Blues Rock Music

Pacific Ocean Blue - Legacy Edition This review is for those who bash what they do not know, Dennis Wilson had the potential to go way beyond this album. For those who say that this was a "Vanity" project, well think again. This release is full of true emotion, sometimes to hard to come by in this industry which is full of wasteful beats, shallow lyrics and recycled sounds. You have to remember that these tracks were recorded from 1973-1977 in mostly private small sudios except for some of the tracks that were to be off of his "Bambu" LP then changed to Bamboo which sadly was never finished. Sure his roots were from The Beach Boys and sure that music was simple happy and just plain catchy and that was the point, but that was the essence of The Beach Boys and Surfing. For those who call them a Bubble Gum Band is someone who doesn't get it, they were and always will be Americana. Now that that was said, there aren't many songwriters out there who's artistic showcase consists of music in a single release that contains the pool of styles that this release does. You really have to listen carefully to fully understand that this album contains more musical Genres than any other ever released. Sure his vocal skills are not stellar (well unless you put him next to Dylan), but to compose such a complicated album for his first Solo act as a singer,Songwriter it's excellent in it's own right. Is it a masterpiece, no of course not it is an amalgamation of styles that makes this a great album. After all what else could you expect from the Driving force behind Good Vibrations (and no it was not "just" Brian Wilson like everybody thinks, you have to hear the complete 73 track session recordings to know). This album oozes heart and torment, except for a few lighter tracks. Who knows how far he could have gone if he did not drown in '83. In my opinion & FYI (I don't care what others might think) he truly was ahead of his time. Highly Recommended.

This album from 1977 was the first solo album by a member of the Beach Boys. It's a darn good album, with a lot of beautiful moments. There are many, many bonus tracks, most of which were recorded for an unreleased second album. Most of these songs are good, but some of them feel unfinished (which I suppose they were). Beach Boys fans should appreciate this two CD set.

Enjoyed this look into Dennis Wilson's music - I think you will too. There was more than one talented brother in this family.

Dennis Wilson, you know the 'cool' Beach Boy, the one from "Two-Lane Blacktop," who actually did surf and hung around with the Manson family made this album. It's considered a 'lost masterpiece' by many self-appointed so-called music experts and overraters of obscurity. Only because Dennis was cool in "Two Lane" and Christine McVie recommended it did I give it a chance and not because of any association with the Beach Boys, the most overrated bubble-gum band of air-headed, unwitting American propaganda in history (Isn't it weird that John McCain wants to 'bomb Iran' to a Beach Boys tune?). Liked some of the songs on first listen because he does happen to put his honest soul into it (to the extent that he's allowed to), a very tortured soul who was searching for who knows what that he never found, not in this album or anywhere else, despite being a millionaire rock star. On second listen, the weak lyrics and shot-voice combined with the ridiculous over-production started grating on me worse than any recent Dylan album and the problem of having to dig up the vibes from the guy's soul underneath all that slush, the only interesting thing to begin with, was no longer endurable and I was done. Not to say that there aren't a couple of songs here that might be ok to listen to every once-in-a-while (my favorite is the very first song), but the whole album as a 'masterpiece' whole ? Absolutely not!!!! I can only laugh at the comparisons to "Dark Side of the Moon." Are you kidding? Dark Side of the Friggin Moon? Please! Any Nick Drake album, slash that, any Nick Drake song is better than the whole of this Dennis album put together, and better yet, more depressed! Dennis was obviously trying here to go beyond his few Beach Boys song contributions into something deeper and more 'rock,' a true artistic statement and not some melodic diddy people listen to for fun like chewing a piece of candy and forget about. Unfortunately the talent never came into its own and the ambition was only very partially realized, if this album is any indication.

Imagine the sound if The Band and The Beach Boys tried to record a Pink Floyd album. In the best way possible... here you go.

This album has blown me away. I am a 28 year old life long fan of the Beach Boys, and my favorite BB's is smile-holland. I have heard most of everything else, but I have to say, this album is absolutely stunning on almost every level. There are a couple of bonehead style rock songs shoehorned into this, track 2 mainly :(, but over all this is the most expansively ear pleasing set of tracks ever recorded by any of the Wilson Bro's in any form.

The power and depth of this album is almost unrivaled. I know there are a lot of people that think the "Wilson" name is some kind of stamp of glory on anything, and I am not one of those people. I have plenty of misgivings about many Brian Wilson so called "master pieces" (Big Ones and Love You for ex), but this album represents the total package of Wilson possibility that everyone has been looking for all these years.

It's that good. It's Pet Sounds Good.

This is one of those albums you want to strap on the headphones to at around midnight and listen to until you die. You know the ones you just want to keep restarting and listening to over and over again. It reminds me much of the feeling I got from Dark Side of the Moon. If you like rolling over a stone and finding bliss, here it is.

