American Alternative music reviews

Not quite as good as her debut but a nice solid CD. Her voice is still just ok, but cool songs and arrangements.

Excellent lyrics that exhibit a reverence for everyday life. Stirring vocals.

I purchased this cd in November after being dragged to a recent Springsteen concert by my husband. Oh, I agree with Springsteen's politics and respect the good works he does and enjoy the music he and the E Street band play. I am not, however, a diehard FAN like my husband. Attending the Devils and Dust concert was a life moment for him while I was just happy to dress up in clothes that did not mark me a toddler's mom and go out for drinks after the concert. I was surprised. I loved the concert and was quite moved by his music,lyrics, stories and instrumental talent. So I immediately cranked up the internet to research Springsteen, his past musical works and what might make him tick. And I found Patti. She and their children seem to be a driving force in his life and music. So I checked out her music and what I found was a delicious and sultry voice with its own story to tell. I am no music critic, so all I can say is I love this album. I have a special place in my heart for real women singers who lay it all on the line and refuse to sell out to the popular marketing strategies and machinery of our corporate driven celeb crazed population. And Patti is one of these women. She is a real American woman with real talent and she has a voice I hope to hear telling more stories soon.

I first got this record on tape when it came out in 92 and I liked it a lot then. Today I own it on CD and I love it. This was a great record back then and it's still a great record today. I wish I had a reference to compare it to but I don't. You might say it's part rock, part alt-country. If you like to relax after a hard day with a few beers, I strongly suggest that you check it out. This is beer drinking music at its best. By your second listen or your fourth beer which ever comes first you will be singing along.

Just a great album of well writen songs, not a bad track on it and some great guitar work by Johnny Hickman. Overlooked album by a great band.

I was a BIG fan of Camper Van Beethoven and really lamented their demise in 1990, so when this CD hit the streets I bought it without having heard it first. I was not disappointed. If anything, I was surprised that Lowery was making music that was so, well, accessible and (yikes!) commercial! Teen Angst, the first song and the one to obviously get the most air play on radio was a strong statement by Lowery that he was still in fine, fine form. My one regret from this album is that NO ONE pushed "Another Song About the Rain" to get any air play. It is probably one of my 10 all-time favorite songs and is, IMHO, by far the greatest song Cracker has recorded. It crawls up in your soul and just takes over. I was hoping it would be included in the newly released O Cracker Where Art Thou, with Lowery on vocals and polyethnic-cajun-slamgrass band Leftover Salmon backing him up. Sadly, yep, Teen Angst got the bluegrass treatment, but all I have to console myself with is the original recording of "Another Song About the Rain." Sigh... Besides that, this is flat-out one of the best "debut" albums of the '90s. Yeah, it's not a true debut since Lowery had been around with Camper Van Beethoven, but jumping genres, relocating and starting over surely are qualifiers that allow this to be called a "debut." I've owned this now for over 10 years and it's STILL played regularly. It's just one of those albums that is timeless. Other Cracker albums sold better (i.e., Kerosene Hat), but to me, this is by far still THE best Cracker album.

This album, released in 1987, may not be the one you want...

The song Classical Gas, by Mason Williams, has been recorded dozens of times. Mason Williams has recorded at least three different versions himself, so it's not too surprising that many people end up buying something different than they expected. Here is a list of some of the more notable versions:

Title: Classical Gas
Performer: Mason Williams
Album: The Mason Williams Phonograph Record
Year: 1968
Comment: This is the original hit you have heard on the radio many times.

Title: Classical Gas
Performer: Mason Williams
Album: Handmade
Year: 1970
Comment: This superb acoustic version is my favorite. It also appears on the 1999 "The Story of Us" soundtrack. Many MP3 files circulating the Internet incorrectly credit this version to Eric Clapton.

Title: Classical Gas
Performer: Chet Atkins
Album: Street Dreams
Year: 1986
Comment: Features acoustic and electric guitar, violin, and flute - an interesting listen.

