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 | Doors - Soft Parade |
 | "The Doors With A Bassist" | 2003-05-11 |
In my opinion, this is the best album the Doors put out during their short career. Morrison usually gets all of the credit, but Robby Krieger's songwriting is a highly underated, as well as the rest of the Doors musicianship. Remember that Krieger wrote "Light My Fire".
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 | The Beatles Anthology |
| "Excellent" | 2003-04-18 |
For years, "The Compleat Beatles" on VHS, narrated by Malcolm McDowell, was the most concise and best biography available. Paul, George, and Ringo must have watched it and decided to put out their own expanded version of it with incredible sound.
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 | The Who - The Who: The Ultimate Collection |
| "The Best Who Compilation" | 2003-04-01 |
"Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy" was the best collection of early Who singles available only as an import on CD. "My Generation - The Very Best of" was an improvement, but it still missed a lot of Who classics. "The Ultimate Collection" not only includes most of the best material from the Who catalog, but also has different mixes and a few rare versions with excellent remastering.
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![The Who - My Generation [Deluxe Edition]](product_images/1418000/1418970_thumb.jpg) | The Who - My Generation [Deluxe Edition] |
| "Don't Get Rid Of Your "The Who Sings My Generation" CD" | 2003-04-01 |
At first I was disappointed with this "Deluxe Edition", but then I found out how great it is. If you own this and the "Ultimate Collection", you have the entire original "My Generation" plus most of the other Shel Talmy produced songs. I do miss the French horn on "Circles", but having these songs in stereo makes up for it. Keith Moon's drums sound incredible.
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 | Elvissey |
 | "Jack Womack Is Too Clever For His Own Good" | 2003-03-23 |
This is a hard book to read, similar to Clockwork Orange. The language is so abstract that you have to continuously attempt to understand what is being said you know what is going on. I struggled though it and I liked it, but it could have been so much better if it had been simplified. Most people will give up.
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 | Glen Campbell - Glen Campbell - 20 Greatest Hits |
| "Good Glen Campbell Collection" | 2003-03-23 |
This is not really a greatest hits CD because there are a few obscure tracks on it. Usually CDs remastered with the HDCD process sound incredible, but this has way too much high end.
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 | The Rolling Stones - More Hot Rocks: Big Hits & Fazed Cookies |
| "Worth the Investment" | 2003-03-23 |
Another excellent ABKCO remastering job with three bonus tracks. You also get hard to find tracks in stereo that aren't on the Singles Collection.
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 | The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots |
| "My Favorite New CD" | 2003-03-23 |
I heard this in a CD store and I had to buy it. Sometimes it sounds like a techno band with Neil Young fronting early Pink Floyd. Or is it Jon Anderson from Yes fronting the Cars?
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 | Jeff Beck - You Had It Coming |
| "Jeff Goes Techno" | 2003-03-23 |
This CD grows on you after a while. Jeff Beck is probably the only guitarist from the sixties whose playing has evolved on each release and who has kept up with the times. Although Santana and Eric Clapton are still excellent players who manage to stay on the charts, their playing has stayed the same.
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 | Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and the Post-War Rock'N'Roll Revolution |
| "An Excellent Book" | 2003-03-01 |
This is my favorite book about not only Jimi Hendrix, but Robert Johnson and Charlie Christian too. Occasionally Charles Shaar Murray gets a little carried away during his wordy descriptions, but it doesn't matter. If you want to learn about the evolution of African American guitarists, this is the place to start.
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 | Bruce Springsteen - The Rising |
 | "Better to Burn Out Than Fade Away" | 2002-10-19 |
When 20 year old Bruce managed to forward a demo tape to Peter Noone of "Herman's Hermits" in London, I doubt either of them knew where it would lead. From the haunting memento of his experience in Brisbane Psychiatric Hospital, the album gives a blueprint of the easy, poignant style Bruce is famous for.
