williams

12. Poor Man's Roses - Patsy Cline

13. Wishful Thinking - Donna Fargo

14. Chapel in the Moonlight - Faron Young

15. To All the Girls I've Loved Before - Willie Nelson

Tracks:

Leaving On A Jet Plane
Circus
Rhymes & Reasons
Catch Another Butterfly
Daydream
Follow Me
Aspenglow
Molly
Sticky Summer Weather
Isabel
Sunshine On My Shoulders
My Sweet Lady
Take Me Home Country Roads
I Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado
Poems, Prayers, And Promises
Starwood In Aspen
City Of New Orleans
All Of My Memories
Casey's Last Ride
The Eagle And The Hawk
Friends With You

Tracks:

Rocky Mountain High
For Baby (For Bobbie)
Goodbye Again
We Don't Live Here No More
I'd Rather Be A Cowboy (Lady's Chains)
Farewell Andromeda (Welcome To My Morning)
Rocky Mountain Suite (Cold Nights In Canada)
Annie's Song
Back Home Again
Grandma's Feather Bed
Sweet Surrender
Eclipse
Thank God I'm a Country Boy
This Old Guitar
Spirit
Song Of Wyoming
I'm Sorry
Windsong
Looking For Space
Fly Away

Tracks:

Calypso
Come And Let Me Look In Your Eyes
Like A Sad Song
Polka Dots And Moonbeams
In The Grand Way
How Can I Leave You Again
Ripplin' Waters
It Amazes Me
Singing Skies And Dancing Waters
Dearest Esmerelda
Thirsty Boots
I Want To Live
Southwind
Garden Song
What's On Your Mind
You're So Beautiful
In My Heart
The Mountain Song
Song For The Life
Autograph

Tracks:

Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone)
Country Love
Dreams
Heart To Heart
Shanghai Breezes
Seasons Of The Heart
Perhaps Love
Falling Out Of Love
It's About Time
Wild Montana Skies
Dreamland Express
If Ever
I'm In The Mood To Be Desired Tonight
Don't Close Your Eyes, Tonight
Love Is The Master
I Can't Escape
Love Again
Flying For Me

Amazon.com

Massive and impressively comprehensive, the Country Roads Box Collection is classic John Denver. Spanning four discs, the collection not only draws upon the obvious highlights of Denver's career, but also includes fan favorites that might not have received the same airplay as their more popular counterparts. Listening to Country Roads, the finesse with which Denver balanced his folk rock tendencies with his country leanings emerges as testament to his talent. As a box set, the collection would be remiss if it didn't include "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Annie's Song," "Thank God I'm a Country Boy," or "Rocky Mountain High"--and, of course, the box set's namesake is here. Later hits like "Calypso," with its sea-shanty yodeling, portray Denver's ability to ease himself into the role of balladeer, regardless of the genre. Novelty duets with Placido Domingo and Emmylou Harris were intended to rekindle what seemed to be lagging popularity, but Country Roads establishes John Denver's contributions as timeless, nonetheless. --Steve Gdula

Customer Reviews:

Serious Fans Will Enjoy.......2007-02-23

I chose this 4-CD set because it included one of my favorite Denver songs, "Eclipse". Disc four had some familiar material, but there were a lot of songs that only an avid fan would be interested. For the casual listener, or someone who wants only the popular songs I strongly recommend the 2-CD set, "The Rocky Mountain Collection".

John Denver Collection (Country Roads).......2007-02-14

AWESOME!!!! There were so many songs that I haven't heard of so it was great to hear the new and especially the old... If you like John Denver music you definately need this one

Left Us Way To Soon.......2006-07-24

Hi, Love John Denver & His Beautiful Music,And listening to these,ALWAYS MAKES ME CRY,Good Job,Thank's John,I had to buy these because I almost have wore out my 8-Track.Thank's Stormy

Less than perfect selections.......2006-06-23

The first problem for any John Denver 'best of' collection is to determine which version of certain great songs should be featured. For example, should the album have the original studio version of 'Thank God I'm a Country Boy' or have the live version that was the super hit? Should it have the live or studio versions of 'My Sweet Lady' and 'Sweet Surrender'? Similarly, should it have the original spare version of 'Sunshine On My Shoulders' or the string laden version that appeared on Greatest Hits?

Such choices are forever debatable. I have come to believe that for John Denver both versions of such songs should be includued on a box set. The greater weakness of the collection is that almost 50% of it comes after the Windsong album, which was Denver's final truly first-rate album. While the songs recorded after Windsong that are here are all fine to very good, with a couple that are pure gems, thus I would advocate cutting none, to make roon for those songs, great songs from earlier in Denver's career were omitted.

From the Rocky Mountain High album, I would also include the Season Suite, which has 5 short parts: 'Summer,' 'Fall,' Winter,' 'Late Winter, Early Spring,' and 'Spring.' From Farewll Andromeda I would add 'Berkeley Woman.' From Back Home Again I would add 'Matthew' and 'The Music is You.' From Windsong I would add 'Cowboy's Delight' and 'Two Shots.' Though I see I Want to Live as the album that marks Denver's beginning descent into cliched repetition and do-gooding sloganeering, I would add from that album 'To the Wild Country.' If only because of Denver's love of nature, a box set should include him singing Michael Martin Murphy's 'Boy from the Country.'

So, basically what I am saying is that this should be a 5 disc set. While there is much about it that is very good, I can't help but think about its many omissions.

Remarkable!.......2006-06-22

I was hesitant at first about purchasing such a large volume of Denver's works, several of which I had never heard, but after I started playing the CDs, I became hooked! The man was a poetic genius!

