American Alternative music reviews

I have had this CD for 6 years now, buying it from Amazon a few weeks after it came out. While I traditionally go for the slightly harder sounding bands (3 Doors Down, Nickelback, Shinedown, etc.), this album from Sister Hazel is one that I can put on and decompress to. I really enjoy the sound of "Change Your Mind", "Champagne High", "Out There", "Shame On Me", and a couple of other tunes, but the whole CD is pretty good. It is definately a step up from "Somewhere More Familiar", which I thought was good, too. They released a couple more discs since then, but really haven't given them a shot. Nonetheless, I would call myself a Sister Hazel fan based on the merits of this album alone. Good, easy listening rock for your speakers.

Let's get one thing straight up front: I don't like southern-fried rock. I was never big on Skynyrd or the Allmans or Hootie or anyone else other reviewers are comparing Sister Hazel to. I'm a 47-year-old geezer who grew up on prog acts like the "classic 7" Moody Blues and Peter Gabriel's Genesis, whose CD collection today is dominated by the likes of Mozart and Handel. No country boy me.

Okay? Okay. Now, about this CD: I don't get it. How did Sister Hazel escape superstardom? How on earth did "Fortress" slip past the Grammy people? I don't have many pop/rock CDs where I'd consider every track a keeper - count 'em on one hand you have enough fingers left over for a wide selection of rude gestures. But not only isn't there a bad track on "Fortress"; there's not even a mediocre one.

Why? Number one: the music is masterful. The tunes are at once melodic enough to hum but complex enough to tickle the brain. The musicianship - especially the guitar work - is not just good, it makes you *feel* good. If these guys aren't enjoying themselves, they're putting on a heckuvan act.

Number two: the lyrics are witty and intelligent. Not only that, they're fun. Given a microphone, many bands these days (like composers of grand opera before them) wallow in self-pity or throw what amount to brat-tizzies set to music. Not Sister Hazel. I'm struck by the upbeat, positive mood in most of the songs. Even the done-me-wrong downers are clever, and often, like "Elvis," funny... in a quirky, backhanded sort of way.

This is pick-me-up music all the way. It practically winks and grins at you out of the speakers. The playing and production are seamless. Put it on after a really bad day at work and watch how fast the world rights itself. Sister Hazel: Now I know where you are, I'm coming after you... or at least, after more of your albums.

Definitely one of my Top Tier albums. This Superband is the best hardworking band out there. Don't believe me listen to their tracks. Bruce Lee is to Kung Fu as Sister Hazel is to Folk Rock. Folks this band rocks. Key tracks Out there and Your Winter.

THIS IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS A DVD.

Dave Matthews Band is one of the best bands to come out of the 1990's and their concerts are always fun. But, Matthews has yet to release a very good live CD.

Like all Matthews live CD's, this one suffers from the same problems: poor sound, too much audience noise, repetitive set list and not enough editing.

Dave Matthews insists on releasing complete concerts. All the truly great, classic live albums have had material come from several different shows, like Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East; Derek and the Dominoes Live; Grateful Dead, Live/Dead, etc. That way the best performances of each song are chosen.

Although the Dave Matthews Band is somewhat of a jam band, the group plays mostly the same songs night after night and year after year. Many of the songs here also show up on three or four other live CD's. So, you constantly get repeats. By including the whole show, you get songs that you don't really need to hear one more time.

What makes this CD better than other Matthews live CD's is that there is a little more variety in the song selection.

And Matthews includes the WHOLE show, right down to the clapping for an encore. You get lots of spaces where there is now music. Do you really want to waste your life hearing that over and over again?

Like all Matthews live CD's, the audience noise is cranked up way to loud. The audience overwhelms the band during some of the groups best playing. There is no need for this. You have to do this on purpose. You need to have audience microphones and then mix in the audience louder than the band. I don't consider audience noise to be art and don't need to constantly hear it. Also, I don't need cheering to tell me when something is good. All of the great, classic live albums have very little audience noise.

