Reviews Written By: A291X75UCH6KN8provided by Amazon.com |
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 | Secret Agent AKA Danger Man Megaset | |
 | "The soundtrack is just fine--you might need to learn a few foreign languages though" | 2008-01-21 |
| Remarkably, this show had entire sequences spoken in foreign languages with no sub-titles. The show is that sophisticated....It really demands a lot from its audience and I, for one, am GRATEFUL for that.
There are sequences in French, Arabic, Greek, and Italian...you either need to understand the languages or figure out what's being said via the context (which is what I did). I'm thankful that the producers never dumbed the show down for the audience. If the script called for a conversation in a foreign tongue, they shot the scene...just that way! No phony foreign accents and no sub-titles. I actually don't mind not having the subtitles...more challenging. To the reviewer whose Dad couldn't undestand the show because of the "heavy foreign accents", look again! The art direction on this show was first rate...I could never understand how they could afford building brand new sets from week-to-week...sets that would never be used again. They also did quite a bit of location shooting...also surprising (and expensive!). If you like to travel, this is a great way to do it because Drake goes everywhere (the Middle East included). The action sequences are tough, very physical, and exciting! McGoohan did most (if not all) of his own fighting in the show and he's very, VERY good at it. Lots of judo throws and the like. Hard to believe that the producers let him do so much (although, with his intensity, he probably INSISTED on it). The other thing I really like are all of the opportunities for romance with exotic, stunningly beautiful women that are routinely passed up by Drake! Refreshing. There is one episode though (the one with the song "Mia Amore Sta Lontano" in it) where he thinks about it a little. He seems to actually like the girl in this one and has a hard time avoiding getting entangled with her! Great episode. But they ALL are. P.S. Very cool hearing the Zombies "She's Not There" in French--when it was a brand new song! Amazing show. | ||
 | Neil Young - Tonight's the Night | |
 | "The Emperor of Wyoming's New Clothes" | 2007-10-15 |
| This album's reputation is legendary, no doubt. But is it really as good as everyone says it is? Not really. The songs are, for the most part, mediocre, especially in light of Young's first four solo albums, "Deja Vu" and Buffalo Springfield. The playing is inept and lifeless and the singing is abysmal. Young's voice is strained and off-key for most of the album which does nothing to enhance material that isn't very good to start with.
You don't even get very many original songs...."Tonight's the Night" is played twice for no apparent reason and "Borrowed Tune" is the Rolling Stones "Lady Jane" with new lyrics--bad ones. The Stones, bizarrely, aren't credited as co-composers. Some of the material was not even intended for this project. The best track, "Come on Baby Let's go Downtown" was recorded years earlier at a Crazy Horse concert....This track has taken it's rightful place now on the excellent "Live at Fillmore" record. The second best track, "New Mama" was intended for CSNY's "Human Highway" album. I'm grateful that this song found a home somehere--too bad it had to be here! The rest of the album, 9 tracks in all, are wretched. The reputation of this album is utterly without foundation. It seems to have gained a solid reputation BECAUSE it's so bad...as if "bad" is really good in this case. The album is rated highly because everyone, Neil Young included, SAYS it's good---you just have to "understand it". If you don't get it, you're not cool...something like that. If you ask me, this "Emperor of Wyoming" has no clothes. It's about time someone finally pointed it out! | ||
 | Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection - Volume 1 | |
| "These are GREAT! Don't listen to the Republican spin machine" | 2007-08-03 |
| I was amazed to see the intensely negative reviews printed here about this remarkable series. Neal Adams is probably the greatest comic book artist ever and his work here is his best.