Title: Classical Gas
Performer: Mason Williams and Mannheim Steamroller
Album: Classical Gas
Year: 1987
Comment: This is the album shown above and is good if you like Mannheim Steamroller, but it does not contain the original Classical Gas recording that most people want.

Title: Classical Gas
Performer: Vanessa-Mae
Album: The Violin Player
Year: 1995
Comment: Very nice cover with violin as the lead instrument.

Title: Classical Gas
Performer: California Guitar Trio
Album: Pathways
Year: 1998
Comment: Impressive.

Title: Classical Gas
Performer: Zoe McCulloch
Album: Gypsy Noodle
Year: 2004
Comment: Electric guitar version by a brilliant young player. This album features several compositions by Mason Williams.

Chip Davis and friends know their way around a good arrangement, and some of these classic guitar tunes by the outragesouly talented Mason Williams do him and the songs justice - most notably the wonderful version of Greensleeves and of course the title track. And, as pure listening fun, the album is overall incredibly pleasant. A nice mix of old and new - and a good hook for those Mannheim Steamroller arrangements.

I can't believe people are complaining about the version of Classical Gas on this CD-- it's the best version I've heard. I have the original from "The Mason Williams' Phonograph Record," and, well, it's pretty bad. This version is much fuller sounder with keyboards and orchestra, and the transitions from section to section are handled with much more finesse.

So, anyway, the CD gets off to a great start with my favorite version of Classical Gas. And, I'm happy to say, the tracks that follow it rarely disappoint. Songs like Country Idyll, Saturday Night At The World, etc, really have emotion through the use of guitar and orchestra. "Baroque A Nova," which was pretty hideous on the original recording, gets a major facelift here.

If you enjoy Mannheim's sound, you'll like this CD. Although the compositions were written by Mason Williams, they come across much better on this CD than Mason ever managed to make them sound before. Definitely recommended. I'm just knocking off one star because of a couple of dud tracks (I'd knock off just 1/2 star if I could.)

The Hip have established themselves as a band that simply writes quality songs, and on In Between Evolution that's what you get. BUT, anyone waiting for this band to experience an evolution of their own will be disappointed. Maybe they can learn from their country-mates, Rush, and seek out new influences and dare to play something inventive. I don't want to be too critical of the Hip -- what they do is unique and awesome at times --- but it would be disappointing to me, as a fan, if they didn't try to reach a new level musically. Maybe it will happen, but not with this album.

There is a reason why musicians make their most energetic, angry music when they are young. Often times, bands come out with a bang and seem to fade away as the years progress, the bands that stick around, see Green Day, are the one's who seem to realize that as they mature, so should their music.

Anyone doubting this theory only needs to listen to In Between Evolution (IBE) by the Tragically Hip. After releasing the more subtle and nuanced In Violet Light (IVE), maybe the Hip thought they had to rev their engines and go back to the hard-rocking days of their early records. IVE attained only platinum status in Canada, while some bands may have called that a career highlight, the Hip at one stretch had five records in a row go well over the 4-times platinum mark with two of those records reaching diamond status.

The need to make a statement shows up all over In Between Evolution (IBE), as songs such as Summer Is Killing Us jump off the speaker with an energy the band has not shown in a number of records. Unfortunately the Hip are no longer angry young men brimming with testosterone and the attempts at rollicking rock come across as out of their grasp. The last truly great Hip songs in my opinion (Lake Fever, The Darkest One) have a mature energy to them and show a band brimming with confidence. The sense of that mature older band rarely shows up on IBE.

Instead, for the first time I have experienced when listening to the Hip, the songs on IBE have a sense of been there and done that much better. Gus: The Polar Bear From New York seems like a retread of the dark and murky sounds heard on Day For Night and Heaven Is A Better Place today seems like a cast-off from the meat and potatoes rock of Fully Completely. The last time the band sounded this familiar the end results was Phantom Power a record whose sheer diversity and song quality made the record sound like an aim for perfection, on IBE, the band seems to be throwing things at the wall and hoping they stick.

