Amplified [Clean]

Track Listings

1. Wait Up

2. Higher

3. Do It

4. Moving With U

5. Let's Ride

6. Things U Do

7. All In

8. Go Hard

9. Breathe and Stop

10. Vivrant Thing

11. N.T.

12. End of Time

Amplified,Q-Tip,Arista,Alternative Rap,East Coast Rap,Hip-Hop,Pop,Rap & Hip-Hop,Soul/Reggae/Rhythm & Blues

Average customer rating:

Wow
Serious Music
Listen loud and feel it
One Of The Best Albums Of The 90's
great album

Amplified Heart
Everything But the Girl
Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Walking Wounded
Acoustic
Like the Deserts Miss the Rain
The Language of Life
Temperamental

ASIN: B000002IZ1
Release Date: 1994-07-19

Tracks:

Rollercoaster
Troubled Mind
I Don't Understand Anything
Walking To You
Get Me
Missing
Two Star
We Walk The Same Line
25th December
Disenchanted

Amazon.com essential recording

Amplified Heart marked a number of changes in Everything but the Girl's career, the most obvious of which was their sudden popularity when a Todd Terry remix of "Missing" became a dance-floor hit. But before the album was even recorded, Ben Watt--who with Tracy Thorn is EBTG--was hospitalized for a life-threatening intestinal disorder (see his book, Patient: The True Story of a Rare Illness, for a full account). His recovery invigorates Amplified Heart, making the love songs that much more passionate, the relationship songs that much more tender, and "25th December"--the one song in which Watt sings lead--that much more heartbreaking. Thorn's captivating vocals are the focus on the rest of the album, and she's as smooth as ever; combined with the focus that she and Watt share here, it makes for EBTG's best album. --Randy Silver

Amazon.com

Mired in an easy-listening rut since Baby, The Stars Shine Bright (1986), Everything But the Girl's return to self-production is a plus and might account for "Amplified Heart" being their most striking and listenable album in eons. --Jeff Bateman

Customer Reviews:

Wow.......2007-03-07

I could easily say that this album is one of the best "genre" records I have ever heard. Instead, I will say that it's one of the few albums that I actually smile about when I think back to listening to it years ago. From Rollercoaster to the end of the album, I can relate different aspects of my life to the themes, making it a bittersweet score to a bittersweet journey. The vocals are haunting and painful to majestic and sweeping and the lyrics inspired some of my earlier poetry. Listen to 25th December or Get Me and think of how those words could fit into some past scenerio that you experienced. I love this album.

Serious Music.......2006-06-10

Strong singing, poignant lyrics, tuneful melodies and spare but colorful arrangements make this album a gently melancholy pleasure. Its nostalgia is deeply heartfelt, and the frustrations of love are depicted as starkly as the artists in their cover portrait. But We Walk The Same Line is an inspiring anthem for the commitment that brings a couple through life's hard times.

Listen loud and feel it.......2006-01-30

If you listen to Amplified Heart for the first time, you'll find that one song will strike very deeply, and resonate with you for days or weeks. It's the best song you've heard in a long time. You'll skip over songs to get to it. As it starts to wear off, you'll find that another song, probably one you were actually skipping, is perhaps the best song you've heard in a long time. This will continue until you realize that this is one of those albums where there's really not a bad moment. This turns out to be a great collection of very strong, simple songs.

The emotion runs deep and true through this album without getting overbearing. A lot of that has to do with the songs themselves, which are just simple and powerful. But it's even more to do with the spare but rich production. The vocals are pitch perfect, and the choice of instrumentation prevents any song from getting overdone. When not to play is often as important as when to play. This album is one where every note seems to have a place and a meaning. The overall mood is longing, but thoughtful, profound, and mature.

I started out on Rollercoaster, jumped to Get Me, then found We Walk the Same Line, drove around on Two Star for a couple weeks, realized I Don't Understand Anything and just started playing the whole thing. There are many essentials that I'll be returning to for a long time.

One Of The Best Albums Of The 90's.......2005-12-07

Like most people I only knew of Everything But The Girl because of the hit single "Missing." Having an extensive CD collection, this album ended up just sitting there for a long time. Recently I put the disc on and started listening to the album from the beginning all the way through. What a surprise! The tunes have very simple melodies and structures, but are very powerful. The mark of a great album is one that stirs your soul and Amplified Heart does that. Surprising is that even though "Missing" is a great song, the rest of the album is even better. The split vocal on "Walking To You" will evoke feeling of a past love and what might have been. "Get Me" and "Two Star" are just terrific. All the songs flow together to create an album with an atmosphere of lamentation, longing, and reflection. You won't be disappointed, the songs really grow on you the more you listen. This is definately one of the best undiscovered albums out there.

great album.......2005-10-10

Definitely recommend this album. Mellow and soulful sound with modern electronic backing. The fifth song is really great - I think it is titled "Walking to You" and it really evokes feelings of longing and love for past relationships that were good but may not have worked out.
Enjoy!

Amplified: A Decade of Reinventing the Cello

Average customer rating:

One of a kind.

Amplified: A Decade of Reinventing the Cello
Apocalyptica
Manufacturer: Umvd Import
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Apocalyptica
Live
Reflections
Cult
How Far

ASIN: B000FIHFDC
Release Date: 2006-06-05

Tracks:

Enter Sandman
Harmageddon
Nothing Else Matters
Refuse/Resist
Somewhere Around Nothing
Betrayal
Farewell
Master of Puppets
Hall of the Mountain King
One
Heat
Cohkka
Kaamos
Deathzone
Angel of Death

Tracks:

Repressed [#] - Apocalyptica, Max Cavalera, Matthew Tuck
Path, Vol. 2 - Apocalyptica,
Bittersweet - Apocalyptica, Ville Valo,
Hope, Vol. 2 - Apocalyptica,
En Vie - Apocalyptica,
Faraway, Vol. 2 - Apocalyptica, Linda Sundblad
Life Burns - Apocalyptica,
Seemann - Apocalyptica, Nina Hagen

Album Description

Two disc 2006 collection featuring the best moments from this classically based Finnish quartet's first decade, including a handful of tracks from their internationally successful Plays Metallica For Four Cellos. 23 tracks. Universal.

Album Details

2006 Anthology of the Radical Group of Cellists from Finland that Took a Cue from Rasputina and Play Rock N Roll. Not Just Any Rock N Roll....their Repetoire Comes Primarily from the Metallica Canon...as Well as from Other Bands that Influenced Or Are Similar to their Heroes. Includes Two Previously Unreleased Recordings of "Angel of Death" and "Repressed" (Which is the First Single Release from this Set).

Customer Reviews:

One of a kind........2006-09-11

Apocalyptica is three guys (used to be four) who play metal on cello. Best known for covering famous songs by renowned artists (they first startled the music scene in 1996 with "Plays Metallica by Four Cellos"), they also write some magnificent pieces of their own, frequently featuring the collaboration of other bands such as HIM. Talented musicians, they're all classically trained, but they put that skill to use in a unique way.