Some of the songs that I'd never heard before became my favorites. I was delighted to learn that John had a very spiritual side that showed up often in his musical compositions. I especially love 'Singing Skies and Dancing Waters'. It touched me deeply. Songs like 'Come and Let Me Look In Your Eyes', 'Sweet Surrender', and 'Wild Montana Skies' soon found their way to my 'must be played every day' list.

John's songwriting covered most of the happiness and complexities of the human condition as evidenced in 'For Baby','Follow Me','Seasons of the Heart', 'Shaghai Breezes', and 'I Can't Escape', just a few of his sensitive and lovely, although lesser known works that are included in this stellar collection. Two of the most beautiful songs he ever wrote, 'My Sweet Lady' and 'Perhaps Love', are also featured.

For the platinum hit fans, all the standards are included as well: 'Take Me Home Country Roads', 'Leaving on a Jet Plane', and 'Rocky Mountain High' among many, many others.

This collection would be a bargain at any price! I play it all the time and never get tired of it!

Average customer rating:

Soviet Army Band & Chorus aren't taking any prisoners!
Good music.
Magnificent!
I loved it!
The ultimate collection

Best of the Red Army Choir
Red Army Choir
Manufacturer: Silva America
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Soviet Army Chorus & Band
Russian Favourites
The Hunt For Red October: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Best of Communism: Revolutionary Songs
Echoes of a Red Empire

ASIN: B000066RMJ
Release Date: 2002-06-25

Tracks:

Kalinka
Partisan's Song
Souliko
Korobelniki
On The Road (A Soldier's Song)
My Country
The Red Army Is The Strongest
Moscow Nights
Along Peterskaia Street
Smuglianka
Troika Gallop
Ah Nastassia
Echelon's Song
My Army
Civil War Songs
Bella Ciao

Tracks:

National Anthem Of The USSR
Oh Fields, My Fields
The Cliff
The Cossacks
In The Central Steppes
Gandzia
Cossack's Song
The Roads
Song Of The Volga Boatman
Dark Eyes
Let's Go
The Birch Tree
The Road Song
The Samovars
Varchavianka
Slavery And Suffering

Customer Reviews:

Soviet Army Band & Chorus aren't taking any prisoners!.......2007-05-12

If you enjoy a good stiring martial male chorus then spend some time with these guys. They're all graduates of Soviet musical acadamies and any one of them could have graced the top opera houses of the world. You don't have to know any Russian to appreciate this CD. The songs are glorious (just don't translate them -- machine guns, death to foes, etc.), and will make you want to march on Berlin all over again.

Good music........2007-03-09

I had heard a few songs by the Red Army Choir in the past and happened upon this CD set a while back, I found it to be far better than I had hoped and would reccoment it to anyone who enjoys Russian folk music, choir in general, and cultural items from when Russia was still the Soviet Union.

Magnificent!.......2007-02-27

I'm so glad I stumbled onto this.

Spirited, committed, manly singing. Soul-shaking stuff! The ensemble is incisive; soloists are marvelous. The folk melodies are enchanting. The songs--and the singers--are bound up in the cultural fabric of the Cossacks, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky...on and on.., Chekhov, Trotsky, Nabakov... This music conveys the great romantic, dignified, boistrous soul of the Russian People. (Loosely speaking. Some members of the chorus were presumably of other nationalities once part of the Soviet Union. And some of the songs are not Russian).

I don't speak Russian, but listening to this makes me wish I did. What a beautiful-sounding language it is.

I loved it!.......2007-02-22

Even though I cannot speak Russian, the quality of this choral group is beyond excellent. Many of these pieces are extremely moving and stirring. The rendering of the Soviet anthem and the song "Let's Go" (V'put) come to my mind. "Let's Go" became a huge hit in Russia when it was featured in a movie about the Great Patriotic War, and indeed, hearing it - you can well imagine ranks upon ranks of hard-eyed, grim-faced Soviet soldiers striding into battle against the Wehrmacht.

The ultimate collection.......2004-06-15

Excellent performance by the choir and the orchestra. The grandeur, the charm, and the romance! Great collection of songs, sure to bring back memories!

Average customer rating:

Pooibly his best??!!
Awesome as Always
Collin Raye is Fearless

Fearless
Collin Raye
Manufacturer: Country Roads Ger
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Country | Country | Styles | Music

New Traditionalist | Contemporary Country | Country | Styles | Music

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General | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music

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Country | Imports | Stores | Music
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Twenty Years and Change
Right About Now
Merry Christmas Angel
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Counting Sheep

ASIN: B000GFKU90
Release Date: 2006-12-05

Tracks:

Just Because
You've Heard That One Before
Fearless
As Young as We're Ever Going to Be
Lady
Makin' Up Time
Too Hot to Sleep
Falling in Love Again
Something to Say
Forever Starts Right Now
My Way
House of the Rising Sun

Customer Reviews:

Pooibly his best??!!.......2007-05-17

I think it is a great cd! It could possibly his best work yet! he only song i did not care for was the last one,

Awesome as Always.......2007-03-10

After listening to Collin Raye's Fearless CD I can certainly understand why his career has endured so long. Whether he's doing an original song or a remake he does it with style and sincerity. Every original song on this CD is standout Collin. The remakes, My Way (which was definitely done his way - and very well!!!) and The House of the Rising Sun (not one of my most favorite songs when it was originally released) are both creditable versions of the originals. I am anxiously looking forward to his next release.

Collin Raye is Fearless.......2007-02-04

At first review, I heard a "new" Collin Raye - a new style, more of the serious musician. There's almost a flavor of days gone by with a new twist. The more I listen, the more it grows on me. It's still Collin Raye on the leading edge, not following in anyone's shadow. "Too Hot to Sleep" is a more traditional Collin sound and his rendition of "House of the Rising Sun" portrays his vocal versatility well. I haven't been able to pick a favorite yet on this CD!

