(*) New CD's & DVD's
Yesterday I 'lashed out' and brought some CD's & DVD's I've had my eye on. What the hey - you only live to appreciate the finer things in life, right?!? lol. The CD's were all 2nd-hand, hence the great price I got for them.
Anthology 1 - The Beatles: 5/5 - I got this on cassette when it first came out, as I didn't have a CD player back in them old days! Alright, as you already know by now, I'm a mad Beatles' fan - I love the music, not just 'them'. So, this is a wonderful insight into the development of them as writers as players together as a tight little outfit. Fav songs on this CD: Free As a Bird, I'll Get You (where else can you hear all those kids clapping along?!? Wonderful!), I Saw Her Standing There (what a great live version), Can't Buy Me Love (original version with backing vocals & George's different guitar bits), I'll Be back (going from 3/4 time into 4/4 time is like when 'The Wizard of Oz' goes from black-and-white into colour!), and the 'No Reply' demo - such a totally different feel to the released one!
A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles: 5/5 - what can I say? This is the one! I literally rocked back and forth listening to my brother's copy this LP when it first came out in '64 when I was 1, and it's still my all-time-fav Beatles LP. I wore my brother's LP out (really!), and the replacement I brought about 15 years' ago is looking the worse for wear as well - luckily I was able to tape most of my records before my old turntable died about 6-ish years' ago. Altho those tapes aren't coping with the pace nowadays either! So, at long last - I have my own pristine copy of this on CD! Whoo hoo! Every song is a fav on this one - seriously! This is my childhood innocence captured in music - what else can I say?
Lennon - John Lennon: 4/5 - I first thought this was a bootleg, but it's a german release by Parolophone of his first 2 solo LP's, Live Peace in Toronto & John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Oh wow. I've got both of these on vinyl and cassette, but to have them on the one CD is brill. The Plastic Ono band LP is his best solo LP by a million miles - gutsy, passionate, raw and powerful. Lennon the way Lennon wanted to be. My favs on this CD are: Cold Turkey (the studio version - sparse and tough), Mother, I Found Out, Well Well Well (all three are sparse and prophetically powerful - his anguish in 'Mother' brings you to tears), and God ('The dream is over, what more can I say?' says it all on The Beatles' breakup).
Live Album - Crowded House: 5/5 - now I have only 1 more Crowdies' album to find, and that's the B-sides/outakes one (the name of which escapes me at the moment...). I love the Crowdies - they are the sound of pop music, the legatees of The Beatles with their musicality, harmonies, and sense of humour. "The best cold beer is Vic..." They are as good live as they are in the studio. This is a special edition that came with the "Recurring Dream" Best-Of CD, so it was a lucky find.
Live at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival - Jimi Hendrix: 5/5 - oh wow! OH WOW! I've got "Experience Hendrix", which is like a best-of compilation CD, but this is what made Hendrix great - his live work. This is the gig that made him famous in the US - the one where he first set fire to his guitar on stage (much to his bandmates' surprise!) This is powerful, ballsy, exciting - a truly great recording of an amazing gig. I hadn't heard this one before - altho I've seen the TV footage from the actual Monterey concert film etc - and this one is truly Hendrixs' better nights!
Pearl - Janis Joplin: 5/5 - Another WOW! Where has THIS album been all my life? Why haven't I had this one ever since 1971?!? What have I been missing out on?!? I've only got bits and pieces of Joplin's stuff scattered about, so it's just brill to have this for myself. Too bad she died just before it was finished (stoopid cow OD'd), but this is a finished album of her greatest performances with a great backing band. The whole feel/vibe is great - electric and alive, tough and scary even - and no-one will ever have a voice like this ever again! Amazing!
The Beatles Down Under (DVD) - The Beatles: 2/5 - it was cheap, so I grabbed it, and it's a dud! It's a really-badly recorded TV newsreel footage of their Australian Tour in June 1964 (the month before I was born, I might add! lol). But it's still good to have, especially in the light of that other Beatles in USA DVD I got the other month, which was filmed only like 4 months' before. Plus, it's my favourite Beatles' period - that whole 'Hard Day's Night' era. Call me a fan, but I would have been one of those weeping hysterical young teenagers if I'd been there - I admit it! pmsl!
Harvest - Neil Young: 4/5 - years' ago I got his 'Tonight's The Night' LP & later the CD version - and that is his masterpiece, truly scary, a nightmare of sound and angst. "Harvest" was recorded slightly before that one, and although it's a lot 'nicer' than 'Tonight's the Night', it's the one with all the 'hits' on it, but that's OK. It's got a nice vibe to it. I like Young's creaky croaky voice and delivery - I think it gives his songs an electric brittle edge.
The Sound of Music (DVD): 5/5 - oh, alright, call it an impulse buy (it was marked right down), but this is a classic. The plan is to sit down with the boys and watch it together - a family evening with a classic movie. I'm brave enough to admit that "Edelweiss" will make me weep hopelessly with joy whenever I hear it in this film - I think it's a near-perfect song.