Their music is beautiful. On a piece like Metallica's "One," the strings dance through the intro in almost baroque fashion, only to plunge into a startling imitation of a guitar's grind, and then cut loose into the meat of the piece with a snarl you've probably never heard from a cello before. Maximizing the cello's rich tonal range from a deep bass growl to a soprano that soars into the upper atmosphere, the instruments lend power ballads a heart-rendingly beautiful sound, while they crash through the hard stuff with a vicious exuberance that'd make any metal band proud.

If you enjoy metal, if you admire the lyricism of a well-played string instrument, if you like discovering novel sounds, or if you're simply tired of hearing rehashes of the same old stuff over and over again, you owe it to yourself to check out Apocalyptica. This collection is an excellent place to start, with some of the highlights from all their albums up to this point. Dark, ferocious, beautiful, and ageless, every person I've played this album for has turned to me with a look of joyful surprise and asked where they could find a copy.

Average customer rating:

read this before the review up top
What's wrong with having a little fun?
Terrible commercial album
Abstract
stick this funking shiiit in your ear

Amplified
Q-Tip
Manufacturer: Arista
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Love Movement
Beats, Rhymes and Life
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Midnight Marauders
Ventilation: Da LP

ASIN: B00002R0K9
Release Date: 1999-11-30

Tracks:

Wait Up
Higher
Do It
Moving With U
Let's Ride
Things U Do
All In
Go Hard
Breathe And Stop
Vivrant Thing
N.T.
End Of Time

Amazon.com

Breaking up is hard to do but sometimes the aftermath can shine a light on the individuals and just what they brought to the mix. Over the course of five albums (three of which are certified hip-hop classics), Q-Tip, the dominant wordsmith and resident sex symbol of A Tribe Called Quest, was the guy with the goods. With his adenoidal tone and nimble way with a rhyme, he was the focus of much of the attention Tribe justifiably received. Yet left to his own devices, Tip falls short and Amplified is not the triumph fans might have expected. Part of the fault lies in the production, which with the exception of two great cuts (both produced by DJ Scratch), is provided by Tip and partner J.D., who also worked the last two (weak) Tribe CDs. Tip's new sound is typified by the revved up, sexy push and pull of his smash "Vivrant Thing." But that song's sound and subject matter--sex--is the main theme throughout this album. Adding to the dilemma is the fact that the advances sent to press were sequenced as if Amplified was one continuous track, which makes the sameness of many of the cuts even more obvious. True, Tip is playful and pointed, but the lyrics are remarkably linear for a guy who once dubbed himself "abstract" and the similarity of the drum patterns and tempo start to grow tiresome. Sadly, what should have been a breakthrough solo debut from a truly gifted artist only makes you yearn for the subtle jazzy touches and deadpan retorts former Tribe members Ali and Phife provided. --Amy Linden

Customer Reviews:

read this before the review up top.......2006-12-27

this album is great. and the girl that reviewed this album doesn't have a clue what she's talking about. the drums sound the same because all drums in every song at that time sounded the same. it was 2000 and it wasn't until timbo blew up that drums in hip hop changed. secondly. J.D is JayDee and he killed the last two (still classics) that tribe put out. he was also a part of tribe before those albums came out, he just didn't get the credit. this album was way ahead of it's time, now jaydee is a legend. this album is nuts

What's wrong with having a little fun?.......2006-12-18

After the tragic breakup of the greatest rap trio of all time, A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip released his first solo offering, "Amplified," in 1999. Fans expecting the abstract lyricism and social consciousness of a Tribe album will not find it here, so some I'm sure were disappointed. When I first heard "Amplified" I was surprised for sure because this sounds nothing like a Tribe album, but I grew to like it a lot. This album is full of upbeat, light, and happy songs that aren't very deep lyrically but are just basically fun songs. Tip's raps aren't exactly thought provoking, nor are they meant to be. Production comes mainly from Tip and Jay Dee, the duo known as The Ummah that produced the last two Tribe albums, "Beats, Rhymes, and Life" and "The Love Movement." The production uses horns and heavy instrumentals, but sounds very unlike ATCQ music. It's fast and consistently joyful sounding. As a huge ATCQ fan who has enjoyed all five of their albums, I also enjoyed "Amplified" even though it is a very different kind of release.

The album begins with "Wait Up," which uses nice keyboard and saxophone instrumentation for Tip to flow over. "Higher" has vibesy, soulful production and a good chorus. "Breathe and Stop" is a single, fast and simple sounding but very catchy. The electronic and experimental sounding "Moving With U" follows. I love "Let's Ride," it's a laidback, fun song about riding in cars and listening to music. Tip would never have made this kind of song with Phife and Shaheed, but I like hearing him do it by himself. "Things U Do" and "All In" follow, adding to the consistency of "Amplified." "Go Hard" is a funkier song aimed for the ladies. "Vivrant Thing" is one of the best, a song with good production and funny lyrics. Busta Rhymes collaborates on the piano-heavy "N.T." and rock band Korn make an unlikely appearance on "End of Time," which is a song I actually like a lot, it's really different from everything else on the album. A bonus track is also included, which lyrically is the best. It explains the rise and fall of A Tribe Called Quest, chronicling their career and breakup, with inside stuff a fan wouldn't have guessed.

I recommend "Amplified" mostly because it is an album of catchy, fun hip hop music even if lyrically it is not what a lot of fans expected. I think a lot of different kinds of music listeners will enjoy it, and Tribe fans such as myself will like it in a lot of ways too. Overall "Amplified" is an enjoyable album that I really like to listen to on a lot of occasions, and I definitely recommend it.

Terrible commercial album.......2006-12-15

I was very disappointed in Amplified album since i'm A Tribe Called Quest fan. QTip tried to go commercial and pop on this album and i think he let a lot of his fans down. Only songs i liked on the album is Higher, Breathe And Stop, Vivrant Thing(this was already on the Violator compilation so it shouldn't have been on Amplified album). End Of Time song with rock group Korn would've been better if Korn wasn't on the song. I liked the beat and the lyrics on End Of Time but QTip should've rapped more on the song and left Korn off the song. I also like the bonus hidden track Do It, Be It, See It. I'm so glad his 2nd solo unreleased album Kamaal The Abstract never came out because from the reviews i read about it, i read that he sang on all of the 9 songs on the album LOL. What's the deal with rappers singing now? LOL. QTip is a homo. He was wearing house slippers in Breathe And Stop video hahahahahahahahahaha.

Abstract.......2006-02-14

This is an album I bought when it first came out. I was a big tribe fan. I felt that Q-Tip had such a distinct sound and lyrically was one of the most underrated in the game. I felt that this album was slept on by many. I feel, in my opinion that this was one of few cd's that you can let start at the beginning and play all the way through. I was a little affraid for Tip at first but after hearing this, this was a great effort and something I would reccomend anyone to check out or buy.

stick this funking shiiit in your ear.......2006-01-10

and let it clear out all that nasty built up wax from all those whack jack arse slacks who recylcle tracks and fony lyrics and listen to some dope shiiit get with it or get lost!!!!!!

