Country Music

This CD came in great condition. I am a long time fan of Poco, and I like this particular compilation. The service was great from the seller and it arrived quickly!

Poco's Ultimate Collection is good, but it seems like the songs were speeded up just a bit in order to fit all those songs, but maybe it's just me. Would I buy it again? Ummmmm, 50/50.

Thank you for the delivery . I've waited for many months . I don't know what exactly happens but finally got destination ! Fine ! thanks Luis

Are you looking for a good collection of Poco? I recomend you to buy this one. Great selection of the songs and the quality of sound is excellent. You can find this item in Amazon for a good price.

This is the collection to own if you're trying to replace the best Poco songs from you vinyl albums. My one regret is that nothing from Poco seven made the cut; I'd have included "Faith in the Families," one of Paul Cotton's best.

This is a great album by a great artist. This album is the perfect place to start your schooling by one of the masters. Steve Earle for Mayor of Baltimore!

With a clear head and a surviving exhaltation, I Feel Alright serves notice that Steve Earle has re-surfaced from the depths of his drug impaired personal situation with a backlog of songs that literally pour out from the speakers. Continuing to call on his own experiences in an virtually auto-biographical manner, confessions such as "Hard Core Troubardors" rock and wink as he challenges his protaganists to think twice about getting involved with him in the first place.

Filled with instantly repeatable choruses and jublilant melody, "More Than I Can Do" and "You're Still Standing There" are cause for constant replay. This CD sets the standard for any future offering from Earle or any other serious singer songwriter for that matter. Included are soon to be standards of Earle's live performances, "Valentine's Day", "South Nashville Blues", and the "Unrepentant".

Taken singularly, a Steve Earle album can hold its own with most any other writer, but taken as a body of work, it becomes a standard that challenges all comers. Guitar Town was only a beginning, and a compromise to Nashville production standards of the time, but once the listener begins the journey started with "Exit O", "The Hard Way", and then "I Feel Alright" an increasingly justified appreciation for a certain wreckless genius unfolds.

The theme of this album is simple: Steve Earle got himself healthy again and was ready to show that he could confront his past and rock out again with the best of 'em. After being one of popular music's biggest outlaws in the late '80s, Steve effectively disappeared in the early '90s as his years and years of drug use took over his life. He called it his "vacation in the ghetto." When he finally agreed to go to rehab, Steve was afraid to jump back into his old image too quickly. For him, loud guitars meant money, and money meant drugs, and he wasn't ready for that yet. Thus he recorded the phenomenal all-acoustic masterpiece Train a Comin' in 1995, his way of easing himself back into the recording process. The following year, well, Steve began to feel alright again and he plugged the guitars back in and recorded one of the great albums of the modern era (which could be said about any of his albums, in truth).

Allow me to be blunt here. Turn this album up as high as you can tolerate it, and be ready to peel the paint off the walls, because from its opening to its closing, this album rips...Nashville renegade way. The sound of Steve's guitar in "Feel Alright"'s first chords is pristine and jumps right out at you. Fans of HBO's The Wire will recognize this song from the closing montage from season 2 (and of course Earle plays a character on the show). The guitars jangle, the drums pound, and Steve's harmonica blows like a hurricane as he sings about all the people who doubted him, wanted to take advantage of him, and never liked him to begin with. "Be careful what you wish for friend, 'cause I've been to hell and now I'm back again. I feel alright," Steve sings, and we know that all is right in Steve's world again.

"Hard-Core Troubadour" comes next, and is a fast-paced redneck romp that grabs you right from the first drum smash and doesn't let up until it's over. The guitars snarl as Steve weaves his words around the tale of "the last of the hard-core troubadours," a phrase that has now become his nickname. "More Than I Can Do" blasts off with Steve's harmonica playing as he sings a rockin' love song about not being able to give up the one he loves. This one moves so fast that you may not even realize the beauty of the chords, but it's there; the chord structure is excellent. "Hurtin' Me, Hurtin' You" is a slower, arpeggiated ballad about hurting his loved one(s). As I said above, that's part of the theme of this album, dealing with his past and the way he was pre-rehab. Steve croons the lyrics as the song goes on, showing his rock side a bit near the end before declaring that he "never meant to be cruel or untrue...I'm just hurtin' me when I'm hurtin' you."