Average customer rating:

As innovative and indispensable today as it was back in the 1970s
Fantastic grass

Different Roads
The Seldom Scene
Manufacturer: Rebel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music

General | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music

Contemporary | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music

Slidin' Home
15th Anniversary Celebration
A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection
Fork in the Road
Old Train

ASIN: B000NIIUR4
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Tracks:

Different Roads
Old Train
Walk Through This World With Me
Gardens And Memories
Wait A Minute
Rebels 'Ye Rest
Last Train From Poor Valley
I've Lost You
Keep Me From Blowin' Away
Reason For Being
If That's The Way You Feel
Easy Ride From Good Times To The Blues
Pictures From Life's Other Side
Pan American

Album Description

The Seldom Scene were the trailblazing originators of "urban bluegrass," taking a music that was largely rural and Southern in scope, and making it accessible to a much wider and diverse audience. Their first seven albums are considered masterpieces and influenced a generation of roots-based musicians, including Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Ricky Skaggs. This new collection culls fourteen of their classic recordings, pulled from those landmark albums.

In a way this new compilation could be considered another "Best Of" collection, with three of their most requested songs--"Wait A Minute," "Old Train," and "Easy Ride From Good Times To The Blues" --featured here along with their fine treatment of the Norman Blake classic "Last Train From Poor Valley." This disc also gives us a new look at a few lesser known yet equally powerful performances including Starling originals, "Gardens And Memories" and "Different Roads," both featuring his distinctive, rich and soulful voice. In contrast, John Duffey's superb tenor is heard leading "I've Lost You," "Rebels `Ye Rest," and "Reason For Being."

Customer Reviews:

As innovative and indispensable today as it was back in the 1970s.......2007-05-02

Playing Time - 41:29 -- When the Seldom Scene first formed in the Washington, D.C. area in 1971, they chose their name because they planned to stay close to home and only play once or twice a week. Their first gig, The Rabbit's Foot bar, was a short-lived engagement because the bartender refused to turn down the television. Then, the band built a solid reputation by playing weekly at venues like Red Fox Inn (Bethesda, Md.) and Birchmere (Alexandria, Va.) All the while they were recording and releasing albums on the Rebel label. "Different Roads" is a compilation of 14 songs from three of their early albums (Act Two, Old Train, The New Seldom Scene Album) that were put out in 1973-1976. The core band included John Starling (guitar, vocal), John Duffey (mandolin, vocal), Ben Eldridge (banjo), Mike Auldridge (Dobro, vocal) and Tom Gray (bass). On this CD, Eldridge also plays Dobro-banjo on two numbers. Paul Craft's guitar is also in the mix on "Different Roads" and "Wait A Minute." Craft composed the piece entitled "Keep Me From Blowin' Away." Ricky Skaggs plays viola on "Different Roads" and fiddle on "Old Train." Mike Cuff's drums are heard on "Easy Ride From Good Times to the Blues" that also features Mike Auldridge's pedal steel. From a historical perspective, that cut, while not my favorite, still illustrates their ability to be a country band if they wanted to.

John Duffey once said, "I don't see anything wrong with trying to put new things into the music and upgrade and update it, which has been one of my ambitions. Something for years that I've tried to do is to bring new things into the music-- keep the music moving with the times rather than just lying stagnant." John's father had sung with the Metropolitan Opera, and Duffey's greatest mark was undoubtedly his soaring tenor vocals and distinctive stamp on the band's vocal arrangements. This collection offers about an equal amount of Starling's and Duffey's lead vocalizing. Besides some of their own original material (Different Roads, Gardens and Memories, Reason for Being), there are songs from the pens of Hank Williams, Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs, Norman Blake and others.
Canadian songwriter Pauline Beauchamp's tale of a band on the road, "Rebels `Ye Rest," mentions burning eyes, lonely hours, and stormy weather. By 1976, the band was probably experiencing more of these undesirable things during their travels further afield. Herb Pedersen wrote Old Train, Wait A Minute, and Easy Ride From Good Times to the Blues. The band's smart execution is what really set them apart.

The Seldom Scene's formula was to find strong contemporary material, as well as put their own personalized stamp on older songs.
I always liked what they did with the Blue Sky Boys' "Sweetest Gift" (unfortunately not sampled here). Their material always exhibited considerable creativity, and their recordings had high sound quality. One could always argue about which 14 cuts to select from the three albums sampled, but these are Rebel Records President Dave Freeman's choices. I might've lobbied also for Paradise, Hello Mary Lou, Big Rig and their driving bluegrass rendition of "I Haven't Got the Right to Love You." There was also probably some business or financial reason that one of two cuts from the "Old Train" LP with Linda Ronstadt didn't make it into this set. Between "Old Crossroads" and "Bottom of the Glass," I would've suggested the former be included. Finally, it might not have hurt to include an instrumental like "Smokin' Hickory" or "Laura" too. My point is that I prefer to see compilation albums run about an hour, but then a fan might not feel compelled to go out and purchase the three albums sampled, right? There are plenty of great songs on all three of them that didn't make it onto this "Different Roads" project.

