Alternative Rock Compilations music reviews

I think that this is just as good an 80s collection album. But this album takes chances. There's more chance at experimentation here with the well performed songs here like Never Surrender by Corey Hart and Danny Wilson's soulful Mary's Prayer. And the Motels' Only the Lonely is one of the more superb 80s ballads. Arcadia's Election Day still sounds sharp from that onetime outside-of-Duran Duran unit. I still like Shattered Dreams, though it fits well here. For all the more commercial hits like the hit Mickey, the more artistic and stylish songs are are also included in this 20-song album. They put it out in 2001, but it was also a smart time to reflect on the 80s with this effort. Creatively and smartly done here.

Music compilations are usually hit or miss (generally miss) as they tend to have 2 or 3 must have songs, and then the rest is pure filler. I initially only bought it because I think that Danny Wilson's "Mary's Prayer" is one of the most beautiful songs that I've ever heard and it's hard to find as it was not one of those monster hits that drive a purchase. For every "Mickey" (which is in almost every compilation from the era) you'll find a "Don't Forget Me When I am Gone" by Glass Tiger, which, like "Mary's Prayer," was not a definitive 80s song, but to be these are even better because they amplify the obvious choices.

In a nutshell, if you are looking for a bunch of 1980s songs, tis release is a no brainer. Of course, I am sure that you have a hard to find song to "Mary's Prayer" that you have not been able to to get your hands on. If you are looking for something pertaining to the 1970s or 1980s, I'll be glad to try and give you guidance as there are some songs out there that we HAVE to have. Enjoy!

I immediately purchased these CDs after taking a look at the artists included on this compilation. I cannot believe the quality of music captured on these two CDs, which is only surpassed by the "Precious" compilation of indie rock I bought a dozen years ago. The Avalanches' "Since I Left You" is one of the best songs I've heard in recent memory as well as "Diamente" by Blue States. For me, these are the stand out tracks of a wonderful mix of music. I would have given this compilation 5 stars if it had included such artists as Bent or J-Walk. However, in terms of a chill out/lounge compilation, this is extremely good. I'll be listening to this collection for years to come.

This album is a very good mix of Indie and Alt Dance. Would recomend for those people who like to relax on a sunday morning listening to quality music

This compilation of indie/alternative music is the only remedy to get away from all the troubles in life and to relax. Open up a bath and put this in the CD player and you're ready to go. It mixes indie and alternative music so well yet you are not disturbed by loud music pumping on your stereo. The music ranges so much from the mellow sound of Rob D(Clubbed To Death) to the gentle yet powerful piece by Coldplay. This is the ultimate collection to be having on the beach. Sun bathe in this and you will tranquillize all the sounds around you. I would recommend this album to anyone who is wanting to get away from all their problems on a sunday morning

1987 was a great year for music and this is an album that proves it. Included on Entertainment Weekly: Greatest Hits 1987 is twelve Top 10 hits, and five of those were #1 hits.

Anybody who is looking for an album with some good late 80's hits, will probably enjoy this one. Not only will you be able to hear these songs anytime you want, but if you're a true fan of 80's rock, then you'll get even more for your money's worth.

The booklet to this cd has some interesting facts about the artists who sung these songs and about the songs themselves. For example, I thought it was interesting to learn that Grateful Dead only had one Top 10 hit during their whole careers (the song on this cd), but they still made the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and that T'Pau was named after a Vulcan princess in an episode from Star Trek - The Original Series.

The booklet also tells the exact day that the songs made their pop chart debuts, and at which position it climbed to on the charts. Not to mention that the sound quality on the cd itself is great.

If you like some of the songs that you see on the track list, get this album today!

I thought that this cd was good, and I recommend this cd if you are a R.E.M fan. It has many great hits on it and I know you will love it.