All of Matthews live CD's have poor sound. This CD set is actually the best. It isn't great, but it is much better than Red Rocks or Chicago.

The only other downside is that Boyd Tinsley is featured more on this CD than others. He has got to be the worst rock/jazz violinist of all time. The only time he really adds anything to the songs is when he plucks the strings. He shouldn't be allowed to touch a bow. All he does it scratch it back and forth over the strings. Note that on the studio albums, there are always guest violinists to handle any of the serious playing.

The back up singer, Tuwatha Agee, used to do backup for Roxy Music.

This is my favorite Live Dave cd because of how jazzy it is. I have never heard Leroi so good in any other live cd. Every song is so instrumental and huge solos from many instruments. The jazzy solos from the flute, saxaphone, clarinet, piano, and violin are out of this world. Not to mention Carter and Dave busting out in a couple songs. Sure Red Rocks was the first which to some people automatically makes it the best live cd but instrumentally which is why I love DMB this is the best live album.

my first DMB live cd, also the album that start my obsession with the band for years. they sound so damn good and original. be sure to check #41, very jazzy and chill but also the show of an amazing musicianship and improvisational skill. the most precious gem on the cds IMHO.

ok.. I'm picking on Dave because I'm not a big fan of his voice... his voice sounds like Eddie Vedder gone way way way wrong....this is especially true with 'Rhyme and Reason'....

yes, I know Dave was born in South Africa but Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool and actually managed to sound American soulful...
so what is it with Dave... I mean, he can sing in tune... and his band is really really good... I guess in the end... I'm just not a big fan of the finished product..
The albums starts out all right and 'What Would You Say' is a good song... but when
some of the slower numbers come along like 'Rhyme and Reason', I just don't get it.. it doesn't sound good to me.. I mean, I listen to a lot of music and I can't understand how people get into this song... Dave's suicidal ranting and raving... his voice sounds like a wild beast... I'm not going to lie, this is just terrible material...

I've often wondered what it would have been like to hear bands like the Beatles, Stones, the Doors, Hendrix - any of the true greats, hell even U2 in the early 80s, when something comes out and you don't really know where it'll stand in time but you know it's pretty darn good.

I first heard Under the Table when I was in high school 12 long years ago, and remember thiking what a great disc it was, but not really knowing if it was great b/c I was 17 years old chasing girls over the summer or whether it was a truly great album. Well let me tell you, 12 years later this disc still sounds SO much different than most of the regurgitated "alt" rock that's thrown together for the delight of the radio-listening masses. There is so much feeling in this music, much much different than a lot, not all, of the music today.

Remember, putting this band in the early 90s, there were not many other bands like it out there, and certainly none that broke through and made an impression on a large scale - I'm a Phish fan and cannot say that Phish is well-received by most people. This disc broke through on its own, it's pure, prior to Dave succombing to the pressure of being a well-known huge band. It's not his fault the masses liked this disc and those to follow. Just like the Doors, just like the Beatles, just like any other band out there that was first discovered. This is DMB in the purest sense.

I'm not going to go into a detailed analysis of this disc - I"m sure the other 400 reviewers can do that just fine. I'm writing this for the young teeny-boppers out there. As a child of the 90s, I never heard those great 60s and 70s bands live or during their era. All you need to know is you still can see DMB right now, and the sound of this disc, and many of their earlier discs, stand out as something that is beautifully unique and will stand the test of time for years to come. This disc has a way of getting into your heart and soul and bringing you to a place far, far away, which is really the purpose of music.

Buy this disc. You won't regret it.

I enjoyed this album a lot. I liked the variety of instruments, the great drums, Dave Matthews great voice, and everything else that makes this album worth while. It is hard to find many bands with much originality these days and DMB has about as much originality as I've ever heard. I also liked how they have a harder kind of more depressing song without having tons of distortion on their guitars (Rhyme and Reason).