If you don't already own the three seminal albums that these songs are drawn from, "Different Roads" serves as a good introduction to the early and dynamic Seldom Scene. You'll quickly realize that the band sounds as innovative and indispensable today as they did back in the 1970s. Their creative approach has certainly contributed a great deal to the entire bluegrass "scene." (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

Fantastic grass.......2007-04-13

If you enjoy sophisticated and dead-on harmony singing in the bluegrass tradition, Seldom Scene is a group you will no doubt love. The group recorded 7 albums for Rebel Records in the 1970s and this CD re-releases 14 tracks from 3 of those albums: ACT 2, OLD TRAIN, and THE NEW SELDOM SCENE ALBUM. These early sides are superb examples of the "new" sound of harmony singing brought into bluegrass back then and the advanced, even jazz influenced (to my ears) solo and obbligato playing of the instrumentalists; the use of dobro is a tremendous advancement. The tunes DIFFERENT ROADS, REBELS YE REST, AND KEEP ME FROM BLOWIN AWAY are instant attention-getters, but just about every song here is a real gem. (Only EASY RIDE FROM GOOD TIMES TO THE BLUES is a misstep, mainly because of the employment of drums.) This CD contains a tremendous amount of great, great stuff; definitely grab it when you can.

Average customer rating:

All arounf good album
Compelling as ever!
Gorgeous, deep, and lasting
Don't say it unless you've something to say...
War and Peace

War and Peace
Butch Hancock
Manufacturer: Two Roads Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music

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General | Folk | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000JFY0ZC
Release Date: 2006-10-17

Tracks:

Give Them Water
Damage Done
When The Good and The Bad Get Ugly
Toast
Old Man, Old Man
The Devil in Us All
The Master Game
Road Map for the Blues
Between Wars
Cast the Devils Out
Brother Won't You Shake My Hand
Pot of Glue
that Great Election Day

Amazon.com

The title comes courtesy of Leo Tolstoy. The vocals are Lone Star Bob Dylan, made grittier by an East Texas wind. And the style is Woody Guthrie by way of Robert "Masters of War" Zimmerman. That said, ex-Flatlander Hancock brings unassailable conviction to this collection of original protest songs, which draw on Biblical references, activist literature, and Phil Ochs-like humanity to drive a stake through the heart of Hancock's fellow Texan in the White House. "They never found a single weapon of mass destruction," he needles in "The Devil in Us All," "but they all smell oil/got to get it into production." Hancock plays nine instruments here, and calls on old bandmates Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore for his chorus of witnesses. Still, at times, as on "Old Man, Old Man," a monologue to his maker, Hancock-as-producer needs a bit of help--his keyboards are too cheesy to rattle God's stained-glass windows, and much of this has a DIY, on-the-cheap tone. Can you really plug an electric guitar into your truck's cigarette lighter? --Alanna Nash

Album Description

Butch Hancock is a founding member of The Flatlanders, with appearances on Letterman and Imus In The Morning. He's a member of the Buddy Holly Walk of Fame and the Texas Music Hall of Fame.

Butch Hancock's self-produced "War and Peace", his first solo CD in almost 9 years, meets face to face with the mountains of lies that appear to be rising higher and higher all around us and all inside us, and reminds us: the times they are STILL a'changin'.

From the riveting acapella opener, a call-for-peace/prayer/warning/urge-to-compassion, to the final cut, a 7-minute plus get-out-the-vote anthem which would set Woody Guthrie, Willie Dixon and Mississippi John Hurt dancing proudly in their graves, Hancock, the impeccable lyricist, pulls no metaphorical punches as he questions all kinds of authority: overt, covert, exterior, interior, imagined, and unimagined.

His voice, still warm and scratchy after all these years, blends with his own harmonies and those of his long time running buddies, Fellow Flatlanders Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, who join Butch with harmonies on "The Master Game" and "Cast the Devils Out". Butch's new melodies are as memorable as the Guthrie-ish "borrowings" of melodies on "Cast the Devils Out" and "Great Election Day", and on "Toast" he echoes the dreamlike would-be spiritual perceptions we could all lay claim to on any given late-night drinking occasion. What's more, it's done to the accompaniment of old timey banjo and cathedral organ! Of the relentlessly rocking "Old Man, Old Man," Austin guitarist Charlie Sexton was heard to exclaim, "Man, that's so 60's ...it's like ...The Doors! I love it!" Billy Joe Shaver's favorite is "When the Good and the Bad Get Ugly," and Butch dedicates "Road Map for the Blues" to the late Clifford Antone who made him play it repeatedly in the backstage of Antone's blues club in Austin.

Butch plays over a dozen instruments on this finely mixed cd (mixed by the amazing Chet Himes). And though he claims that the only other picker (Flatlander guitarist Rob Gjersoe) "adds the real touch of class" to the arrangements, a single listening to these songs reveals surprises and a continuity that...calls for many repeats!!!

Customer Reviews:

All arounf good album.......2007-03-11

The music is pleasing and the lyrics are right on (or at least make you think). What more can you ask?
OK. It was unfair to just drop the above review, as it is not in the least bit helpful to someone looking for an album they can enjoy on both a musical and a social level, or for those who would prefer to keep their heads in the sand. So, here goes:
War and Peace is a rousing celebration of the progressive world view. If you think George Bush is doing a good job and we should be sacrificing our children and the Iraqi children so that he Dubya can feel like a man, and that 9/11 justified turning America into Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany; You will not like this album. But, if you believe in the core American values of freedom, fairness, justice and mercy; you will love the lyrics. If you think that good music is categorized by insane screaming and music played too loud to understand the words, or alternately by a singer that sounds like they have a severe sinus infection, or is trying to get you in bed ala Larry the Lounge Lizard, then this isn't your type of music. But if you like highly skilled musicians and clear singing, in a wide range of styles then you will enjoy this album.
Is that better?