Xenakis: Orchestral Works & Chamber Music

Average customer rating:

Promise unfulfilled
THE introduction to Xenakis
Xenakis! Yeah Baby, That's What I'm Talking About!
"N'Shima", "Metastaseis", and "Jonchaies" are highlights
A strong disc that showcases Xenakis' remarkable style

Xenakis: Orchestral Works & Chamber Music
Iannis Xenakis , Safir , Swf So Baden-Baden , and Rosbaud
Manufacturer: Col Legno
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Xénakis: Pléïdes
Luigi Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz, for Soprano, Piano, Orchestra & Magnetic Tape (1971-72) / ...sofferte onde serene... For Piano & Magnetic Tape (1976) / Contrapunto dialettico alla mente, for Magnetic Tape (1968) - Maurizio Pollini / Claudio Abbado
Penderecki: Anaklasis; Threnody; etc.
György Ligeti Edition 1: String Quartets and Duets - Arditti String Quartet
Varèse - The Complete Works / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra · Asko Ensemble · Chailly

ASIN: B00004SZVO
Release Date: 2000-04-15

Customer Reviews:

Promise unfulfilled.......2007-06-05

The composer Xenakis brings most to mind is George Antheil. Both composers made a huge initial splash. But repeated listening to these pieces reveals that they are little more than empty effect. Although dates of the pieces here span two or three decades, all of the music is rooted firmly in the sixties. There are many composers who experimented with similar textures during this period. But for the best of breed, this kind of music became an important part--but only a part--of a larger toolkit. Without this experimentalism, we'd have never had Ligeti's "San Francisco Polyphony" or Lutoslawski's mighty "Third Symphony". But Xenakis appears to feel that the effect is the thing. There's not much in this music beyond theatricality.

This has often been considered to be groundbreaking music. But it's important to build something after breaking ground. Xenakis has left us an empty lot.

THE introduction to Xenakis.......2007-02-11

The Col legno label's "Orchestral works and chamber music" discs are usually overpriced and contain second-rate material. But on this collection of the music of Iannis Xenakis, we get several excellent pieces in historical performances, with surprising good sound quality.

Just for this recording of "Metastasis" alone the disc is worth for the price. This work, written for large orchestra between 1953 and 1954, was Xenakis' first mature effort. Of great proportions indeed, "Metastasis" has 61 instrumentalists playing 61 different parts. The opening is stunning, gradually each of the strings enters sustaining a single note, creating a massive wall of sound before some strings go astray via glissandi to other notes and pizzicato playing and the rest of the orchestra shows up. Closely related to the composer's design of the Couvent de la Tourette near Lyons, much of the dynamics of this first portion is based on the Fibonacci sequence, with nearly every decision in the work, from the structures of intervals to the length of dynamics and tones. The second section is more traditional, as the bulk of the orchestral forces remain silent with some strings playing a contrapuntal passage with drumrolls in the background and the occasional spotting of brass. This recording documents the world-premiere at the 1955 Donaueschinger Musiktage, where the SWF Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hans Rosbaud perform. While slightly lesser in sound-quality than the other two widely-available recordings, this one was considered to be the best by Xenakis, and even in 1950s mono sound it packs a tremendous punch.

Almost two decades passed between "Metastasis" and the next piece here. "Charisma" (1971) is written for clarinet, here Hans Deinzer, and cello, here the great Siegfried Palm. Unlike the wild energy typical of much of Xenakis' work, this duo consists of long-held sonorities and pregnant silences. Alone of the pieces here, it tends toward the forgettable, but some of the weird, noise-like sounds evoked unusual attacks on the instruments are quite interesting.

"N'Shima" (1975) is the only work here to include voices, and is also the smallest piece for ensemble. Two female voices, singing from a Hebrew text, are combined with two horns, two trombones, and a cello. The piece was rigorously constructed with the aid of a computer to create melodic patterns from probabilities, but the result, far from seeming inhuman or lifeless, is immensely elegant. Throughout each of the piece's six sections, a particular combination of instruments is explored, starting with voice and horns, the cello paired with breath sounds, and so forth. A strong effort, and this performance by Les Jeunes Solistes conducted by Rachid Safir, recorded at a 1991 festival in Metz, is admirably clear and confident.

In "Jonchaies" (1977) Xenakis returns to the massively large orchestra of "Metastasis", with 109 musicians, quadruple winds, six percussionists, and an extra-large string section. The piece is one of his late masterpieces, and it's got it all. The opening is for string alone, starting off with repetitive bowing reminiscent of the PSYCHO shower scene, then falling into some of Xenakis' most straightfowardly melodical writing. Gamelan-like sonorities appear in a long string continuum. Then, the piece launches into a series of rhythmic pulsations, with bouncy writing on drums and low strings similar to Per Norgard's much later piece "Terrains Vagues". The energy never lets up, even with most of the orchestra occasionally drops out to highlight one group. Gilbert Amy leads the Nouvel Orchesre Philharmonique in a splendid performance.

"Ata" (1987) similarly opens with a passage for string alone, but its main facet is not rhythm but texture. Overall it's one of the least "strange" pieces Xenakis wrote, resembling some of the work of Magnus Lindberg like "Fresco" or "Arena". I would have started the disc with "Metastasis" to show the fury that Xenakis is all about, but Col legno did well by putting this piece early to help new listeners gently acclimate to the composer's soundworld. This recording is from the premiere at the 1988 Donaueschinger Musiktage, with Michael Gielen leading the SWF Symphony.

"Ioolkos" (1996) was another piece premiered at Donaueschingen, and this recording is of that performance by the SWF Symphony Orchestra led by Kwame Ryan. In its numerous clusters and strong counterpoint, it looks back to "Metastasis", which appeared forty-one years earlier by the same orchestra at the same festival. However, it is much slower and a bit shorter, taking the gentle soundworld of "Ata" a bit further.

Xenakis was a notoriously inconsistent composer, and a few of his works are even well-nigh unlistenable. However, the material collected here is of a very high standard indeed. Unfortunately, the liner notes here, amounting to a single small paragraph on each work, are among the most unsubstantial I've ever seen. Fans of the composer would do best to seek out James Harley's excellent guide XENAKIS (Routledge, 2004) which covers the composer's entire oeuvre--don't worry, it doesn't assume that one can read music.

Xenakis! Yeah Baby, That's What I'm Talking About! .......2006-09-09

Initially I was hesitant in buying this CD. Primarily I wanted to hear the relatively famous "Metastaseis". This was it's premiere performance and recording under conductor Hans Rosbaud, it dates from 1955. I was suspicious that the sound wouldn't be great, how wrong was I to worry! The sound is unbelievable, better than many modern digital recordings in fact. The great strength of this piece is still well apparent even after the dilution of this type of musical idiom by other avant-garde composers not to mention the constant borrowings of Hollywood film musicians.

However fine "Metastaseis" is, there are plenty of other experimental works to be found here. For instance, track 2 called "N'Shima" (1975) has some truly wacked out vocal work, perfect background music for people who like to get drunk or high? Ha!

Another surprise was track 6, titled "Jonchaies" (1977). Is the opening an overt tongue-in-cheek jab at movie composer Bernard Herrmann? I know that Herrmann was certainly influenced by the avant-garde movements during the mid-century and incorporated it's ideas into his own film scores, Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" being one of them. So was Xenakis consciously trying to quote the score of "Psycho" so as to get back at Herrmann's continual lifting of ideas from avant-gardists like Xenakis himself in the first place? Can it all be just a coincidence? Who knows?

