Alternative Rock music reviews

This is it! This is the one! Forget the Rhino reissues, this is still the best place for the old school Attractions sound. Reason? El Mocombo (sp?). Simply stated it is one of the most blisteringly honest live albums ever produced! Essentially a bootleg the Mocombo disc gets by on guts and fire alone. Now, I am not suggesting you pay $250 for this box set, especially if you did already fork it over for the Rhino's....BUT! I cannot honestly think of a better way to spend $250.
These old Ryko issues hold their own to the recent Rhino's despite the paucity of bonus material. However, until Mocombo is given its proper due, or you are lucky enough to score one somehow, somewhere, DO WHAT YOU MUST to include this disc in your arsenal of rock'n'roll.
And it cannot be overstated enough: the screaming OWWWWWWW dude does greatly annoy these nerves of mine. Time does diminish his presence though.
Buybuybuy!

Brilliant as everyone says. The live album included is killer except for one thing....this dude keeps yelling OWWWWWWWWWW really loudly throughout EVERY song!!!!! In fact, half way through the live set you start listening for the OWWWWW if you haven't heard it in the last 15 to 20 seconds (the way you listen for a snore when a snorer stops breathing for a really long time). And so one of the best live albums ever is ruined by some drunken idiot. An OWWWWWW or two between songs is acceptable if annoying. OWWWWWW's every 10 seconds throughout a concert is worthy of the crowd going Who-concert-in-Cincinatti on you ___. It's like those idiots who blow horns throughout an entire 90 minute soccer game or the people with really bassy sound systems in their cars. We hear you, we acknowledge that you exist, now please shut up!

For any fan of Costello and almost any fan of rock 'n roll, this set is indispensable. Costello's first 3 albums are included, along with one live disk. All the included albums here have added tracks - many interesting songs not previously released along with alternate versions of standards. One of my favorite new songs is 'Stranger in the House', an early demonstration of Costello's country interests which was left off 'My Aim Is True' because the record company couldn't tolerate the idea of a country-styled song on a rock album.

Across the Universe has got to be one of my all-time favorite albums. It's been that way from the moment I first saw it in a used cd store on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. And then when I popped it in my Player and did my errands around Manhattan, things just got better and better.

From the first strains of Turtledove, I was in love. In fact, the only song I ever didn't absolutely love was "the Slacks". That error in judgment on my part was corrected when I first got to see Trip Shakespeare perform the Slacks. Their take on their own song was so wonderfully, humorously, enlightening, I began to make the Slacks the starting point for many listens of this masterpiece.

Unfortunately, during my divorce, my ex decided to keep Across the Universe. And won't even copy it for me. Even though I have groveled.

I love it, I love them. I miss it, I miss them.

Trip Shakespeare hit full stride with this release. They certainly rose to the occasion for their first major label release. The songs rely more on structure rather than experimenting with longer instumental breaks. The result is a denser more compact sound that shows more confidence and improved songcraft. This skilled songwriting and musical input from the band all added up to one great record. Trip was unique because maybe they embraced a genre of Romaticism (or grandeur)that reflected their Minnesota surroundings. Everyone who heard their cd's or saw them live are surely fans and value this release but increasing interest (as seen by the rising price of limited copies) could prove that Trip may realize an insurgence of interest that could very well lead to reissue and an increased fanbase that time often provides indie bands.

This is one of the best collection of songs ever published. It is rare that all the songs on an entire album are exceptional. This album is a must for everyone's collection of alternative music without the lethargic, angst-ridden depressive feel that most alternative music contains. I highly recommend it!

This is a good song. It was my favourite song at the time which tempted me to buy the CD. I liked it because it was more boppy than other songs I heard at the time. Usually my favourite songs are at the bottom of the charts, but at the time I was glad to see it was near the top when I bought it. I like the radio edit version and the instrumental, however I do not like the 2 remixes of the song. They don't do too much for me. Here I am going to make another comparison, but although I think it is a good dance hit and was a song with a difference at the time, I don't think it is as bright and cheerful as Sonique's "Sky". However I still listen to it occasionally.

I first heard "Crush" on the radio about 7 years ago and I loved that song. I still love it today, and when I hear it, I have to sing along and dance to it.

I love her voice, and i love this song, Crush is the ultimate soul/pop based lovers theme. Her self titled album is filled with this kinda music and her second single Sober, although not living up to Crush's expectations is still fabulous. Buy Crush and fall in love with Jennifer Paige

WOW - I have hundreds of cds and this almost instantly became my favorite. No matter what type of music you listen to, there is something here for everyone. The variety of styles all blend together perfectly for a front to back listen.

It is almost impossible to know if others will like a tune when they hear it for the first time. Consequently, choosing music to give as a gift is often a waste of time and money to both parties. This is one of the CD's which I believe should be given anyway. Aside from a variety of styles making this CD a delight to listen to, the stories , though sometimes a bit dark, are intruiging as well.

Give one to a friend at be surprised at what they like about it...