"Now She's Gone" is another harmonica-based song that, effectively, acts as an alt-rock "sequel" to the subject of The Beatles' "She's Leaving Home." As always, Steve's lyrics are perfect, one of the masterful lyricists of our time: "She always kept on movin' and she never wasted time, and they said she left quite a string of broken hearts behind. Woke up alone and now she's gone." The next song, "Poor Boy," is a very rockabilly tune about being born into the wrong stock and having to try to make his way through life and love as he tries to figure out what a poor boy's gonna do. The beginning and end are regular romps, but it rocks during the middle solo section. It's followed by the album's first soft song, the lovely "Valentine's Day," one of the most beautiful songs Steve ever wrote. Written on February 13th (my birthday!), this song describes the true situation of Steve simply forgetting about Valentine's Day and having nothing to give but his love (and this song). This is, simply, one of the greatest love songs ever written, and every single thing about it shines, from Steve's cracked vocals to the chord structure to the string arrangement to the background vocals from the Fairfield Four. Steve sings, "I know that I swore that I wouldn't forget. I wrote it all down; I lost it, I guess. There's so much I want to say, but all the words just slip away. The way you love me every day is Valentine's Day." Do yourself a favor: forget about your next Valentine's Day gift and sing this song to the person you love instead.

The song ends and the loud cracks of "The Unrepentant" begin. This song is the heaviest on the album, and is basically Steve's way of affirming what he used to be like. He howls about being unafraid of consequences, of not caring what anybody said to him, of staring down the devil himself...and then it drones out into the Eastern-influenced CCKMP, a song that Steve wrote before ever going into rehab but never recorded because his drug use took over his life. As he sings, "Cocaine cannot kill my pain," and "Heroin is the only thing, the only gift that darkness brings," he instills in the listener the darkness that he went through in his own drug use. This is the first of two songs on the album to blatantly deal with his former drug use, and as Steve says, he likes to play them together when he can, just as a reminder to himself what he used to be like. "Billy and Bonnie" is a light-hearted story-driven song about two thieves and their travails together. The lyrics are the highlight of this one.

Next comes the other drug song, "South Nashville Blues." Whereas "CCKMP" was dark, this one is light and exactly what you'd expect it to sound like from the title. "CCKMP" dealt with the after effect of the drugs; "South Nashville Blues" deals with the obtaining of them: "I took my pistol and a hundred dollar bill...I had everything I needed to get me killed." And, too soon, the album ends with the lovely Lucinda Williams duet, "You're Still Standing There." They sing two sides of a tale of a man not knowing where he's headed in life except back to the woman he loves, even as the world keeps turning round and round and life goes on outside of him. A great way to end the album.

Bottom line? If you want to experience a natural high, get in your car, get on an open road, pop in this album, and turn the volume up. Steve was ready to confront his demons and he felt alright doing it. Be ready to listen, and be thankful that you did.

With a clear head and a surviving exhaltation, I Feel Alright serves notice that Steve Earle has re-surfaced from the depths of his drug impaired personal situation with a backlog of songs that literally pour out from the speakers. Continuing to call on his own experiences in an virtually auto-biographical manner, confessions such as "Hard Core Troubardors" rock and wink as he challenges his protaganists to think twice about getting involved with him in the first place.

Filled with instantly repeatable choruses and jublilant melody, "More Than I Can Do" and "You're Still Standing There" are cause for constant replay. This CD sets the standard for any future offering from Earle or any other serious singer songwriter for that matter. Included are soon to be standards of Earle's live performances, "Valentine's Day", "South Nashville Blues", and the "Unrepentant".

Taken singularly, a Steve Earle album can hold its own with most any other writer, but taken as a body of work, it becomes a standard that challenges all comers. Guitar Town was only a beginning, and a compromise to Nashville production standards of the time, but once the listener begins the journey started with "Exit O", "The Hard Way", and then "I Feel Alright" an increasingly justified appreciation for a certain wreckless genius unfolds.