The times we live in are incredibly sad. I despair when I read comments like these. The so-called "Reagan Revolution" must be here to stay, unfortunately. People, even comic book people, obviously don't care about important issues like racism, poverty, the enviroment, American imperialism and the like. Reviewers who consider the GL/GA series "quaint" or, even worse "naive and misguided" are not part of the problem. They ARE the problem. | ||
 | Moby Grape - Moby Grape | |
| "It's Not Columbia Records fault" | 2007-06-10 |
| Nor does the blame fall on Matthew Katz. After all, he managed Jefferson Airplane also and they did quite well despite his "bad" management. Columbia Records is hardly at fault. One of the greatest labels of all time, Columbia broke Dylan, the Byrds and Big Brother. The "label" certainly didn't stand in their way. Moby Grape didn't make it big because they really weren't very good. Let's face it. Plenty of groups had flop singles (see The Kinks). It didn't stop them from having an extremely successful musical career. Renaissance or Fairport Convention NEVER had a hit single--nor did they have hit albums. That didn't stop them from making great music for decades. Airplane had SIX singles released in their first YEAR! Four were flops. Two were hits. Why? Because the hits ("Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit") were actually GOOD. So stop blaming everyone else for the Grape's failure. The Grape failed because they weren't that good. Bad management and label problems didn't stop Buffalo Springfield from acheiving legendary statuure. Nor did it deep-six the lengthy careers of its individual members. It might actually be possible to listen and appreciate this group if the undeserved hype would die down! It's so overblown. And flat out untrue. The Beatles sound like incompetent amateurs compared to the "Grape". Sheesh! Enough already. | ||
 | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | |
| "George Lazenby is first rate as James Bond" | 2007-02-24 |
| The rap that you always read about this film is that is was really good except for the casting of James Bond. Well, I'm here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth! George Lazenby was a great James Bond! Not only was he perfectly cast but his performance is dead-on, as good as anything Sean Connery did. Lazenby is a hybrid of Sean Connery and Cary Grant, not a bad combination, particularly when you're trying to find an actor to play James Bond! Grant was often mentioned as a possibility for James Bond but was too old when the series finally got off the ground. The reason Lazenby only made one James Bond film was NOT because audiences rejected him. Nor was it because the producers didn't want him. The reason Lazenby never played Bond again was because his agent told him to turn the part down!!! The agent thought it wouldn't be "smart" to become typecast as James Bond, as Connery had. Obviously, that was the worst advice any actor has ever gotten because Lazenby hasn't worked in films since! The film faithfully adapts the Fleming novel to the screen which is a really good thing because OHMSS is Fleming's best novel. The other cast members are excellent but miscast. Tracy was supposed to be a blonde--Fleming even described her as being a bit like Brigette Bardot. Diana Rigg, of "The Avengers", is obviously a much better actress than Bardot so we are probably better off with her in the part. She's great in the film. Ditto Telly Savalas. Not a good choice for the sophisticated, German master criminal, Ernst Stravo Blofeld but what s performance!!! Savalas perfectly portrays the character despite being the wrong "type". Savalas makes Blofeld the most fully realized Bond villain since Auric Goldfinger. The story is great and the action is non-stop in the second half. The producers make you really care about Bond and Tracy and that's quite an achievement for an action-adventure film. All in all, this is the easily the greatest James Bond film ever made. "Goldfinger", the film that established the Bond "formula", is the only other Bond movie that reaches this high a level. "Goldfinger", incidently, also features an ex-Avenger, Honor Blackman. | ||
 | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | |
| "George Lazenby is first rate as James Bond" | 2007-02-24 |