Now some songs do stand-out; Vaccination Scar manages to sound fresh while maintaining the Hip's rep for writing quirky and unique songs. It Can't Be Nashville Everynight meanwhile has a nice driving drum beat with a sing-song quality chorus making this loud, thrashing tune the one time where the Hip pull off their attempt at angry rock. Unfortuately there are not any other songs I can think of on IBE that truly stand out as memorable.

Here's hoping the next Hip record reveals a band that accepts what it is: an older, established rock band who has embraced what stage their lives are at and where their music should be.

Oh what's to say? Great quirky songs, wonderfully just-off-center lyrics and Gord. Sign me up for every CD these people release from now until eternity.

American Life is a great album. It is also the most personal in Madonna's career. Some songs talk about what she wanted in life when she was younger and how she wants different things now that she has a beautiful family. She also sings about her love for her husband Guy Ritchie, how the loss of her mother effected her, and her relationship to Jesus Christ. Die Another Day is added in bonus from the James Bond movie and its just so great and my favorite fast song.Don't listen to what the critics have to say and buy this great CD. It is not anti-american at all. There are no anti-American Lyrics at all in this album.

American Life is a great song and the beginning has guitars on it and then at the end she does the rap about everything she has and then asks the question " do you think I'm satisfied" and we are led to believe she does not. She then mentions how she tried to stay ahead and on top and be the best. The clean version does not use the word f*ck it. I like the orginal version of this song better because when she says f*ck it it blends well in with the song and it gives it more. Madonna sings that she is not satsified with having everything or being the best anymore through everything she has learned in her showbusiness life. She has her family now and thats more important to her. Too bad the music stations did not play this great song because they thought it was anti-american and it is not. There are no lyrics in this songs that make it Anti- American. Hollywood starts out with beautiful birds chirping and then the quitar playing and talks about how everyone wants to come here to make it and how " music stations always plays the same song" which is so true!!! Her voice is morphed at the end where she says "push the button, don't push the button" "trip the station" " change the channel" . This is said 5 times and each time her voice gets deeper and changes. This song implies that Hollywood isn't that grand once you get in and make it and it really not what you bargained for assuming all the stress and how fake people are. I'm So Stupid is about how stupid she was because she wanted to be "like all the pretty people", good message bad song skip it. This song has a more of a rock feel to it.

Love Profusion is another slow song and you hear Mirwais in the background vocals singing Love Profusion. The songs talks about "too many questions but not one solution" and how "there is so much destruction and all I want is a celebration" . Implies what is going on in the world today. I love Nobody Knows Me its my favorite fast track next to Die Another Day. It starts off with computer beeping. Madonna sings about how know one really knows her and they only know her star image. She also say "Its so hard to find someone to admire". Great Words. Nothing Fails is a very emotional moving slow song that beginngs with the guitar playing and with the London Gospel Choir singing in the back towards the end and ending with the guitar. She talks about her love for Guy Ritchie and how she has climbed the "tree of life" and "I no longer care if I fall" She has because of everything she has learned from life and and if she does fall it wont effect her that much anymore. Intervention is another good song that starts out slow that get faster slowly through out the rest of the song. She sings "I know that love will keep us together" Talking about her husband Guy Ritchie.

X-Static Process is another slow ballad played by the acoustic guitar. I dont like the song and the music very much and I usually skip it. Mother and Father also starts out with different computer beeps. Madonna starts singing in somewhat of a childlike voice. I really like it. It is also a semi fast song with a little rap towards the end. This song seems very personal to Madonna and sings about her loss of her mother and how it effected her. She also sings about her Father and how she did not like him because she wasn't getting any attention from him. Die Another Day is just a great song from the James Bond movie. It actually my favorite on the whole CD.Easy Ride is a beautiful ballad that starts out with the guitar. Madonna sings she wants to work hard and doesn't want to sit back and not do anything. Easy ride has a little opera in it and the music is absolutely stunning. It is just a perfect song to end this album.