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 | Elvis Presley - ELV1S 30 #1 Hits |
 | "Rewriting History?" | 2002-10-18 |
This is a very decent compilation, but it sounds very dry. The producers have attempted to make this sound like a modern recording with mixed results. If you want the ultimate sounding Elvis collection try to find the 24 Carats gold CD remastered by Steve Hoffman.
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 | Rolling Stones - Forty Licks |
| "An Excellent Compilation" | 2002-10-18 |
If you are a casual fan of the Rolling Stones and you want a decent sampling from their entire career for a budget price, this is the compilation to buy. If you want to dig a little deeper, get "Hot Rocks" and "More Hot Rocks" or the "Singles Collection and "Jump Back". Some of the later period songs have been edited on the second CD.
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 | Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request |
| "Could Have Been Better, But I Like It" | 2002-10-11 |
| I like several songs on this CD so much that I had to buy it, even though there a few clunkers on it. The 1986 version sounds good, but listening to this version is like hearing it for the first time. WARNING: This CD would not play in my car.
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 | A Hard Day's Night |
| "Looks Good, Sounds Terrible" | 2002-10-07 |
I bought "A Hard Day's Night" and I am really disappointed. It would not play in my Toshiba Carousel DVD player. The added interviews (filler) do not interest me. The mono soundtrack had some type of weird phasing sound when I played it on an Apex DVD player connected to my stereo TV. To make sure I wasn't hearing things, I played it on my desktop PC DVD player through studio monitors. The remastering sounds like it was heavily processed with noise reduction, and then the lows and highs were boosted.
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 | Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks 1964-1971 |
| "Blows Away The 1986 CD Version" | 2002-09-09 |
"Hot Rocks 1964-1971" is one of the best Rolling Stones compilations ever released in the United States, but it is not quite as representative as the vinyl release "Rolled Gold" on Decca. Even though the STEREO masters for Satisfaction, Get Off of my Cloud and Mother's Little Helper were not used, they sound punchier. There is something about the wide stereo mixes that I miss, but this is probably the way the Stones wanted us to hear them. All of the songs do have more presence and clarity, especially the late 60's tracks. Jumpin' Jack Flash is a stereo mix that I have never heard before on any release.
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 | The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow |
| "Get the Stereo Version" | 2002-07-03 |
The Pretty Things never sounded this good or experimental. Even though "Parachute" was written up in Rolling Stone Magazine as "Album of the Year", this is more interesting. If you are a fan of British 60's psychedelic period, this is the CD you'll want. Think of Syd Barrett's version of Pink Floyd, Tomorrow, the Beatle's John Lennon and George Harrison songs on "Revolver" through "Magical Mystery Tour" or the Rolling Stones "Dandelion" or "Their Satanic Majesties Request", and you'll get the idea. The mono version is good, but this version is better.
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 | The Byrds - The Byrds - Greatest Hits |
| "Remastered with Additional Tracks" | 2002-06-23 |
Nobody has mentioned how great this CD sounds. You can finally hear fingers sliding on the bass strings in "Mr. Tambourine Man", just the way it must have sounded when it was recoded. Maybe a few more songs could have been added, but this is truly a Greatest Hits compilation.
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 | King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King: 30th Anniversary Edition |
| "My Favorite King Crimson Album" | 2002-06-23 |
At the end of the 60's, most rock music had gone back to the basics with groups like The Band or Creedence Clearwater Revival. King Crimson was one of the first bands to explore progressive rock. Pink Floyd was evolving from their Syd Barrett period and they were still a few years away from their classic "Dark Side of the Moon". I don't think Greg Lake ever sang better, and it has one of the greatest album covers.
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 | Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey: A Journey to Music's Heart & Soul |
| "Roots of the Blues and African American History" | 2002-06-08 |
Sure this book is like an encyclopedia, but you won't find a better guide for finding obscure blues artists that otherwise would be forgotten. Most books go into familiar territory and rehash the same old information, but Bill Wyman is a serious collector who wants to share his love of the blues. This book is loaded with enough information to get you started on your own eclectic blues collection.