Compelling as ever!.......2007-02-18

I have been listening to Butch Hancock's music for many many years now and it is never short of superb. The new album is no exception! This time he turns his exceptional ability with words on to the state of the world & to the politics of conflict. His songs tell it like it is & leave you in no doubt of his opinions but they do so with humor and without the bitterness and threat that can often leave an artist appearing no better than those they would criticize, If you like Bob Dylan or Dan Bern's way with words and tune then do explore Butch Hancock's extensive back catalog. Butch is also a talented painter & photographer (amongst many other things!) & has very intentionally remained outside the corporate music industry for all his days - had he chosen to join it then believe me everybody would know his name & work. Explore a unique storytelling talent - you will not be disappointed!

Gorgeous, deep, and lasting.......2007-02-09

This is one of the best albums I've heard in a long time, and it gets better with every listen. The opening track, "Give Them Water," is an a capella anthem I could live by. Other standout tracks are "When the Good and the Bad Get Ugly" and "Road Map for the Blues." Hancock's expressive voice shines a few rays of light into the depressing reality of life in post-2001 America.

Don't say it unless you've something to say..........2007-01-21

Butch is a fine original Texas songwriter from the Great High Plains but this collection is an example of when songwriters think they have something to say about politics but truly don't. Typical clever lyrics as with all Hancock recordings but the message is more worn out and tired than war itself. Artists would do well to have depth of knowledge on their subjects, maybe that's why the rule: write about that which you know. In this CD Butch shows his political and social thoughts are about deep as the rivers flowing around Lubbock.

War and Peace.......2007-01-10

As a fan of Buth and his song contributions to the Flatlanders, I was disappointed to find many of the songs to be unsubtle, strident polemics against war or the obstacles to peace. The melodies were not memorable. It is in sharp contrast to Neil Youngs most recent release dealing with the same topic.

Story Of Johann Strauss In Words And Music

Average customer rating:

Story Of Johann Strauss In Words And Music

Manufacturer: Vox (Classical)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Polkas | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000001KDD
Release Date: 1995-04-16

Tracks:

Blue Danube Waltz
Die Fledermaus (The Bat): Overture
Pizzicato Polka
Singer's Joy Polka
Emperor Waltz
Vegnugungzug (Pleasure Trip)
Voices Of Spring
Vienna Blood
Accelerations Waltz
Stadt Und Land (City And Country)
Blue Danube Waltz
Roses From The South
Blue Danube Waltz
Tales From The Vienna Woods
Die Fledermaus: Overature
Die Fledermaus: Laughing Song
Gypsy Baron: Overature & 'Open Roads, Open Skies'
A Thousand And One Nights: Overature
Emperor Waltz
Blue Daube Waltz
Tales From The Vienna Woods (Complete)
Blue Danube Waltz (Complete)
Vienna Blood Waltz (Complete)

Average customer rating:

Great, as expected.
Belle trouvaille
Wow
Good, but not as impressive after hearing Mojave 3
Love Embodied in Music

Sleeping on Roads
Neil Halstead , and Neil Halstead
Manufacturer: 4ad / Ada
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Waves Are Universal
Out of Tune
Seasons
Souvlaki
Pygmalion

ASIN: B00005UCZQ
Release Date: 2002-01-22

Tracks:

Seasons
Two Stones in My Pocket
Driving with Bert
Hi-Lo and Inbetween
See You on Rooftops
Martha's Mantra (For the Pain)
Sleeping on Roads
Dreamed I Saw Soldiers
High Hopes

Amazon.com

Given that Brit guitarist-songwriter Neil Halstead's work with both Slowdive and Mojave 3 is as sleepy as it is pretty, you'd think his first solo record would provide him the chance to stretch and maybe even break a string in pursuit of a bona fide rock moment. Instead, Halstead's Sleeping on Roads--basically, a home recording featuring a bunch of his friends contributing everything from "computer skills and technical stuff" to "funny noises"--dims the lights even more. While tracks like the chiming, trumpet-tweaked opener "Seasons" point to a keen sense of melody, Halstead wastes no time in shifting the mood, and gaslight weepers like "Martha's Mantra (for the Pain)," "High Hopes," and "Dreamed I Saw Soldiers"--all almost unbearably downcast ruminations--dominate the set. Still, Halstead's delicate touch with guitar and his barely-there vocals sustain the sense of quiet introspection throughout the album's nine tracks. Winsome, ethereal folk never sounded so good, or so haunted. --Kim Hughes

Customer Reviews:

Great, as expected........2005-10-23

I love Neil's compositions. I find him incredibly talented. A fan of slowdive and, especially mojave 3, I knew I was in for a treat!... And was not disappointed. It's different than his other songs with mojave ( and of course than the wall of sounds of slowdive), more intimate, simpler, but exceptional. It is nice to hear yet another side of Neil Halstead. I always love his voice also. The lyrics are intimate and deep. For me all the songs are withstanding many listenings.
It's so different from his other works, though, that I would expect some folks not to follow him in such simple music.

Belle trouvaille.......2005-08-28

Un superbe album. Je le recommande fortement. Très belles mélodies, un album pour ''road trip''. Très paisible, cet album vous fera certainement passer un très bon moment.

Wow.......2005-06-29

This is, quite possibly, the most beautiful album I've ever heard. While there is nothing here that is past tense in any way, this album still takes me back to the early 70's and reminds me how I felt before I learned life can sometimes deal you something other than Aces & Queens.

If you like dense melodies, clean rythem with a little melancholy thrown in on the side from time to time. You'll love this album. There's not even one track that gets less than 5 stars.

Good, but not as impressive after hearing Mojave 3.......2005-04-19

I've been digging into all the discography associated with Neil Halstead's artistic life in the past year. First, I listened to Mojave 3, and I loved what I heard. Then I went back to the music he did under Slowdive, at the beginning of the shoegazing movement, and I loved what I heard. I had a chance to listen to the free download Amazon offers from this album, "Two Stones In My Pocket", and I loved what I heard... so the natural thing for me to do was to get the album, and I did.