My personal favorites would be Die Another Day, Nobody Knows Me, Nothings Fails, Easy Ride, and American Life. I gave it 4 stars because I did not like I'm So Stupid and X-Static Process. Other than that this album is indeed very underrated!!

I would not usually listen to this type of music, but when an artist releases a recording that has audio merit, how can I refuse? Basically what attracted me to the clean version is partly because I myself have not used any expletives since acquiring proficiency in English as a second language.

Overall, this audio CD has a lot of musical and artistic merit on the mixing and the producing aspects. The tunes are creatively mixed with synthesizers and vocoders.

How can I justify my reason for enjoying this audio CD? I really can't other than to say that sample the music from Amazon.com and on iTunes and make your **own** decision whether or not to purchase this CD. I ignored the ugly comments about the CD and have not regretted the acquisition.

My humble opinion, no need to take my word for it. Two thumbs up to "American Life" [Clean Version].

Madonna is my favorite artist ever, so naturally this album excited me. The much-hyped title track is controversial, but only because people know that IT IS TRUE! "Hollywood" is her best dance song since "Nothing Really Matters", "I'm So Stupid" has a superb message, and "Easy Ride" is an etheral ballad. I LOVE MADONNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heard all the hype prior to attending Bonnaroo, JJ clone and all that, bought it anyway. Enjoyable laid back album with a retro feel to it. Great hooks. Awesome for sitting by the pool...

Donavon Frankenreiter, a renowned surfer turned musician, is simply as talented on a guitar and mic as he is on a surfboard. This CD is a nice blend of upbeat acoustic rhythms and melodies with slower, laid back grooves. Even though Donavon plays acoustic guitar music like Jack Johnson, their sounds are remarkable different mixes. Donavon's voice is less forceful and seems more calm while Jack's vocals can be hauntingly relaxed and almost whispering. They are both undeniably talented and any of their albums are fun to listen to at home, in the car, or whenever. But - if you want to listen to music that is consistently optimistic (even between the upbeat songs), then choose Donavon Frankenreiter over some of Jack Johnson's bluesy tones.

Not convinced? Check out "It Don't Matter", "Our Love", "Heading Home", and "Swing on Down."

There is not one single song on the whole CD that you will not be singing. It is simply one of those rare finds that you end up listening to without skipping a track.

This is a mood alterning CD...you simply can't listen to it and stay in a bad mood.

I haven't heard any other band that sounds like bb, and i will always keep this one. If you are unfamiliar with hr then you may be turned off at first, but he quickly grows on you because he is extremely expressive. The production is sharp and pops. The mid-song rythmn changes, like in "the messengers" are ingenious and keep the music fresh today. "With the Quickness" is an eclectic mix of grunge (before grunge), vernon reid-esq solos, thrash-metal and, of course, punk. This album was a nice blend of fast, ripping tracks (e.g. "sheba") and slowed-down, heavy-chevy tracks (e.g."w/da quickness"). Bb's lyrics were wonderful then, because the airwaves were dominated by flakey stuff lacking substance and, today, these lyrics still have depth to them, taking the listener on a metaphysical and concrete journey keeping true to reggae by interspersing religion and charged political opinions throughout the album. The only drawback on the album is "don't blow..." which seems like musical filler.

I Just got the quickness sent from amazon and I was listening to it today and now Im overwelmed with joy, cant recommend this enough to bad brains fan, fans of infectious punk or metal

Soul craft,Voyage into infinity,With the quickness,Yout juice and Prophets eye are the best the rest is good to listen to not filler but those are my fav cuts but as too the contreversial track dont blow no bubbles I really dont care for the track anyway its not that great of a track anyway but I dont why people dont just laugh at it more as a joke I sure dont take it seriously and Im more offended by the people who get offended for a track that isnt that great to begin with....jeez leweez

Great, great songwriting. Mackie on the drums is reason enough to check this cd out. Get it!!!

First of I am not a john frusciante fan.