| The rap that you always read about this film is that is was really good except for the casting of James Bond. Well, I'm here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth! George Lazenby was a great James Bond! Not only was he perfectly cast but his performance is dead-on, as good as anything Sean Connery did. Lazenby is a hybrid of Sean Connery and Cary Grant, not a bad combination, particularly when you're trying to find an actor to play James Bond! Grant was often mentioned as a possibility for James Bond but was too old when the series finally got off the ground. The reason Lazenby only made one James Bond film was NOT because audiences rejected him. Nor was it because the producers didn't want him. The reason Lazenby never played Bond again was because his agent told him to turn the part down!!! The agent thought it wouldn't be "smart" to become typecast as James Bond, as Connery had. Obviously, that was the worst advice any actor has ever gotten because Lazenby hasn't worked in films since! The film faithfully adapts the Fleming novel to the screen which is a really good thing because OHMSS is Fleming's best novel. The other cast members are excellent but miscast. Tracy was supposed to be a blonde--Fleming even described her as being a bit like Brigette Bardot. Diana Rigg, of "The Avengers", is obviously a much better actress than Bardot so we are probably better off with her in the part. She's great in the film. Ditto Telly Savalas. Not a good choice for the sophisticated, German master criminal, Ernst Stravo Blofeld but what s performance!!! Savalas perfectly portrays the character despite being the wrong "type". Savalas makes Blofeld the most fully realized Bond villain since Auric Goldfinger. The story is great and the action is non-stop in the second half. The producers make you really care about Bond and Tracy and that's quite an achievement for an action-adventure film. All in all, this is the easily the greatest James Bond film ever made. "Goldfinger", the film that established the Bond "formula", is the only other Bond movie that reaches this high a level. "Goldfinger", incidently, also features an ex-Avenger, Honor Blackman. | ||
 | Crosby, Stills & Nash - Live It Up | |
| "Crosby Stills and Nash haven't produced a bad album..." | 2007-01-29 |
| this one included. The reviews here are absurd. I gave this deserving album five stars to counter-balance all of the overly negative one-star reviews. This is a good album--as least as good as "American Dream", "After the Storm" or "Looking Forward". There is some great material here--even the title track "Live It Up" which I love! I'm not sure the reviewers here have gotten past the horrid cover, admittedly a mistake. The music is much better than the cover, believe me. Frankly, the album was a big surprise for me. My expectations were low (thanks to that blasted cover!) so I was pleasantly surprised by the music. | ||
 | John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Unfinished Music, No. 1: Two Virgins | |
| "Horrible!" | 2006-10-02 |
| I'm reviewing this only to average down the overall rating. The album isn't worth commenting on. It's that bad. | ||
 | Flaming Star | |
| "Flaming Star is not just a great Elvis movie" | 2006-08-13 |
| It's a great movie, period! I just saw it in Cinemascope at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood last night and I was stunned by its excellence. I've often heard that this movie proved that Elvis could "act" but I've always been skeptical. I assumed the movie would be full of histrionic treacle and have studiously avoided it. Big mistake. This movie is first rate, of the highest order. Elvis has gotten knocked over the years for not making more movies like "Flaming Star". But, when you really think about it, NO ONE made movies like "Flaming Star", in any era! The movie starts tragically and continues it's ever-widening downward spiral until the very end! There's not a light moment in the picture (excluding the very first scene) and it's to be commended for not pulling any punches. Shakespeare didn't write tragedy any better than this. That is why "Flaming Star" is so satisfying. It stands apart from just about any film you can think of. I LIKE tragedy and would like to see more of it. But, evidently, tragedy doesn't sell and that's why Hollywood stays away from it. Not only does Elvis play the role of the half-breed Pacer perfectly but he is well-suited to the part. Marlon Brando would not have been a good choice. Elvis looks the part of a half-breed and resembles his Indian "brothers" as much or more than his "real" white brother. Not enough has been said here at Amazon about the superb perfomances by John McIntire and Steve Forrest in this film. I've seen both of them a million times in films and it's hard to get excited about either one of them. But, in "Flaming Star", their performances are dead-on. They are well-cast and letter perfect in their roles. Barabara Eden and Delores Del Rio are also superb. Don Siegal knew what he wanted out of all of the actors in this picture and he got what he wanted, in spades. GREAT film! You don't have to be an Elvis fan to admire it. | ||
