subota, 03.01.2009.
America - Highway 30 Years of America (3CD Box) (2000)
Long before MTV unplugged, America wed innocuous West Coast folk ŕ la CSNY to post-British invasion pop (Beatles producer George Martin twiddled the knobs on many of their most enduring hits) with just a hint of psychedelic madness, managing to create something uniquely, well, American. Though many detractors may question whether a three-disc, 30-year retrospective is necessary or even palatable, it can be argued that Jane's Addiction, Cowboy Junkies, Counting Crows, Edie Brickell, and Joe Pernice's vaguely psychedelic acoustic rock wouldn't have found a toehold had their audiences not cut their teeth on the airwave ubiquity of "Horse with No Name." Sure, the lyrics were often banal ("Like the winter needs the spring / I need you") or absurd ("Seasons crying no despair / alligator lizards in the air") But Gerry Beckley, Dan Peek, and Dewey Bunnell wrote lovely songs, with beautifully interwoven harmonies and complex, interlocking acoustic guitar alchemy. It's a heavy heart indeed that can't be lightened by the guitar cascade that opens "Ventura Highway."
Though the first disk contains many of the band's most recognizable moments from their first three albums, disk 2 contains most of the box set's surprises and enjoyable moments. With George Martin, they found their Svengali, and he drove the band to write much more solid songs, fleshing them out beautifully in the studio. "Sister Golden Hair," "Daisy Jane," and "Tin Man" stand at the top of the America ouevre. Add to that the rediscovered joys of "Muskrat Love" (go ahead and laugh--it's a great song), "Woman Tonight," "Watership Down," "God of the Sun" and the dark-horse gem, "Sergeant Darkness." Disc 3 may give anti-Americans ammo as the group (minus Dan Peek) slide into the morass of adult contemporary pop (though charting surprising hits with "You Can Do Magic" and "The Border"). But the addition of early demos of "Ventura Highway" and "Riverside" and other early tracks saves it from the no-play stack. --Tod Nelson
Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: ca. 523 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs
Tracklist:
CD 1
01. Riverside 3.06
02. A Horse With No Name 4.14
03. I Need You 3.08
04. Rainy Day 2.57
05. Here 5.30
06. Three Roses 3.56
07. Sandman 5.10
08. Everyone I Meet Is From California 3.06
09. Ventura Highway 3.34
10. To Each His Own 3.15
11. Don't Cross The River 2.32
12. Cornwall Blank 4.22
13. Only In Your Heart 3.20
14. Saturn Nights 3.34
15. Hat Trick 8.27
16. Molten Love 3.11
17. It's Life 4.02
18. Submarine Ladies (Unedited, Alternate Mix) 3.43
CD 2
01. Muskrat Love 3.09
02. Green Monkey 3.39
03. She's Gonna Let You Down (Single Edit) 3.42
04. Rainbow Song 3.56
05. Tin Man 3.29
06. Another Try 3.20
07. Lonely People 2.29
08. Hollywood 2.54
09. Baby It's Up To You 2.28
10. Old Man Took 3.14
11. Simple Life 2.14
12. Sister Golden Hair 3.20
13. Daisy Jane 3.11
14. Woman Tonight 2.24
15. Who Loves You (Alternate Mix) 4.24
16. Lovely Night 2.35
17. Amber Cascades 2.53
18. Can't You See 2.24
19. Watership Down (Alternate Mix) 4.43
20. Letter (Alternate Mix) 3.03
21. Today's The Day 3.17
22. Sarah 2.45
23. Are You There 2.54
24. God Of The Sun 3.16
25. Sergeant Darkness 2.55
CD 3
01. California Dreamin' 2.47
02. All My Life 3.04
03. Only Game In Town 4.12
04. 1960 3.12
05. Survival 3.14
06. The Last Unicorn 3.08
07. You Can Do Magic 3.54
08. Inspector Mills 5.12
09. My Dear 4.22
10. The Border 4.00
11. She's A Runaway 4.10
12. (Can't Fall Asleep To A) Lullaby 3.49
13. Special Girl 3.47
14. Nothing's So Far Away (As Yesterday) 3.35
15. Young Moon 4.32
16. Greenhouse 2.41
17. Mitchum Junction (Demo) 2.09
18. Satan (Demo) 3.57
19. Ventura Highway 3.07
20. James Holladay (Demo) 3.27
21. Riverside (Demo) 2.47
