2000mustangs - The Classic Rock Blog

Gun Club - In Exile (1992)

In Exile compiles the majority of the Gun Club's Mother Juno and Pastoral Hide and Seek albums, and tracks from the mini-album Divinity. There is one bonus track included, the title track for Pastoral Hide and Seek that was never previously released because of an argument about the mix. What these recordings offer is a view of a band that everybody — in America at least — had given up on. Given the band's wildly erratic live performances and Jeffrey Lee Pierce's struggles with both heroin and alcohol that led to his premature death in 1996, every track goes against the grain of who they had been and who they were expected to be. Pierce had more than enough creativity and fire in him as a songwriter, and the band had the personnel — with Romi Mori on bass, Congo Powers back on guitar, and former Cramps drummer Nick Sanderson — to do anything they wanted. But what was it they wanted to do? On the tracks from Mother Juno, such as "These Breaking Hands," "Lupita Screams," and "Yellow Eyes," there is the influence of the Cocteau Twins, of all bands, with Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde lending production help. The bluesy aspect of the band's former sound remains intact, but they're no longer played with bowl-you-over intensity. Pierce had grown enough as a songwriter to know that that sound had its limits if the Gun Club were to remain a functioning entity. But he couldn't quite become the ballad singer he wanted to be in the context of the Gun Club either. The tension heard in the Mother Juno material, the band's most criminally underappreciated album, bears witness. For Pastoral Hide and Seek, the Gun Club was all over the map. There's the roaring, stormy squall of "The Straits of Love and Hate," with burning, broken chords and burnouts on stun-bass riffs. But there's also the neo-goth country of "I Hear Your Heart Singing," with the most drunken vocal Pierce ever consciously recorded. And then there's the material from Divinity, with its creepy Velvets-like tribute to serial killer Richard Speck and the warped metallic blues of "Black Hole." Every one of these tracks is done with sincerity, and each of them is done with a schizophrenic pathos that pulls in too many directions to properly focus the material. As a collection this works far better, with the material all jammed together, than these tracks did on individual albums. On record they were always good, if not great. Live was another story and they ran to extremes, but even this late they remained one of the most compelling bands to listen to; they'd make you scratch your head one minute and yell, "yeahhhhhhh motherf*cker!!!!!!!," the next. How many bands can you say that about?

So you already own the great triptych of the first three Gun Club albums - the consistently wonderful Fire of Love, Miami, and The Las Vegas Story - and have fear in your heart when wandering through the maze of the later releases? In Exile to the rescue! Maybe not quite perfect, but damn close to being a perfect distillation of post-TLVS Jeffrey Lee. The sequencing is the only drawback. Like too many compilations, someone put this thing together on paper and didn't bother to sit down to listen to the flow of the songs. A small quibble. In Exile really does make Mother Juno, Pastoral Hide and Seek, and Divinity superfluous. By the way, both Dase Kalinda Boom and Live In Europe are very fine live albums both in perfect live quality sound...J. Wheeler

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 172 MB
Genre : Altern. Rock
2000mustangs

Musicans

Romi Mori - Bass, Guitar, Sound Effects
Jeffrey Lee Pierce - Guitar, Bazouki, Producer, Vocals
Kid Congo Powers - Guitar, Sound Effects, Slide Guitar, Guitar Rhythm)
Nick Sanderson- Cymbals, Drums
John Talley-Jones - Composer Desi Drums
Blixa Bargeld - Guitar, Slide Guitar

Tracklist:

01 The Breaking Hands 4:14
02 Thunderhead 3:29
03 Lupita Screams 3:15
04 Yellow Eyes 6:32
05 Hearts 4:00
06 Port of Souls 4:49
07 Pastoral, Hide and Seek 3:54
08 The Straits of Love and Hate 4:17
09 Emily's Changed 3:11
10 I Hear Your Heart Singing 3:56
11 St. John's Divine (Remix) 4:25
12 Another Country's Young 5:02
13 Flowing 4:51
14 Temptation and I 4:24
15 Richard Speck 2:08
16 Keys to the Kingdom 3:17
17 Black Hole 2:14
18 Sorrow Knows 7:00

nedjelja, 28.06.2009.