Dennis, it's a damn shame about you my man, a damn shame. Beautiful music.

Hymns to the Silence is a great Van Morrison album that is well worth owning,but I find it to be very uneven.Not because any of the music is bad.On the contrary some of the music is so incredibly inspired that a lot of the other songs just pale in comparison.As an artist i am sure that that must be frustrating to create things so beautiful that you get grief for not "Topping" them."Hymns to the Silence" the title track is so good that honestly if he had decided to place that one song on a single disk for a full album's price I would not have hesitated to dish out the bucks.And that is what I mean by uneven.A lot of the first half of the album I don't even listen to very often,not because I don't like it,but because when ever I think about the album "Hymns to the Silence",the first thing that comes to mind is the song of the same name.Followed by the breathtaking meditation "On Hyndford St.",then the powerful hmyn "Be though my vision".This is surely the highpoint of the album.Other song's are great too(Like "I need your Kind of Loving"),but a song like "Quality street" is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.This song has Mediocre written all over it and just leaves the flow of the album feeling lobsided.Interestingly it was one of the song's Van did not write on the album.It was written by none other than Dr. John who I respect as an artist,but I must say his contribution does not fit on this album.If Van had not included some of the weaker tracks and fit everything on one album he just may have had one of the best albums EVER!That still does not change the fact that this is a great Van Morrison album that has some of his best work;just don't be surprised if you begin to aim your listening experience towards certain parts of Both sides of the album.

My CD came quickly, was in super condition and I'm very happy as it is no longer being made.
Thank you
Karen

I had to return the item because there was only one CD of a two CD package. "Hymns to the Silence" has been a two CD package since its release, and the price of it was over $40.00; why would anyone think that only half of the double CD would arrive without half the tunes included, especially at that price?! I did receive a full refund and I am happy about that, but that was disappointing. I will probably not be buying anything through Amazon in the future.
Elizabeth Lindsey

I've been looking for this for years. I've often looked for used copies here on Amazon or ebay, and I'm glad I never shelled out $40 or more for it in either of those places. IT IS ON ITUNES FOR $9.99. And it's the complete double album too. Enjoy!

"Take Me Back...Take Me Way Way Back". When Van harkens back to Hynford Street, "In the days before television, before rock 'n roll....Help me understand...I remember when life made more sense. Let me understand religion. In the summertime, when you didn't have no worries...When you didn't have no cares. In the golden afternoon....In the golden afternoon...In the golden afternoon. Take me way way way way back when when when....Everything felt, everything felt so right and so good...so right and so good so good so good so good".

I remember when life felt so right and so good. In the days before cyber technology...Before life became a twenty four by seven marathon...In a time when Sunday afternoons felt so bucolic and peaceful...Leaving St Catherine's Church on Fort Hamilton Parkway after nine o'clock Mass. Heading down to Coney Island aboard the Sea Beach Express, looking out along McDonald Ave. Take me back to Scotto's Bakery in Boro Park for lemon ice and fresh canolis.

Take me back Van...Take me way way back. Take me back to Saturday matinees at the Lowes 46th Street on New Utrecht Ave, sneaking cigrettes in the balcony. Take me way way back to summer afternoons at Ebbets Field watching Duke and Campy, Gil and Pee Wee shimmering in the mid-day sun. Take me back to Red's Pizzaria under the el for a slice with anchoy and hot pepper. Take me back to stick-ball games at P.S. 230 on Caton Ave. And take me way way back to Sunset Park for long hot summer days swimming, then walking home in the late afternoon sun down Thirty Seventh Street, alongside Greenwood Cemetery...Stopping to see if the great winged angel atop the mausoleum had moved again.

Take me back Van....Take me way way back. Help me understand...When life felt so so so good. When everything felt so right and so good.....so right and so good.....so right.......and so good....so so so so so right and...so good...

I bought the cd for the theme song "You're so Cool." It's a catchy instumental piece by Zimmer that I couldn't find anywhere else. The rest of the album is worth a listen.

Hi, I have the soundtrack.. but I am trying to find out the name of the like RAP song that was playing in the beginning when Drexl Spivy shot Samuel Jackson when he was picking up the cocaine? It was a rap song and it was really good.

I could be wrong what scene but there was like a hard core rap song that was playing in the back ground. If somone knows can you let me know what song that was. I know its a long shot but I thought I would try.

Thanks in advance.

The CD contains a great mix of slow and up tempo songs. Good for using in the car for going on a long drive. Track 1 and 6 are very soothing - on the style of tubular bells.

