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  • Remastered with 3 bonus tracks."Electric Light Orchestra continued on their winning Top 40 ways with the release of Discovery. Now pared down to the basic four-piece unit, Jeff Lynne continued to dominate the band and they still got their hits (this time around it was the smash "Don't Bring Me Down"). Elsewhere on the disc there was, of note, "Last Train to London" and "Confusion." Though Discovery charted well, it was becoming obvious that ELO were starting to run themselves out of useful Beatles hooks with which to fuel their hit-making machine." - Allmusic
    $7.50
  • Expanded edition with 3 bonus tracks."Originally conceived of as a double album, and wisely whittled down to one on release, Secret Messages was routine, formulaic Electric Light Orchestra. Lynne's hooks and dense production were still in force, but it sounded more mechanized and heartless than usual, due in part to the surfeit of synthesizers on some tracks. It did include the Top 20 hit "Rock & Roll Is King." [The 2001 CD reissue on Epic/Legacy included three bonus tracks: "After All," the B-side of "Rock & Roll Is King"; "No Way Out," planned for the double-album version of Secret Messages and eventually released on the 1990 Afterglow album; and a previously unreleased version of the Roy Orbison-style "Endless Lies," which was re-recorded for the Balance of Power album." - Allmusic
    $7.50
  • Remastered with 2 bonus tracks."Heaven Tonight, like In Color, was produced by Tom Werman, but the difference between the two records is substantial. Where In Color often sounded emasculated, Heaven Tonight regains the powerful, arena-ready punch of Cheap Trick, but crosses it with a clever radio-friendly production that relies both on synthesizers and studio effects. Even with the fairly slick production, Cheap Trick sound ferocious throughout the album, slamming heavy metal, power pop, and hard rock together in a humongous sound. "Surrender," the definitive Cheap Trick song, opens the album with a tale about a kid whose parents are hipper than himself, and the remainder of the record is a roller coaster ride, peaking with the sneering "Auf Wiedersehen," the dreamily psychedelic title track, the roaring rocker "On Top of the World," the high-stepping, tongue-in-cheek "How Are You," and the pulverizing cover of the Move's "California Man." Heaven Tonight is the culmination of the group's dizzying early career, summing up the strengths of their first two albums, their live show, and their talent for inverting pop conventions. They were never quite as consistently thrilling on record ever again. " - Allmusic
    $7.50
  • "While this album will forever be remembered for spawning the huge hit singles "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride," there's plenty more to appreciate on this stellar release. From "the other single," "Hangin' Around," to the pretty melodies of "Round & Around" and "Autumn," the set collects ten outstanding cuts, played with fervor by Edgar Winter, Chuck Ruff, Dan Hartman, Randy Jo Hobbs, and Ronnie Montrose, along with guest artist/producer Rick Derringer. The "party" feel of "We All Had a Real Good Time" and the singalong "Alta Mira" only add to this already red-hot mix, making They Only Come Out at Night the album Winter will always be remembered for." - Allmusic
    $7.50
  • Remastered edition with bonus tracks."The debut Jefferson Airplane album was dominated by singer Marty Balin, who wrote or co-wrote all the original material and sang most of the lead vocals in his heartbreaking tenor with Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson providing harmonies and backup. (Anderson's lead vocal on "Chauffeur Blues" indicated she was at least the equal of her successor, Grace Slick, as a belter.) The music consisted mostly of folk-rock love songs, the most memorable of which were "It's No Secret" and "Come up the Years." (There was also a striking version of Dino Valente's "Get Together" recorded years before the Youngbloods' hit version.) Jorma Kaukonen already displayed a talent for mixing country, folk, and blues riffs in a rock context, and Jack Casady already had a distinctive bass sound. But the Airplane of Balin-Kantner-Kaukonen-Anderson-Casady-Spence is to be distinguished from the Balin-Kantner-Kaukonen-Casady-Slick-Dryden version of the band that would emerge on record five months later chiefly by Balin's dominance. Later, Grace Slick would become the group's vocal and visual focal point. On Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, the Airplane was Balin's group. (Jefferson Airplane Takes Off was released as RCA 3584 on August 15, 1966. It was reissued as RCA 66797 on January 30, 1996, as a CD that contained both the stereo and mono versions, and that added back the track "Runnin' 'Round This World," which had been deleted from all but initial copies due to the sexual and perceived drug references of the line "The nights I've spent with you have been fantastic trips." But the included version still eliminated the word "trips.")" - Allmusic Guide