Here it is. I've been going on for years and years about how great this guy is and how nearly every album (up until "Jerusalum" anyway) he does is better than the one before. This was a big turning point in his style and overall songwriting. After the stint in prison, he released the equally excellent, all-acoustic "Train a Comin'" and followed up with the more rockin' "I feel Alright". This was a more ragged, harder rocking Steve Earle who actually lived everything that he was singing about and wasn't afraid to wear his feelings on his grungy sleeve. The authenticity could never be faked, only bought through years of hard living and near death experiences.

Coming in at a close third ("Transcendental Blues" and "El Corazon" come in first and second) This is definitely a must-own for any fan of real music. Simple as that.

It sure took a long time for this remastered Dylan record but it was worth it. Anyone who likes this record will not be upset. There are some "in the studio" photographs inside. Nice touch. Buy it now.

Wow, I am pleasantly surprised by this 2009 remastered edition. From the pleasant album opener "If Not for You," I knew I was in for something special. The sound quality reveals layers I hadn't noticed before -- most noticeable to my ears was the crispness and clarity of the acoustic guitars, as well as Al Kooper's great organ accompaniment. The songs vary in style from the romantic waltz of "Winterlude," the jazzy "If Dogs Run Free" (complete with scat-style vocals by Maeretha Stewart), the soulful "The Man in Me," the spoken word spirituality of "Three Angels" and the brief gospel-tinged "Father of Night." What the songs have in common is the sheer quality of writing and a lot of heart. Dylan is backed here by a fine group of Nashville session players, who add much to the arrangements. This album has a laid-back feel, but never comes across as lazy or half-hearted. Also, the packaging is nice as well, featuring some in-studio photographs and musician credits. In short, I have new respect for this recording after hearing the remaster. Defintely recommended. Just make sure you're getting the 2009 remaster, not the inferior earlier version.

Hailed as Dylan's return from the self-imposed oblivion of SELF PORTRAIT, this album brings us into Dylan's Woodstock paradise, where he wrote songs as babies pulled on his shoestrings. Listening again, after nearly 40 years, I was struck by how short the songs, which range across different styles, are.

What has remastering come to? I know this album has had a well deserved bum rap for poor sound quality but this latest incarnation is not much better. The level of tape hiss on each track is annoying to say the least. It's not worth your money to upgrade to this questionable improvement in sound.

New Morning is a forgotten treasure which I gladly review here. This remastered version was long overdue since it clearly marks a renaissance in Dylan's career and life.

He'd been roughly 10 years in the public eye and all around things had changed. He'd changed. Nowhere else will we find Dylan so sure of being married, living in the country, trying to raise a family. This is where you get the impression of a happy frozen moment in his life as he wouldn't be this sure a mere three years later with Planet Waves.

Bob was definitely immersed in his life with Sara and most songs serve as a fitting tribute to his marriage and kids. His heartfelt lyrics on Sign On The Window go on like this: "Build me a cabin in Utah/marry me a wife/catch rainbow trout/have a bunch of kids who call me 'Pa'/that must be what it's all about/that must be what it's all about", he sings enthusiastically.
On Time Passes Slowly, he states: "Ain't no reason to go in a wagon to town/Ain't no reason to go to the fair/Ain't no reason to go up, ain't no reason to go down/Ain't no reason to go anywhere".
And on New Morning, he opens his heart: "So happy just to be alive/Underneath the sky of blue/On this new morning, new morning...with you".
If Not For You and The Man In Me are also obvious favourites.

Dylan plays quite a lot of piano on New Morning, seven tracks in total, which also helps to give it quite a distinctive flavour. All adds up to a set of strong songs, all belonging to each other just like the music on Blood On The Tracks does. It appears he'd found a new way which eventually took him to all the anger, frustration and beauty of his aforementioned 1974 masterpiece. This alone is a reason to dive into these tracks of love - this ode to raising a family fitting as a counterpoint to his infamous broken marriage a few years later.