I bought the CD for the "theme" track, You're So Cool by Hans Zimmer. But, it turns out that the whole thing is pretty darn good. =)

One of my favorite CDs from one of my favorite movies! The only improvement would be the inclusion of the 8 missing songs seen in the movie song credits, especially the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" (Hell-o-o-o, Baby!) and Burl Ive's "Little Bitty Tear". At least this CD is so much more complete with the inclusion of the Hans Zimmer homage to the 1973 movie "Badlands" main theme music "Gassenhauer" Street Song from Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman's "Musica Poetica - Orff-Schulwerk". Zimmer did NOT "rip off Orff" as some reviewers assert.

Now for the truth: The main theme "Gassenhauer" was composed by Orff's associate Gunild Keetman BASED ON A 1536 WORK FOR LUTE BY HANS NEUSIEDLER! Orff's stated goal for the Schulwerk: "Improvisations which encourage further improvisation". This is precisely what Hans Zimmer did when he PRODUCED (no writing credits on soundtrack CD) 3 pieces loosely based on "Gassenhauer" for the film "True Romance", written by Quentin Tarantino as his tribute to the Terrence Malick movie "Badlands": "You're So Cool", "Stars At Dawn", & "Amid The Chaos Of The Day". These are a fine & fitting tribute to Malick, Keetman/Orff, and, yes, especially Nuesiedler - Zimmer did NOT "rip off Orff". Is not imitation the sincereist form of flattery? Just as Patricia Arquette's Alabama narration evokes comparison to Sissy Spacek's Holly ongoing commentary, the two recurring musical themes are marked by their differences as well as their similarities: Gassenhauer is menacingly prophetic and languid as it traces Kit & Holly's diverging paths to doom & gloom, while "You're So Cool" is promisingly upbeat as it steers Clarence & 'Bama to follow the sun to their ultimate destiny with Elvis. Thank our lucky "Stars At Dawn" that Tony Scott didn't choose the alternate ending that surely would have bombed "Amid The Chaos Of The Day".

Note for "Badlands" music fans: Unfortunately, there never was a soundtrack album produced for "Badlands". The five (5!) "Badlands" songs from Musica Poetica can, however, be found on the 1994 BMG release (RCA Victor Red Seal) 6-CD box set version of the original Orff/Keetman recordings done between 1963 & 1975 on 10 LPs. There are at least 4 other "Badlands" pieces on CDs 2, 3, 4 & 6!

Crass as this may seem MJ's recent passing has lead me to review some of his albums on here.I actually thought I had early in my years on Amazon but this is as good a time as any to start.This album was critical for Michael in a lot of different ways. First off obviously it had to follow up Thriller,a really good album made that due to it's record breaking sales was made to seem inhumanely perfect. In short,the standards for this album were'nt set very high-not even by the artist himself so it seems. He was convinced afront that if he didn't change,he wouldn't be able to outdo his earlier feat. So he set about with Quincy Jones on making what basically amounted to music that was generally tougher minded.It has all the basic elements of the previous album but everything is a lot more dramatic and diliberate.Does it work in the end?You bet!! The heavy funk of the title track alone,with an excellent solo by jazz organist Jimmy Smith of course grabbed the most attention right off. Being how his commerciality is a huge part of Michaels artistry he really puts a huge amount of energy into what ended up being the hits here."The Way You Make Me Feel",with it's edgy sexual shuffle is the prime example of that,with some unusually swaggering singing from MJ. The other hits were "I Just Can't Stop Loving You"...more or less a latinish pop ballad that Michael and Siedah Garrett sang the pants off of.It has recently been pointed out to me that there's an unexpected mix of funk and.....operatic classical chordal patterns to the edgy "Smooth Criminal",another of the tougher hits from this collection."Man In The Mirror"....is a song I've always loved and respected.As I've grown older I have to admit it's been one of the more imitated styles of message songs and that can make it sound slightly corny musically by todays standards.But whatever you think about the arrangment the yearning,consciencious song more than makes up for what energy it may lack in the musical department for some."Another Part Of Me" is one of the better uptempo songs on here,even if it was a minor hit only for him (who know MJ in the 80's would ever have a MINOR hit) and wasn't actually recorded spesifically for this album but rather for the Disney World based 3-D film 'Captain Eo',starring Michael and which few people who never visited Disney World have ever seen say for that MTV airing of it in 1995 or so.It's on some of the non hit material that you really hear the toughness in sound Mike was going for."Speed Demon" sadly tends to serve as this albums whipping boy.It's aggresive funk-rock approch is not as hit worthy as most of his music in terms of how the pop world approches this kind of music but it was definately something that seemed to be written based on his dancing style than for the purposes of getting on the radio."Liberian Girl" was never officially a hit but was such a great,sexy groove that it became very popular and even got it's own music video as well.It's definately a highlite of this album,for me anyway."Just Good Friends" is the "forgotton" song here,a duet with Stevie Wonder that.......well lets just say little screams "late 80's urban contemporary/R&B/funk dance crossover song" louder than this. But again the toughness of Quincy's production and Bruce Swediens excellent Acousonic recording process keeps it from being what I once heard referred to as "tinky tinky dance",someones description of a very dated and poppy style of 80's electro funk-disco."Dirty Diana" is a good tune and an okay hit.I admit it's not my favorite on the album;Michael drove a rock kind of tune home more directly with "Beat It" from the previous album but this was okay in a big arena kind of way;the addition of audience noise was a good effect.On the CD of this album you also get "Leave Me Alone",a tense dancey-funk tune that introduced itself as one of his first direct rantings about his own negative press. Overall this album puts Michael in a possition where being commercial and an artist of some not musically and otherwise began to become a complication rather than a clear career choice. But no matter how you look at it the album was good enough and successful enough to end up becomming a success even at this point.And how many obvious pop albums of recent years can you say that about?