I can listen to these guys forever. Every tune is either happy and upbeat or smooth and pensive. They are all excellent. Some of Sonia Dada's stuff reminds me of Little Feat, but they have a greater range of sound and content --imagine a rock, gospel, R&B and folk melange. I want to hear them all over the radio. And no, I'm not sleeping with a band member. I just really love their music.

WOW - I have hundreds of cds and this almost instantly became my favorite. No matter what type of music you listen to, there is something here for everyone. The variety of styles all blend together perfectly for a front to back listen.

It is almost impossible to know if others will like a tune when they hear it for the first time. Consequently, choosing music to give as a gift is often a waste of time and money to both parties. This is one of the CD's which I believe should be given anyway. Aside from a variety of styles making this CD a delight to listen to, the stories , though sometimes a bit dark, are intruiging as well.

Give one to a friend at be surprised at what they like about it...

I can listen to these guys forever. Every tune is either happy and upbeat or smooth and pensive. They are all excellent. Some of Sonia Dada's stuff reminds me of Little Feat, but they have a greater range of sound and content --imagine a rock, gospel, R&B and folk melange. I want to hear them all over the radio. And no, I'm not sleeping with a band member. I just really love their music.

This is the Bosstones at their best. Fast brass rock. Ska to the core. They've put out nothing like it since. Oh skank heaven.

this is the bosstones greatest cd ever! it was the first one i ever heard and to this day remains the best...i enjoy their other stuff and own almost every album but this remains my personal fav...not just by them but my favorite ska album!
highly reccomend this to anyone!

Best Bosstones album ever.Dicky's gravely,ripping vocals adds to the great combination of punk and ska.Best album out there.Devil's Night Out and Haji are two of the best songs on this cd,although this cd can be listened the whole way through with out skipping any tracks.

This single is a good introduction to Oasis' music. Nevertheless, if you have been a fan for too long, you will not find anything new...
The single was released only in Japan, where the band is popular. If the band released for economic reasons, the single's existence is justified. But if they released it to "satisfy" the fans, they failed.
Summarizing, buy it if you are either someone who wants to enter to Oasis' world or an Oasis fundamentalist who wants to have EVERYTHING the band has released.
Not recommended for "middle-lover" fans.

This is a fantastic single. I began a voyage to collect all the singles from the first three albums (with the exception of "Champagne Supernova" and "Morning Glory", which are impossible to find) and this little gem completed it. Although it is the most expensive of the Oasis singles which are (fairly) easy to find, it is one of the best. "Sad Song" is the best, although all are escential for any Oasis fan or completest. I highly recommend it.

There are numerous reasons why I would suggest that someone should go out and buy this album. It's an import, rather difficult to come by, so it can be a little spendy. But it is well worth the price and the time you may have to wait in getting it in the mail. This cd single is about your only way of obtaining the beautiful and hard to find Sad Song. Sad Song was originally placed on the vinyl version of their debut album, Definitely Maybe. Since nobody has that over here in the states, most of us probably didn't know the song existed. I did, simply by seeing it performed live on different Oasis videos. This song is Noel Gallagher at his best, just him and his acoustic guitar. This song alone gives us good reason he included an acoustic set during Oasis shows for so long. The man has an ability to captivate an audience, by his wonderful guitar playing, and his awesome vocal abilities. I myself have been fortunate enough to see an acoustic set, and was blown away by it.

Track 1 - Don't Go Away, was supposed to have been the Wonderwall, part 2. But it didn't turn out that way, and the album it was placed on, "Be Here Now," never got nearly the credit it deserved. This is a well crafted song, with a Slide Away feel to it, and has one of the best Oasis moments in it, which is the acoustic outro at the end. Simply amazing, and beautiful. Still a favourite track of mine.. love it.

Track 2 - Cigarettes and Alcohol (Live), is vintage Oasis. A very raw, and straight forward song. Liam's vocals shine in this one, and the energy emitted from this performance is incredible. This is Oasis in their purest form, and gives the listener why these guys are such an incredible live band. The crowd is going crazy for this one, and rightfully so. One of their best 5 live songs ever, in my opinion.

Track 3 - Sad Song... well, I've already gone into this. Any true Oasis fan has to have this, and any non-Oasis fan would be better off having heard this great song. I'm not exagerating.

Track 4 - Fade Away (WarChild version) .. This song was recorded as part of a compilation benefitting children of the Kosovo War. What's so amazing about this track, is it's reversed from the original recording (found on the Masterplan). We have Noel taking over doing the lead vocals, and listen in there, cos that would be Liam doing the backing vocals. You get to hear the younger Gallagher doing some pretty impressive harmonizing. Very touching, and very sincere.. it's an incredible song.

All in all, I'd say this is the best Oasis single out there... and well worth the money it may require in obtaining it.

I have this movie ... and there's this one song in particular in the movie that is NOT on the soundtrack. I've been trying to find out who it is for a while now...
The part where "Liz" & "John" go into that one underground store and he pays cash for that hot executive suit for her... there's a song in the background ... does anyone know who that is or which song it is???
Thanks!

If your engine still revs, you and your romantic partner will love this movie! And if you enjoyed the movie, "you can keep your hat on" with the music. A must-have for your library.