It also seems he just felt lucky to be alive and well after his years of turbulence in the sixties and that feeling of a new beginning is very much alive on this album. I'd place this as a unique gem in Dylan's career so - if you're curious - grab it with no hesitation.

It is also worthy of mention that Father Of Night even ended up covered by Manfred Mann on Solar Fire in 1973 as a great progressive rock opus!

My 2 yr old granddaughter LOVES this Elmo video! We usually watch it 2 or 3 times in a row. She has learned all the dances and will dance and sing along. It's a cute one, I'd highly recommend it!

My daughter just turned 3 and loves Elmo! She really likes this DVD! I'd say it's a good buy for your child if they are an Elmo fan!

My son is 3 months old and is very entertained by this video. He looks at the video and coes with a few arm and hand movements. I find that the video is a fun tool for learning and recommend it for young children.

My little brother watched this movie over and over. It is educational and fun. I bought it recently to show my husband. Love it!!

We took this on a 10-hour flight to keep our 24-month-old occupied and she was entranced immediately. Admittedly, Elmo was already her favorite character so the odds were in our favor, but this video has a charming selection of vignettes associated with the title. It's good-humored, has some great sing-along songs and as you would expect it's also informative-educational; pure Sesame Street. We now have a 2-year-old who likes to gallop around the house shouting 'Ee-harrr' and practice putting a blanket and bridle on an imaginary pony.

There's good news and some not so good news. First the Good, the re-master of "Before the Flood" sounds warm and nuanced, the bottom end sounds firm and the high end is clear and distortion free. Nice job on the restoration of this Live classic. I saw this tour back in the day and it was joyous seeing the Band supporting Dylan. The Band's songs are energetic and full of life, save for, ironically the Dylan penned "I Shall Be Released" which is marred by an embarrassingly high pitched lead vocal that is nails on a blackboard to this listener, the other Band songs are exceptional. The Dylan songs are wonderfully backed by the Band's inspired arrangements, especially Robbie Robertson's virtuoso guitar playing. The problem here is Dylan's vocals, he literally shouts the lyrics and his phrasing is completely out of control, take a listen to "Lay Lady Lay" when he shouts "his hands are clean", in short Dylan's singing takes a 4 star album and turns it into a 3 star album. The songs are classics, the Band is inspired and if you don't mind Dylan being Dylan on the vocals then by all means pick this one up. For those interested, this CD came in a JEWEL case, not a DIGIPAK, but I understand it's available both ways.

Some reviewers complain that Bob is just shouting over the aggressive backing of The Band; that these live versions pale when compared to the original studio takes or other live releases by the Mighty Zim. My take on this is that the first time Bob "went electric" backed by the then Hawks, they were not well received, and often booed. It's years later and now Bob and The Band play these songs with an "in your face" approach that says we knew what we had something good back then, and we're going to take it right back at the audience, and enjoy it this time!

I downloaded the MP3 album, but found that I could not enjoy this live album as a concert, because most of the audience clapping & cheering between songs has been eliminated. This ruins the concert experience, as one song begins just moments after the previous track, with jarring jumps in audience noise. I've downloaded other live albums, but never experienced this before. Has anyone else experienced this with the MP3 download?

Anyway...it's a very fine live album: lots of great Bob tunes, and fine performances by The Band both on their own, and behind Bob. Standout tracks for me include: Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Ballad of a Thin Man (listen to Garth's organ work on this), Stage Fright, an acoustic It's Alight Ma, a fast and furious All Along the Watchtower, and my favorite version of Like A Rolling Stone.

That's my main beef with "Before The Flood." It sounds like the same exact song over and over again. There are some exceptions like "Most Likely You Go Your Way" and "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" but all the other songs for the most part sound EXACTLY the same...same singing, same tempo, same guitars and drums playing the same notes as the previous track. I understand Dylan would often shake up the arrangements in concerts so they won't sound too much like the studio version (something that can horribly backfire to the point where the lyrics are the only way you can tell what song it is...this means you, "Just Like A Woman") but for some reason he decided with this concert he would just play one 2-hour song. Dylan was never that great a singer but I'm still trying to figure out why on songs like "Lay Lady Lay" he screams the rhyming word in each verse. Weird. Overall it's not a really bad album, it's just a bit redundant.

