Alternative Rock Compilations music reviews

"Big Horn: The History of the Honkin' & Screamin' Saxophone" is one swinging CD set!
Many musical styles are covered here: swing, big band, boogie, bebop, R&B and more.
There's a huge selection of songs and artists and every track is great!
The accompanying booklet is loaded with facts about the music and the musicians.
The sound quality of this set is excellent.
Proper has come up with yet another value-packed box set!

WOW....where to begin!!!!! This four CD collection is a must have for anyone who likes their music loud and pounding fast. You cannot get a better deal on both the quality and quantity that this set provides.

I won't review all of the song selections, because there are a ton, but I will say that every song in this set is worth every penny.

At the time of these recordings (1942-1952) this music was commonly called "Jump Blues". It was the forerunner to Rock and Roll. Unlike early R & R music that highlighted white musicians and the guitar, Jump Blues highlighted black musicians and the saxophone (mostly tenor). This was not commonly played in mainstream America, although many of the musicians such as, Illinois Jacquet, were getting some notoriety on the jazz scene.

This was perceived as "devil's" music and white radio, for the most part, wouldn't touch it. Remember, this is almost 15 years before Bill Haley, Alan Freed or Elvis Presley. However, many white musicians would later record these songs and make a commercial success out of them.

I would recommend this box set to young and old alike. Along with the fantastic selection of songs, it comes with an outstanding booklet talking about the music and the artists. This music stills packs the same punch it did over 50 years ago. Take a listen!!!!!

I've been collecting this series since its fourth edition was produced in 2000. Since then it's been a hit and miss with the more recent editions I've purchased; I either like them or I don't, but this edition, Big Shiny Tunes 9 produced by Much Music, is very well-rounded.

Unfortunately, less than half of the CD is represented by Canadian artists who include Billy Talent, Finger Eleven, Nickelback, The Tea Party, Thornley, The Marble Index, Alexisonfire and Pilate. The compilation also includes more international groups than previous editions did including Scotland's Franz Ferdinand, Australia's JET, Sweden's The Hives, and England's The Darkness.

The songs flow well except for the last selection "Accidents," by Alexisonfire, because it's Alternative Metal, it doesn't really flow well with the rest of the playlist that's based on Alternative Pop/Rock. It sounds like the producers had to tag on something at the end to fill up a Canadian music quota, but the rest of the playlist is great.

Almost beneath writing about, this is a K-Tel-ish comp, meaning it's got obvious songs from obvious bands. In fact, you can find 4-CD sets with the same songs for even cheaper. The comp only serves as a reminder that Suicide Girls aren't just a bunch of hot girls on a website, but a fast-growing marketable brand. But the worst thing on this comp, if not on this entire planet, is Alkaline Trio covering "Lucretia My Reflection." NOBODY should ever be allowed to touch that song.

Sure, several of the tracks on this compilation are "classics" and the majority of the featured bands are nothing short of legendary in their genre, but it's the thought that counts.

If anything, to a non-Goth/Industrial music fan, this certainly could be a large stepping stone towards discovering a "new" style to enjoy. In other words, this collection of must-haves has more than enough punch to get the conservative listener bouncing...because obviously, if you're not a fan of the style, you probably won't have these songs anywhere in your collection.

This makes the compilation work. Just as the Suicide Girls and their creepy, yet wildly attractive, appearance tiptoes into pop culture, their accompanying mix CD opens a door for new listeners to take a trip back to the 80's and hear what all the fuss was about.

A very, very fun listen.

I received this comp as a present from my girlfriend, and for the most part I *do* like it... as you can see, classic standards in the scene are present here (Echo & The Bunnymen, Gene Loves Jezebel, etc...), so the album does work as a brief taste into the genre.

However, I'm somewhat troubled by the addition of Nine Inch Nails Atmosphere, and Alkaline Trio to the party, only because they seem to be present as filler material - NIN and Alkaline appear as more "mainstream", recognizable names to the uninitiated on the album, while Atmosphere's track seems to be somewhat incongruous with the flow of the album.

I'm also having issues with Alkaline's cover of the Sisters of Mercy classic "Lucretia My Reflection" - it's a decent cover, but nothing like the original standard.

I had high hopes for this cd with such an ecclectic line-up. The high points are:Los Lonely Boys, The Bad Plus, David Byrne , and String Cheese Incident. Bob Dylan's tune is okay but it sounds disjointed and uninspired. The Dead is probably the biggest letdown for me on the cd. Please don't tell me that this song is a good indicator of what they are doing these days. Mickey Hart, while a fairly competent drummer, REALLY needs to stay away from the vocal mike. This is really taking the Dead's fan base for granted. The rest of the tunes never really reach anything resembling something that I'd care to listen to again more than once. I guess I had to be there. I wonder why they didn't include songs from Neko Case, Doc Watson, Los Lobos, or Galactic? When you open the cd case there is a quote from Gillian Welch that says,"A good song is unstoppable. If you write a good song, they can't do anything to you." I'd be curious to know if the artists on this compilation think that these are good songs or at the very least saying something meaningful.

Vol. 1 was terrific. Vol. 2 is a mess-- overproduced instead of acoustic... why bother?