Trying to find the Piano Piece playing at the end of the movie. When She leaves Johns Apartment and is walking down the street, it is playing. It is also played various times throughout the film.

ok. i thought from other reviews that i would really like this cd, but I dont really. the delivery seems completely pretentious as another reviewer said. i cant get past that fact. though damn shame is excellent. its the only one that i added to my playlist. in fact i promptly trashed the rest.

I can't stop listening to that voice of hers - it is like a cross between Victoria Williams, Billie Holiday, and Ben Webster. It is more like a saxophone than a voice, a saxophone coming from some Sunday afternoon show at a smoky little club down the street, that makes you say, "Hey, who is that?" You can't miss the soulfulness of her sound.

I think she has the potential to be one of the great American musicians if she keeps producing stuff like this. Mellow, bluesy folk-rock with her own unique twists. Odd but intriguing lyrics, songs that draw you in and make you think, then pop up in your head days later. I just saw her live, and she started out slow and easy, not very exciting, but as the show went on, the crowd got more and more into it, and by the end of it, she had totally won us over.

On the downside, her playing does not seem to interact incredibly well with her band's, and she is not a virtuoso guitarist or pianist, but so what? Her music is unique and wonderful.

I love this album but I can see from some reviews that some people hate her. I'm not sure what is pretentious about her delivery. I think Jolie is amazing. I've never heard anyone like her. She sings like a trumpet player from some dark holler. She blurs time in a way that would make the old pre-war blues masters proud. I love her timing. Does she have a unique vocal style? Yes she does but then again so did Tommy Johnson and Skip James but I don't hear anyone calling those guys frauds. Thank goodness.

I'm reviewing this because I unfortunately don't have her new album yet, Springtime Can Kill You, so I've been listening to this one almost daily just to alleviate my anxiety over Springtime.

Jolie seems to me to be a gift from another era, though she's in no way derivative of anyone else I've ever heard. I feel like she is an artist who, if she had been discovered on a bunch of crackling old Paramount sides in someone's attic, she'd have been considered the find of the decade. Having said that, she is also very much an artist of our own times.

For me, there is something very real about her songs, style and music. It all seems so small and personal. I never think of her in terms of this big artist who plays concerts in various countries. I think of her more in terms of... if this were a woman I knew or was friends with and she was sitting on a couch 8 feet away from me and she began to do her thing, I'd be blown away. She's a singular voice and vision that seems to somehow meld old-timey music with Tidal-era Fiona Apple. Even that description fails miserably. I never truly feel as if she has melded anything. I just feel like she picks up an instrument, opens her mouth, and this is what happens. It's truly her own.

"I used to be an angel, now I'm just like everybody else" makes me wonder if she is an Ani Difranco fan. Certainly that sentiment is similar to that in Ani's Superhero, and expressed in much the same manner in this line.

Goodbye California is the only song I dislike, and I hate that one. I love everything else but I can't stand that song.

I'd love for Erykah Badu to hear Jolie. I fear over time Erykah may become a victim of the fickle nature which is at the core of many of the modern R&B fans who are always looking for the next hit tune, only to forget a few years later. Erykah's music is bigger than the whole of the genre to which she's been pigeonholed. Both Jolie and Erykah receive lots of comparisons to Billie Holiday and I feel it's generally unwarranted in both cases. I think it's a journalistic convenience which really doesn't have much basis in the music of any of these 3 great artists. I think hearing Jolie may inspire Erykah to tap into her inner Victoria Spivey which would then expose her to a whole new audience, and one that has a longer attention span.

As a long time skinny puppy fan, this cd was both a surprise and a treat. This cd, in my oppinion was the best thing to come from the SP guys in a long time. Much better than "The Process" and the latest Skinny Puppy album "greater wrong of the right". Even though this isnt a SP cd, i think its the last thing to come from the guys that really had the edge i always expected from skinny puppy. And i dont quite get the FLA fans argument, to me personally FLA was always one of the more generic sounding industrial bands. The 1st time i ever heard this cd, we listened to the cd front to back, and all sat in quiet amazement for a minute or two after the last song.
Definately one of my favorite all time cd's!

Well to tell you the truth I still havn't fully digested this cd. I have been listening to this cd for about 3 weeks(at the time of writing this. And really all I can say is wow! Listening to this han only further reafirmed what many already knew. cEvin Key and Dwayne Goetell(spelling?) are both geniuses. Certainly not the most emotional music cEvin has releasesd(that would have to be close between both Skinny Puppy and Tear Garden), But easily some of the most creative. And you wouldn't expect it upon first hearing it but there are some very beautiful moments on this cd, such as toward the end of Suni C and basically all of base metal. All in all a very good work and certainly worth more than what amazon.com charges.

the fact that this reviewer enjoys FLA and is a FLA 'devotee" says it all.

EYES OF STANLEY PAIN- is an amazing album. it is dwayne goettel and cevin key before the Process and the demise of Skinny Puppy (until 2004).

this is the bridge between "techno"-"industrial" like previously said.

enjoy it for what it is.