I was surprised to find a track by R.E.M. on "Entertainment Weekly: The Greatest Hits 1987" because usually the dozen tracks collected on each of these CDs avoid selections from the upper echelon of the musical hierarchy. True, this is "early" R.E.M., which covers the period when they recorded with I.R.S. before they hit the big time with Warner Brothers, but still, finding "One I Love" here is a treat, especially for those who have not gone back and listened to the albums from the group's early days. The song only made it to #9 on the Billboard charts, but it is arguably the best song on the album.

As we have come to expect there are a fair share of #1 songs in the collection, five in fact this time around: "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship, "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" by Aretha Franklin and George Michael, "Shake You Down" by Gregory Abbott, and "Lost in Emotion" by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam." I only had a pair of the original albums that contained any of those songs so I was too far behind in trying to come up with the requisite five tracks that I do not have that make picking up this album a thing of good.

As the opening track from R.E.M. suggests, the best songs on this album are not going to be those that made it to the top of the charts. With "Heart and Soul" T'Pau not only thrilled "Star Trek" fans but ended up as one of the best one-hit wonders of the decade, while the Grateful Dead suddenly went for music video respectability with "Touch of Grey." Throw songs by Debbie Gibson and Samantha Fox into the mix and you are certainly covering a large part of the musical spectrum circa 1987 (although I suddenly find that "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)" sounds rather tame). All things considered, "Entertainment Weekly: The Greatest Hits 1987" is one of the better CDs for this decade.

this cd was ok it was definetly worth my money but i feel that the band has changed from the beginning of pinhead gunpowder but i still love these guys and the continue to rock my world!

What a great cd, especially blessed with D4 and One Man Army---this is a great cd, and being less than about 5 dollars, how can you lose eh?

I think this CD has more to offer than just the Pinhead Gunpowder guys (don't get me wrong, I love 'em) but you can also get a taste of bands like the Influents (Bill and Jason from Pinhead Gunpowder are in this band too!) Check out the 'Simple Girls' track on this site. It also has great tunes from bands like Dillinger Four, Common Rider, The Frustrators , One Man Army and Samiam! If you are lloking to hear some different bands this is a good pick!

i like the message a lot, cause Asian Man's one of my fav. labels. But from a music stand point, some songs aren't as good as others, which drags the cd down. The slow gherkin song,"tap dancing", which i havent seen or heard before, has some bad recording. non-ska or punk songs are present as well; Astropop3's "So happy" (whos song is almost too catchy), Polysics "Hot stuff"(sorta punk, but with electronics thrown in, the coolest song on the cd), Pushover "Tell me why"(not really ska or punk, but sorta). The best tracks are: Skankin pickle- "pabu boy", Link 80's "intolerance", and many many more. With the addition of Suburban Home Records atht the end, this is still well worth your [money].

When I bought Plea for Peace ... it turned out to be one of the best albums i have. it is a great value, has a great message and has great songs on it.

Mike Park and the staff of Asian Man Records have another wonderful compilation of punk/ska bands to get you thinking. This album is a benifit for various ant-racist organizations. It has many great bands, and had a tour named after it. This is probably the best compilation to benifit and recognize all people against hate groups of all kinds.

This CD is great. minimalistic music, but strong song-writing and covers here. Krisin Hersh, as always is breathtaking. Mimi Parker does a great job here..... but the biggest surprises comes in Melissa Auf der Maur (former bass player for Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins) that are just so bizarre, that any PJ Harvey fan would love it....... if you own Peej's 4 track demos..... thinks that Courtney Love is horrible talent hiding behind true talent..... then this album is for you just for Melissa's tracks....... but i will tell you that there is not a bad song on this CD.

Mimi Parker (Low)makes her debut solo effort as does Rebecca Gates (Spinanes) on this compelling follow up to Shanti Project Collection. All the tracks are new or rare and quite satisfying. I'm especially fond of Mimi Parker and Julie Doiron's (Eric's Trip) tunes. The photographs and booklet design is beautiful and overall the cd is well worth adding to your collection.