 | Flaming Star | |
| "Flaming Star is not just a great Elvis movie" | 2006-08-13 |
| It's a great movie, period! I just saw it in Cinemascope at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood last night and I was stunned by its excellence. I've often heard that this movie proved that Elvis could "act" but I've always been skeptical. I assumed the movie would be full of histrionic treacle and have studiously avoided it. Big mistake. This movie is first rate, of the highest order. Elvis has gotten knocked over the years for not making more movies like "Flaming Star". But, when you really think about it, NO ONE made movies like "Flaming Star", in any era! The movie starts tragically and continues it's ever-widening downward spiral until the very end! There's not a light moment in the picture (excluding the very first scene) and it's to be commended for not pulling any punches. Shakespeare didn't write tragedy any better than this. That is why "Flaming Star" is so satisfying. It stands apart from just about any film you can think of. I LIKE tragedy and would like to see more of it. But, evidently, tragedy doesn't sell and that's why Hollywood stays away from it. Not only does Elvis play the role of the half-breed Pacer perfectly but he is well-suited to the part. Marlon Brando would not have been a good choice. Elvis looks the part of a half-breed and resembles his Indian "brothers" as much or more than his "real" white brother. Not enough has been said here at Amazon about the superb perfomances by John McIntire and Steve Forrest in this film. I've seen both of them a million times in films and it's hard to get excited about either one of them. But, in "Flaming Star", their performances are dead-on. They are well-cast and letter perfect in their roles. Barabara Eden and Delores Del Rio are also superb. Don Siegal knew what he wanted out of all of the actors in this picture and he got what he wanted, in spades. GREAT film! You don't have to be an Elvis fan to admire it. | ||
 | Ed Wood (Special Edition) | |
 | "The Special Edition" | 2006-03-19 |
| A loving tribute to Bela Lugosi and fifties Sci-Fi, I liked thim movie even more the second time. The first time, I laughed along with everyone. But the second time, I realized that the film doesn't really poke fun at Ed Wood. Instead, in a way, in reveres him and Hollywood in the fifties. Landau is perfect in a very sympathetic portrayal of Bela Lugosi. It's amazing how Burton and Landau were able to, quite literally, resurrect Lugosi from the grave. If you like Lugosi, you'll LOVE this movie. Tim Burton treats him with respect and I appreciated his approach very much. Ditto for Ed Wood. The movie doesn't really laugh AT Ed Wood. Not at all. And that's what makes this such a great film. The music is utterly fantastic. Unfortunately, the DVD sound mixing leaves much to be desired! The music actually drowns out the dialogue!!! It's mixed TOO LOUD and spoils the film in parts. Also, the so-called "Special Edition" contains no audio commentary nor deleted scences despite the advertizing on the box. I found this to be VERY irritating and disappointing. If I had bought it, I would have taken it back and demanded a refund. Fortunately, I was able to rent it for just a dollar and enjoyed it immensely. So buyers beware. Great rental but I wouldn't want to own it due to the defects I just mentioned. | ||
 | Dave Mason & Cass Elliot - Dave Mason & Cass Elliot | |
| "Boy, is this one hard to find!" | 2006-02-15 |