In 1987, two years after Michael's involvement with USA For Africa's "We Are The World", Michael released his eighth album entitled, BAD. I don't know about anybody else, but this album is a big favorite of mine. I mean... besides THRILLER, of course. Pretty much every song on here rocks my world ... no pun intended.

"BAD"
The second single from the album. Always a great song to listen to. The music video to this song is one of my favorites. I always loved how Michael turned his songs into short films. This video features Michael as a young man named, Daryl, coming home from school, after a successful term, for a Winter Break. He is greeted by his three best friends, one of which, is played by an up-and-coming Wesley Snipes. At first, the reunion is a happy one. But as the night wears on, the guys see a major change in Daryl, as he is trying to clean up his life and break free of his bad habits. He swears them off by saying he's still down and bad, where he tries to show them by robbing an elderly man, but Daryl backs out and lets the old man go. His three friends confront him angrily, where the song finally kicks in.

"THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL"
The third single from the album. Another a great song. The harmony vocals are just awesome. The song is accompanied by a great music video, as well.

"SPEED DEMON"
Though, never released as a single, this great tune was accompanied by a music video featured on Michael Jackson's, "Moonwalker" video, where Michael is dressed as a clay-mation rabbit to escape a crazy mob of clay-mation fans and paparazzi.

"LIBERIAN GIRL"
The ninth single from the album, though, released as a single in Europe and Australia only. Great song.

"JUST GOOD FRIENDS" (performed by Michael Jackson & Stevie Wonder)
Great song. Not a fan of Stevie Wonder's, but still a great duet.

"ANOTHER PART OF ME"
The sixth single from the album. Great song.

"MAN IN THE MIRROR"
The fourth single from the album. This song is so powerful, lyrically and musically. And Michael's vocals sound just as powerful. What an awesome song. This song will always be in my heart, in dedication to Michael.

"I JUST CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU" (performed by Michael Jackson & Siedah Garrett)
The first single from the album. What a beautiful ballad. Siedah's vocals are incredible.

"DIRTY DIANA"
The fifth single from the album. Damn! Listen to Michael rockin' it out. What an awesome, kick-a** song.

"SMOOTH CRIMINAL"
The seventh single from the album. Another one MJ's greatest songs. The video features Michael in his infamous forward-lean dance move.

"LEAVE ME ALONE" (Bonus Track featured on CD release)
The eighth single from the album. Been a favorite of mine ever since MJ's "Moonwalker" video was released.

With this album, Michael shows how down and bad he really is. Michael, with this album, proves to us that he'll always be the King of Pop.

i enjoy this album which allows one to pat his feet or dance to the rythm of the beat.

Amazingly, Michael Jackson turns 50 today. While these days, he's in the press for all the wrong reasons (well, most of the time), there was a time he was also in the press mainly about the great music he released.

1987 was such a time. The world was waiting hungrily for his follow up to the Grammy guzzling, best selling album ever (a record it holds to date), and Michael wisely reteamed with super producer Quincy Jones. The album found Michael penning 9 of the 11 tracks, the first time so many of his songs were used on any of his albums and showing his growing confidence as a songwriter.

While there are those that believe "Thriller" to be the best album ever released, I feel "Bad" was an excellent follow up, as good as, or even better than "Thriller". Lead-off single, the syrupy sweet duet with sound alike Sieddah Garret (the #1 hit "I just can't stop loving you") aside, every track is a delight.

#1 hit "Bad" has a deep sonuous riff and blaring horns racing ahead at full speed. #1 hit "The way you make me feel" has a swinging retro whiplash feel, "Speed demon" with its sparse funky riff and skeletal beats finds Michael treading in Prince territory, the bewitching ballad "Liberian girl" with excellent vocal layering and a sensuous groove (which oddly features some lyrics in the un-Liberian language Swahili. The video was a star studded affair), and the energetic funky duet "Just good friends" with Stevie Wonder. Michael would return the favour on "Get it" from Wonder's "Characters" album.