Anyway, I think that's quite enough of my rantings and ravings about music and visuals for this week, don't you think? lol
| CD/DVD
| Title
| Artist
| Cost
| Rating
| 1st Released
|
| Double CD
| Anthology 1
| The Beatles
| $29.00 / $21 US
| +++++
| 1995
|
| CD
| A Hard Day's Night
| The Beatles
| $25.00 / $18.10 US
| +++++
| 1964
|
| CD
| Lennon
| John Lennon
| $13.95 / $10.15 US
| ++++
| 1990
|
| Double CD
| Live Album
| Crowded House
| $19.95 / $14.50 US
| +++++
| 1996
|
| CD
| Live at the Monterey Pop Festival 1967
| Jimi Hendrix
| $16.95 / $12.30 US
| +++++
| 1992
|
| CD
| Pearl
| Janis Joplin
| $12.95 / $9.40 US
| +++++
| 1971
|
| DVD
| The Beatles Down Under
| The Beatles
| $4.84 / $3.50 US
| ++
| 1964
|
| CD
| Harvest
| Neil Young
| $14.95 / $10.80 US
| ++++
| 1972
|
| Double DVD
| The Sound of Music
| Movie
| $12.87 (reduced from $34.42!) / $9.30 US
| +++++
| 1965
|
Anthology 1 - The Beatles: 5/5 - I got this on cassette when it first came out, as I didn't have a CD player back in them old days! Alright, as you already know by now, I'm a mad Beatles' fan - I love the music, not just 'them'. So, this is a wonderful insight into the development of them as writers as players together as a tight little outfit. Fav songs on this CD: Free As a Bird, I'll Get You (where else can you hear all those kids clapping along?!? Wonderful!), I Saw Her Standing There (what a great live version), Can't Buy Me Love (original version with backing vocals & George's different guitar bits), I'll Be back (going from 3/4 time into 4/4 time is like when 'The Wizard of Oz' goes from black-and-white into colour!), and the 'No Reply' demo - such a totally different feel to the released one!
A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles: 5/5 - what can I say? This is the one! I literally rocked back and forth listening to my brother's copy this LP when it first came out in '64 when I was 1, and it's still my all-time-fav Beatles LP. I wore my brother's LP out (really!), and the replacement I brought about 15 years' ago is looking the worse for wear as well - luckily I was able to tape most of my records before my old turntable died about 6-ish years' ago. Altho those tapes aren't coping with the pace nowadays either! So, at long last - I have my own pristine copy of this on CD! Whoo hoo! Every song is a fav on this one - seriously! This is my childhood innocence captured in music - what else can I say?
Lennon - John Lennon: 4/5 - I first thought this was a bootleg, but it's a german release by Parolophone of his first 2 solo LP's, Live Peace in Toronto & John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Oh wow. I've got both of these on vinyl and cassette, but to have them on the one CD is brill. The Plastic Ono band LP is his best solo LP by a million miles - gutsy, passionate, raw and powerful. Lennon the way Lennon wanted to be. My favs on this CD are: Cold Turkey (the studio version - sparse and tough), Mother, I Found Out, Well Well Well (all three are sparse and prophetically powerful - his anguish in 'Mother' brings you to tears), and God ('The dream is over, what more can I say?' says it all on The Beatles' breakup).
Live Album - Crowded House: 5/5 - now I have only 1 more Crowdies' album to find, and that's the B-sides/outakes one (the name of which escapes me at the moment...). I love the Crowdies - they are the sound of pop music, the legatees of The Beatles with their musicality, harmonies, and sense of humour. "The best cold beer is Vic..." They are as good live as they are in the studio. This is a special edition that came with the "Recurring Dream" Best-Of CD, so it was a lucky find.
Live at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival - Jimi Hendrix: 5/5 - oh wow! OH WOW! I've got "Experience Hendrix", which is like a best-of compilation CD, but this is what made Hendrix great - his live work. This is the gig that made him famous in the US - the one where he first set fire to his guitar on stage (much to his bandmates' surprise!) This is powerful, ballsy, exciting - a truly great recording of an amazing gig. I hadn't heard this one before - altho I've seen the TV footage from the actual Monterey concert film etc - and this one is truly Hendrixs' better nights!
Pearl - Janis Joplin: 5/5 - Another WOW! Where has THIS album been all my life? Why haven't I had this one ever since 1971?!? What have I been missing out on?!? I've only got bits and pieces of Joplin's stuff scattered about, so it's just brill to have this for myself. Too bad she died just before it was finished (stoopid cow OD'd), but this is a finished album of her greatest performances with a great backing band. The whole feel/vibe is great - electric and alive, tough and scary even - and no-one will ever have a voice like this ever again! Amazing!
The Beatles Down Under (DVD) - The Beatles: 2/5 - it was cheap, so I grabbed it, and it's a dud! It's a really-badly recorded TV newsreel footage of their Australian Tour in June 1964 (the month before I was born, I might add! lol). But it's still good to have, especially in the light of that other Beatles in USA DVD I got the other month, which was filmed only like 4 months' before. Plus, it's my favourite Beatles' period - that whole 'Hard Day's Night' era. Call me a fan, but I would have been one of those weeping hysterical young teenagers if I'd been there - I admit it! pmsl!
Harvest - Neil Young: 4/5 - years' ago I got his 'Tonight's The Night' LP & later the CD version - and that is his masterpiece, truly scary, a nightmare of sound and angst. "Harvest" was recorded slightly before that one, and although it's a lot 'nicer' than 'Tonight's the Night', it's the one with all the 'hits' on it, but that's OK. It's got a nice vibe to it. I like Young's creaky croaky voice and delivery - I think it gives his songs an electric brittle edge.
The Sound of Music (DVD): 5/5 - oh, alright, call it an impulse buy (it was marked right down), but this is a classic. The plan is to sit down with the boys and watch it together - a family evening with a classic movie. I'm brave enough to admit that "Edelweiss" will make me weep hopelessly with joy whenever I hear it in this film - I think it's a near-perfect song.
Anyway, I think that's quite enough of my rantings and ravings about music and visuals for this week, don't you think? lol
Cyalayta
Mal :o)
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"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, it's the light of the oncoming train." (Robert Lowell)
posted by Mallard at 7.9.04
Online Blog Diary of the Malster - with some of my Thoughts, Ideas, Comments, Observations, Editorials, Musings, Rantings, Ravings and Current Objective Critical Relative Subjectivism of Maljam the Loopey Mallard ... lol
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