I was an impresionable 17 year old and I liked Dylan OK. I had Nashville Skyline and both Greatest Hits albums at the time when someone asked me if I'd like to see Dylan on what would turn out to be the last show of his first tour since 1966. I was floored. Within two months after the Feb. 14, 1974 show I had every Dylan album.
The concert was amazing and the record conveys that. Stand out tracks include: "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" with its added lyrics, "Ballad of a Thin Man" in which you can hear the crowd energized by the song's intense bridge, "It's Alright Ma" when the audience in the grips of Watergate is lifted by the line "Even the president of the United States must sometimes have to stand naked", "Up On Cripple Creek" where Levon Helm sings like no other, "Stage Fright" where Robertson and Garth Hudson play off each other's outstanding musicianship and "Like a Rolling Stone" which brings it all to a head.
So why not 5 stars? Because I was there I may have some bias. The 5 star shows I wish I'd seen that are on CD are the shows from 1966 (I was only 9) and 1975 when he only toured New England.

I've been vexed by this release ever since some old friends of mine used to rave about it. I just couldn't warm up to it. I thought the Dylan songs were just not like the studio ones I was familar with and the sonic limitations (of the orignal CD release) definitely did not help its cause. Now I can say it was soley the sonics that kept this on the shelf for so long. The improved sound is just brilliant, the high end rides above a solid bottom whereas this used to be a muddy mess. I can finally recommend this. Many diehards will lament the lack of any bonus material whatsoever. This is how the Dylan machine operates, he uses his bootleg series toward that end and he keeps the legacy material tried and true. I applaud that and I think brevity is sometimes its own reward.

To all Reba fans this a must have C.d. There is not one bad song on the c.d. Once again Amazon has not let me down because i found this c.d. cheaper on Amazon than any major chain. thanx again for being a great web site .
Sincerly Yours
Robert Riddlebaugh

When You Love Someone Like That-a duet with Leann Rimes(another amzing singer, a song about moving on past heartbreak, despite still loving them 5/5
Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma-a duet with Ronnie Dunn(from Brooks and Dunn), about a couple who miss home and ask if things are still there
4.5/5
Because of You-a Reba and Kelly duet of the Kelly CLarkson song, an emotional and heartfelt performance about an abusive husband 5/5
Faith in Love-a duet with Rascal Flatts about believing you and your loved one will stay true to each other 4.5/5
She CAn't SAve HIm-a duet with Trisha YEarwood about an alcoholic, and possibly abusive, husband 4.5/5
Everyday People-one of the happier songs, an uplifting duet with Carole KIng about the power of, well, everyday people, inspiring 4/5
Every Other WEekend-the album's best, but also sad, a dueet with Kenny Chesney, about two divorced people who still love each other but won't say it because they are unaware of each other's feelings 5/5
These Broken HEarts-a duet with VInce Gill abput how only time can mend broken hearts 5/5
Sleeping WITh The Tellephone-a duet with Faith HIll about a police officer whose wife fears will die and waits for him to call 4/5
The ONly Promise that REmains-a duet with JUstin TImberlake(whom you can barely hear), about love's lasting promise 4/5
Break Each OTher HEart's AGain-a duet with DOn Henley about wanting to be back with someone 4/5

I ordered a copy for my daughter and a copy for myself. We both have played our cd's to death. We play it in our cars, in our homes, everywhere. Thanks for a speedy delivery and making this a great transaction. Will surely buy from you again.

I downloaded several of the free songs from Amazon. They played flawlessly.
At this point I purchased this album and dowloaded it. It would not play. I worked with support three times trying various things. I could never get it to play. At this point Amazon offered and did refund my money. I haven't tried buying anymore music from them but they didn't lose my other business. Never knew why the free stuff would play but the music I paid for wouldn't.