I didn't love what I heard. Not that the album was bad or anything remotely like that. But I found it to be monotonous compared to his work with Mojave 3. Most of the songs, all of them fairly folk-rock in nature, felt like they dragged longer than they should have, which is an issue I admit I even had with some Mojave 3 tracks. So, all in all, if you haven't heard any of Neil's previous work, I think you will enjoy the album, but if not, check out Mojave 3's "Ask Me Tomorrow" or any of Slowdive's albums first. I think you will find them far more enjoyable.

Love Embodied in Music.......2004-01-22

Neil Halstead's "Sleeping on Roads" is the perfect album. I pop it in and I am taken to goodness and wholeness, to the real me, the true me, the best me, the loving, empathetic and open to life and experience me. I am no longer filled with despair and fear and pessimism. I am lifted by hope and optimism. To me it is the wonderful side of the human experience. It is an intriguing mystery you want to dive into head first; it is empowering and life affirming. I listen to this and I feel love and compassion. Indeed, "Sleeping on Roads" is all that intangible love embodied in and expressed through music. This album manages to perfectly balance the two competing existential human needs of Eros (the need to feel significant and meaningful as an individual) and Agape (the need to feel that one is a part of something greater than oneself and to give oneself over to that universal force). This is why I feel so comfortable and whole listening to this album and why it seems so familiar even upon first listening.

Now don't get me wrong I like Richard Ashcroft, but Ashcroft wishes he could make an album of such subtle lyrical grace, elegant, simple yet beautiful melody and nuanced and textured harmony. Halstead has reached a new plateau with this album, and I will always treasure it and hold it close to my heart. I will conjure it in my mind when things are rough and it will bring me back to who I truly am insofar as what I truly am is the greatest potential for wholeness, truth, beauty, courage, loving and goodness within me. This can be a reality; this album has made me a believer!

Average customer rating:

dark magic

Back Roads to Cold Mountain
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Songs From the Mountain
Cold Mountain
Return to Cold Mountain: Songs Inspired By the Film
Songcatcher II: The Tradition That Inspired the Movie
Classic Mountain Songs from Smithsonian Folkways

ASIN: B0002XEDQC
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Tracks:

Field Holler - TJ Chesser
I Wish My Baby Was Born - Dillard Chandler
Look Down That Lonesome Road - Bill Cornetti
Morning Star - Sacred Harp Singers
Camp Chase - French Carpenter
John Brown's Dream - Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters
Sweet Sunny South - Dock Boggs
Battle Of Stone River, The - Oscar Parks
Sweet Glories Rush Upon My Sight - Old Regular Baptists
Roustabout - Dink Roberts
Fox Race - Joe Patterson
Jim And John - Lonnie & Ed Young
Day Is Past And Gone, The - Dorothy Melton
Omie Wise - Roscoe Holcomb
Silk Merchant's Daughter - Dellie Norton
Hicks Farewell - Dillard Chandler
Three Little Babes - Texas Gladden
Wayfaring Stanger - Bill Monroe
Rank Stranger - The Stanley Brothers
Christmas Time Soon Be Over - Fiddlin' John Carson
And Am I Born To Die - Doc Watson
Pulling The Skiff - Ora Dell Graham
Pumpkin Pie - Joe Thompson/Odell Thompson
Give The Fiddler A Dram - James Crase
Angel Band - E.C. & Orna Ball
Old Man Below, The - Gaither Carlton
When Sorrows Encompass Me 'Round - Tommy Jarrell/Fred Cockerham

Album Description

Charles Frazier's novel and the film Cold Mountain opened the door to a world of Appalachian history, life, and music. Now, John Cohen and Smithsonian Folkways take you all the way home to the source and the spirit of Appalachia in the signature sounds of its musical elders. Descendents of the 19th-century Appalachian frontier families perform traditional music they inherited from their Civil War-era ancestors. 70 minutes, 36 page booklet, historic photos.

Customer Reviews:

dark magic.......2004-12-21

First, this is not the soundtrack to the Cold Mountain movie. That recording, released a year or so ago, featured talented modern musicians who recreated the 19th-Century music from the film and the Charles Frazier novel on which it was based. Back Roads to Cold Mountain covers much (and more) of the same material, except as it was done by authentic mountain musicians.

With one or two exceptions, these songs and tunes were alive during the Civil War. They survived into the early and mid-20th Century, to be rediscovered by folksong collectors. Most selections come from Folkways' deep archives, ably picked by John Cohen, whose recordings with the New Lost City Ramblers introduced many of us to the Appalachian tradition during the 1960s folk revival and after. Frazier himself, who provides the introduction to the enclosed booklet, explains how this music inspired his novel, set in Civil War-era North Carolina. Cohen's extensive liner notes and annotations are informative and engrossing.

Few of the musicians are likely to be familiar, though names like the Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Roscoe Holcomb, and Tommy Jarrell will resonate with those who have at least passing knowledge of the tradition. The performances are always inspired, sometimes rawly emotional in a way that has vanished from today's music; sometimes a performance may be even a little frightening, for one dramatic example Oscar Parks's angry rant at the conclusion of the ballad "The Battle of Stone River." French Carpenter's fiddle tune "Camp Chase," on the other hand, aches with mournful beauty.

The sound quality, thanks to modern technology, is so perfectly executed that it serves to erase distance between listener and performer. Time and geography roll away, and you're right there on a back porch or a church bench, hearing the ballads, fiddle pieces, and hymns in person. There is a dark magic in this old music, and Back Roads evokes it brilliantly.