"Another part of me" is a funky horn peppered futuristic tale which will get you moving. The #1 hit "Man in the mirror" features one of Michael's most emotional performances, backed by a stunning choral performance by the Andre Crouch Choir. Unfortunately, it seems he was so inspired by this song, he later went on to pen the rather maudlin "Heal the world", "Earth song", et all.

The #1 hit "Dirty diana" is a hard Rock number alternating between gentle haunting verses and an explosive chorus, telling the tale of a Rock groupie. It features a blistering guitar solo by Steve Stevens.

"Smooth criminal" is high-octane Dance/Pop, one of the catchiest songs on the album (and featured the heartbeat of his then manager Frank DiLeo, no doubt worrying about sales of the album), and closing is his message to the press, the rolicking Pop song "Leave me alone", a UK #2 hit.

The album "Bad" had an unprecedented 5 US #1 singles (the only album to date to achieve this feat) and 8 UK top 20 hits, and sold about 25 million copies worldwide (including becoming his biggest selling album ever in the UK). While not matching sales of "Thriller", I bet it helped calm Mr DiLeo's pulse rate.

Having released the best-selling-album-ever just five years before pushing this one out to the market was, already, a quite difficult milestone. However, "Bad" still delivers good music not to disappoint the true fans, even though it did disapointed the critics and the profane masses expecting a "Thriller v.2".

If compared with "Thriller" this one would definitely look unfairly like a poor recording, but when listened as a standalone project (what it really is) you'll find quite a good R&B dance pop album, delivering quality, creativity and a several pop gems. Remarkable collaborations also helped to made this one an essential.

Keeping in mind it was dated on 1987, you'll understand why this chap was used to be considered then the "king of pop" as it sounds far ahead from it's era... far so good that it even gave the enough reasons for the jealous to start the harassment that lead to Michael Jackson decline. It marks the beginning of the end of a legend, away from the music scenario.

A personal masterpiece on Michael Jackson's career, carefully produced by Quincy Jones, who also deserves a special recognition on being the one who put "Off the Wall", "Thriller", "Bad" and Michael Jackson himself on the place they are, even today, no matter the resentful: at the pop highest.

For a full "Bad experience" customers and real fans might find interesting to get also a copy of the complementary movie, 'Moonwalker', which showcases a kindo story around the "Bad" songs (keeping also in mind that the imdb rating is 4.7/10 as of today...):

Micheal Jackson - Moonwalker [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]

I agree with just about everybody that Ry's son DID indeed assemble an excellent cross section of Ry's Discography over the years.

As to Texarado's 'minor complaint' regarding the ommision of the 'Borderline' track, I kind of agreed with him so I decided to do something about that minor glitch. Following is the comment I left on his particular post:

Dear Texarado,
That's funny...my copy of 'The UFO Has Landed' DOES have Borderline on it. It's track 35.
It's called 'The Digital Age Bonus Track'. You simply get yourself a copy of the track 'Borderline, edit all the tracks at once to make them say #/35 instead of #/34, and then add Borderline to the bottom, edit the Borderline track to have the UFO...title in the album and edit the 'Disc' field to say 2/2, and WAHLA..there you go.
After all this 2 CD set is just a compilation by Ry's son to begin with. Heck, you could give it 40 tracks if you wanted to.

best service on cds i will buy again. fast and correct...
charles f hefner

Saw Ry Cooder live in 1975 after release of "Paradise and Lunch." Just him onstage with a guitar and mandolin. Great show! Liked alot of his recordings up until that point. Haven't listened to much of his later stuff, but if what's on here is any indication I haven't been missing much. Lots of great tunes in this collection, but interspersed between them are cuts of atmospheric slide noodling ("Paris, Texas"), forgettable interpretations of old rock songs ("Little Sister"), and embarrassing attempts to imitate African-American speech ("Every Woman I Know") that bring to mind Amos and Andy rather than Robert Johnson.
I also miss "Borderline" along with "FDR in Trinidad" and a few other tunes not on this CD set. If you've never listened to Ry Cooder before, start with "Into the Purple Valley." Otherwise, you might not finish listening to "The UFO Has Landed" and that would be your loss.

We've always thought Ry Cooder was great, but this anthology really showcases just how good he really is. Awesome guitar work, reminiscent of Little Feat back in the day. I'm sure this must have been on a lot of top 10 lists by people who really appreciate some sadly missed truly good music.