    $7.50
  • "Amigos is the first Santana album that doesn't attempt to break new ground. The several styles Carlos Santana has delved into over the past decade have been consolidated into a varied, multidimensional album. The early days of happy Latin rhythms, congas and catchy vocal hooks and choruses are represented not only by the not-quite-hidden picture of the band's first album on the cover, but also by the very first strains of "Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)," which opens the album. If you're more taken by the harder, brasher rock of Abraxas and Santana, "Take Me with You" and "Let Me" will suit you better. And the dreamlike, moody intensity of Caravanserai is evoked by "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)."Throughout, Carlos Santana's guitar wizardry remains as impressive as ever. He constantly darts in, out and through the dense rhythm section, displaying a mastery of lean rock, hot jazz and an occasional dash of quiet beauty. Most guitarists are hard pressed to come up with a single style; Carlos Santana has at least three of which he is master.I hesitate to call this a safe album, but in a way, that's what it is. Amigos is Santana at its most consistent — perhaps in an effort to win back listeners disaffected by the long delay between albums. For fans, it is indispensable. For new listeners, a treat." - Rolling Stone
    $7.50
  • "Jeff Lynne reportedly regards this album and its follow-up, Out of the Blue, as the high points in the band's history. One might be better off opting for A New World Record over its successor, however, as a more modest-sized creation chock full of superb songs that are produced even better. Opening with the opulently orchestrated "Tightrope," which heralds the perfect production found throughout this album, A New World Record contains seven of the best songs ever to come out of the group. The Beatles influence is present, to be sure, but developed to a very high degree of sophistication and on Lynne's own terms, rather than being imitative of specific songs. "Telephone Line" might be the best Lennon-McCartney collaboration that never was, lyrical and soaring in a way that manages to echo elements of Revolver and the Beatles without ever mimicking them. The original LP's second side opened with "So Fine," which seems like the perfect pop synthesis of guitar, percussion, and orchestral sounds, embodying precisely what Lynne had first set out to do with Roy Wood at the moment ELO was conceived. From there, the album soars through stomping rock numbers like "Livin' Thing" and "Do Ya," interspersed with lyrical pieces like "Above the Clouds" (which makes striking use of pizzicato bass strings)." - Allmusic
    $7.50
  • "Presenting radio with one of the best rock ballads ever, Cornerstone gave Chicago's Styx their big break with the number one single "Babe," which held that spot for two weeks in October of 1979. "Babe" is a smooth, keyboard-pampered love song that finally credited Dennis De Young's textured vocals. While this single helped the album climb all the way to the number two spot on the charts, the rest of the tracks from Cornerstone weren't nearly half as strong. "Why Me" made it to number 26, and both "Lights" and "Boat on the River" implement silky harmonies and welcoming choruses, yet failed to get off the ground. De Young's keyboards are effective without overly dominating the music, and the band's gritty rock & roll acerbity has been slightly sanded down to compliment the commercial market. The songs aren't as tight or assertive as their last few albums, but Shaw's presence can be felt strongly on most of the tracks, especially where the writing is concerned. Outside of "Babe," Cornerstone tends to sound a tad weaker than one would expect." - Allmusic guide
    $8.00
  • "While their records were entertaining and full of skillful pop, it wasn't until At Budokan that Cheap Trick's vision truly gelled. Many of these songs, like "I Want You to Want Me" and "Big Eyes," were pleasant in their original form, but seemed more like sketches compared to the roaring versions on this album. With their ear-shatteringly loud guitars and sweet melodies, Cheap Trick unwittingly paved the way for much of the hard rock of the next decade, as well as a surprising amount of alternative rock of the 1990s, and it was At Budokan that captured the band in all of its power."- All music
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  • While Bridge Of Sighs is the acknowledged masterpiece in Robin Trower's impressive discography, his solo debut Twice Removed From Yesterday is very fine album in its own regard, simply overshadowed by what was to come.  This is the 50th anniversary edition that comes with a second CD with unreleased tracks as well as the John Peel BBC Session from March 26, 1973.  If you've never heard this one you need to correct this oversight immediately.  Essential listening!