I like Reba's duets. A lot of good country singing. Bought one for myself and my daughter.

This CD arrived very quickly and was just as described. It contains a great selection of songs and is a great addition to anyone's country CD collection. All in all, a great buying experience.

Country/western is not my favorite genre...but I could NOT escape the haunting folk song I halfway heard on someone else's radio. Some of you undoubtedly know exactly what I mean. I was "hooked". I HAD to find out what it was and who performed it. I suspect at least a few of you can relate to the shock I experienced when I finally discovered who was behind "Highwayman". How could it be that four county/western legends could/would pen and sing what is arguably the most poignant and muscial song about reincarnation in the English language? I guess the Intelligence behind Eternity finds playful and unexpected ways to touch us and teach us.

If serendipity explains the title track, what about the rest of the CD? To quote South Park's Eric Cartman: "Don't know...don't care." For me, alas, the remaining tracks confirm my first sentence. They simply spin on the CD while the laser dances over the data associated with just one song, again and again. "Highwayman". My only regret is that I cannot give "Highwayman" six stars.

Great artists. Fair collabaration. One phenomenal song. "The Highwayman." Drops off pretty steep after the one hit.

CD arrived in excellent condition. I am so glad someone had this as I now a piece of history.

Half of this beloved group of country ICONS have given up the ghost. These men literally saved the country music genre from extinction. They were truly outlaws to the sparkling suits wore by the standard fare of counrty performers. I own everything they've recorded on CD and DVD.

Here's the kicker, until Kris, Waylon and Willie surfaced, I didn't like country music at all! When I graduated from high school, it was 1967 and I joined "the hippie movement" and only listened to folk protest, Joplin, Hendrix, Crosby, Stils & Nash...you get the idea.

When the outlaws came around, I had a personal revelation! Country music was GREAT for crying in your beer, over a woman.

Treat yourself to the Best Country Men since Hank Williams, Sr.

Very "transportation" oriented. Still; rockin' good music, strangely enough, especially if you are listening in a car.

As a lifelong Neil Young fan (since 1980), I always wait in trepidation for a new album. Sometimes they are great and sometimes they are rubbish. Thankfully this time, it is great. Unlike the previous album Chrome Dreams II (which was awful) this has 10 songs which all stand up individually with decent melodies, lyrics and guitar rifts. Sometimes you cant tell one NY song from an other (Greendale). The sound is very much like Cortez or Like a hurricane, that sort of electric sound your familiar with. The only acoustic song is Light a candle which is great little song. My personal favourites are Just singing a song, fork in the road and light a candle. This is definitley his best album for me since Freedom 20 years ago. Praire wind and Harvest moon weren't too bad either. If your a real Neil Young fan you will really like this album, if your a casual Neil Young fan you may also like it

A driving album - kind of. Well it's generally about driving and some of the songs are ideal for that long drive. But it is a mixed bag of songs, some are standout (Just Singing a Song was probably my favourite) but there are one or two others that are not that memorable.

While I enjoy Neil Young's work, I am an occasional buyer, not a fanatic so I cannot put this into context of his other works, all I can do is say how much I enjoyed this album as a standalone piece of music. And I did enjoy it, it is no classic but it has high points which make good use of Young's easily recognisable vocals and there are tracks which have much softer vocals which means they tend to blend into gentle background music. This is certainly no dud and I'm glad I bought it, but I feel with a couple of better songs this could easily have been a classic.

This is without a doubt one of Neil's most embarrassing efforts, ranking even lower than "Living With War" and "Landing On Water." Although I am a die-hard Neil fan and I buy everything he puts out, this "work" is nearly unlistenable especially when he has so much other fabulous music. Buy this one only if you insist on having a complete Neil Young collection. I promise you will only listen to it once.

If Fork In The Road had been released instead of Reactor back in the early 80's, it would have been hailed as a masterpiece, a worthy sequel to the grunge-fest of Rust Never Sleeps. But this is nearly 30 years later, and what was cutting edge then is cliche today. Still, not all is wrong with predictability.