Black Sabbath - Past Lives (1980) (2CD Limited Edition 2002)

Past Lives is a live album released in 2002 by Black Sabbath. The first disc was previously known as Live at Last, an album not put out by Black Sabbath's record company, and therefore not an official Black Sabbath album. The second consists of recordings made for television and radio, previously only available on bootlegs.The "Limited Edition" version also includes special Digipak packaging, a fold up poster, and a Black Sabbath guitar pick...D. Jellinc

Originally released in 1980 under the name Live at Last, this infamous live disc has never been heard in its entirety until its 2002 reissue. Where the original album suffered from flat sound and an abrupt ending, this has been remastered and remixed to give it the spacy vibe and airy sound it needs. Recorded at several different points in their career, this live disc is a psychedelic journey into the primal sludge of early heavy metal, warts and all. Wrong notes, tempo mistakes, meandering jams, and a stoned Ozzy Osbourne (he proudly admits this fact) may seem like detriments, but when paired with music this ugly it gives it an endearing urgency that keeps the album interesting. Black Sabbath plows through these songs like a tank, offering up a wall of grunge that has more in common with the Stooges than the technical hard rock being offered up by the band's contemporaries at the time. Tony Iommi is the star here, delivering blistering guitar work that is drenched in fuzz and sharp as a sword. Osbourne's performance is also quite respectable, channeling a venomous stream of angst and rage that seems uncharacteristic when compared to his solo career. But his attitude is a key element, pushing him to steer his voice way out of his given range out of sheer passion during several key moments. A terrible rendition of "Megalomania" (hindered by Ozzy's inability to stay in tune) is a jarring low point in an otherwise strong set, but overall this is an inspired performance that shows what an original and smart group Sabbath was at the time. Constantly growing and shaping itself through the first half of the '70s, this may be one of the last documents of Sabbath at its peak before the group began its downward spiral...B. Torreano

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 268 MB
Genre : Hard Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

CD 1

01 Tomorrow's Dream 3:04
02 Sweet Leaf 5:26
03 Killing Yourself to Live 5:29
04 Cornucopia 3:57
05 Snowblind 4:47
06 Children of the Grave 4:33
07 War Pigs 7:36
08 Wicked World 18:55
09 Paranoid 3:14

CD 2

01 Hand of Doom 8:26
02 Hole in the Sky 4:46
03 Symptom of the Universe 4:52
04 Megalomania 9:53
05 Iron Man 6:25
06 Black Sabbath 8:23
07 N.I.B. 5:32
08 Behind the Wall of Sleep 5:03
09 Fairies Wear Boots 6:39

subota, 27.06.2009.

Uriah Heep - Sweet Freedom (1973) (Japan Mini LP 2007)

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. Including Deluxe Packaging, Bonus Tracks and an Expansive Booklet with Rare Memorabilia and Photos. Bonus Tracks Are "Sunshine", "Seven Stars (Extended Version)", "Pilgrim (Extended Version", "if I Had Time (Demo Alternate Live Version)" and "Stealin' (Alternate Live Version)" 2007.

Originally released in 1973, Uriah Heep's seventh studio album saw them moving away from the mysticism-flavored prog that had pushed them to the brink of superstardom, and into a world of more personal experiences. It was not necessarily a move to relish at the time — the band's last few albums might have struck the critics as preposterous, but fans were awestruck from the outset. Sweet Freedom, on the other hand, sounded almost ordinary by comparison, and the sad fact is that time has done little to improve matters. Still, you sit there waiting for the first demons and wizards to come cavorting out, for a new July morning to dawn, for the tanks to rumble over Salisbury Plain. Instead...hmm. Maybe next time. The bonus tracks appended to this latest reissue add little to the original proceedings, being nothing more exciting than alternate and demo versions of five of the original album's nine tracks. That said, the early version of "If I Had the Time" has a touching tenderness that the original perhaps lacked, while the crunching "Seven Stars" clocks in at almost twice the length of the familiar version.