    $21.00
  • "After successfully establishing themselves as one of America's best commercial progressive rock bands of the late '70s with albums like The Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight, Chicago's Styx had taken a dubious step towards pop overkill with singer Dennis DeYoung's ballad "Babe." The centerpiece of 1979's uneven Cornerstone album, the number one single sowed the seeds of disaster for the group by pitching DeYoung's increasingly mainstream ambitions against the group's more conservative songwriters, Tommy Shaw and James "JY" Young. Hence, what had once been a healthy competitive spirit within the band quickly deteriorated into bitter co-existence during the sessions for 1980's Paradise Theater -- and all-out warfare by the time of 1983's infamous Kilroy Was Here. For the time being, however, Paradise Theater seemed to represent the best of both worlds, since its loose concept about the roaring '20s heyday and eventual decline of an imaginary theater (used as a metaphor for the American experience in general, etc., etc.) seemed to satisfy both of the band's camps with its return to complex hard rock (purists Shaw and JY) while sparing no amount of pomp and grandeur (DeYoung). The stage is set by the first track, "A.D. 1928," which features a lonely DeYoung on piano and vocals introducing the album's recurring musical theme before launching into "Rockin' the Paradise" -- a total team effort of wonderfully stripped down hard rock. From this point forward, DeYoung's compositions ("Nothing Ever Goes as Planned," "The Best of Times") continue to stick close to the overall storyline, while Shaw's ("Too Much Time on My Hands," "She Cares") try to resist thematic restrictions as best they can. Among these, "The Best of Times" -- with its deliberate, marching rhythm -- remains one of the more improbable Top Ten hits of the decade (somehow it just works), while "Too Much Time on My Hands" figures among Shaw's finest singles ever. As for JY, the band's third songwriter (and resident peacekeeper) is only slightly more cooperative with the Paradise Theater concept. His edgier compositions include the desolate tale of drug addiction, "Snowblind," and the rollicking opus "Half-Penny, Two-Penny," which infuses a graphic depiction of inner city decadence with a final, small glimmer of hope and redemption. The song also leads straight into the album's beautiful saxophone-led epilogue, "A.D. 1958," which once again reveals MC DeYoung alone at his piano. A resounding success, Paradise Theater would become Styx's greatest commercial triumph; and in retrospect, it remains one of the best examples of the convergence between progressive rock and AOR which typified the sound of the era's top groups (Journey, Kansas, etc.). For Styx, its success would spell both their temporary saving grace and ultimate doom, as the creative forces which had already been tearing at the band's core finally reached unbearable levels three years later. It is no wonder that when the band reunited after over a decade of bad blood, all the music released post-1980 was left on the cutting room floor -- further proof that Paradise Theater was truly the best of times." - Allmusic Guide
    $8.00
  • Remastered with 5 bonus tracks."I guess it's all in what you look for in a rock and roll record.Now, I happen to think that the Jefferson Airplane, on the basis of what they have done on Bathing at Baxters' and now Volunteers, are musical pioneers. But tell this to some people and they tell you that the Airplane is dull, leaden. They don't swing, for chrissakes. And on Volunteers, man, the politics ...But there is most assuredly something there with the Airplane, something that may raise the musical sophistication and complexity of rock and roll to new heights. The only trouble is that in the process, the Airplane is turning off a part of their audience, those who might be called successors to the it's-got-a-nice-beat-and-you-can-dance-to-it people. This same thing has happened to jazz a dozen times, and although I hate to start drawing parallels between rock and jazz, still I think it's fair to say that pretty soon we'll be seeing the emergence of a whole new brand of "serious rock," which will probably get even less airplay than "progressive rock" does today, appeal to a smaller audience, and generate a good deal of very heated debate.Now, I am neither a musician nor a musicologist, so I would be hard pressed to tell you exactly what it is that the Airplane is doing that inspires me to all of these rash feats of prophecy, but if you compare the fine collective improvisation "Spare Chaynge" on the Baxters' album to the general musical level of your average "super-session," or compare the well thought-out guitar work of Jorma Kaukonen to your average wind-up guitarist, maybe you'll see what I mean. Or maybe you won't. Like I say, it's all in what you're looking for. For instance, one thing I really appreciate is the way the Airplane plays around with the rhythmic and harmonic structures they set up in a song; in "Spare Chaynge" they are merely hinted at, while in "Hey Fredrick" they are emphasized while the musicians play around with the value of the metrical unit. I find that kind of thing exciting, at least when the musicians are good enough to know what they're doing and to do it well; you may be indifferent