Average customer rating:

The Road Headin' Home
Grasstowne
Manufacturer: Thirty Tigers
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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Fork in the Road

ASIN: B000RYPP9K
Release Date: 2007-08-07

Tracks:

Dixie Flyer
Here Comes That Feeling Again
Devil's Road
Home
Grasstowne City Limits
Black Lung Blues
Lizzie Lou
You're Right, I'm Wrong
If I Knew Then
Love You Don't Know
That's Not What Ships Are for
Bluest Case of the Blues
Patchin' It Up

Product Description

13-track CD on Pinecastle, 2007.

Average customer rating:

An interesting idea for a quick release
Awsome
A Great Collection for the Already-Converted (i.e., Don't Start Here)
A feast for the fan
Heh?

So Many Roads (1965-1995)
Grateful Dead
Manufacturer: Arista
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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All Good Things: Jerry Garcia Studio Sessions
Dick's Picks, Vol. 8: Harpur College, Binghamton, NY, 5/2/70
Beyond Description (1973-1989)
Rockin' the Rhein with the Grateful Dead
Europe 72

ASIN: B000028TUT
Release Date: 1999-11-09

Tracks:

Can't Come Down
Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)
You Don't Have To Ask
On The Road Again
Cream Puff War
I Know You Rider
The Same Thing
Dark Star / China Cat Sunflower / The Eleven
Clementine
Mason's Children
To Lay Me Down

Tracks:

That's It For The Other One / Cryptical Envelopment / The Faster We go, The R Rounder We Get / Cryptical Envelopment
Beautiful Jam
Chinatown Shuffle
Sing Me Back Home
Watkins Glen Soundcheck Jam
Dark Star Jam / Spanish Jam / U.S. Blues

Tracks:

Eyes Of The World
The Wheel
Stella Blue
Estimated Prophet
The Music Never Stopped
Shakedown Street
Shakedown Street

Tracks:

Cassidy
Hey Pocky Way
Belive It or Not
Playing In The Band
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
Death Don't Have No Mercy
Scarlet Begonias / Fire On The Mountain
Bird Song
Jam Out Of Terrapin

Tracks:

Terrapin Station
Jam Out Of Foolish Heart
Way To Go Home
Liberty
Lazy River Road
Eternity
Jam Into Days Between
Days Between
Whiskey In The Jar
So Many Roads

Amazon.com

Deadhead collecting has come a long way. An experience that was once based in haphazard bootleg tape trading of complete single shows has graduated to this: a fancy, cloth-covered, lovingly annotated five-disc box set of live recordings, oddities, outtakes, and rehearsals spanning 30 years. The live cuts comprise the heart of this package, and they put you right in the thick of things, presenting the Dead in pure, undiluted fashion, warts and all. The Dead intelligentsia who produced the package--David Gans, Blair Jackson, and Steve Silberman--have boldly chosen the most interesting improvisations and most riveting examples of group synergy: the Dead at their least accessible, but most ambitious and compelling. There are moments where you'll cringe at off-key harmonies or flubbed chords, but there is always a payoff. At times, you can hear the band desperately struggle through the verses just to get to the jam, where redemption always awaits. Jerry Garcia's wounded off-key moans on a 1984 version of "Shakedown Street" eventually give way to a wonderful in-the-pocket funk workout; on a 1988 reading of "Playing in the Band," Bob Weir's botched lyrics are long forgotten when the band intensely teeters at far-off edges just moments later. The problem with this approach is that you lose context by considering performances outside of their natural environment--the specific concerts that spawned them--but this approach also opens up many options as well. For instance, there are sparkling fusion-based jams from the early 1970s, examples of Garcia sparring with Branford Marsalis and Bruce Hornsby in 1990, and an assortment of eye-opening transitional instrumental passages and impromptu creations. These moments of splendid spontaneity are what the band is all about. Welcome rarities include early recordings driven by Pigpen's searing blues harp; a pair of studio outtakes from the Dead's landmark 1970 sessions featuring acoustic instruments and lovely harmonies; Pigpen's R&B-flavored "Chinatown Shuffle" and an arresting version of Merle Haggard's "Sing Me Back Home" from 1972; keyboardist Brent Mydland leading the crew through the Meters' "Hey Pocky Way" in 1989; and Garcia launching into the Irish folk tune "Whiskey in the Jar" at a 1993 rehearsal, much to the delight of his bandmates. A few of the oddities offer only historical value and the final disc bogs down a bit by focusing on the Dead's newest unrecorded material, which, despite some worthy additions, can't match the intensity of the live cuts. For courageous newcomers, the amazing trajectory of the band is here to behold--from psychedelic blues and folk to free-form odysseys to country-rock to jazz and funk to gritty heavy rock. For those only familiar with the Dead's radio-friendly songs, this is the other side of the spectrum. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews:

An interesting idea for a quick release.......2006-12-02

At the time this was released the Dead were still releasing cd's thru Arista/BMG and what happened was Warner Bros. had just purchased Rhino Records. Warner Brothers had put out a press release that they planned on rereleasing the band's old albums in a box set with bonus material. Phil Lesh who was the band member running day to day operations at that time said no and that he thought it was just another way to rip fans off by selling them the same old stuff with a few meager new tracks. However, the Deadhead community at large wanted a box set. In came David Gans, Blair Jackson, Steve Silberman and originally Dick Lavala(who passed away while trying to get this ready for Christmas 1999). The original idea was to use material that wasn't going to be used for Dick's Picks or Vault releases. Sort of an expanded Fallout From The Phil Zone. All of the performances were taken from David Gans' tapes that he uses to produce the Grateful Dead Hour radio program and not the master vault tapes. In other words they're digital copies of the masters where available. A fight began between Phil and both Bob and Mickey over the vault and finally Phil relented which cleared the way for The Golden Road in time for Christmas in 2001. The band's last Arista/BMG release was in 2004. Since then the band's back catolog has been getting reissueed on Rhino Records. This album will be rereleased in 2010. Since the original release of this album several songs have been released in better quality elsewhere. By the way, the discs that hang together best on here are discs 3 and 4.

