Ska music reviews

One of the better collections of Ska around. A great buy if you're new to ska and you want to learn more about it!

I FIRST HEARD THIS BAND IN '98' WHEN MY FRIEND PUT TOGETHER A BENEFIT COMP TAPE AND 78 RPM'S SENT HIM THERE EP 'GO'. I LOVED IT, REAL CATCHY PUNK ROCK/SKA BUT NOT IN A MEANINGLESS CORPORATE SENSE, INSTEAD UNLIKE MOST OF THE WASHED OUT BANDWAGON PUNK THAT SEEMS TO BE TAKING OVER THIS BAND ACTUALLY HAD SOMETHING TO SAY. ANYWAY 'NEW WORLD OF CHIVALRY' DOESNT LET DOWN AND PICKS UP WHERE 'GO' LEFT OF WITH SLOW SKA AND FAST AGRESSIVE PUNK ROCK AND OH YE, FAST SKA AND SKA/PUNK.THEY REMIND ME OF A MUCH COOLER MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES WITH A BIT OF LINK 80 (OLD LINK 80 WHEN NICK WAS STILL ALIVE, R.I.P) THROWN IN FOR GOOD MEASURE. I'D LOVE TO HAVE SEEN THIS BAND LIVE BUT I THINK THEY SPLIT, IT'S VERY HARD GETTIN INFO ON THEM AS THEY WERE PRETTY UN-KNOWN. STAND OUT TRACKS I WOULD SAY ARE- 1.this day, 2.conviction, 3.i didnt know i had a choice- BUT ALL OF THIS ALBUM IS ROCKIN. IT'S PROBABLY WORTH SAYIN THAT A FEW MEMBERS OF THIS BAND WHERE IN SKA LEGENDS 'SKANKIN PICKLE' SO IF YOU LIKED THEM GET HOLD OF ANYTHING BY 78 RPM'S IF YOU CAN. ANYWAY HOPE THIS REVIEW HELPS THEM GET A FEW MORE FANS AND DOES 'NEW WORLD OF CHIVALRY' JUSTICE. PEACE AND LOVE FROM THIS LONDON PUNK ROCKER. P.S I CANT SPELL

how can ya go wrong with all the top line ska bands on this cd. the "real" ska bands on the scene. the scofflaws, new york ska jazz ensemble,the toasters and more. every friggin song is great not a dud in the bunch.The best track is One Groovy Coconut's new wave crashed, the best new ska band i've heard all year.also dig the fab track from the pilfers, who rage live! a must get Cd for anyone into SKA and for everyone period.

I could Skank 24 hours straight to this off beat masterpiece! If you're to hip to be cool, then you sure as hell should have this in your CD selection! Original Rude Boy Style

I could Skank 24 hours straight to this off beat masterpiece! If you're to hip to be cool, then you sure as hell should have this in your CD selection! Original Rude Boy Style

This is my first contact with The Kinks music, great trip, great band.
Their sound is aunthentic and simple, but also powerfull.
I recomend it.

And first of all, Sorry for my bad english!!!!!!!!

Daniel

This was my gateway to the Kinks and I've since grown to be a huge fan of them so I couldn't recommend this compilation more dearly,especially since it documents so accurately their metamorphosis from, heavy metal inventing, riff rockers to baroque pop purveyors in grand style.

Also take into account that here reside several of pop music's undying classics be it the riff heavy trio of "You Really Got Me","All day and all of the night"and"Til the end of the day" or the lush tunes of "Waterloo Sunset","Days"(check out this track's magnificent break starting with "I wish today would be tomorrow")or"Victoria".

A pretty good introduction to one of the trully great bands of all time.