I come to Ry Cooder via Captain Beefheart and Little Feat but I had never gotten around to checking out Ry. This anthology for the new comer contains two things in abundance fun and variety. The fun comes mainly in the joy that comes from the musicians having so much fun while playing this music. These guys are having a blast and it shows. Granted my musical tastes are all over the place and here you have 2 CDs worth of for lack of a better term "Roots" music. I'm no expert at this style of music but I can tell when music is being played with natural expertise, Ry is a master guitarist and one of the best slide guitarist I've ever heard. The songs are about life and a very full life at that, this set was lovingly put together by Ry's son Joachim who has been playing and writing songs with Ry for a number of years now. Filled with wonderful songs that should have been huge hits if they had been released during the right time periods. There are too many songs to create a list of favorites, this collection has stirred my interest in Cooder's music to the point that I've already gotten his two latest "My Name Is Buddy" and "I, Flathead", and in enjoying them I've ordered a number of his early stuff. This collection is a door opener into the world of Ry Cooder, once you get it you'll want more.

I was very impressed by Family Style by Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughn. Their Texas style of blues is big. Just like Texas! Stevie Ray will always be missed but this album gives us all something to hold on to. Jimmie will always have his kid brother close at hand.

I have been a Huge SRV fan since my dad first played this when i was a young pup. Stevie had a way with 6 strings that about 95% of musicians don't have. This album is almost like Stevie knew what was around the bend in Wisconsin. From the beginning "Roll and I'll Just Feel Something" to the end where him and Jimmie are jammin on brothers this album is solid gold. Hard to Be has always been my favorite track but Telephone Song is a very close second. Every song has its own way of being a rock gem and you don't need to be a SRV fan to like this album, although by the end i feel you will be trying to get your hands on any other SRV material that you can.

This record was recorded in the midst of SRV's resurgence. The In Step tour with Jeff Beck had just ended and Jimmy, fresh out of rehab, was in need of a project to resurrect his career. With a mix of songs written both individually and collaboratively, Family Style was the end product. This was neither the hard blues from Double Trouble or guitar pop of the T-birds. We find ourselves in the middle. I recommend this record not so much for the music but as a souvenir of the love of two brothers and their talent.

The songs in this collection are light country, rock. This CD showes a lighter side to Steve Ray's music. I got intrested in this CD because Tick Tock was featured at the end of Steve Ray Vaughan's Live At Auston DVD. The last 3 tracks are what most people would say are traditional Steve Ray's style.

This is the best blues guitar and the Vaughan brothers together you will ever hear. It is a must have if you are a Stevie Ray and Jimmie fan.

Being a Moody Blues fan most of my life, I immediately bought this cd when it hit the shelves. I try to give this one a chance every Christmas season to get my money's worth but I'm giving up on that this year. The music is uninspired and boring. The lyrics are downright depressing; which spoil a few songs that would be good, otherwise. This is the band's most negative and cynical work and it's supposed to be a "Christmas" album. Thanks, but I'll keep things on the cheery side this year...

As a very long time fan of the Moody Blues & one that enjoys Christmas music (Neil Diamond, Josh Groban, etc), I just happened to check if The Moody Blues had ever done a Christmas CD. And, yes, DECEMBER, put out a few years ago. Though I got it after Christmas this year, I have enjoyed it immensely & would totally recommend it to Moody Blues fans & anyone who enjoys Christmas music. I would have liked a couple more "known" Christmas carols.

It is truly great to hear some new Christmas seasonal music, and some of the songs are really amazing. We first heard the song "December" in concert this March 2008, and I like the live version more, but it is a beautiful song nonetheless. I would love to hear more of these songs during the holiday season, instead of the same old stuff we are bombarded with for the 2 months before Christmas everywhere we go, now atleast I can at home.

I loved this CD before I even got it in the mail. For every Moody Blues fan, this is a Must Have. Beautiful and eloquent!

All of us Moody Blues fans already know that though they play Rock 'n' Roll, they do so with an orchestral flair that no one else can match. Thus it is with their Christmas offering. It's now 5 days after Christmas and I'm still listening to this album. They do, as expected, a great job on the classics, but I really love the original material on here such as 'Don't Need A Reindeer'.

For true music lovers, this is one to buy and savor each 'December'.

The music like the movie is a nice mix. What makes the movie work is a decent job of throwing together parodies of several Viet Nam war movies and a few additional parodies on producers, directors, et cetera. The music runs the gamut of disco to rock and appropriately gave a little boost to the movie scenes. If you like eclectic this should be up your alley. Good quality CD. If you like this catch the "Scary Movie" soundtrack.

CA Luster

This album is a great suppliment to a very funny movie. If you like classic rock, this album rocks with some great tunes that really give a feel for the times in which these movies were depicted. There are some missing songs from the movie which I think was on purpose since they don't seem to fit the style of the album. There seems to be a concept in place here and not just a bunch of songs thrown together.