Before Young begins singing on each song, you can often anticipate the melody line he'll use -- they're standard Young melodies that Neil is not about to ditch any more. He's recylced this music so often that there's a considerable element of familiarity in most Young fans before they've even listened to the first track. This has its pros and cons. If you fight it, it's a con. Neil won't change at this stage. If you accept it, it can be a pro. The material falls within stylistic expectations and the only question left is: Does Neil retread the same old ground with quality songs, or is he merely going through the motions? This time around, it's the first. You may have heard Fork in countless variations on previous Young albums, and yet his old tricks are still effective when done well and given a twist. Of course, this also adds to the rushed and tossed off feel of some of the tunes, which can bring a certain charm to Neil's work. And that's frequently been the feeling with many of his tunes, even his classic ones.

The following albums are strongly alluded to: Reactor, Rust Never Sleeps, On The Beach, Comes A Time, and a touch of Hawks And Doves and the more shadowy side of Stars And Bars. Not that Fork is as brilliant as some of these, it's just that they are the source from which Neil borrows to make Fork (blatantly sometimes). Quite a different concept altogether.

There is, however, one major difference or addition to the old recipe. This is a grungy and yet LITE album that, as many reviewers noted, would be cool for cruisin' around. While it may have all the grunge you want, it has little of the grunge darkness (unlike Greendale). And that's an interesting combo which permeates the entire album, making it snappy, foot-tapping, and well-crafted, if undemanding as well. Then there's some clever riffing and imaginative and well chosen color changes within most songs (in fact, the title track is probably the lamest of the heavy ones). And to top it off, the production is wholly unassuming, allowing the raw vigor of the band to come through -- simple, hard-hitting, and forward-looking. All this makes Fork relevant and Neil's most pleasant surprise in decades.

I disliked the album initially (the rather obvious lyrics remain the my biggest complaint). I then found myself putting it on because it was both good company and a plain fun listen. With only one skippable song (a rare feat these days), the excessively derivative Off The Road, Fork In The Road may end up becoming Neil's swan-song.

It is easy to go gaga over Nekos voice. Lord knows I have, and with good reason. She's one of the preeminent singers of her generation. But what is more impressive about this album is the immersive quality of the music and lyrics that reveals itself upon repeated listing. The sound of the album is so coherent, that it actually put me off at first. But eventually Fox Confessor was all I could listen to for quite a while. I still listen to it often after several years.


What's the trick? Her technique has been developing ever since that final haunting howl of Furnace Room Lullabye (Her 2nd album) and continued through the DIY anthem to her foster country, Canadian Amp, in which she started laying the foundations of her trademark sound. It's spacious, even other-worldly; distinctly american (in the broad sense) but hard to locate exactly in a particular time or place. With its sparse instrumentation, loose rhythms and open spaces it seems to drift in from the ether, like jumbled up strains of old AM radio stations that have been reflected off the moon and back to us. In Blacklisted, while folding musical influences outside of country into her sound more, she also began developing her lyrical technique, in which she stitches together vivid sequences of images, still-lifes and dramatic scenes without spelling out the connections.

From front to finish, Neko commands these techniques in Fox Confessor more consistently and with greater imagination and maturity than ever before. She adds to the effect by compulsively ignoring typical song structures, which then forces the listener to engage even more and leaves the songs even more open ended. While the music references a wide range of past american sounds, the results is more coherent across songs than on Blacklisted, which prevents the spell from breaking between songs. The lyrical technique has been finely honed as well. In her images are echoes of violence, trust, misunderstanding, defiance, fear, loss, hope and regret. Reflexively you follow those echoes (all the while with that voice reaching out like a strong, comforting hand on your arm) down paths of your own choosing, filling in the narrative and backstory for yourself. It's almost as if you came upon Galadriels Mirror perched on a garbage can along side a gas station in a down-and-out part of a midwestern industrial town. (Neko's fascination for fairy tales and how they work may explain why this odd comparison came to me!).