FAST BALL threw me a curve. I didn't expect this and I'm a better listener for hearing their CD. Anyone who likes power pop will find the hooks a plenty on this release. That's one of the places I like to visit from BIG STAR to the UNCLE DEVIL SHOW, I eat this stuff up. Like the title one of NICK LOWE's early records: Pure Pop for Now People.

It's almost as if PAUL MACARTNEY were in the studio saying, not bad fellows, not bad at all. It's fresh yet familiar all at once, an absolute home run.

"THE WAY" which opens the CD, is a stone c old smash. An instant classic. The most modern sound on the disc. Sort of like the best moments from a great, lost SUGAR RAY single. A song so summery good you'll be playing it at your next BBQ and have folks asking you "Who is that band? It's that good; the kind of song John Cusack's character in "Hi Fidelity" would play in his record shop in Chicago. Wonderful harmonies, evoking British Invasion images of Beatles.

"FIRE ESCAPE" received considerable airplay on WXRT-FM (Chicago's Finest Rock) at the turn of the century, and while not my personal favorite, is certainly the reason these popsters made a little splash during the Y2K era.

I feel that things really pick up with tracks 6-12, where there is a half dozen+, cheerful pop moments, so well crafted, you'll wonder where these guys came from, have been...and why they weren't discovery by more rock hounds.

"WARM FUZZY FEELING", hits one out of the park. This track could easily have come off a vintage SMITHEERNS LP.

"SLOW DRAG" Has the craftsmanship of the brothers FINN in CROWDED HOUSE or the woefully underrated REMBRANTS.

"GOOD OLD DAYS", like The KINKS, has a snappy beat, with a punched up horn section reminiscent of BS&T or later day GRASS ROOTS. Me likes the Old Days, Good Times I Remember. You know, the horny sounds of CHICAGO.

"CHARLIE THE METHODONE MAN",

"OUT OF MY HEAD". Get out your Bic lighter as CHEAP TRICK fans re-unite, Z'NUFF said.

"DAMAGED GOODS", BADFINGER anyone? Listen for the ELVIS COSTELLO-styled vocal presentation on this one.

"NOWHERE ROAD" reminds me of AL Kooper's immortal keyboard play circa Dylan's "LIKE A ROLLING STONE", meets `BALLAD OF JOHN & YOKO", before evolving into a salute to THE WHO's "I CAN SEE FOR MILES". As Keith Moon once said: "If you want to play load, hit the drums hard".

In the end FASTBALL sounds the most like FASTBALL, and that's a good thing.

FASTBALL touches them all and left me with a warm fuzzy feeling. You should try FASTBALLS pitch too.

In a world where most artists assume they have to produce noisy, discordant, and non-melodic fodder for the equally beguilled public these guys are a nice retreat.
Just plain good ole rock that you can play all the way thru without torturing yourself by trying to listen to it 10 times before "you get it" like some of the crud being passed off as art these days. (yes, I do hate emo and death/thrash metal)
This is the only album of theirs that I've listened to and looking forward to grabbing the rest of their work.

I was about 10 or 11 when this album came out and I was among the millions who loved the song "The Way". I bought the cd and, for a while, they were my favorite band. But years past and my musical tastes drifted toward the hardcore/ metal/ death metal spectrum. But, recently, I dug this old cd out and put it in, on a whim. I had forgotten what a great band Fastball was (and still is). This album is so different and so upbeat compared to what I now listen to that I am just constantly drawn to it. The songs are simple, yet really impressive. Tony and Miles have two really distinct, good voices and the music itself puts you into a good mood. I really like this album and I'm really glad to have unearthed it after all of this time.

Some of the reviewers on here bash this CD as being boring, mediocre, lame etc. etc. Come on!! This CD went against the grain when it comes to other rock that was coming out in the late 90s early 00s. There are some really strong songs on here. "Meet Virginia" is the hit from this release but there is so much more on here. "Homesick", "If You Leave", "Rat", "Idaho", "Days". These songs got me through a tough stretch I went through in my life. "I Am" really stuck with me as it questions "am I the man I think I am", "am I the friend I think I am". Alot of self doubt in those lyrics, something I deal with from time to time. "Blind" is a great hearbreaking ballad without being mushy and oversentimental. The thing is, as good as this CD is it doesn't do justice for how good the band really is. Even if you don't like them I think you would change your mind if you see them live. One of the best bands live I have ever seen! They are one of those bands that you can't fully capture everything they are about in a recording studio. Do yourself a favor and check this out as I feel this is still there best CD.