or bored by it all, or you may feel that to have to put as much effort as it takes to figure all that out into a piece of rock and roll is ridiculous.So, with the prejudices up front, let's take a look at Volunteers.Probably the best cut on the album is their version of "Wooden Ships," which has been given new life by Paul Kantner. Kantner seems to be a true innovator; in almost all of his songs the vocal harmonies come to the fore, rich and weirdly un-harmonic, consisting as they do of lots of unresolved seconds and other strange intervals. "Wooden Ships" emerges as a new and better "Won't You Try Saturday Afternoon" with the same apocalyptic bass (Casady was credited with playing "Yggdrasill bass" on Crown of Creation, Yggdrasill being the Norse sacred tree of life) and a fine searing lead guitar. The song comes off as more of a scream of desperation than does the Crosby-Stills-Nash version, with the "wooden ships on the water" part supported by some mellow harmony that reinforces the lyrics nicely. It is an epic performance, and one of the best the Airplane has ever done.The other major song on the album is Grace's "Hey Fredrick," which contains some really inspired instrumental work by Jorma and Nicky Hopkins, who seems to turn nearly everything he touches into gold. Jorma's duet with himself is remarkable in that neither of the parts is anything special by itself, but they are different enough so that the combination of the two parts results in a separate, third musical entity."We Can Be Together" and "Volunteers" are more or less the song (and I have a feeling that the chord progressions used show up in somewhat different forms in several of the other songs — ""Good Shepherd" and "The Farm," for instance). Kantner's harmonies are here in all their glory, and the tune(s) is (are) undeniably catchy. Some people are disturbed by the words. Well, they're certainly no more or less stupid than the average rock lyrics, and right about now lyrics about revolution are becoming about as trite as most of those about love have always been. Is "We Can Be Together" a political statement? Listen to how the "revolutionaries" sing the line "And we are very proud of ourselves" before launching into the self-indulgent "Up against the wall" part. If there's a political statement here, maybe it's between the lines. And don't forget, the kid who buys the album to hear them say "motherfucker" will listen to the rest of it and maybe get musically, if not politically, radicalized.The rest of the album, with the possible exception of Spencer's "A Song for All Seasons," which I think is a cute slap at the music business, but little more, is excellent. "The Farm" and "Turn My Life Down" have supporting vocals by the Ace of Cups, who wind up, due to the exigencies of 16-track recording, sounding like a chorus of angels squished way down in there somewhere. Marty's voice has never sounded better than on the latter cut, and the pyramiding of the voices on "The Farm" is delightful. "Good Shepherd" is a beautifully relaxed reworking of the old gospel tune, "Eskimo Blue Day" sounds like a combination of "Crown of Creation" and "Bear Melt," with the best features of each, and "Meadowlands" is just fine.The Jefferson Airplane will never replace the Rolling Stones or the Grateful Dead, and the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead will never replace the Airplane. More power to all of them." - Rolling Stone
    $7.50
  • Remastered edition with 3 live bonus tracks from Woodstock."Santana's 1969 debut album followed close on the heels of the sextet's coming-out party at the Woodstock Festival, where the multiethnic, single-minded San Francisco band nearly stole the show from the likes of the Grateful Dead and Sly and the Family Stone. Santana was a nonstop thirty-seven-minute rhythmic onslaught: Hand percussionists Mike Carabello and Chepito Areas duked it out with the relentless Michael Shrieve on the drum kit, Gregg Rolie's churning Hammond runs kept the horns in his Leslie cabinet spinning wildly and Carlos Santana's lead guitar delivered both passion and improbable delicacy. Rolie aired out his pipes on the hit "Evil Ways," the LP's lone conventional piece; otherwise the song form was sucked into the undertow of jams such as "Jingo" and "Soul Sacrifice."" - Rolling Stone
    $7.50
  • Remastered with 4 bonus tracks."At Budokan unexpectedly made Cheap Trick stars, largely because "I Want You to Want Me" had a tougher sound than its original studio incarnation. Perversely -- and most things Cheap Trick have done are somehow perverse -- the band decided not to continue with the direct, stripped-down sound of At Budokan, which would have been a return to their debut. Instead, the group went for their biggest, most elaborate production to date, taking the synthesized flourishes of Heaven Tonight to extremes. While it kept the group in the charts, it lessened the impact of the music. Underneath the gloss, there are a number of songs that rank among Cheap Trick's finest, particularly the paranoid title track, the epic rocker "Gonna Raise Hell," the tough "I Know What I Want," the simple pop of "Voices," and the closer, "Need Your Love." Still, Dream Police feels like a letdown in comparison to its predecessors, even though it would later feel like one of the group's last high-water marks." - Allmusic
    $7.50