By 1973, Uriah Heep had progressed from an English heavy metal band to a worldwide success. They moved on to a new label (Warner Bros.) and began to explore new styles to flesh out their combination of prog complexity and heavy metal muscle. The band's desire to break new ground is established with the lead-off track, "Dreamer": while it riffs as hard as the band's past rockers, it adds a surprising element of funkiness into the band's sound. The gentle, acoustic guitar-dominated "Circus" is another change of pace that pushes the group's sound in a meditative, folky direction. The group also exploresmore… new avenues in the lyrical arena. Instead of the mystical tales that dominated albums like Demons and Wizards, Sweet Freedom offers lyrics designed to appeal to the listener on a personal level: The most stirring example is "Stealin'," a song about the regrets that come with living a self-obsessed life. These sentiments were combined with a stirring, soulful melody that helped make the song a radio favorite. Another highlight in this vein is the title track, a song that combines lyrics about the price of being free with an organ-fuelled, hymn-like melody. Despite these successful experiments, there are a few tracks that weigh the proceedings down: "Seven Stars" takes an exciting riff and runs it into the ground with a repetitive arrangement and "Pilgrim" is an over-the-top stab at an adventure tale that pushes the group's excesses to the level of self-parody. However, Sweet Freedom is likable enough to triumph over these missteps. While it isn't the group's finest record, it remains a solid listen for Uriah Heep fans.

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 174 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Dreamer 3:41
02 Stealin' 4:50
03 One Day 2:47
04 Sweet Freedom 6:29
05 If I Had the Time 5:38
06 Seven Stars 3:49
07 Circus 2:43
08 Pilgrim 7:10
09 Sunshine Bonus 4:48
10 Seven Stars Bonus / Extended Version 7:03
11 Pilgrim prev. unreleased / Bonus Extended Version 8:29
12 If I Had the Time Bonus / Demo Version 6:02
13 Sweet Freedom Bonus / Alternative Live Version 6:48
14 Stealin' Bonus / Alternative Live Version 5:41

petak, 26.06.2009.

Canned Heat - The Very Best of Canned Heat (Remaster 2005)

With the glut of Canned Heat compilations available, what makes this 19-song Capitol/EMI release better than the rest? For starters, the previously unreleased track "Henry's Shuffle," featuring guitarist Henry Vestine and recorded in 1968, which was undoubtedly the zenith year for the band; the inclusion of "Low Down (And High Up)"; the rare Liberty B-side "Time Was," and the rollicking 1970 date with Little Richard, "Rockin' With the King." Also included are several tracks that both the novice and die-hard fan alike would find essential -- three live cuts from the Monterey Pop Festival, a nod to the 1971 collaborative effort with John Lee Hooker on "Whiskey and Wimmen'," and two Woodstock era classics culled from the Boogie with Canned Heat album, "Amphetamine Annie" and "Fried Hockey Boogie." And, of course, what would a Canned Heat compilation be without the bona fide hippie hits: "On the Road Again," "Goin' Up the Country" and "Let's Work Together." These are the original versions, digitally remastered and sounding great, so ignore the glut, this really is the Very Best of Canned Heat...L. Campbell

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 177 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 On the Road Again 4:56
02 Goin' Up the Country 2:51
03 Amphetamine Annie 3:32
04 Rollin' and Tumblin' [live at the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967] 4:14
05 Dust My Broom [live at the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967] 4:58
06 Bullfrog Blues [live at the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967] 3:08
07 Henry's Shuffle [previously unreleased] 4:52
08 Fried Hockey Boogie 11:02
09 Same All Over 2:52
10 Time Was 3:23
11 Low Down (And High Up) 2:52
12 Poor Moon 3:26
13 Let's Work Together 3:13
14 Future Blues 2:58
15 Human Condition 5:25
16 Whiskey and Wimmen [with John Lee Hooker] 4:37
17 Long Way from L.A. 3:07
18 Rockin' With the King [with Little Richard] 3:17
19 Rock & Roll 2:27

četvrtak, 25.06.2009.

Deep Purple - Greatest Hits (Steel Box collection 2008)

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 170 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01. Smoke On The Water (Live) 10.22
02. Highway Star (Live) 6.40
03. Child In Time (Live) 10.48
04. The Battle Rages On 5.47
05. Woman From Tokyo (Live) 5.48
06. Love Conquers All 3.47
07. King Of Dreams 5.30
08. The Aviator 5.20
09. Anya (Live) 12.13
10. Perfect Strangers (Live) 6.52
11. Fortuneteller 5.45

srijeda, 24.06.2009.