You'll have plenty of musical fun with this disc I assure you, the later featured Xenakis works are not as persuasive as Metastaseis but it's good to have such a well rounded 67 minute collage of his music on one CD. A definite buy.

"N'Shima", "Metastaseis", and "Jonchaies" are highlights.......2005-05-31

These works are amazing. They are hostile, forbidding, and occasionally terrifying visions of distant, extraterrestrial landscapes.

A strong disc that showcases Xenakis' remarkable style.......2003-12-18

The life of the Greek composer Iannis Xenakis is amongst the most interesting of all 20th century composers: injured and left for dead while fighting as a left-wing partisan against the Nazi occupation of Greece, escaping to France to avoid the death sentence pronounced upon him, teaching himself music and architecture, becoming a major name in both, and pioneering computer-aided composition. This disc in Col Legno's Collage series includes live performances of six works from the 1950s to the 1990s, allowing us to see that Xenakis' musical output is as interesting as his life itself.

The disc opens with the 1987 composition Ata, for large orchestra. This is a typical work in Xenakis' late style, with an overall tempo much slower than the surface activity might suggest and long sequences of atonal block chords overlaid with more dynamic material. The music is tense and energetic throughout, with vibrantly rhythmic, percussive passages keeping the music flowing. This is an excellent piece, superbly performed by the SWF Symphony under the predictably excellent Michael Gielen.

N'Shima, written in 1975, is for an unusual amplified ensemble: two mezzo-sopranos, two horns, two trombones and a cello. It has an intensely ritualistic feel to it, in part because much of the writing is in the same register. At times, this work reminded me of the 1970s music of Giacinto Scelsi, particularly in the incantatory nature of the vocal lines.

Next up is a recording with great historical significance, the 1955 Donaueschingen premiere of Xenakis' then-new Metastaseis. This work must have seemed quite outré to those expecting imitations of the pointillism of Boulez or Stockhausen at that time; with its wailing strings, siren-like brass, hushed percussion effects, glissandi and tone clusters this music now seems far more radical than, say, Le Marteau sans maitre. It is still disturbing listening even today--though it should be: Xenakis said it was in part drawn from his memories of watching crowds scatter under gunfire.

The next two works are less impressive. Ioolkos, written in 1996 and one of Xenakis' last works, might be considered an attempt to revisit the world of Metastaseis from a "late-Xenakis" vantage point. Its slow progress and rather curdled sounds do not appeal to me. Charisma, written in 1971, is a brief and rather fractured duet for cello and clarinet.

The disc closes as it began, with a hyper-energetic work for large orchestra. Jonchaies, written in 1977, is a bona-fide Xenakis classic, emerging from long string glissandi, travelling through more and more intensely rhythmic sections to a large climax before fading out in the sounds of piccolos and tiny bells. This is arguably the strongest work on the whole disc, but, unfortunately, this performance, with the Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique under the French composer Gilbert Amy, has been superseded by a more recent recording on Timpani that has better orchestral playing and a generally higher level of tension (though there is one percussive passage that comes off better in this recording).

Overall, this recording is well-worth considering, particularly for those who have not heard Xenakis' music before. The recording of Ata should be considered as close to definitive as we're likely to get, and only Ioolkos and Charisma--the two shortest works on the disc--are weak. Xenakis' music may not be for everyone, but it has a potential audience much larger than many of the other avant-garde composers (and yes, you could mosh to Ata or to Jonchaies!)

Alive & Amplified
Average customer rating:

Great Album.....dont believe the bad reviews

Dodge the Snobs, THIS IS A GREAT ALBUM

Alive!

Funkified!

not great, not bad

Alive & Amplified
The Mooney Suzuki
Manufacturer: Red Int / Red Ink
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Electric Sweat

If You Don't Already Have a Look

6Twenty

Making the Rounds

Save Rock 'n' Roll

ASIN: B0002MPQTQ
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Tracks:

Primitive Condition
Alive & Amplified
Legal High
New York
Shake That Bush Again
Sometimes Somethin
Loose 'N' Juicy
Hot Sugar
Messin' In The Dressin' Room
Naked Lady
Love Bus

Customer Reviews:

Great Album.....dont believe the bad reviews.......2007-03-24

this album is great, it gets you pumped up, especially alive and amplified

Dodge the Snobs, THIS IS A GREAT ALBUM.......2006-02-02

Firstly, if I hear another uninformed poseur talk about how this second album of theirs let them down, and oh, dear me, they changed their sound... After People Get Ready, then Electric Sweat, Live & Amplified is their third full length LP, and their fourth release if you include the Self Titled EP.

I don't care about the so-called change in their sound- I got into Suzuki with the, Your Love is a Gentle Whip, single. On that early release their garage sound was completely mechanical, and devoid of the blues/funk that they've evolved into today. They have changed/evolved with each album. Most good bands do.

This is a solid album. It would be a solid first album, and it is a solid third album. Their sound evolved and matured, and I hope it continues to. Yes, it was produced by the Matrix. Did that effect the sound. The producer always does. Primitive Condition, Alive & Amplified and Shake That Bush Again are all really great songs. I hope they made a few bucks licensing the title track to, appropriately enough, Suzuki for the Grand Vitara TV spot where the guy parachutes off the red-rock down to his SUV... You've heard it a dozen times, that's the song.

Alive!.......2005-08-07

A highly anticipated new release from New York garage rockers Mooney Suzuki thrills with peices like the funky, energetic title track, which boasts of drums reminiscent of "Sympathy For The Devil", vocals that sound like the twisted offspring of Ozzy Ozbourne and Jimi Hendrix, as well as with the opening track, "Primitive Condition", which starts with a guitar riff that could easilybe on an AC/DC album. Luckily the sophisticated yet poppy lyrics spare the need to compare the two.

Funkified!.......2005-05-26

I picked this up for free from the record store I work at, not really expecting much but hoping that it was good. And, I was pleasantly surprised! This album provides some damn good hip-shaking funk and deep sexy soul.

The first song is just naughty enough to make me smile, while the title track "Alive & Amplified" is a big energy romp through the highs of life.

I won't go into much detail after that, it's sort of something you need to experience for yourself.

not great, not bad.......2005-04-15

This is a good album, sure it could've been way better if it was recorded with the same production of Electric Sweat with the buzzing guitars and all, but this is not a bad album. Garage rock? nawwww, but good ol' rock n roll? h311s yes.