Awsome.......2006-11-14

This is a great box set, get it now while you can, there will be no more. This has the best Eyes of the world that I have ever heard, it is my favorite GD song out. The last song on CD five is So many roads, Jerry sounds tierd and seems to be fading away, it is awsome and heat breaking to hear. A must for any fan.
Philip, TCBRN, Simpsonville, SC. 2006.

A Great Collection for the Already-Converted (i.e., Don't Start Here).......2006-06-02

I once thought that the Grateful Dead deserved a better epitaph than this. While I saw that it was full of unique musical ideas and moments of greatness, I also felt it was full of extraneous moments that are of interest to obsessives only. After living with the box for a while, though, its internal logic exposed itself. Initially, I hoped for a `greatest hits' collection of sorts and felt some disappointment to discover otherwise. Since a five-disk collection takes some time to digest properly, it wasn't until some time passed that I recognized how much better this collection is than any collection of `best bits'.
If ever a band could use a box set, it's the Grateful Dead. If ever a band could use a box set that disseminates their career and culls highlights from all time periods, it's the Dead. A box that includes the best tracks from "Aoxomoxoa", "Live Dead", "Workingman's Dead", "American Beauty", "Europe `72" and "From the Mars Hotel", along with highlights from other albums, plus selected versions of live tracks chosen from their endless catalog of live tapes would be a beautiful thing. THAT is what I once thought the Dead deserved. I also believed that is what Deadheads wanted, if only to convince nonbelievers of the inherent greatness of their chosen icons. That isn't at all what this box set provides, but after a few listens, I began to determine the intelligence in its design.
"So Many Roads" combines historically relevant outtakes, rare studio recordings and the occasional definitive live track, resulting in a collection that is as frustrating as it is fascinating. Disk one of this five CD set summarizes the faults and the highlights. It starts with a healthy amount of early tracks where the Dead resemble an ordinary "Nuggets"-era band; the Chocolate Watchband crossed with a touch of Van Morrison's Them, perhaps. Some are good, some aren't. Bob Weir's screaming punk-like vocals on "You Don't Have to Ask" are simply awful, while the energetic, fresh version of "I Know You Rider" is just as simply incredible. Pigpen's showcase, "The Same Thing," takes time to develop, but transcends all expectations before it finishes. Just as the punk-blues mood sets in, gears shift and suddenly, the disk morphs into the remarkable looseness of a twenty-five minute jam. A rather direct and poignant "Dark Star" transforms into "China Cat Sunflower", and then "The Eleven", with a grace and inquisitiveness that made the 1968-1972 Grateful Dead one of the most interesting bands in the world.
By disk two, the Dead had already lost most of their youthful impetuousness, replacing it with curiosity, attempting to bind themselves to something intangible, something like infinity. After Pigpen's death, assertive energy was substituted with exploration. With Keith Godchaux on keyboards, it became more and more apparent that the Dead really do sound better if you're stoned. As the timeline proceeds, so does the level of exploration, and casual fans will have difficulty sticking with disk four's collapsing, free-form version of "Playing in the Band." Disk four also makes it rather apparent that the Dead never really improved their vocals much. What did improve, though, was the level of expression that they could muster with their voices. Whiles notes cracked or soared out of tune, the emotional center grew more and more focused.
Brent Mydland is well -represented in the latter-day work. I once considered this guy to be a bland honky-tonker incapable of serving the Dead's needs, but "So Many Roads" proves otherwise. Besides showcasing his powerful vocal style, it also proves that he had a touch not unlike Billy Payne of Little Feat (if EVER there lived a keyboard who should have played with the Dead in their prime, it's Billy Payne). Disk six is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Momentum is scattered, direction is lost and a sense of impending dread resides over the proceedings, lending each song a sense of destiny that is unshakeable, and often profound.
While chronologically accurate, "So Many Roads" lacks any sense of coherence that an ordinary fan would crave. People looking for "Blues for Allah" would grow impatient with the band's early harmonica blues-based forays, and vice-versa. But, it is important to note that Deadheads aren't your typical fan base. This box was not created for neophytes but for those who are already convinced. If you want an introduction to the Dead, don't start here. This is where you turn after you have absorbed some of the band's history and legacy. At that point, the relevance of the tracks chosen for "So Many Roads" are more likely to sink in. Hearing Jerry Garcia sing "Days Between" simply won't have the same impact on a newcomer as it will on a connoisseur. "So Many Roads" contains little that is revelatory, because virtually everything that the Grateful Dead have played has already been exploited in some way, but discoveries can still happen virtually anywhere on this collection. Listen to the fluidity of Garcia's guitar on "That's It for the Other One." "Check out the intuitive weave of "Beautiful Jam." Listen to how the band brings "Terrapin Station" to life from its still-born studio version. Remarkable. The more you listen, the more you understand. A- Tom Ryan

A feast for the fan.......2006-03-09

Don't even know where to start with this 5 disc set. If you're new to the band this is not a bad place to start.

Everything here is beautifully mastered and strong material has been pulled from each period of the band. Even the later stuff sounds great (I generally stick to their older stuff)!

Buy this box set!! 50 stars! By the way, you can download it for a ridiculously low price on iTunes.

Heh?.......2006-01-27

Did I read right that this box set will be re-released in 2010??????? That's four years from now, as I write this! How in Jerry's name do they know that so far in advance?!

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