Iron Butterfly - Ball (1969) (Japan Mini LP 2006)

Following the huge success of their second record, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Iron Butterfly scored a second straight Top Five album with Ball. While it didn't have any acid rock freak-out to compare with the epic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," Ball was a more ambitious album, as the group experimented with shorter, more melodic songs. Like any Iron Butterfly album, the quality of the material is wildly inconsistent, yet cut for cut, Ball is a more consistent album than their two previous records, as the group trimmed away some of the acid rock excesses of their earlier records while retaining their brutally loud trademark heavy guitars...S. Erlewine

Codec: flac
Size: 182 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Line-up

Doug Ingle - Organs/Lead Vocals (except on track 9)
Erik Brann - Lead Guitar/Vocals (sings on track 9)
Lee Dorman - Bass/Vocals
Ron Bushy - Drums

Tracklist:

01 In the Times of Our Lives 4:50
02 Soul Experience 2:52
03 Lonely Boy 4:56
04 Real Fright 2:44
05 In the Crowds 2:13
06 It Must Be Love 4:26
07 Her Favorite Style 3:13
08 Filled with Fear 3:46
09 Belda-Beast 5:50

utorak, 23.06.2009.

T. Rex - Hits (Remaster 2005)

2005 collection on Crimson Productions featuring 20 tracksfrom 1970-1972. Includes 'Telegram Sam', 'Children Of TheRevolution', 'Teenage Dream', 'I Love To Boogie' and 'NewYork City'.

This compilation was my first introduction to Marc Bolan and T.Rex...As compilations go it is hard to fault it as it includes(nearly)all the classic singles and a selection of B-sides and album tracks. My only gripe is that it has ommited the superb 'Jeepster' but otherwise the track selection is faultess and a superb introduction to T.Rex's Glamtastic tunes. Highlights are the usual 'Get It On', '20th Century Boy' and 'Spaceball Ricochet'. If you are a new T.Rex fan or just curious than I can recommend this as a great introduction before digging out the rest of the Bolan legacy...J. Bridge

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 149 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Hot Love 4:59
02 Ride a White Swan 2:15
03 Get It On 4:26
04 Telegram Sam 3:45
05 Metal Guru 2:28
06 Chariot Choogle 2:45
07 Lady 2:13
08 Spaceball Ricochet 3:37
09 Children of the Revolution 2:29
10 Solid Gold Easy Action 2:21
11 Born to Boogie 2:06
12 20th Century Boy 3:40
13 The Groover 3:23
14 Truck On (Tyke) 3:07
15 Teenage Dream 4:58
16 Light of Love 3:14
17 Zip Gun Boogie 3:20
18 New York City 3:57
19 Laser Love 3:37
20 I Love to Boogie 2:16

ponedjeljak, 22.06.2009.

Little Feat - The Best Of Little Feat (Rhino Remster 2006)

There have been many Little Feat compilations released over the years, but Rhino's 2006 The Best of Little Feat is the first single-disc hits collection to appear in the U.S., so it shouldn't be surprising that it's tilted ever so slightly toward the American market, where Little Feat was still touring steadily and successfully at the time of this disc's release. That means that it has a healthy dose of recordings from the reunited Little Feat -- four tracks, actually, which is a pretty high percentage for a 17-track collection. Since the reunited Little Feat has actually been together longer than the classic Lowell George-fronted lineup, this does make some sense, and the selections are good, even if it is strange that "Hate to Lose Your Lovin'," the first single from their 1988 comeback, Let It Roll, and a radio hit, is missing. Of course, there are some odd oversights from the George years -- most notably Sailin' Shoes is somewhat underplayed, with that song, "Easy to Slip," and "Teenage Nervous Breakdown" all MIA, but other standards like "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" and "Two Trains" are nowhere to be found either. These omissions mean that this Best of Little Feat is not the definitive single-disc overview of the group, but as a sampler it's not bad: there's plenty of great music here and as such it does serve as a rather effective introduction to the band, even if it doesn't tell a neophyte everything they should know about the group...S. Erlewine

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 147 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Hamburger Midnight 2:30
02 Cold, Cold, Cold 4:00
03 Tripe Face Boogie 3:14
04 Willin' 2:56
05 Dixie Chicken 3:55
06 Roll Um Easy 2:32
07 Fat Man in the Bathtub 4:31
08 Fool Yourself 3:16
09 All That You Dream Live 4:33
10 Oh Atlanta Live 4:20
11 Hi Roller 3:36
12 Time Loves a Hero 3:47
13 Down on the Farm 3:48
14 Let It Roll 4:30
15 Rad Gumbo 3:30
16 Cadillac Hotel 5:32
17 Home Ground 4:07

nedjelja, 21.06.2009.

Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again (1967) (1990)

Due in part to personnel problems which saw Bruce Palmer and Neil Young in and out of the group, Buffalo Springfield's second album did not have as unified an approach as their debut. Yet it doesn't suffer for that in the least -- indeed, the group continued to make major strides in both their songwriting and arranging, and this record stands as their greatest triumph. Stephen Stills' "Bluebird" and "Rock & Roll Woman" were masterful folk-rockers that should have been big hits (although they did manage to become small ones); his lesser-known contributions "Hung Upside Down" and the jazz-flavored "Everydays" were also first-rate. Young contributed the Rolling Stones-derived "Mr. Soul," as well as the brilliant "Expecting to Fly" and "Broken Arrow," both of which employed lush psychedelic textures and brooding, surrealistic lyrics that stretched rock conventions to their breaking point. Richie Furay (who had not written any of the songs on the debut) takes tentative songwriting steps with three compositions, although only "A Child's Claim to Fame," with its memorable dobro hooks by James Burton, meets the standards of the material by Stills and Young; the cut also anticipates the country-rock direction of Furay's post-Springfield band, Poco. Although a slightly uneven record that did not feature the entire band on several cuts, the high points were so high and plentiful that its classic status cannot be denied...R. Unterberger

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: ca. 79 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01. Mr. Soul 2:35
02. A Child's Claim to Fame 2:09
03. Everydays 2:38
04. Expecting to Fly 3:39
05. Bluebird 4:28
06. Hung Upside Down 3:24
07. Sad Memory 3:00
08. Good Time Boy 2:11
09. Rock & Roll Woman 2:44
10. Broken Arrow 6:13

Supertramp - Indelibly Stamped (1971) (Japan Mini LP 2008)

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing packaged in a paper sleeve. Universal. 2008.

Indelibly Stamped, Supertramp's second album, was an improvement on their debut, although the group did have a tendency to indulge themselves in long-winded instrumental sections...S. Erlewine

This album sheds some light on Supertramp's early musical endeavours. Their sound is still raw and bold. Hodgson is still experimenting with his vocal abilities and so is the rest of the band. This album, along with Supertramp(another early album), are essential to any Supertramp fan who likes to know more about how the group had developed its unique sound. Definitely not for a beginner though. If you've never heard Supertramp, you'd better start with Even In The Quietest Moments or Crime Of The Century...A. Mardhiny

Codec: flac
Size: 250 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Your Poppa Don't Mind 3:02
02 Travelled 4:28
03 Rosie Had Everything Planned 3:05
04 Remember 4:11
05 Forever 4:57
06 Potter 2:23
07 Coming Home to See You 4:46
08 Times Have Changed 3:50
09 Friend in Need 2:07
10 Aries 7:37

subota, 20.06.2009.

Don McLean - American Pie (1971) (12-track Remaster 2003)

This is supposedly the best sounding pressing of American Pie. It seems to be the consensus that MFSL fell down on the job with this CD, American Pie has the grand title of being the worst MFSL disc made, and the original vinyl sounds a bit muddy (judging from what others say, I do not own either one). It would seem that Doug Schwartz did it right with the 2003 remaster, no compression used, and not harsh, like many recent remasters can sound...D. Jellinc