| Mystifying. This CD is unbelievably rare. It's also unbelievably great! "Dave Mason & Cass Elliot" has truly aged to perfection. I bought it when it first came out on LP and have sought it on CD for years. When I finally got it (at an outrageous price I might add), I was truly surprised to find out how good it was. And why shouldn't it be? It's Dave Mason at his creative peak, only a few months after "Alone Together". Mama Cass is in peak form as well. This is a good as anything she's done, including the Mamas and the Papas. Why this album is so hard to find on CD is truly mystifying. A re-release would seem to be a no-brainer, particularly since there are legions of Dave Mason fans who have yearned for a worthy followup to "Alone Together" but could never find one. Well, DM fans, look no further. Here it is, in all its glory. Ten Dave Mason originals, impeccably perfomed and sung by two artists at the peak of their creative powers. It doesn't get any better than this. | ||
 | Johnny Cash - The Legend | |
| "Limited Edition-Needs more Cash-Dylan" | 2006-01-08 |
| This is a limited edition collector's set which partly justifies the hefty price tag. The radio broadcast is pretty Gol-Darn cool. It's Cash's show all the way. Not only does he sing live, he's also the announcer and the commercial pitchman. It's a hoot! On the broadcast, he even plugs his upcoming concert at the Overton Park Shell with Elvis! Very cool! I wouldn't have bought this for myself, I'll have to admit. But someone gave it to me for Christmas and I'm so glad I got it! What a great gift. I love Discs 3 and 4 the most. Those are the tracks I'm least familiar with. One complaint. What is "Girl from the North Country" doing here? Since this a rare collector's set, why not put one or more of the unreleased Dylan-Cash collobrations on this? Virtually EVERYONE already has "Girl" in their collection because just about everyone in the country owns a copy of Dylan's "Nashville Skyline". Cash and Dylan recorded about 18 tracks together and Cash DOMINATES the proceedings all the way. These tracks are great, believe me. Cash fans would love all of them. I don't care because I already own these tracks thanks to Ebay. But why not give Cash collectors a taste of these tracks on the "Family and Friends" disc? Dylan was one of Johnny Cash's best friends and their collaboration was fruitful. It's too bad only one of these tracks has ever seen the light of day. | ||
 | Poco - Deliverin | |
 | "Desperately in need of expansion" | 2005-10-29 |
| Poco was an awesome live act in the 1970s. But this low-energy, poorly engineered, niggardly recording doesn't really reveal the fire they exhibited on stage, in person. Surely, Columbia has some unreleased live tracks in the vault from this period. Where, for example is "Nobody's Fool/El Tonto De Nadie, Regresa"? This song sounded totally different live, with Rusty Young's pedal-steel literally shrieking out an extended ear-shattering solo. I'd love to hear that track live again. How about it Columbia? | ||
 | Beatles - Let It Be | |
| "Let It Be-Naked-What a travesty!" | 2005-04-20 |
| What a lost opportunity. The real "Get Back" is available from Apple in Russia(!) backed with, of all things, "Yellow Submarine". Which makes sense if you think about it. Technically, "Get Back with Don't Let Me Down and 9 other songs" (the album's original title) would have followed "Yellow Submarine" if the Beatles had released it as nature really intended it!
The Russian "Get Back" sparkles with remastered sound, sounding better than the lousy UK CD releases from the 1980's. Here's the track listing: One After 909 Don't Let Me Down Dig a Pony I've Got a Feeling Get Back For You Blue Teddy Boy Maggie Mae (a hidden 'bonus track') Two of Us On Our Way Home (the original title) Dig It (tracking time 4 minutes 12 seconds--awesome cut!) Let It Be (the original, non-Phil Spector version) The Long and Winding Road (no strings, no choir) This album was actually released to radio stations in 1969. I got my hands on a bootleg copy so I know how great it was. This is the FIRST time I've ever seen it on CD--at least in this EXACT form. And it's remastered! Pristine sound from the original masters. Why couldn't Capitol release this to American/UK markets instead of the vastly inferior "Let It Be-Naked"? Russian Beatle fans are treated WAY better than their American/UK counterparts. Go figure. I'm so glad I live in LA where I can actually find this stuff. The Russians have also released the British Stones catalogue with bonus tracks; pristine sound, UK running lineup, singles and outtakes included. Just awesome. | ||
 | Indigo Girls - Rites of Passage | |
| "Pinnacle" | 2005-03-17 |
| "Rites of Passage" is Indigo Girls best album. It's a classic.