Complete Crumb Edition, Vol. 8; Makrokosmos Books I & II, Otherwordly Resonances

Average customer rating:

Close to perfect

Complete Crumb Edition, Vol. 8; Makrokosmos Books I & II, Otherwordly Resonances

Manufacturer: Bridge
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Complete Crumb Edition 9; Ancient Voices of Children, Madrigals Books I-IV, Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik
Complete Crumb Edition, Volume 5: Easter Dawning, Celestial Mechanics, A Haunted Landscape, Processional
Complete Crumb Edition, Vol. 6 - Echoes of Time and the River, Gnomic Variations, Four Nocturnes, Lux Aeterna
Complete George Crumb Editon, Volume 7 - Unto the Hills, Black Angels
Crumb: Zeitgeist, Music for a Summer Evening

ASIN: B0002W18OI
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Tracks:

Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 & 2
Otherwordly Resonances

Album Description

The latest volume in BRIDGE'S award-winning survey of George Crumb complete works presents a new recording of a major Crumb cycle and the premiere of a new composition for two pianos. Makrokosmos I and II have come to be regarded as landmark compositions in the piano repertoire, requiring the pianist to display a virtuoso's control of both the keyboard and the inside of the piano. In addition, the performer is asked to whistle, speak, and sing, while simultaneously playing some of the most dramatic and fantasy-filled piano music of the late twentieth century. Robert Shannon, a leading exponent of Crumb's music, gives the 67 minute cycle of 24 "zodiac" pieces a spectacular reading. The duo piano team, Quattro Mani, has also had a long association with Crumb's music, and can be heard playing Crumb's music on BRIDGE 9105, a disc that received `Best of Year' honors from Fanfare, and highest ratings from France's Repertoire, and the USA's ClassicsToday.com. ! In 2002, Crumb composed "Otherworldy Resonances", a 10 minute quasi-passacaglia for Quattro Mani. Based on a hypnotic four-note motif, this 10 minute composition marks Crumb's return to writing piano music after a hiatus of nearly 15 years. Both of these recordings, as with the rest of this series, were supervised by the composer.

Customer Reviews:

Close to perfect.......2007-05-29

The first book of Makrokosmos was my introduction to Crumb's music and despite hearing about half of his entire output now, it still remains my favorite. The title is closely related and pratcially ripped off from Bartok's Mikrokosmos, but they're nothing alike. Mikrokosmos is a set of progressive studies for children to learn piano. These are most certainly not exercises. They're much more like Debussy's Preludes -- 2 books of 12 brutally hard pieces that have short descriptions by the composer.

I once read a comment by Michael Walsh (music critic for Time Magazine) claiming that Makrokosmos is better if performed by a man. In general, I think he's right -- the shouting and speaking from the pianist in the various pieces just carry more gravitas with a deeper voice. I would also add the caveat that it should be an English-speaking pianist, too -- the recording of Bojan Gorisek on Audiophile Classics (if it's out there anymore) has its distractions thanks to Gorisek's heavy Slavic accent.

Since the recording here has an American man playing, and it's superb. It's not good because he's a man and he's American, but because the whole package is here. The recording quality and phrasing is excellent -- Mr. Shannon paces things perfectly so that you can hear and savor the resoanance that comes from inside the piano. The nutty piano techniques show their edge amazingly well -- for example, in the Phantom Gondolier movement, you can just imagine how hard Mr. Shannon scrapes his thimble-capped fingers on the strings inside the piano to produce the hair-raising sounds. Book 2, which I like less, also comes up a winner. It feels a little recycled after going through the 35 minutes of Book 1, but how often can one hear a coherent piece that demonstrates the effect of placing paper on strings of the piano?

My one gripe is that Mr. Shannon is not a strong vocalist. In some parts of both books, the score asks for "shouting" from the pianist, and he comes up quite short. In the Crucifixus movement of Book 1, his shout of "Christe!" is hardly the jolting climax from the depths of a deathly silence it's supposed to be. And this happens on several occasions. His whistling isn't bad, though.

Otherwordly Resonances seems quaint after getting through the string-plucking and knocking in Makrokosmos. It's pleasant enough, but it definitely takes second fiddle to the headliner on this CD. Which is a shame, because the performers of this work, Quattro Mani, do amazing things with the Makrokosmos III and IV on other Crumb CDs.

I wish Mr. Crumb would have made more comments about what techniques he actually used in his works. Without a score to look at (and they're HUGE, awkward, and expensive), how on earth is anyone supposed to know what we're listening to? The sounds generated from a prepared piano are just as interesting as learning how to prepare the piano in the first place.

I still think this CD is fabulous. It shows Elliott Carter's garbled messes from the same period have some worthy competition.

Average customer rating:

Berio's masterpiece of the '60s in the best overall recording, with a fine late orchestral work
Good, but not the best available.
Buy This and Buy the Boulez and Let the Fun Begin
Good, comprable with the famed Boulez recording

Berio: Sinfonia; Ekphrasis

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Boulez conducts Boulez
Luciano Berio: Laborintus 2
Luciano Berio: Sequenzas I-XIV for Solo Instruments
Berio: Recital I for Cathy / Folk Songs / 3 Songs by Kurt Weill
Berio: The Complete Sequenzas, Alternate Sequenzas & Works for Solo Instruments

ASIN: B0009DBXKO
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Tracks:

I. (Without Indication)
II. O King (Immobile E Lontano)
III. In Ruhig Fliessender Bewegung
IV. (Without Indication)
V. Without Indication
Ekphrasis

Customer Reviews:

Berio's masterpiece of the '60s in the best overall recording, with a fine late orchestral work.......2007-01-22

Deutsche Grammophon might have slowed down or even killed their "20/21" line of new music recordings, but thank goodness we got this disc first. Here we have Luciano Berio's masterpiece of the 1960s, alongside a late and little-known orchestral work, performed by the Goteborgs Symfoniker and the London Voices conducted by the great Peter Eotvos.

"Sinfonia" for eight voices and orchestra (1968-69) is one of Luciano Berio's greatest works, vast in its proportions and in the musical traditions it incorporates. The eight voices are meant to be jazz singers, and Berio originally wrote the piece for the Swingle Singers. The first two movements are quiet and mysterious. In the first, the singers gently intone selections from Levi-Strauss' retellings of Brazilian myths, made so vague that only the phonetic properties matter. In the second movement "O King", an orchestration of an earlier independent work, the singers slowly build up to the name "Martin Luther King", who had been murdered the year before.

The third movement of "Sinfonia", the extroverted "In ruhig fliessender Bewegung", is the most famous. The skeleton of the work is the second movement from Mahler's "Resurrection" symphony, a little cut-up and reordered. Over this, Berio has a tenor reciting text taken mainly from Samuel Beckett's "The Unnamable" and Berio's own journalistic writings, and the orchestra responds with quotations from fifteen composers. For example, when the narrator uses the term "the lowing cattle, the rush of the stream", we hear part of Beethoven's "Pastorale" symphony, while a singer's cry "This is nothing but an academic exercise" is ironically accompanied by music by Hindemith. Every listener has his own favourite part of this movement, mine is when the narrator says "I have a present for you" and the orchestra responds with that big tutti chord that opens Boulez' "Don" (which is to say "Gift").

The fourth and fifth movements return to a subdued tone. The fourth brings back Levi-Strauss references and is rather brief. But for all my initial passion about the third movement, I find it is the fifth which is the most intriguing and satisfying. Originally "Sinfonia" was written in four movements, but after the first performance, Berio was unhappy that these four movements were not reconciled to each other. In the fifth movement he subsequently wrote, therefore, we hear references in the form of quotation and harmonic development to the original four movements, a savage mix of voices, confused percussion, and threatening trombones a la Per Norgard's fifth symphony. A splendid end to a massive work.