Currently Train have established themselves in the soft rock/pop market in the US and European scene with their blend of soft melodies and fine guitar riffs. Train brings together rock and pop and fuses the two genres together almost fluidly. This is the southerners first album release from 1998 and it is good to go back and discover a band's roots before they became popular. Popularity came in the form of their hit song 'Calling All Angels' from their third album 'My Private Nation'. In this self titled album, the listener will hear a more softer Train before the glitz and popularity became them.

I like this album release simply because the first few songs are gems and showed the group's love of their music and the emotion in the song rhythms and lyrics could be heard and felt. 'Meet Virginia' has a catchy tune and reminds me of a few songs from 'The Allman Bros Band'. This song has become one of my favourites only after hearing it a few times. 'If You Leave' is a devilish melody that can make your heart sing out with as everyone of us has felt the pangs when someone we love leaves our life. Another great song to listen to is 'Free', with the smooth guitar riffs.

The last 4 songs of the album let the album down however this CD has two hidden songs well worth listening to. 'Train' and 'Heavy' which are hidden tracks and previously unreleased. This makes up for those songs. All in all, this album has become one of my most listened to CDs in my collection. Keep on making great music, Train!

Before I purchased this CD, I read some of the reivews on Amazon.com to see whether it was worthy of buying. I must admit, most of the reviews led me away from buying this album. But after putting it off further and further, I knew this band had to be more than just "Meet Virginia". I finally purchased it, and came back to Amazon.com to check the reviews again. I was simply appalled. How an album this good can get such bad reviews is beyond me.

If it's simple pop rock that gets on your nerves, simple enough - don't listen to it. But train is not a talentless band by any stretch of the imagination. Every guitar line and acoustically strummed chord is beautifully rendered and laden with vivacious color and musicianship. Songs like "I Am", "Blind", and "Free" are some of the best songs I have heard in a long time. "Blind" is a song that hits close to home (even though I am still 18) as it talks about getting older much too fast, and things lose their color and brilliance. A very sad and touching song, but beautiful all together. Almost every song on this album is beautiful and touching. It's certainly much more than what people crack it up to be.

Just like Radiohead's "Pablo Honey", I can't figure out why there are so many negative reviews. Both albums are brilliant (maybe not compared to later albums, but still in their own right) but get bashed constantly.

Give this album a chance and you'll know what I'm talking about.

The Amazon reviewer is a moron, plain and simple. But I can't blame him for his religion. I too, believe I am a music snob, and if you play a dozen or so of Sheryl Crowe's songs, I would scoff too.

But I recently heard "The Difficult Kind" at a friend's house, and asked what the heck album this is from, because THIS is the kind of song she was born to play. Slow, thoughtful, melodic, heartfelt. I was hooked from the first few notes. I can't believe it took me so long to hear this great song.

I think the reviewer made the same mistake I did: he went into the listening experience with certain assumptions and expectations as to what this album would sound like and what it would be, and he never listened to the whole thing. Because if he had listened to the entire album, he would have heard "The Difficult Kind" and he would have had at least one good thing to say about the album. And that is a cardinal rule of any reviewer who really, REALLY knows music: you must find something good to say about every album you review, because even in this corporate music driven-world every album is in at least some small way a labor of love, and the artists deserve our admiration for putting themselves out there, if nothing else. God knows we're not doing it, and it's pathetically easy to judge someone else's work when you haven't even tried.

"The Difficult Kind" is not only a highly redeeming track, it's probably worth the price of the disc.

[...]

