Sandwich

Sandwich Review

This album is probably the best humorous metal album I've ever heard. The lyrical theme surrounds the subject of food, with song titles like "The Hunger Within", "Orange", and the semi-title track, "This Is Not A Song, It's A Sandwich". There are other songs that shine more even than the food-related ones. "Caffeine" is hilariously hyperactive take on coffee and energy drinks, and sounds as if they'd had a few before they recorded the song. "#1 Radio $ingle" is a song that narrates itself with its own lyrics, but happens to be so catchy it probably could be played on the radio. There are funky crawling slap bass portions in "Shower" and "Girl Directions". The four short skits are pretty funny, and there are several bonus tracks after the main album is over with, including an epic older-song medley that replaces lyrics with names as a tribute to the 373 people who donated 50+ dollars for the album to be funded (I donated ), an outtakes reel, and a very pretty, incredibly random acoustic song at the end that gets cut off prematurely by the apparent limitation in CD space. Overall a very good album, and it is worth many listens in its entirety, if you insert your tongue into your cheek for 75 minutes at a time.

Sandwich Overview

This is "humorcore" - metal/hard rock with a sense of humor.

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Schoolhouse Rock: Multiplication Rock

Schoolhouse Rock: Multiplication Rock Review

I remember when these were first reissued, at least the videos.... My friend (7 or 8 year younger than I am - he hadn't really sen them) and I were in a huge media superstore, and they were playing them on the monitor. I was watching "Figure Eight" and my friend, finished with his shopping, came up to me and said "Why are you crying?"
I hadn't noticed that I was, but there was something very wonderful about seeing it again, always thinking it was a forgotten footnote of my childhood. It's wonderful to know that I'm not alone and that these are still pertinent enough to still be teaching kids something all these years later. I don't know if it's the chords or the little daydreaming girl, but "Figure Eight" still moves me to tears every time I see or hear it now. It's nice to know we don't have to let everything go as we grow older. We're so lucky to have recorded media as part of our culture. So much of it is awful, but there are priceless gems mixed in. Schoolhouse Rock is one of them.

Schoolhouse Rock: Multiplication Rock Overview

Mathematics is a particularly sensitive educational area in the United States (and, for that matter, the world in the digital age). This set is tremendously simplistic but appropriately so, rooting through numerical issues but also introducing the gist of so many "story problems" that kids have encountered since at least the 1970s. The music has a distinctly '70s feel, sounding a touch like Paul Simon backed by some more-staid offshoot of the Staple Singers. "Ready or Not, Here I Come" is a rambling blast, shuffling quickly and soulfully and showing the depth of jazz vocal veteran Bob Dorough's command of language and rhythm. Things are spry--maybe a bit too much--but single-digit kids (mostly the 4-and-over range) will catch the snappy groove easily and ask for more. --Andrew Bartlett

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American IV: The Man Comes Around [Vinyl]

American IV: The Man Comes Around [Vinyl] Review

It seems that the previous reviewer who paned this record did not receive the same pressing as Tyler Alexander and myself. If it was me, I would re-purchase the record so as not to miss out on such a great gem.

I was already familiar with the music from this album, I have the CD but this vinyl record recently received a mention in Absolute Sound magazine (issue 197 'Best Audiophile Recordings') hence I made the purchase. The first track 'The Man Comes Around' is a hair raiser for sure. I do not have a high end system by any means but WoW !

This Lost Highway release does sound fantastic and will be treasured for many years to come.

At the twelve bucks and change for a new record of this quality it is a huge bargain considering that some 'Audiophile recording' records cost three plus times more than this one did.American IV: The Man Comes Around

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20 Greatest Hits 1960

20 Greatest Hits 1960 Review

I had a 60's party and people really loved the music. This cd was pretty good.

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Quebec

Quebec Review

Why are you here. Maybe because you have sampled other music from Ween or maybe your lost. I won't labor on the subject, lets get straight to the album. These guys have so much universal talent that only could allow for a production like this, yet not enough virtuosity to keep them from being stuck on one formula. Its to our benefit. These guys can ape just about any popular music genre and beat the originals at their own game. Be prepared to change gears at times. If you listen to the first track, you would think you would have stumbled across a long lost Motorhead masterpiece.... ah..what. Keep going... you will find traces of everything under the sun here. If you are a musichead in general and are open to all sorts of music, you will be saying 'hey that sounds like' so many times it becomes a mute point. The songs stand on their own merits. Look out for sounds of Marcy Playground, Electronic Chill, Yo Gabba Gabba, Steely Dan.... and on and on. And yet in its entirety its just our friends Ween. With Ween there is always some tounge in cheek stuff going on, but there is also pure beauty and heart. Not something most people frequently consume because of its broad range. I don't want to compare Ween to the Flaming Lips, but for Lips fans, if you remember a quazi-punk group turning into a lush music making machine.... this is... to me... the same sort of process... raw entity evolves into lush music landscapes...and they have long since arrived. Not sure if we can call Motorhead Lush tho... forget it. Just check it out.