For a long time, *the* recording of the "Sinfonia" to have was that with the Orchestre National de France and the New Swingle Singers conducted by Pierre Boulez (first released on Erato, then reissued at budget price in Warner's "Apex" line). However, I must say I find Eotvos' the best available. In the third movement, Eotvos keeps it going at a very nice clip, creating a dizzying parade of images. Boulez, on the other hand, kept things quite slow; if one has already heard the Eotvos recording, terms like "molasses" come to mind. Also, the recording of Eotvos' go, as well as the fresh approach of the London Voices, keep this from sounding like a dated '60s happening. Still, Boulez's recording is solid in the other four movements, and the Berio fan should seek that out as well.

The liner notes for "Sinfonia" consist of a short sketch by Paul Griffiths, which covers all the basics. However, those enraptured by the piece would do well to seek out David Osmond-Smith's PLAYING ON WORDS: A Guide to Luciano Berio's 'Sinfonia' (University of Chicago, 1987) ISBN 0947854002.

The following "Ekphrasis (Continuo II)" for orchestra (1996) shows a different Berio, a composer who has worked through postmodernism and (in the 1970s) reinvigorated modernism to the fullness of his compositional powers. "Ekphrasis" is a vast orchestral landscape, where one can enjoy the fine view of hills or concentrate on myriad small developments subtly taking place in the instrumental textures. This isn't the only recording of "Ekphrasis", as it was put out by Col Legno as well, but it sure is the easiest to find.

Bottom line: get the Boulez recording and this, and enjoy a thrilling tour de force of the 20th-century music.

Good, but not the best available........2006-06-06

Berio's Sinfonia is one of the most special compositions in the last decades, specially the famous third movement, even all of them are very remarkable because of the use of voice in a quite microtonal way.

In a recent edition of Juxtapositions, we can watch a DVD that has Berio as the central figure of a film on his Sinfonia, specially on the third movement, that he explains in detail on the DVD. His conception of the work is a kind of synthesis much more than a collage, that is what most of the people use to notice in that piece. Berio wanted to do of that movement a kind of personal creed of his debts with music, of those he loved and admired so much, and who have on Mahler the guide, a kind of boat that travels to Cyther full of music inside of his body. Mahler is an example for Berio (like he was for many other composers in the XXth Century, many of them Italian, like Maderna or Nono), and what Berio really loves in Mahler is his great capacity for put together different music, Mahler had on his mind as the conductor of the Vienna Opera he was. Berio tries to do something similar, but not taking the essence of music, like Mahler used to do, but quoting the music itself. In this way, we find on Berio's Sinfonia quotations of Bach, Debussy, Stravinsky, Strauss, Stockhausen, Boulez, Beethoven, Wagner... and of course Mahler... some of the composers he loved and, in my opinion, some of the most important musicians in the history of this art.

Eötvös' performance tries to make things very clear, giving special importance to the voices that Berio join to the music in the score, voices that were very present in Boulez's version, that is very close in style to this by Eötvös, even with a very close tempo, that is slower than Chailly (Decca), the performance I really think is the very best. In the Juxtapositions DVD we can here some pieces of the work conducted by Berio, and played by the Concertgebouw, really glorious!!! That performance is the nest I know, even Chailly's one, which is quite perfect is not so amazing like that, probably because it was recorded on Chailly's first years in Amsterdam, when the orchestra was not used to play this kind of contemporary music.

Eötvös is really a medium point between Boulez and Chailly, by tempo, by the importance he gives to the different parts of the scores, because of the voices... A good second option, with a good orchestra but not so great like Amsterdam's one. The recording is very good to, but I still prefer Decca's one for Chailly.

These are the recordings I know and the ranking I rate nowadays:

Chailly (Decca).
Eötvös (DG).
Boulez (Erato / Apex).
Bychkov (Philips).

Ekphrasis (Continuo II) has its best performance on Eötvös hands. I knew this piece on Col legno version, but this is really the best I know, so it's a good reason to by this CD, as it is a good recommendation if you don't have Chailly's one or if you want to listen much more clear the voices or another way of explaining this masterwork.

Buy This and Buy the Boulez and Let the Fun Begin.......2006-02-01

This version of _Sinfonia_ more than holds its own. As the reviewer below suggests, it has its charms while the Boulez has its own. I love both versions. This one is sonically crisper; the timbres of the instruments are more dynamic. I like the zaniness of the Swingle Singers on the Boulez recording a little more, though. Still, the recitations are excellent and all-around crisp, too.

***IN CASE YOU DON'T HAVE A KNOWLEDGE OF THIS PIECE--This is a touchstone of the new music with little precedent. It stands at a fascinating crossroads between the compositional techniques of the serialists and the emotion of the Romantics. It is freer in its lyricism than the academic proportions of Schoenberg & Co. The strict serialists did some great things, of course, but what you hear on Sinfonia is what may have happened if more of them let go of the reins in regards to method. In other words, let the madness in without scoring it algebraically.

Best part is the third movement, where we hear the words of Beckett like we will hear them nowhere else. Add the fact that the backdrop is a Mahler scherzo played in unnerving "counterpoint" to some post-tonal pulses and you have a visceral, intellectual, and emotionally invigorating experience, indeed. There is no higher recommendation for a piece of new music and this new version pays the spirit of the original a world of tribute.

Good, comprable with the famed Boulez recording.......2005-10-18

This recording is a good look at the Berio Sinfonia. I'll compare it to the Erato Boulez recording, which has been the towering recording of the Sinfonia. This recording has the mics closer to the instruments, and more engineering has been done to clarify textures. It is a recording more in the mold of the those that Ensemble Modern has been putting out recently. Eotvos also strives for clarity in this performance- the quotes stand out more, are more articulate, you can hear the interplay of the voices more. I think that the most famous third movement is somewhat more interesting with the more articulate quotations, and the timing of the recitation interacts more directly with other vocalists and the passing quotations. There are other minor details that give the recording some pizzaz here and there.

On the downside, the tuning isn't as good in the "o king" movements as it was in the Boulez recording.

Overall, I don't know that I like it better than the Boulez recording, but it is a good second interpretation of the piece.

Average customer rating:

interesting indeed
Interesting

Philip Glass: Early Keyboard Music

Manufacturer: MD&G Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Improvisation | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

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Philip Glass : Analog
Solo Piano
Philip Glass: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3

ASIN: B000059GGN
Release Date: 2001-03-27

Tracks:

Contrary Motion
One+One (1st version)
Mad Rush
One+One (2nd version)
Two Pages

Customer Reviews:

interesting indeed.......2003-07-11

I find the earlier work by Glass to be his best. It's exciting because in this time Glass, with others like Steve Reich, comes to a new style in classical music: minimal. Later work by Glass will be less and less true to this style, it waters down to more usual, standard 19th century kind of classical (that's a generalization, yes). Only the melodies are played over the same minimal sounding support.
Looking through some cd's with earlier work by glass, I believe Contrary Motion is thought to be an important piece by Glass. Listening to it emphasizes this idea: you hear the, by now, well known, repeated, subtly changing repetitions. What's nice about this piece compared to ensemble pieces, like a version of Contrary motion, for instance, is that it clarifies Glass' minimal idea better because it's only one musician playing. This idea is further well explained in the booklet and, playfully, on the cd by tapping on a table by Steffen Schleiermacher.
Besides Contrary motion there's an even more minimal track on this cd: two pages (which referes to the fact that the, in this case, 27 minutes of music can be written out on two pages (an idea inspired by minimalist Terry Riley?)). This only has only one ever slightly changing melody line and clarrifies Glass' minimal method of adding and cutting to and from a melody line.
Both the minimal tracks have an extremely hypnotising, trance envoking quality to them. That is: if your in for that, otherwise, the booklet explains, you may just find them extremely boring.
The cd is completed by a nice, more normal sounding, track, composed for the first visit of the Dalai Lama to New York: Mad Rush.