I need to make one point thought. Amy Ray has never needed to "catch up" with Emily Saliers as a songwriter. She wrote six of the ten songs on the famous "Indigo Girls" album including "Secure Yourself", "Kid Fears" and "Tried to be True", all classics. She also wrote "Strange Fire", "Welcome Me", & "World Falls (Nomads, Indians and Saints), all great songs. If anything, Emily needed to catch up to Amy on "Rites", not the other way around! | ||
 | The Bangles - All Over the Place | |
 | "Decent Debut but Overated" | 2005-02-23 |
| All of the reviews for this album seem to say the exactly the same thing: That "All Over the Place" is the Bangles best album, presumably before they "sold out". Well, that's just plain wrong. The Bangles, not unlike their namesakes, The Beatles, evolved. They got better with each successive album. "Different Light" was a vast improvement on this, their debut, and "Everything" topped them both. This evolution continues to this day. "Doll Revolution" is better than all three of the 80's albums combined.
The Bangles are one of my all-time favorite groups. I loved seeing Susanna Hoffs on the Tonight Show with Joan Rivers. Joan asked Susanna what her musical influences were. Susanna had the all-time greatest answer! She said: "The Three B's. Beatles, Byrds, and Buffalo Springfield!" GREAT ANSWER! Joan seemed completely baffled! I think Joan had heard of the Beatles but you could tell she had no idea who the other two groups were! Funny. | ||
 | The Beatles - The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 | |
| "A shoddy release-the Beatles deserve better" | 2004-12-28 |
| Capitol has to be the most scurrilous record company in the history of recorded music. It's unfortunate that they hold the rights to the best act in music history. This release is shocking in its appalling lack of taste. It's almost as if they REFUSE to do a good job with the Beatles catalog because they know the Beatles will sell no matter what piece of [...] they put out. Every other act from the sixties (except Capitol's own "Kingston Trio") has gotten a respectful remasters treatment. Why they can't do this with the Beatles is beyond me. The huge shocker on this set is the release of the horrible "Something New". "A Hard Day's Night" and mediocre filler material without the film's three best tracks "A Hard Day's Night", "Can't Buy Me Love" and "I Should Have Known Better". Has Capitol ever heard of "bonus tracks"? Come on! Beatle fans deserve to hear these classic tracks in stereo and this project gave Capitol a good opportunity to release them. | ||
 | Fairport Convention - Babbacombe Lee | |
| "The Last Great Fairport Album" | 2004-12-27 |
| This was the last "legitimate" Fairport lineup, the "Angel Delight" group--Dave Pegg, Dave Swarbick, Dave Mattacks and founding member Simon Nicol. Simon is truly an amazing musician. He replaced both Richard Thompson AND Sandy Denny. His guitar playing and singing are superb on both this and "Angel Delight".
As concept albums go, this is most certainly the best. It tells the true story of John Babbabcome Lee ("the man they could not hang!") coherently (unlike the Who's Tommy and the Kinks' Preservation). And the songs are great. There are 11 Fairport songs on this album-all originals (by DS mostly). The songs are individual songs, not suites that are run together as the sleeve implies. And they are ALL great songs. The title song, "John Babbacombe Lee" rocks harder than any Fairport song in ANY lineup.. This was my first Fairport album. I had their Anthology on A&M so this was a nice find, a Fairport album with no overlap from the Anthology (I HATE overlap!). Found a used copy--the album was out-of-print at the time. And I was DELIGHTED to get it. Not only was it GREAT but it was hard-to-find--a Collector's Item! I loved "Babbacombe Lee" so much that I had to go out and eventually collect all of Fairport's individual albums. Got rid of the Anthology. And now I've bought them all once again on CD. I believe that "Babbacome Lee" is one of Fairport's most even albums. There is not a clunker in the bunch. Try it--you'll LOVE it! | ||
 | Dixie Chicks - Top of the World Tour Live | |
| "No wonder I didn't like the Chicks!" | 2004-10-17 |