As written in the amazon product description : "Featuring new exclusive re-recordings and remixes of classic and iconic 60s pop hits from the likes of The Rolling Stones, Buffalo Springfield, ..."

But where is Sympathy for the Devil ?
Where is For What It's Worth ?

I don't know, I just know that this is another uncomplete soundtrack with no dialogues at all.

As of this writing, TROPIC THUNDER is the funniest movie to be released in 2008. In addition to the key casting of the main characters and the genius of Ben Stiller (who co-starred, co-wrote, directed, and co-produced the film), TROPIC THUNDER has a great soundtrack that adds to the humor of the film. From using songs that have been used in war movies before, e.g. "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" to Alpa Chino's (Brandon T. Jackson) #1 hit song "I Love That P***Y", the music in TROPIC THUNDER perfectly captures the mood of the film. Unfortunately, not quite all of the songs from the movie have actually made it onto the soundtrack. The most glaring exceptions are the songs that Les Grossman (Tom Cruise) dances to: "Get Back" by Ludacris (the song during the end credits) and "Low" by Flo-Rida. There are songs that aren't even heard in the song, except in passing, that are on here, e.g. "Movin' On Up" (Jefferson's Theme) by Janet Dubois. Overall, the music on the soundtrack is a nice mix, but it's not really the full motion picture soundtrack. I was also disappointed that there aren't a few dialogue scenes from the movie that were included. TROPIC THUNDER is a hilarious movie with all kinds of funny lines, but except for the #1 track on the album, "The Name of the Game (The Crystal Method's Big A** T.T. Mix)" that has some dialogue under the music, there is no dialogue from the movie included. Fans of the movie might enjoy the soundtrack, but it has a larger appeal for those who have never seen the movie.

The actual movie is an instant classic. It is so funny on so many levels. Everyone I have talked to who's actually seen Tropic Thunder raves about it. But that's the movie...not the soundtrack.

The closing titles are done over Ludacris' "Get Back" Where is that song? Plus there are a couple songs I don't remember being in the movie at all...maybe they're in the deleted scenes that were evident in the trailer and closing credits thet were not in the movie.

The fact is that all of these songs are available individually with the exception of the Crystal Method remix which is also played over the closing credits. Don't waste your money on this download...go to a matinee of one of the funniest movies in the last 5 years.

The Complete Animals A re-mastered collection of songs performed by The Animals with singer Eric Burdon including some previously unreleased tunes. This is really a "history" of the band. I bought it for the cut "I'm Mad Again." I am a fan of Eric Burdon and am very happy with this addition to my CD library.

Put together in 1990 by EMI of Australia,this double record deserves to be forever available by way of the classic R&B that Animals created,in fierce competition with the Rolling Stones,the Who,and others.Matter of the business was that their repertoire often contained the same songs,in particular from Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.What distinguished the Animals from their other two big rivals,however,was their ability - and talent - to cover songs penned by bluesman John Lee Hooker.Last but not least,the full title of this record is:The Complete Mickie Most Productions For EMI Containing Previously Unreleased Material.Way to go,Australia!

The Animals were much more than a cover band, but Oh, they did covers so well. This is not a best of CD. So I would highly recomend this along with their Retrospect CD for a great sampling of just how talented The Animals were. Both are a must have for any British Rock fan.

This collection contains all of the recordings The Animals made with Alan Price on keyboards and is the essential Animals collection. The Animals of these recordings were the premier British blues band of all time. No other British band, and very few American bands, could touch them when it came to the blues. Their renditions of songs by John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles, and other greats stand with the originals. Eric Burdon's vocals, Hilton Valentine's guitar, Chas Chandler's bass, John Steele's drums, and especially the keyboards of Alan Price came togerther in Newcastle-On-Tyne and exploded on to the world stage. There are several Animals collections available but in my opinion, if you have this you really don't need any other.

Four stars for a great compilation. But a caveat- I've received two CDs in a row of this where the last track on CD1 had digital crackle/distortion or simply wouldn't play. It's only a two minute track but....
Seeing that no one else has mentioned it here, I suppose I'm the lucky receipient of two defective discs in a row. Maybe I should've gone the third round but 'nuffs enuff already. Animals is a great band, tho.
Seeing now that the former price has almost doubled, maybe amazon has found non-defective pressings; which also include the radio message listed on CD2 but nowhere to be found.

Love this DVD - Good to have old footage although sound quality is not good. Concert footage good.Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson original members with Ronnies Brother on lead vocals and Rickey Medlocke linked to the original band.Gives them some authenticity. they do a good job of the classic skynryd tracks.They were the greatest band cut down in their prime. Like Hendrix one can only imagine the type of stuff they had left to do.