Interesting.......2002-12-04

This disc contains some of Philip Glass' early organ works, showcasing the repetitive style that made him famous. the first and last tracks on the CD are more repetitive than the middle track, and are somewhat like musical "paintings", not meant to be actively listened to, but just played in the background, where you can visit them from time to time.

The middle track, "Mad Rush", might be rushy but certainly isn't mad. It is in a strict formal structure, with a quiet theme contrasted by a fst, loud theme, and going back and forth between the two. This track is overall the most enjoyable on the CD.

I don't understand the two versions of "One+One"; first why are they on an "Early Keyboard Works" CD, and second, I've just never been able to understand the intricate complexities of music meant to be played by banging on a tabletop.

Crumb: Ancient Voices Of Children
Average customer rating:

An Avant-Garde Must Get

Crumb in poetic and eerilie beautiful mood

Exceptional

Just Listen

What is the Opposite of Music? Listen to this and find out!

Crumb: Ancient Voices Of Children

Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by George Crumb | Crumb, George | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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The Ligeti Project IV: Hamburg Concerto (Horn Concerto) / Double Concerto / Ramifications / Requiem

ASIN: B000005IY6
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Ancient Voices Of Children: El Nino Busca Su Voz
Ancient Voices Of Children: Dances Of The Ancient Earth
Ancient Voices Of Children: Me He Perdido Muchas Veces Por El Mar
Ancient Voices Of Children: De Done Vienes, Amor, Mi Nino? (Dance Of The Sacred Life Cycle)
Ancient Voices Of Children: Ghost Dance
Ancient Voices Of Children: Se Ha Llenado De Luces Mi Corazon De Seda
Music For A Summer Evening: Nocturnal Sounds (The Awakening)
Music For A Summer Evening: Wanderer-Fantasy
Music For A Summer Evening: The Advent
Music For A Summer Evening: Myth
Music For A Summer Evening: Music Of The Starry Night

Amazon.com

One of the most important and magical song cycles in contemporary music, Ancient Voices of Children, is the setting of a series of haunting texts by the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca for mezzo-soprano, boy soprano, and chamber orchestra. The piece made a huge impression on audiences at its initial performances. Indeed, this recording became something of a cult phenomenon, much like the Górecki Third Symphony today; and if you weren't around for the initial discovery, now's your chance. Music for a Summer Evening uses essentially the same forces as Bartók's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, and creates an evocative, glittering nightscape. Great stuff.--David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

An Avant-Garde Must Get.......2003-05-07

I remember a time when I was at a flea market and was looking through some vinyl records (possibly about the time before I got my first CD player). One particular record got my attention. The cover sort of resembles a newspaper article with a picture insert of a nebula. What got my attention were "Makrokosmos" and that it was a Nonesuch record. I've heard a few Nonesuch records and notice how different the music tends to be. So I thought I buy it for $1 (if I recall correctly). When I listened to it at home, I knew I made a good choice. It had the strange 20th century music - rather atonal. It's a good thing the vinyl record was in good shape, especially when it came to the very quiet parts. I have that record today, still in good shape.

About a few years after buying the vinyl record, I was looking through some CDs in a store (after I got my first CD player). I've found the Nonesuch CD that had "Ancient Voices of Children" AND "Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III)." I didn't buy it because I wanted to get it on sale. Well, time passed. One day, I saw one up for bid on eBay. I think I was the only bidder on it. The jewel case may have a few scratches (which I wouldn't worry about) but the CD itself was like new.

I'm glad that I got it on CD. I could listen to the music without any clicks or pops you would hear from a vinyl LP (especially since the music gets very quiet at times). Although you wouldn't get the "warm analog sound" you get from the vinyl. Nevertheless, it does sound very good considering that it's AAD. Whoever likes avant-garde music may want to get this.

One thing I want to let you know. Whoever did the tracking on the CD must've misjudged about the beginnings of "Myth" and "Music of the Starry Night." "Myth" begins at index 8:02 on track 9. Tracks 10 and 11 are the last movement, "Music of the Starry Night." Take note of that when listening to this CD.

Crumb in poetic and eerilie beautiful mood.......2002-06-17

Those who know US composer George Crumb mainly from the terrifying musings of 'Black Angels' (made semi-famous by the Kronos Quartet) will probably be surprised by the haunting beauty of 'Ancient Voices'. Based on texts from Lorca, the rich but sparing instrumentation is complemented by evocative, floating soprano - sometimes sung into the piano to create an eerie, mystical ambient. My first exposure was at London's Roundhouse in 1976, where even the background rumbling of trains couldn't sublimate the extraordinary lure of Crumb's sound world. Truly gorgeous and thoughtfully composed.

Exceptional.......2002-06-15

This disc is flawless. The caliber of music making is extremely high, and the pieces themselves are among Crumb's absolute finest.

Music for a Summer Evening is, perhaps, the lesser signifigant work of the two presented here. Even so, it is an astounding presentation of of Crumb's effective use of extended tequniques, and the ability of his atmospheric writing to stir up strong emotions. Here, Crumb has significantly built on the two pianos/percussion format that Bartok made famous in his Sonata.

Ancient Voices of Children is an important song cycle in the post-WWII repertoire. His extended singing tecniques are used to great effect, and the haunting, mystical effects that he cojours within the limited instrumentation are amazing.

Crumb is one a handfull of composers that can write atmospheric music so well, and pull off these avant-garde tecniques so usefully. If you do not know his music, start with this disc; it's breathtaking.

Just Listen.......2002-06-08

I just recently reaquainted myself with this work after about thirty years. Ancient voice of Children retains all of the mystery and magic that I heard when I first encountered the piece at the age of 11. The work resembles not so much a conventional piece of music as a mystic ceremony. Set to fragments from the poetry of Frederico Garcia Lorca, the music captures the magical nature of the poet's verse. The unusual instrumental effects are haunting. Amoung my favorite is the quotation from Bist Du Bei Mir played on a toy piano as a haunting elegy for a dead child. The work builds in it's last section to a shattering climax.

The perfomance is quintessential. Jan DeGaetani was marvelous in this style of music and is sorely missed as a performer. The ensemble is spirited and very precise. The only thing that you miss on this CD is the visual choreography of a live performance, which is hypnotizing.

Macrocosmos III was a new piece to me and is every bit as haunting as other Crumb music. The ending is luminous...en eternal spinning out of music in the Lydian scale.