The Globe Sessions is Sheryl's Crow best album yet. I love all 11 tracks, they are personal, raw, and intelligent. I heard Crow didn't even want to release this album because of its private content, she thought this album was too personal like a diary and she wasn't ready to share inner-most thoughts with the rest of the world. I am glad she did release this amazing album, i like when Crow is vulnerable and open for discussion. My Favorite Mistake, about her relationship with Eric Clapton: "Your friends are sorry for me, they watch you pretend to adore me but I'm no fool to this game." There Goes the Neighborhood is a rock song, fun and cool lyrics: "I dropped acid on a Saturday night just to see what the fuss was about..." The best song on the record is Riverwide, beautiful and sweeping song: "Tell ma i loved the man even though i turned and ran, lovely and fine i could have been, laying down in the palm of his hand..." It Don't Hurt is coming to terms with a broken relationship and finding someway to move on: "The electric man looks good today, well maybe not, trying hard to feel that way, the electric man's a good place to start." Maybe that's Something is mellow and cool: "Maybe that's something, maybe that's one more thing more than nothing." Am I getting Through is full of contradictions, it rocks! "I'm afraid I am queer..." Anything but Down is my fave song: "I bring you apples from the vine, how quickly you forget, I ran the bath and pour the wine." The Difficult Kind, a little too long but still lovely: "If you could see what love has made of me then I'd no longer be in your mind, the difficult kind, 'cause babe I've changed." Mississippi is written by Bob Dylan, this song is very country to me: "The only thing that I did wrong, i stayed in Mississippi a day too long." Members Only, I loved this song on first listen, her best uptempo song: "Uncle Larry's hooked on ice again, he seems to be stuck in the '80s, he wears his Members Only jacket 'cause he thinks it turns on all the ladies..." Crash and Burn is gorgeous, you can hear the sadness in Crow's voice: "In case you ever want to track me down, I'll take my cell phone to bed..." There is a hidden track so don't skip over it. The Globe Sessions is Crow's masterpiece, buy it now.

I've had this album since it came out and I have to say, it is one of my all-time favorite albums. To this day, I listen to it and think what a genius Sheryl is, and why some consider her a legend. "My Favorite Mistake" is amazing, one of my favorite "sad love songs" ever. If you don't pay attention, the song can blend in as a mellow/semi-bland sounding light rock tune--but when I listen to the wistfulness of the lyrics and Sheryl's perfect delivery of them, the song sums up some of my (past) relationship thoughts to a "T". Another stand-out song is "Crash and Burn" that only Sheryl can deliver with such raw emotion. It starts out seemingly innocuous enough...but then she lets it all out! Sheryl is one of the best at the sadder, more introspective song without sappiness. I guess she could be considered "depressing" (as some of my friends say), but she seems to keep a level of intelligence and realness about her that makes you think, "Yeah, sometimes I feel near the end of my rope.... but I'll pull through." I also really like her albums "Tuesday Night Music Club" and "C'mon C'mon" but this album along with "Sheryl Crow" are the must-haves of Sheryl.

This album didn't spawn many Top 20 hits like her first two albums. The biggest hit on this album is MY FAVORITE MISTAKE. I like MEMBERS ONLY because of the awesome lyrics("All the white folks shake their asses!"). In the song,all the rich kids and politicians shake their asses also. I also like MISSISSIPPI,CRASH AND BURN and THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

It's one of those CD's that has to hit you at the right time in your life for it to be appriciated and then once you grow out of it.... it's not as fun to listen to anymore... but if you like Sheryl and maybe want to branch out try Ani Difranco. I found Ani via another Sheryl fan which makes me grateful for my past ovbsession with SC.

I loved this album, highly listenable for die-hard fans. It can also draw in some new fans, from the beginning. My favorite songs are>>"Riverwide", "It Don't Hurt", "Anything But Down", and the beautiful bluesy ballad "The Difficult Kind". I think she is maturing more and more, probably until an album of hers explodes with perfection. Some songs are like stray tracks, but it's all good, it is worth your listening.