This is the only resort for Kinks fans who are just setting out on one of the longest roads of discovery in rock history. The band's oeuvre is as astonishing in size as it is for the quality it sustained well into the 90s. Understandably, many Kinks retrospectives are available, and I happen to have bought several of them over the years as I gradually came to understand the immensity of what I had gotten myself into. This isn't a rock band; this is an enduring monument of an historic era. The Kinks distributed their many gems throughout an enormous catalog of albums, and the later triumphs are particularly difficult to find because the albums are not widely available. But "The Singles Collection" is a perfect starting point for several reasons. The sound quality features an unprecedented and revelatory clarity, while the song selection is the most comprehensive of any kinks collection, featuring even the two earliest singles, "Long Tall Sally" and "You Still Want Me." Both singles failed commercially but they are very strong suggestions of the genius that was to come, and make for intriguing introductions to the sound The Kinks eventually grew into. Every early hit you need is here, from thrashers and ballads like "You Really Got Me" and "Tired of Waiting For You" to later and more mature masterpieces like "Lola" or the divine "Waterloo Sunset." Even Dave's famed "Death of A Clown" and Ray's lesser known but characteristic "Days" are here. Particularly revealing is the second disc, "The Music of Ray Davies," featuring demos and outtakes that range from famous to obscure. Ray's "The Shirt" is a seductively produced masterpiece, while the 80s outtake "Voices in the Dark" is ghostly in its beauty and atmospheric production. Similarly, the stripped down and artful "Return to Waterloo" manages to glimpse the celestial heights reached by its earlier counterpart, "Waterloo Sunset." These unearthed jewels just go to show how impossible it is to lift up every stone of The Kinks contribution to rock 'n roll. One wonders how much they've got locked up in the vaults. Listeners intrigued by this second CD are strongly encouraged to take a chance on the band's laterwork for Arista. Albums like 1977's "Sleepwalker" and 1984's "Word of Mouth" have engenered inaccurate critical appraisals that wrongly turn away novice fans. In any event, this is the place to start. The sound quality alone is worth the price, and the hard-hitting song selection exhausts much of the early essentials while leaving so much more to be discovered.

Mento Buru is an incredibly put together band from California. Their music blends energetic and smooth ska beats with other forms like jazz, latin,and reggae. This CD will get any music lover's toes tappin and probably even up and dancing. Their horn section is outstanding, with a smooth and talented rhythm section, and well put vocals. And for those of us who thought that something like a flute wouldn't go well with ska, this album will make you think again. A definate quality pick for music fans.

Yes, I did pump the rating up to 5 stars because they are friends of mine. This album brings out the band member's true musical talent. Of the members that I know, they are all musicians from highschool with influences taken from the Jazz band, orchestra and Marching band.

They strive for the roots of ska which is overlayed with Jazz, Mento, Salsa and Buru rhythm. There are a few straight ahead ska tracks (Beer Song) that will send your body into a skank.

This should be looked at as something culled from the archives vault; more for Completists and Ska Fanatics, some of this appears on the "Ska Boo Da Ba" produced by Chinese Jamaican Phillip "Justin" Yap; recorded in an 18 hour marathon recording session, that is it's strength in power and possibly it's weakness too, spontaneous and raw, nothing was left to be touched up on, dubbed or such and at least 90% of the album would not need such, in spots you might wonder. It sometimes seems to have a jam session aura about it. The original classic Skatalites horn section is here, tormented genius trombonist Don Drummond, 3 Saxophonists, Roland Alphonse, Tommy McCook, Dennis "Ska" Campbell; trumpeter Johnny Moore and others. When I say others, the especially fine percussion by Lloyd Knibb(s) is a special treat, bassist Lloyd Brevett and the Trio of guitarists, Harold McKenzie, Jah Jerry Haynes and Lynn Taitt along with Jackie Mittoo's recognizable piano play on songs such as "Lawless Street" give this recording a special vibe indeed.I reviewed this one time before but thought more brevity was needed in what I originally wrote. This release seems to lack some of the recognizable classics like "Guns of Navaronne" or "Phoneix City" but say hello to new classics rhythms, such as "The Music Makers" with an almost Samba like beginning.

The album is overlooked and I don't know Ska that well, so take that in mind, if you consider this album. The opening "You can't sit down" certainly sets the tempo for what you can expect from this album. Maybe something to practice running a marathon too rather than filling out your tax returns. A lot of Ska!

Paralamas do Sucesso is one of the most successful bands of brazilian pop/rock scene. Every album is received in Brazil with glory and shining compliments, being played endlessly in radio and TV. Paralamas ARE, indeed, a high quality band, always making beautiful and versatile music. The three (Herbert, Bi and Barone) are top musicians and their songs are full of emotion, great lyrics and above all catching melodies. Nueve Lunas is an example of the band's musical variety:

Lourinha Bombril is the best hit of the album. Carnival style, very up-tempo and latin-party-ish.
Otra belleza is a very cool samba.
Bella Luna is the true highlight of the album. Very hawaiian style and beautiful lyrics.
The rest of the album is a little different from these openers, being more "serious" rock songs, which is in fact, the true essence of the band. Some songs are more straight rock, while others are more introspective and mid-paced but all beautiful and memorable.

Overall, Nueve Lunas original portuguese version is my favorite album by Paralamas do Sucesso and always finds a place in my stereo!