| Thanks to the other reviewers out here, I now realize why I didn't like the Dixie Chicks at first. It's this dad-blasted video!! Unfortunately, this video was my first exposure to the group and, at first, I didn't credit the horrible editing as the cause of my disappointment. I blamed the Chicks! However, I just bought the "Wide Open Spaces" CD the other day and realize now that the Dixie Chicks is what I'm about musically. My favorite bands are the Byrds, the Bangles and the Buffalo Springfield so the Chicks naturally vaulted to the top of my all-time favorite list. Got to go out now and buy the "other" video (the good one) and the other two CDs. Thanks to the Amazon reviewers for enlightening me on this. | ||
 | Bob Dylan & the Band - The Basement Tapes | |
| "A Travesty-why did Dylan OK this fraud?" | 2004-06-03 |
| The Complete Basement Tapes, on five CDs, is the real deal. An essential recording for Dylan fanatics to be sure. This poorly mastered, poorly packaged double CD is another matter. The fraudulent Band tracks really do dilute this collection. Substituting Band recordings made AFTER "Music from Big Pink" for indisputable "real" basement tapes classics like "I Shall Be Released" and "Quinn the Eskimo" is truly unforgivable. I admit that the 5-CD set may STILL not be a commericially viable proposition but why not release just the so-called "Basement Tapes Acetate". This fourteen song "LP", rumoured to be recorded by Dylan to fulfill his expiring Columbia Records contract, purportedly consisted of the following tracks: 1. Million Dollar Bash Throw in "Going to Acapulco", "Odds and Ends", "Clothesline Saga", and "Apple Suckling Tree" (all Dylan tunes) and you have a potential blockbuster. I really wish Columbia would delete this two volume bulky monstrosity with its dopey circus pictures and treat these recordings with the respect it deserves. Especially now since The Band numbers have been released properly on THEIR "remastered" series. | ||
 | John Lennon - Rock 'n' Roll | |
| "Capitol--How bout a Lennon Rock 'n Roll-Naked?" | 2004-02-03 |
| I've read all of the reviews and, although I agree with most of them, I don't think this project was such a bad idea. The outtakes on Anthology are truly revelatory and Capitol has never issued the complete album anyway. How about a Rock n Roll Session disc--remastered and complete? I would love to hear some of the other tracks from these sessions, particlarly "Move Over, Ms. L", a kick-ass original. Slippin' and Slidin' shreds the Little Richard original and is arguably one of the best rock and roll records ever! How about it Capitol? You've let these sessions languish long enough. Hell, you haven't even bothered to remaster this one yet! Is this a Yoko thing? Would she just as soon forget this one because John had ditched her during these sessions? | ||
 | The Beatles - Let It Be... Naked | |
| "A travesty--what a lost opportunity!!!" | 2003-12-09 |
| The original idea behind "Let It Be" was a live concert with new material. The Beatles were to be filmed rehearsing the new material in the studio and the film's grand finale was to be the concert itself. Thanks to the constant and uncomfortable prescence of Yoko Ono in the studio, the project went awry and The Beatles decided to film the concert on the Apple rooftop and finish the film "half-assed". The album was originally titled "Get Back plus Don't Let Me Down and 11 other tracks". It was a deliberate takeoff on the Beatles first album "Please Please Me Plus Love Me Do and 12 other tracks". The Beatles even had themselves photographed on the "Please Please Me" apartment patio in the same postitons "today" to match the photo on Please Please Me (the photo was later used on the Beatles "Blue" Album). "Get Back" was the Beatles attempt to "get back to basics", back to the time where the four of them just recorded in the studio "au naturel". I liked the concept and "Let It Be--Naked" was a great opportunity to resurrect it. I can't understand why this opportunity was bungled so badly. Where is "Teddy Boy"? Where is the eight minute "Dig It?". Where is "The Walk"? What are "Across the Universe" and "I Me Mine" doing here--tracks Phil Spector added that were not part of the Get Back sessions? Why isn't the album called "Get Back", its original title? This is just such a travesty. I refuse to buy it or even listen to it. It's a shame that the recorded legacy of the greatest act in music history is in the hands of the morons at Capitol Records. They release this and we STILL can't have the first four Beatles albums in stereo!!!! What an outrage! | ||
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