Don McLean's second album, American Pie, which was his first to gain recognition after the negligible initial sales of 1970's Tapestry, is necessarily dominated by its title track, a lengthy, allegorical history of rock & roll, because it became an unlikely hit, topping the singles chart and putting the LP at Number One as well. It has been 31-plus years between the release of the original ten-track album, and this 12-track edition containing two bonus recordings from the same sessions. "American Pie" has remained as much a cultural touchstone as a song, sung by everyone from Garth Brooks to Madonna, its title borrowed for a pair of smutty teen comedies, while the record itself has earned a registered three million plays on U.S. radio stations. There may not be much more to note about it, then, except, perhaps, that even without a crib sheet to identify who's who, the song can still be enjoyed for its engaging melody and singable chorus, which may have more to do with its success than anything else. Of course, the album also included "Vincent," McLean's paean to Van Gogh, which has been played two million times. Nothing else on the album is as effective as the hits, but the other eight original songs range from sensitive fare like "Till Tomorrow," to the sarcastic, up-tempo "Everybody Loves Me, Baby." American Pie -- the album -- is very much a record of its time; it is imbued with the vague depression of the early '70s that infected the population and found expression in the works of singer/songwriters. "American Pie" -- the song -- is really a criticism of what happened in popular music in the '60s, and "Vincent" sympathizes with Van Gogh's suicide as a sane comment on an insane world. "Crossroads" and "Empty Chairs" are personal reflections full of regret and despondency, with the love song "Winterwood" providing the only respite. In the album's second half, the songs get more portentous, tracing society's ills into war and spiritual troubles in "The Grave" and "Sister Fatima." "Aftermath," the first of the bonus tracks, continues that theme, while the melodic "Mother Nature" is more hopeful, and might have become another hit if included on the initial album. The songs are made all the more poignant by the stately folk-pop arrangements and McLean's clear, direct tenor. It was that voice, equally effective on remakes of pop oldies, that was his salvation when he proved unable to match the songwriting standard set on Tapestry and this collection. But then, the album has an overall elegiac quality that makes it sound like a final statement. After all, if the music has died, what else is there to say?... W. Ruhlmann

Codec: flac
Size: 255 MB
Genre :Folk Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 American Pie 8:33
02 Till Tomorrow 2:14
03 Vincent 3:59
04 Crossroads 3:38
05 Winterwood 3:10
06 Empty Chairs 3:25
07 Everybody Loves Me, Baby 3:34
08 Sister Fatima 2:33
09 The Grave 3:12
10 Babylon 1:42
11 Mother Nature - Bonus 5:10
12 Aftermath - Bonus 4:03

petak, 19.06.2009.

Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards (1972) (14-Track Japan Minl LP 2007)

K2 24Bit Japanese digitally remastered limited edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork. Includes bonus tracks tracks 'Why (Extended Version)', 'Rainbow Demon (Single Edit)', 'Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf (Outtake)', 'Home Again To You (Demo)' and 'Green Eye (Demo)'.

This is the album that solidified Uriah Heep's reputation as a master of gothic-inflected heavy metal. From short, sharp rock songs to lengthy, musically dense epics, Demons and Wizards finds Uriah Heep covering all the bases with style and power. The album's approach is set with its leadoff track, "The Wizard": It starts as a simple acoustic tune but soon builds into a stately rocker that surges forth on a wall of sound built from thick guitar riffs, churchy organ, and operatic vocal harmonies. Other highlights include "Traveller in Time," a fantasy-themed rocker built on thick wah-wah guitar riffs, and "Circle of Hands," a stately power ballad with a gospel-meets-heavy metal feel to it. Demons and Wizards also produced a notable radio hit for the band in "Easy Livin'," a punchy little rocker whose raging blend of fuzz guitar and swirling organ made it feel like a 1970s update of classic 1960s garage rockers like the Electric Prunes or Paul Revere & the Raiders. However, the top highlight of the album is the closing medley of "Paradise" and "The Spell": The first part of the medley starts in an acoustic folk mode and slowly adds layers of organ and electric guitar until it becomes a forceful slow-tempo rocker, while the second half is a punchy, organ-led rocker that includes an instrumental midsection where choral-style harmonies fortify a killer, Pink Floyd-style guitar solo from Mick Box. All in all, Demons and Wizards works both as a showcase for Uriah Heep's instrumental firepower and an excellent display of their songwriting skills in a variety of hard rock styles. As a result, it is considered by many fans to be their finest hour and is definitely worth a spin for anyone with an interest in 1970s heavy metal. [The 2003 reissue of Demons and Wizards on Sanctuary truly lives up to the oft-overused moniker "Expanded Deluxe Edition." The package includes the original liner notes, new reminiscences from group members Ken Hensley and Mick Box, liner notes by Uriah Heep expert Dave Ling, good documentation of the bonus tracks, and printed lyrics. The real bonus for fans is the inclusion of five additional tracks: a previously unreleased extended version of "Why," a previously unreleased single edit of "Rainbow Demon," "Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf" (an outtake which Ken Hensley re-recorded and included on his solo debut), and two demos, "Home Again to You" and "Green Eye."]...T. Sendra