This cd in what i read is john frusciante best cd up to date...maybe its that im not into red hot or john f but this sounds to forced.I think john is aiming to bad for the eccentric madman genius label that his heroes have(Syd Barret,Capatain Beefeheart).
Yeah there was some moments in here that did something but other than that this is for serious hardcore everything john/red hot fans.I Got this expecting to hear more songs in the style of those seen in his heroin isolation period footage.....Hearing him drugged out of his mind screaming and doing noises like that would of made it a better album

Many people say that Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-shirt is John Frusciante's best work, but I would have to give that award to either To Record Only Water for Ten Days or Shadows Collide With People. That said, Niandra LaDes is still a superb piece of work. It is a raw, emotional, and ultimately very weird journey through the life of a man. Highlight tracks include: As Can Be, My Smile is a Rifle, Head (Beach Arab), Curtains, Mascara, Untitled #3, and Untitled #5. If you like weird and raw music, then maybe Niandra LaDes is for you. I personally think this record is a bit overrated, but still good. Definitely a worthy purchase.

This album is as far from RHCP as you could ever get. I first bought this years ago expecting to hear John singing songs like 'Tiny Dancer' and 'Castles made of sand' which were Johns favourites around the time of his demise with the chili peppers. But what I found was so completely different it took me a few listens to get this album.
To hear a man so isolated from the world and so consumed by his addiction is upsetting, and scary to think that this could have been how we remembered John. But this album will certainly move you, and you can certainly feel his loneliness. The guitar playing is still brilliant, the words are painful and the production is poor. (I believe it was recorded on a 4 track recorder in Johns bedroom).
This album you will either love it or hate it. But once you get it, and understand it you will love it.
To all John fans - get this album!!!
To all RHCP fans - give it a try!!!
To everyone else - best leave this one alone.

this cd managed to pick out one hit wonder songs. but how about smashing pumpkins,nirvana, or pearl jam even!!!!??? im also a 70's baby so my highlights of high school were goin to irving plaza right after school, to see great bands like stp,nirvana,rage....... these bands made an impact on the 90's era of alternative scene!
i hope someone truly comes together with at least a double cd of nothing but great stuff... until then ill be listening to my old cds.

These are really great songs if you remember them or just want some older Alternative rock.
However, how in the world can they make a 90's compilation and not include the band Bush?? Actually, No Doubt was also a radio airwave favorite before they went too R&B.

This compilation is sadly lacking some major moments from the 90's, and a couple of songs on there I vaguely remember hearing, but don't really stand out enough to put them on a CD suming up a decade of great music.

Definately a good start for a 90s collection. Afew that the other review didnt mention as missing that I felt i should point out : Matchbox 20, Third Eye Blind, Incubus, and Fuel. Then the hundreds of bands that nobody remembers...

Alright, if you are reading this all of you need to get out there and check these guys out on the road. While this is a great album, seeing moe. live is ten times better. Rick needs some moe. in his life. Yee-ah.

My cousin is a big fan of this band and let me listen to em... he's a big fan of Phish & The Dead, who I both don't really like that much, but I REALLY like THESE guys! They have a nice mellow jam-ish sound, similar to that of The Allman Brothers. I love the whole cd but my favorite songs are "Mexico" & "St Augustine"... wow,,, they just might be my new favorite mellow band..

Check this band out if u like The Allman Brothers or similar stuff, or if you're just looking for some nice mellow music that's not too sappy, or,, if you're just sick of hearing that dumb "This is the anthem, throw all yo hands up!" song and want to hear something different...

Growing up and coming of age in Albany, N.Y. when moe. was starting up and playing local music spots such as valentine's and bogie's left a lasting impression on me as a jam band snob. seeing chuck, al, and vinnie tear it up night after night a few blocks from my house was something I wouldn't trade for the world. This recording captures roots era moe. with hints toward where we saw them progress to. It's a must have for 'no doy' lovers and later converts. Buy the stinkin' album! It's worth it. I saw it happen!