This DVD is a great look at the band when they picked up the pieces and carried on after the crash. You can tell that Gary Rossington still has so much in him left to give. His guitar solo, as well as the other guitarist is phenominal to say the least! I highly recommend this product, and consider it a "must have" for Lynyrd Skynyrd fans!

I lovelly! Simple the best video of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Thank you for your attention,

Alcino Moreira
Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

THIS IS A WELCOME "SURPRISE" DVD FROM LYNYRD SKYNRD.THIS IS AN OUTSTANDING 14 SONG DVD, THAT WAS FILMED AT THE ROCKPALAST "LORELEY" FESTIVAL IN GERMANY, DURING 1996. IT WAS FILMED BEFORE A VERY LARGE, ENTHUSIASTIC CROWD. THE BAND IS GREAT, THE ATMOSPHERE IS GREAT, THE MUSIC IS GREAT, MAKING THIS ONE GREAT CONCERT DVD!!! YOU EVEN GET THE REBEL FLAG AS A BACKDROP.

They perform all their classics, plus you get a few rare ones, like "I ain't the one", the entire version of "double trouble" instead of the medley version, and "SWAMP MUSIC" (This is a great rarity for concert dvd's, It's a great song, it has a reference to the late Bluesman Son House - ..."when the hound dogs start barking, they sound like Son House singing the blues..."). These make this concert more special.

You get the line-up of Johnny Van Zant on Lead Vocals, Gary Rossington on guitar, Rickey Medlocke on guitar, and the late Hughie Thomossom on guitar, Billy Powell on keyboards, the late Leon Wilkeson on bass (this is another reason this dvd is special - it includes both Leon & Hughie who are both now deseased), Owen Hale on drums and Dale Kranz-Rossington and Carol Chase on backing vocals.

The "3 guitar" performances of Gary, Rickey, and Hughie are awesome!!! This was quite a team of guitar players. Just like Gary, Allen and Steve (or Ed), were an awesome team.

THE BONUS MATERIAL CONSISTS OF 3 SONGS: "WORKIN' FOR MCA", "FREEBIRD'AND "SWEET HOME ALABAMA". This was filmed in Hamburg, Germany during 1974. The line-up consists of Ronnie Van Zant on vocals, Ed King on guitar, Gary Rossington on guitar, Allen Collins on guitar, Billy Powell on keyboards, Leon Wilkeson on bass, and Bob Burns on drums.

NOTE - THIS BONUS MATERIAL IS SOMEWHAT "RAW" AND "UNPOLISHED", BUT IT IS VERY,VERY GOOD, ESPECIALLY FOR EARLY SKYNYRD FANS. I LOVE IT!!!

HOWEVER, IF YOU REALLY LIKE THIS BONUS MATERIAL OF THIS VERSION OF EARLY SKYNYRD, I RECOMMEND THE LYNYRD SKYNRYD "ROCK CASE STUDIES" DVD, BECAUSE IT CONTAINS MORE FOOTAGE OF THIS VERSION OF SKYNYRD, MORE FOOTAGE THAN THIS BONUS MATERIAL.

I LIKE ALL VERSIONS OF LYNYRD SKYNRYD, THE OLD SKYNYRD AND THE NEW SKYNYRD. THIS IS AN OUTSTANDING CONCERT DVD. IT even contains great liner notes included in the dvd package. YES, I RECOMMONED THIS CONCERT DVD!!! IT'S A GREAT ONE!!!

The main concert featured on this DVD is pretty good, but some of the performances from some of the band members are a little off. The two main redeeming highlights of the main concert with the more contemporary lineup is them performing "Workin' For MCA" (which they no longer could do once they signed to CMC) and the cool guitar solos performed in series by the three guitarists. The band's performance on the Lyve From Steel Town DVD is flawless, and overall I recommend that one over this one if you don't want to get both. However, I encourage you to get both, because several songs on this DVD do not appear on the Steel Town DVD because the latter was recorded shortly after their awesome "Twenty" album was released, so several of their old numbers were replaced with material from "Twenty."

The best thing about this DVD, of course, is the vintage footage of the old Lynyrd Skynyrd with Ronnie, Ed King, et al performing back in 1974. The sound quality is predicatably bad, but not unbearably horrible like some bootleg VHS recordings you can find on ebay. One cool part of that footage features Ed King doing a nice, melodic solo before the last verse of "Free Bird" that later was always occupied by Billy Powell--interesting--never heard a live version of Free Bird without Billy's solo. The only bad part (and it's just humorous rather than annoying) of this classic footage is Ed King singing harmony on "Sweet Home"--yikes! No wonder they got the Honkettes later on! :)