I bought this cd because of Kristen Hersh and of course she doesn't disappoint. Her performance is, however, almost incidental compared to the opening two tracks performed by Mimi Parker of Low. "When you walked out on me" with it's lazy/sloppy guitar playing and Mimi's haunting performance simply blew me away. That song alone carries this entire record...

This CD was awesome! The music is great, and all of the songs are cool. I would reccomend it for anyone who likes punk! The variety of songs is great, I haven't listened to another punk CD for a while! I've been listening to it over and over again!

I thought for sure the MINUTEMEN were on this. Maybe on the vinyl LP and not this CD? I'm confused. (I'm no longer cornfused, they're there, they're there! on the CD, yeah baby, and a good song too, tho, it's the opposite of an oxymoron. That is, there's really no such thing as a MINUTEMEN song that isn't good, question only is, is it a great one or just a really good one. Ah, such pleasurable questions to ponder). Meanwhile, there were a bunch of really classic punk/HC/thrash comps back in the day (all great, these are not ranked). Punk rock comps were a way to get the music into the hands of punx world wide in a bunch, instead of doing a 7" or an LP. Remember, there was no Internet so there was no filesharing or MP3. If you stumble on any one of these comps, take my word for it, you'll be happy owning it, assuming yer into punk/hc/thrash (there's no metal in any of this or rap or rock or post punk and I believe every comp listed here is from the 80's, mostly the early to mid 80's).

These were albums. * means they were reissued on CD.
(the others may have been but I haven't seen 'em on CD)
1) Really Fast Vol 1 (Sweden) Each progressive comp after that
in the Really Fast series 2, 3, etc. got less and less high
quality musically
*2) This is Boston, Not L.A. Gang Green + more brilliant MA/HC.
*3) Flex Your Head - classic early 80's D.C. Wonderful
Dischord,
*4) I Thrash, Therefore I Am (originally on tape on BCT,
now on CD) with a bunch of European bands
*5) Last White Christmas vol. I w/ RAW POWER + many more, vol.
II with the unbelievable CCM + IRI! & TRAUMATIC from live
gig in Italy 12/04/03 (also was on tape, now on CD).
6) Russia Bombs Finland amazing Finnish HC bands
7) Propaganda hardcore 1983, Finnish HC, another classic comp
*8) No New York w/ No Wave master citified punx,
9) We Can Do Whatever We Want best of BCT in 1986
U.S. and European bands
10) Someone Got Their Head Kicked in Tonight - BYO
11) Grito Suburbano 1982 Brasil
12) Cleanse the Bacteria LP + 12" international: splendid!
*13) American Youth Report - Southern CA
14) Flipside 1 (volumes after that not bad).
15) MRR's first comp 2xLP, All Quiet On The Western Front
*16) MRR's Welcome to 1984 - international.

And these on tape only:
17) New York Thrash - ROIR (reissued on CD)
18) World Class Punk - ROIR international (reissued on CD)
19) Grevous Musical Harm international 1983
20) Raw War comp 1982 one of the first and best international
HC tape comps.
21) Kaaos-Lehden Kokoelmakasetti - Finnish
22) Barefoot and pregnant - U.S.
23) There is More - U.S.
24) Meathouse - U.S. and
25) America's Dairyland - U.S. (22 to 25 are 4 seminal
U.S. tape comps that never made it to vinyl or CD).

There's some great 7" punk rock comps, but,
that's another story.

Feast on this music punk. Punk tested (over 20 years),
punk approved. Punx knew this was classic stuff (yeah,
all the stuff on this list) back in the early 80's and
yer ears will tell you that's still the case today. Yer
task now is to get those ears in front of this music.
Your ears will be thanking you for years to come. Punk. chrisbct@hotmail.com

This album was my intro to the L.A. scene. Every great band from the area with the exception of Black Flag and Circle Jerks is represented here.If you are curious about the bands that influenced current bands like the Offspring and Blink 182 this is a good introduction. Of course after hearing these bands you will probably never listen to those bands again.