Be aware, this is avant garde music, though I feel it is quite assessible to those who listen without preconceptions. It is certainly more assessible than Elliot Carter or Boulez. It is not Part or Gorecki...but then not everything has to be. For me, this is not about style but about substance. Crumb moves me every bit as much as more assessible composers. You just have to listen with different ears, that's all.

What is the Opposite of Music? Listen to this and find out!.......2001-11-02

Here I am, the skeleton at the feast of 5* reviews proving again the old adage that "One man's meat is another man's poison". I hardly believe that even a small percentage of people (let's leave aside Professors of Avant-Garde Music for the time being) would be able to listen to, let alone enjoy, more than a few minutes of this music (I use that term in it's very loosest definition). It is ridiculous, therefore, that this should have a preponderance of 5* reviews. Consequently I believe that I am doing a service by standing up and pointing out "bad" music just as I do in applauding "good" music.

I came at this CD - which I bought thanks to some of the aforementioned 5* which I was foolish enough to believe - with the expectation that it would be modern, avant-garde and probably rather ineffable initially. I am prepared for this, believing that often the best music is not instantly grasped and needs careful auditioning. When I listened to it, however, I found that my expectations were not nearly extreme enough. This is music trying so hard to establish its originality that it appears to have progressed well beyond my definition of what music actually is. It is music as art, as a statement and not music to listen to - think about this a little! Hence my opening line - this is the opposite of music.

Instead, this production seems to be comprised of irrelevant and inconsequential noises, none of them musical. To save you the money, and more importantly the time, I will precis this CD for you:

A womans shriek followed by about 20 seconds of silence.
A sound rather like a large rodent being let loose inside a piano.
Some blocks of wood being banged together.
More shrieking.
More silence.
A voice making a strange sound as if copying a phone ringing.
More silence.
More wood being banged together.
More silence

Etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseam

At some point in this avant-garde nonsense somebody is going to blow the whistle and irreverently point out that the "Emperors New Clothes" do not actually exist. In the service of music, as opposed to "art", I am prepared to do the pointing! This production is nothing more that a deeply unmusical joke against those pseudo-intellectuals who completely miss the concepts of humanity and accessibility in music. "Composers" who write this stuff do so as to hide their lack of musical creativity behind an intellectual argument. Don't believe the hype, leave this one on the shelf!

For those aesthetes and enthusiasts who are intent on heading down a progressive route of "classical" music which yet retains any humanity and sympathy, Part and Gorecki appear to have been able to create music of originality and humanity, proving that it can be done.

Tracks:

All Day & All Of The Night - The Kinks
I Can't Explain - The Who
Gimme Some Lovin' - Spencer Davis Group
Get Ready - Rare Earth
Sunshine Of Your Love - Cream
Somebody To Love - Jefferson Airplane
American Woman - The Guess Who
Roundabout - Yes
Maggie May - Rod Stewart
Peace Train - Cat Stevens
Your Song - Elton John
American Pie - Don McLean

Tracks:

Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
The Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy
Rocky Mountain Way - Joe Walsh
Love Hurts - Nazareth
Fooled Around And Fell In Love - Elvin Bishop
Ramblin' Man - The Allman Brothers Band
Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Bachman Turner Overdrive
Radar Love - Golden Earring
Show Me The Way - Peter Frampton
More Than A Feeling - Boston
Too Much Time On My Hands - Styx

Customer Reviews:

Classic Rock At Its BEST!!.......2005-04-19

I have collected a great number of CD's and vinyl's over the years and I have to say I have a very eclectic collection. But (...here's the "but"..) AMPLIFIED is the best investment I have ever made to add to my collection of classic rock. It just doesn't get any better than the original recordings of the Kinks, Spencer Davis Group, Jefferson Airplane with the fabulous Grace Slick!! "Love Hurts" by Nazereth and Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way" brought back soooooo many memories. Cat Stephens "Peace Train" always makes me shed a tear of joy. "American Woman" just rocks!!! Lenny Kravitz did a good job re-recording it, but no one will ever touch the original "Guess Who" recording. If these are the songs you love and wouldn't mind hearing them over and over and over (you could do much worse..), then you must by this 2 CD set. It truly represents some of the very best of classic rock. It's timeless. You won't regret it!

UTV Turns Up 24 Rock Classics On "Amplified".......2001-07-11

While not exactly "the definitive double CD of classic rock" advertised on its cover, UTV Records' "Amplified" is near-perfect background for the next baby boomer barbecue or road trip. Clearly remastered by Suha Gur (who worked on UTV's more focused, superior "Classic Years" Motown set) this CD unpretentiously gets to the riff-heavy rock dominating pop culture for most of 20 years.

Sequencing is haphazard; the Kinks-into-Who-into-Spencer Davis Group opening captures a taste of British Invasion before stumbling embarassingly into Rare Earth's lame "Get Ready." Disc One ends on too mellow a note with the Cat Stevens, Elton John and Don McLean tracks. (Elton could well have been represented with the more rocking "Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting.")

Similarly, two rousing anthems from Steppenwolf and Thin Lizzy start Disc Two, followed quickly followed by a southern rock suite including genre classics "Ramblin' Man" and "Free Bird." But Styx's "Too Much Time On My Hands," released in 1981, is lighter, faster and wittier than the set's other ponderous anthems, and thus is a poor set closer.

Some songs seem stale, hard if sweet donuts out of their original albums' context. Boston's gentle, jangly fadein on "More Than A Feeling" was and remains electrifying on their debut CD, but seems all too familiar as Track 11 on Disc 2. Yes' "Roundabout," unusual in compilations, still thrills but fits better as one piece in 1972's prog-rock classic "Fragile." This also explains why the Who's "Can't Explain" won over "My Generation," and why Eric Clapton, arguably classic rock's central solo figure, is represented only by the Cream track and not Derek & The Dominoes' "Layla."

But for once the lack of liner notes on "Amplified" is a positive. We needn't hear one more interpretation of "American Pie" or rehash of the Guess Who's "American Woman." The music speaks its outdated but reassuring language for itself. Despite obvious omissions (Atlantic's 4CD classic rock set is still available and fills many gaps), "Amplified" draws well from parent Universal's deep rock (Polygram/MCA) catalogue and peppers it with enough outside tracks for a satisfying, nostalgic and affordable rock sampler. Recommended for those too young or stoned to enjoy the music the first time, with essential tracks found on the artists' original sets.

this cd rocks.......2000-11-10

I usually wouldn't recommend a compilation cd, or even a greatest hit cd, and if you're a classic rock fan you probably have these songs already. If OTOH you're not that big of a classic rock fan and don't want to spend lotsa money on dozens of cd's or listen to crappy mp3 quality (even @ 320 kbps it doesn't sound quite the same) this cd is for you. All of these songs are great. Definitely worth the money

classic rock.......2000-10-18

amplified is a well put compilation of lassic rock.it has some well known songs like "born to be wild","american woman" and other great classics of the rock n roll era. other artists in this double cd are the kinks.the who,cream,spencer davis group,among others. this cd is well worth it and it's a good starting point for new classic rock fans.

the best ever.......2000-08-09

this is the best ever if u dont buy it ur a fool

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