As others have pointed out, there are great songs on this album. But for my money, Fox Confessor really stands out most as a great piece of art (yes, I'll use that word) when you listen all the way through. Only then can you get transported fully. Just as in a really good fairy tale, once you finally look up, the world and its people somehow look different, and maybe also a bit more precious.

sure Johnny Cash was THE MAN and add a few others to the list.
I'd heard this several times and it piqued my interest.
Folk.....well maybe...country...? But one look at the cover, and I thought,
"here is someone who doesnt care for the conventions of 'country' -or cover art-how could it in any way reflect or give a clue as to what lie hidden inside?
This should be a cover for some eurotrash encentric goth band...(or close to)
well, maybe not. There is a sense of irony on the cover-and to the music-she is on her own path, for sure

And then the hand drawn cover is just the art-no artist/title/rca logo, very unconventional (at least mine didnt after it came out of the cardboard O-ring) Her label is with the logo of a B 52 bomber presumably represents a strong anti war statement
I think thats really cool and brave. Americans usually have to be hit over the head in consumerland-
IF the CD was put out by a major, im sure this act alone would have the top execs taking constant Valiums along with double scotches and having a nurse and defibrulator nearby.

If this were country-folk-it was some one with a sense of macabre humor.
And then I found the 2 CD version-and couldnt resist-
This became too good to pass up after hearing a haunting song on the FM
For me it took some getting used to. But that commanding voice takes you into another world-and leads you back again
I cant yet make objective comments since it is still so new.
FCBTF-what a strange title-and another risk
(On the back cover of BLACKLISTED an arrow points to the UPC/EAN code where she wryly notes "The numerals 6-8-6-4...etc really ruin the cover..." (as well as FBI and EXPLICIT! warnings embedded into cover art. )
Why dont the idiots pend the extra $1.00 pro-rated, per thousand and put STICKERS on the front wrapper?
But I still cant get over the cover and some of the inside drawings.
Good work, Neko!

As always, a couple of cuts I could live without. Overall, a very enjoyable CD, with "Hold On" being outstanding. Great new artist with room to grow.

Neko Case has a unique voice, both in terms of sound and writing and perspective.

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is a wonderful example of a brilliant singer. Neko Case gets the nod as one of the most gifted American singers with a voice like silk and a delivery that is welcomely unusual. The album is painfully short, though, clocking in at just under 38 minutes. One has to wonder why.

This is a great DVD for any Keith fan as well as anyone who wants to experience a fantastic live show. Nothing beats being there but this DVD gives a good view of what it is like to be at a Keith Urban show. I do agree that Living Right Now was a tad bit better but this one is worth having.

Keith Urban Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy World Tour Dvd

Keith Urban knows how to deliver anywhere he plays worldwide! He can make theatres and arenas and play like it is just you and him. This DVD marks the transition and second live event into the arena atmosphere from his first live event in theatres, Livin' Right Now. Love Pain and the Whole Crazy World Tour DVD is a must-see for all Urban and music lovers alike. Urban puts it all out there and celebrates his gift along with the gift of every fan in the audience that night in one big party to last a lifetime! FIVE STARS * * * * * ++!!

Hi Folks,

I picked this up at WalMart today for $10...I believe they have an exclusive. What we have here is Keith in a BIG arena show as opposed to the smaller hall he played in the GRAMMY winning "Livin Right Now" DVD. I prefer the previous DVD by a great margin. The show is more intimate...the filming is better that performance has more of a connection...perhaps this is due to the nature of how an artist has to perform in a huge arena and the problems with filming ..particularly the "in the round" section. There are bonus features...mostly goof ups and a 15 minute making of that is mostly a movie of Keiths face in different cities...kinda strange actually. This is however on its own merits a terrific DVD and great 2 hour show and for $10 has to get a 5 star review. If you have the other DVD this is different enough to not be a waste of your time...if you have neither I'd certainly start with the first...and I almost forgot there is a sort of "rough" video of the song "you look good in my shirt" as another bonus...and did I mention..this kid Urban can play guitar...I mean he gets busy on that thing!!