As if they didn't have anything else to do... I love watching this movie. It brings back memories of a time when I used to swim in the lake. I once saw a van down by the river, but never looking inside. I assumed they had ice cream. I was hoping all along that Bennett would let off some steam... And guess what? He did. Nothing else to say but, watch the damn movie, then go on with your life. There nothing here to see folks, keep moving.

I saw this film back in '85 when it hit the theatres, and ever since I was a big zombie movie fan. Sure you got your Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the dead, plus the original Night of the Living dead, which this movie sort of mentions.
The events that happen in this movie are like bad karma waiting to happen. What happens when you put a medical supply warehouse(that stores cadavers) next to a funeral home that is equiped with an embalming room and a cremetorium, that just happens to be right next to a creepy moss covered Cemetary? Nothing, but if you add this to the equation; in the basement of the medical supply warehouse are several canisters containing zombies that have been in a sleep stasis since they were contained during the original incident( not mentioned but hints at the events in Night of the living dead) Now add a couple of bumbling employees that are curious about the canisters and accidentally let one of the slimey critters out! Whoops! Not only do they let the sucker out the contaminate themselves, the cadaver and anything else that might be dead in the ware house. Which leads to one of the most hilarious scenes in the film, when Freddy and Frank discover that one of the vetenary 'split dogs' has comeback to life and is yelping in pain, and then Frank beats it with a crutch! Outstanding. Now throw in some punk rock looking hooligans and a rain storm and ya got yourself a really campy zombie film. Theres plenty of gore and creepiness for splat fans.
B movie scream queen linea quigley plays the character trash, who ends up stripping nude except for a pair of leggings and dancing by torch light on top of a cement platform in the graveyard. Quigley fans get an eyeful.
There is also some gratuitous cursing going on by the token black character, he says the f word so many times in this film you think it was his job(reguardless of starring in this film)
Horror movie fans may recongnize some familiar faces from other eighties horror films as well.
The Zombies in this film move with a purpose, they don't just mill around and move at slow speeds, they flat out tackle you, another scenes shows a couple of cops investigating some downed paramedics. when the zombies come out, these guys get taken right off thier feet, and hard. "Send more Cops!" Bottom line.....Gruesome, funny, low budget fun, don't just rent this one, buy it!

"The Return of the living dead" belongs to the same catagory as "The Evil dead", "Mute witness", "The Texas Chainsaw massacre II", "Saw" and all those other horror flicks that have a perfect mix of horror and black humor.

Made mostly by a bunch of young people, even first timers, on a shoestring budget, who have an arresting kind of enthusiasm. Not burdened by any serious drama or presure from money-licking producing commitees, they just come together and make lovely, off beat horror, that, because of the afore mentioned enthusiasm that richly oozes from every frame, immediately suck the audience in a maelstrom of blood, gore, clever filming and witty jokes.

In "The Return of the living dead" a group of local punks mess around on a closed graveyard, not knowing that its inhabitant soon will emerge to the surface.
The reason for this finds its origin in a nearby warehouse. Two goofy characters, the pupil Freddy and his mentor Frank, accidently open up a tank with toxic chemicals (once belonged to a secret military operation), that used to bring the dead back to live.
After they burn up the remaining trash in the ovens of a mortuary, the chemicals get into the air and a frenzy Gothic rainshower spills the stuff on the graveyard and all hell breaks loose.

That's a fine cast we're having with a handful of weirdo's and would-be hoodlums that do battle with the undead while the soundrack bursts out with a coffin full of alternative rock and punk, like that of The Cramps, T.S.O.L. and Jet Black Jerries.

It starts off funny, then gets a little more mean-spirited, and it all ends with a bang.

This is a super album to hang out with friends and listen over a drink.

I like this one better than Bringing Down the Horse because it has some of my favorite songs on it. Jakob Dylan grows on each record and his lyrics keep getting better and better. Favorites include Letters from the Wasteland, Sleepwalker, I've Been Delivered, Some Flowers Bloom Dead, and Murder 101. This record sounds so good and is going to become a classic like BDTH. Highly Recommended.