As a passionate fan of Wilco, I blindly purchased the CD solely because it contained a Wilco song, "War on War", hoping that the CD would contain other great music and perhaps produce a diamond in the rough band to my collection. And the CD filled my hopes on all accounts. It's a really great record.

The music is largely acoustic-based but contains an eclectic blend of folk, country, bluegrass and rock sounds. Lyrically and musically this CD delivers the goods.

Some bands that caught my eye from this album are Jim White, Kelly Jo Phelps, Hayden, Len Brown Society, and Mighty Flashlight, but all of the bands are decent and there isn't a dud on the record.

A lovingly put together compilation. There's not a track out of place here. Gorgeous stuff. You'll want every album represented on this compilation. Every track teaches you something, expands on the last and paves the way for the rest.

(this review refers to the vinyl edition)

I truly did not want to be critical of this collection -- as it contains many wonderful songs (with many personal memories attached for many Canadians aged 30 to 50 somethings. However, despite its attempt to group these songs by genre on each CD, for me, their still too diverse to hang together (i.e., be listenable). Perhaps I am just to attached to many of the songs separately... This set, is however, a very good introduction for appreciators of Canadian music, and people under 30...
Cheers

PS. One more complaint. Did Celine's "Titanic Song" really have to be included here... jezzzzzzz! Holy smaltzy, Batman!

I'm not about to poop on the party and say this four-disc compilation of Canadian pop and rock isn't worth buying. That simply wouldn't be true. But I find myself playing the first Oh What A Feeling box set more than this package simply 'cause this one feels like the second tier of the Great White North's musical output...what wasn't quite remarkable enough to fit on volume one.

There are a couple of returning acts (The Guess Who with Share The Land, BTO with You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, Neil Young with Heart Of Gold), but for the most part these are artists who didn't make it to vol. 1. among the highlights are Tal Bachman's instantly-hummable She's So High, Barney Bentall's heartland classic Something To Live For, Lee Aaron's Whatcha Do To My body and the Northern Pikes' rockin' party favourite She Ain't Pretty (She Just Looks That Way).

This package also tilts away from classic stuff towards more up-to-date things, like SoulDecision's Faded and Dream Warriors' My Definition Of A Bombastic Jazz Style. For that reason vol. 2 is of less interest to old white guys like me, but at the same time is more eclectic than the first compilation. If anything, that means it shows the world a truer picture of what Canadians are capable of doing musically.

This is a 4 cd box set which features some of the best in Canadian artists. Almost every genre except classical is covered here. Disc 1 features artists of the 90's. It includes Shania Twain..."Man! I feel like a woman", Sarah McLachlan..."Building a Mystery", Alanis Morissette..."Thank U", and others like Celine Dion, The Moffats, Snow, Choclair, Len and Deborah Cox. Disc 2 features harder rock acts of the 70's, 80's and 90's. Bands like Loverboy..."The Kid is hot Tonite", Bryan Adams..."Summer of '69", The Tea Party..."Heaven Coming down", and others like Our Lady Peace, The Tragically Hip, Trooper and Lee Aaron. Disc 3 contains rock and pop, also from the 70's through 90's. Such as The Guess Who..."Share the Land", The Band..."Up on Cripple Creek", Anne Murray..."Danny's Song", and others from Platinum Blonde to Crash Test Dummies. Disc 4 is the most eclectic with a mix of folk, pop, Celtic and jazz. From Neil Young..."Heart of Gold", Diana Krall..."Peel me a grape", to Barenaked Ladies..."One week". This is a music lovers goldmine, and highly recommended. The first "Oh, What a Feeling" collection, was only on the market for 4 months. So get this while it's still available.

I never thought a string quartet could do Disturbed but they can. It is something you have to listen to for a little bit, let it sink in, that this is different and lacking David's voice but its pretty good.

but this is pretty good. I only heard the samples given out by amazon and i want the cd now. this is a pretty cool concept. get it.

You will read some reviews that say that "violins + disturbed = retarted" but the simple fact is that it isn't true. If you enjoy music you will enjoy this. The quartet brings new perpective to an old favorite.