Quebec Overview

How does one encapsulate the mischievous musical conceits of Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, aka Gene and Dean Ween? Infinitely less self-conscious than the smirky They Might Be Giants, yet possessed of a downright Zappa-esque sense of the perverse, Ween returns here from the problematic, if illusory, mainstreaming that characterized 2000's White Pepper to embrace an artistic tack that seems as focused as an errant cluster bomb. While eclecticism for its own sake has often yielded painful self-indulgence, G&D's is sublime enough to seem virtually pre-conscious. The white-trash thrash of "It's Gonna Be a Long Night" dispenses with the expected parody quotient early on, shrewdly clearing the stage for moody doses of psychedelia that are variously driving ("Transdermal Celebration"), dirgy ("Among His Tribe"), and languorously eerie ("Captain"). But, perhaps conscious of reputations to be maintained, those dreamy, chem-friendly spells are variously broken by the perfect '70s country-pop of "Chocolate Town," the pocket epic "The Argus," and tracks that somehow recall both Captain Beefheart and their own haphazard side-career scoring cartoons and other TV fare. There's something here for everyone, to be sure--but closer to Ween's antic hearts, something to annoy everyone as well. --Jerry McCulley

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G4 & Friends

G4 & Friends Review

Well G4's second album is just lovely-wonderful production and includes some stunning vocals from the talented G4.There is not one track that I skip over.All excellent but just to give my favourites a mention ..
Barcelona (With Lesley Garrett) -wonderful collaboration my favourite track on the album.
Yellow G4 have gave such positivity to what I think was a pretty dark song by Coldplay-massive song.
Miss You Nights (With Cliff Richard) This collaboration is kept pretty and simple-excellent.
La Donna E Mobile -just love this.More classical songs on the next album please Sony.
Another Day -lovely brand new pop song.More new songs on the next album please Sony.
Last Song -aww Jon puts such emotion into this lovely ballad.
You're The Voice -not a fan of this John Farnham song usually but G4 have brought something extra to you're the voice-big track.
Beautiful -the Christina song..just Beautiful.
Remember Me -this song is so pretty and sad ..lovely vocals.
Au Fond Temple Saint -another favourite..just beautiful vocals.

Well worth buying.

G4 & Friends Overview

Classically trained, this four-piece vocal group, wowed a captivated audience week after week on The X Factor. Their highly original takes on seemingly untouchable pop classics established them as true one offs and despite coming out of the competition in second place, the act were undoubtedly one of the artistic success stories of the series. This is their second album and looks set to reward the group with even more success. 15 tracks. Sony. 2005.

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Simply the Best Classical Anthems

Simply the Best Classical Anthems Review

"Simply the Best Classicial Anthems" is exactly what the title indicates. This is a collection of what the CD says are "36 of the most powerful classics on Earth". My review of this CD comes from someone who is a Classical Music Novice. I'm familiar with some of the composers, musical styles, musical periods, and some of the terminology that is key to understanding Classical Music. By no means am I an expert. I have basically popped in this two CD collection into my player and have enjoyed the sounds it produces. If you are in the same category as I am or maybe just wanting to be introduced to Classical Music - this is going to be a very good CD to have in your collection. For the more seasoned Classical Music fan, this could be either enjoyable or overkill.

The CD contains 36 songs composed by the legends of Classical Music Composers from the past. The bulk of the works come from Composers in the the 19th and 20th century, but there are works from the Romantic and Classical eras of the late 18th and early 19th century (such as Beethoven and Mozart). In general you will find most of the major names of Composers you would expect to find - names such as Tchiakovsky, Handel, Verdi, Strauss, Elgar, and Bach are all there. The only major composer who I would have expected to see on this CD that I don't see is Frederic Chopin. The composers of the late 20th century are not included on this collection - so you won't see Leonard Bernstein or John Williams on this set. While these Composers are excellent, I do think style of the tracks on this collection pre-date their style.

The recordings themselves are done by the great Orchestras around the world. For the most part, European Orchestras were used to deliver the tracks. There are a few exceptions: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra delivers "The Ride of the Valkyries"; The Toronto Symphony Orchestra delivers "Dance of the Knights"; and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra delivers Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture". Some of the European Orchestras that are well known include: BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra, Choeur Philhamonique de Strasbourg, and more. Also included are performances by well known names in the Classical space such as Marie-Claire Alain (Bach's "Toccate and Fogue in D Minor" and Saint-Saens' "Symphony for Organ No 3"), Piero Toso (Vivaldi's "Allegro From Spring - Four Seasons"), and Placido Domingo appears on Puccini's "Nessun Dorma".

The 2 Disc collection contains a total of over 2 hours and 6 minutes of music. The selections that are included in the set will sound very familiar to you when you play them. You probably have both heard and seen the names of tracks such as: Oref's "O Fortuna"; Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man"; Beethoven's "First Movement from Symphony Number 5" and "Ode To Joy"; Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance", and Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture". Many of the other tracks will also sound familiar, but maybe not so much by name - such as Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries", Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathoustra"; Grieg's "Piano Concerto", and "Dies Irae" (versions included by Mozart and Verdi - you can compare the two and judge for yourself). As for the Discs themselves, I think most of the casual fans will like the selections on Disc Two better, but Disc One is still very good. On a sidebar, the Israel Philharmonic's version of "1812 Overture" is by far the best you will hear - particularly at the end, the booming drums create almost a 3 dimensional vision of fireworks being launched into the air.

There one big negative on this collection is some of the recording quality. The clarity of the recording is there, but some of the recording levels leave a lot to be desired. On some of the softer parts, it is barely audible without significantly turning up your volume. This is very evident on "O Fortuna" where you will hear almost dead silence during from the 30 second to 1:30 mark of the track unless you crank your volume up. Same with the first few seconds of Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathoustra" and Tchiakovsky's "1812 Overture". When the volume is cranked up you will hear them - but then the other sections will be way too loud. I'm surprised with modern technology that this couldn't be addressed better.

The liner notes are pretty thin. You do get the Composers, Performers/Orchestras, and recording dates. There isn't any more details than that and you won't learn anymore insight on the tracks than this information. Despite some of the shortcomings of the liner notes and recording volume, I still think this is an excellent place to start and do recommend this CD if you are a novice to Classical Music and are looking for a great place to start listening to what the Classics have to offer.

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