From the very first track you are drawn into this expansive and well compiled album from The Wallflowers. Each component of the band is well blended to form a unified sound and is complimented by the powerful lyrics. Quite often artists experience a slight hedge in their productivity as the number of albums they release grows. This is very much the opposite with The Wallflowers as this is a strong release and I would even venture to say their best yet. The song lyrics express their character while their musicianship shows why they are at the top of their game.

Even if, they had to re-record Boyd Tinsley's Violin parts.

I love this live CD, it is only for hardcore fans though, with a lot of BTCS.

Disc 1

1. Intro
*2. Last Stop 5/5
*3. Don't Drink the Water 5/5
*4. #41 5/5
*5. #40> 5/5
*6. Lie in our Graves 5/5
7. What Would You Say 5/5
8. Pantala Intro 4/5
9. Pantala Naga Pampa> 5/5
10. Rapunzel 5/5
11. Stay(Wasting Time) 5/5

Disc 2

1. The Maker 5/5
*2. Crash Into Me 5/5
*3. Jimi Thing 5/5
*4. So Much to Say 5/5
*5. Too Much 5/5
6. Christmas Song 5/5
7. Watchtower Intro 4.5/5
8. All Along the Watchtower 5/5

>= Segue to....

*= Reccomended Track

1= terrible 2= poor 3= decent 4= good 5= great

This is the first album that I bought. Well, second. I bought Everyday and my younger brother bought live Chicago at the same time on the way back from Myrtle Beach (traveling back to Ohio). We listened to Everyday maybe once and listened to this album almost nonstop. This was the first time that I heard DMB besides Space Between (the song that got me into the band is now one of my least favorite songs).
Last Stop is really good on this album, great energy. Don't drink the water is great, but I still think that Folsom Field has the best version of it (Folsom Field also has the best version of All Along the Watchtower - the ending is absolutly stunning, you've gotta hear it!) The song that stands out is #41. This song is my favorite upbeat DMB song, it's so smooth, and Victor Wooten guest stars and rips some phat solos on the bass. If you play bass, buy this album! This version of #41 far surpases all other version, just read the reviews. It's hot! Chrah is great, too. It's one of the better versions. Tim Reynolds play on most, if not all of the cd. So, if you play electric guitar, buy this album. It's hot!
All Along the Watchtower is a very good version, one of the best, and Too Much has so much energy. This is also the only cd where you can find the Maker.
Conclusion: This cd highlights the first 3 releases. It has less of a pop sound and more of a jazzy, bluesy, and rock sound.
If you want a cd that has a great collection of songs that include the more poppy stuff (digging a ditch, space between, big eyed fish, when the world ends, I did it, if I had it all) as well as some of the most energetic upbeat stuff (Don't Drink, Warehous, AATW, etc.) - buy the Folsom Field cd (one of the best -maybe better the Chicago, it has more catchy songs, but the good songs of Chicago outshine most every other album).
If you want the most expansive collection minus two staples (#41 and Crash) get the Central Park Concert. 20 songs, hours of music, possibly the best version of Don't Drink the Water, and the only cd with Cortez the Killer, a bluesy song that is one of the best guitar solo songs of all time (wicked 11 minute song that does't get old - Warren Haynes stars as one of the best blues guitarists of all time). This cd is in my opinion the best place for a newcomer to start, and an essential album for anyone that considers themselves even a casual fan.

and it is at least as good, sometimes even better. Both this one and Red Rocks have a completely different song list, which covers all of the band's best songs. If you are new to the band I strongly recommend you get Red Rocks first, and if you like it, get this one (believe me, they are both very much worth the price). While Red Rocks has a lot of songs from Under the Table and Dreaming, live in chicago has a lot from Crash. I can't believe so many people don't like this live set more; it completely rocks and is definitely not only for diehard fans. anyone can appreciate the extreme beauty in the music, especially "rapunzel" and "don't drink the water." I recommend this cd to anyone who wants to branch out in their music collection. Enjoy!