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 | Easy Money |
| "A Six Pack Movie" | 2002-06-07 |
Your girlfriend or wife won't appreciate this because it is a guy type of movie. Look for a bald Jim Carrey as a store clerk. Rodney always gives up and coming comics exposure in his movies.
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 | Hendrix : Setting the Record Straight |
| "Unbiased Biography of Jimi Hendrix" | 2002-06-04 |
An interesting and well written account of James Allen Hendrix's transformation into "Jimi" and the tremendous influence Chas Chandler had on his development into a major star.
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 | Who - My Generation: Very Best of |
| "Not the Very Best, but Pretty Close" | 2002-04-06 |
In my opinion, the best of the Who should include "The Real Me", "The Kids are Alright", and "I Can See for Miles" (mono single version). Most of the songs on this CD have appeared on previous compilations and the cover picture is really pathetic. A double CD would solve the problem.
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 | Mcdonald & Giles - Mcdonald & Giles |
| "The Mellow Side of King Crimson" | 2002-03-20 |
I recommend this CD for "Flight of the Ibis". If you like the style of vocals found on "I Talk to the Wind" from In The Court of the Crimson King and "Cadence and Cascade" from the Wake of Poseiden, you'll probably enjoy this. Multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald steps aside on "Turnham Green" and features Steve Winwood on keyboards. Peter Giles plays bass and his brother Michael plays drums in his unique style.
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 | John Lennon - Mind Games |
| "Life Without Yoko" | 2002-03-16 |
This may be John's most overlooked album due to the somewhat muddy sounding production. If you prefer John when he was a Beatle, you'll probably like "I Know I Know".
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 | Herb Alpert - Definitive Hits |
| "Extremely Catchy Songs" | 2002-03-14 |
This is a good sampling of Herb Alpert's music, although not definitive. The 20 Bit remastering CD sounds great. Tijuana Taxi does not have tape drop-outs like some other reviewers think. The song was mixed with the drums panned (mixed) to one side with the drum echo panned to the other side. This effect wasn't as noticeable on vinyl lps. This is not a tape defect!
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 | Johnny Winter - Johnny Winter And |
| "A True Collaboration" | 2002-02-22 |
Don't expect this to sound like the rest of Johnny Winter's blues releases. Be prepared to hear a variety of songs ranging from the psychedelic "Guess I'll Go Away" to the Traffic cover "No Time to Live." Rick Derringer's and Johnny Winter's guitar styles mesh together in the same way that Duane Allman and Dickey Betts complimented each other.
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 | Captain Beyond - Captain Beyond |
| "Hybrid Supergroup" | 2002-02-19 |
If you ever wondered what it would be like to hear Duane Allman playing Jimi Hendrix inspired guitar riffs in a band with an incredible rhythm section with style that defies description this is the place to start. This ain't no Iron Butterfly or Deep Purple rehash.
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 | CBS: The First 50 Years |
| "A Rehash of Lousy Copies" | 2002-02-05 |
I agree with the music fan from Dearborn, Mi. It is a re-hash of a lot of crummy remakes and poorly recorded originals. I recorded Rawhide and Gilligan's Island off my TV set with better sound, as well as the original and superior versions of the Twilight Zone and Wild Wild West (with a cool guitar riff, not this Mantovani styled remake). If you really don't care about these type of things, then this is the disc for you. Avoid this if you are a true television theme aficionado.
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 | The Yardbirds - Ultimate! |
| "Rhino Almost Got It Right" | 2001-08-02 |
Finally a Yardbirds release that replaces the incredible, yet sonically inferior Raven import "Over Under Sideways Down". Remastered in Rhinophonic sound that compares or improves the sound found on the imported Repertoire releases. This would have been a 5 star CD, but the Keith Relf songs belong on another rarities CD. A booklet is included with a lot of interesting pictures and commentary by the late Cub Koda. Also recommended is the book "Yardbirds: The Ultimate Rave-Up" by Greg Russo.
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