The album's approach is set with its lead-off track, "The Wizard": it starts as a simple acoustic tune but soon builds into a stately rocker that surges forth on a wall of sound built from thick guitar riffs, churchy organ, and operatic vocal harmonies. Other highlights include "Traveller in Time," a fantasy-themed rocker built on thick wah-wah guitar riffs, and "Circle of Hands," a stately power ballad with a gospel-meets-heavy metal feel to it. Demons and Wizards also produced a notable radio hit for the band in "Easy Livin'," a punchy little rocker whose raging blend of fuzz guitar and swirling organ made it feel like a 1970s update of classic 1960s garage rockers like the Electric Prunes or Paul Revere & the Raiders. However, the top highlight of the album is the closing medley of "Paradise" and "The Spell": the first part of the medley starts in an acoustic folk mode and slowly adds layers of organ and electric guitar until it becomes a forceful slow-tempo rocker, while the second half is a punchy, organ-led rocker that includes an instrumental midsection where choral-style harmonies fortify a killer, Pink Floyd-style guitar solo from Mick Box. All in all, Demons and Wizards works both as a showcase for Uriah Heep's instrumental firepower and an excellent display of their songwriting skills in a variety of hard rock styles. As a result, it is considered by many fans to be their finest hour and is definitely worth a spin for anyone with an interest in 1970s heavy metal.

Codec: flac
Size: 454 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Line-up

David Byron - vocals
Ken Hensley - acoustic, electric and slide guitar, vocals, keyboards, percussion
Mick Box - lead guitar,Backing vocals.
Gary Thain - bass guitar(except for track one
Lee Kerslake - drums, percussion, vocals
Mark Clarke - bass guita

Tracklist.

01 The Wizard 3:00
02 Traveller in Time 3:25
03 Easy Livin' 2:37
04 Poet's Justice 4:15
05 Circle of Hands 6:25
06 Rainbow Demon 4:25
07 All My Life 2:44
08 Paradise 5:10
09 The Spell 7:31
10 Why prev. unreleased / Bonus 10:34
11 Rainbow Demon prev. unreleased / Bonus 3:36
12 Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf Bonus 2:51
13 Home Again to You prev. unreleased / Bonus 5:36
14 Green Eye prev. unreleased / Bonus / Demo Version 3:46

mp3@320 - part 1

mp3@320 - part 2

četvrtak, 18.06.2009.

Bread - Retrospective (2CD Set - 1996)

Sometimes soapy ("If"), sometimes heartbreakingly honest ("Everything I Own"), always melodic, early-'70s AM staple Bread are given their 50-cut due on the two CDs of Retrospective. A link between '60s studio pop and the post-Beatles singer/songwriter ethos, the outfit was at its best on songs by David Gates, who came on in a deceptively laidback manner. The set also includes solo work by Gates (including the Goodbye Girl theme) and James Griffin...R. Wright

This double-CD collection is definitely worth the price (your valuable "bread," that is). Production quality is superb, magnificent. This is one of those collections where you just have to say, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Every Bread or David Gates song your heart could conceivably desire is on here, my audiophile friend, fan and lover, and everything sounds Top-Drawer! Clear, Crystal, Beautiful, Brilliant, Warm, Excellent. I'm very glad I bought this labor-of-love anthology, and I think You, Gentle Listener, will be as well. Nothing but Extremely High Kudos for "Bread Retrospective." Plus this compilation includes a very-well crafted 29-page booklet of great pictures, Bread lore, history and stories. Enjoy immensely...T. Rak

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 352 MB
Genre : pop-Folk
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

CD 1

01. Dismal Day 2:15
02. London Bridge 2:31
03. Any Way You Want Me 3:06
04. The Last Time 4:03
05. Could I ( 3:33
06. Friends And Lovers 3:54
07. Look At Me 2:43
08. Make It With You 3:16
09. Look What You've Done 3:10
10. Been Too Long On The Road 4:52
11. Why Do You Keep Me Waiting 2:29
12. Call On Me 4:00
13. It Don't Matter To Me (Single Version) 2:49
14. Let Your Love Go 2:20
15. He's A Good Lad 2:58
16. Live In Your Love 2:46
17. She Was My Lady 2:51
18. If 2:36
19. Too Much Love 2:48
20. Take Comfort 3:33
21. Truckin' 2:30
22. Down On My Knees 2:43
23. Daughter 3:22
24. Games Of Magic 3:10
25. Just Like Yesterday 2:14

CD 2

01. Mother Freedom 2:35
02. Baby I'm-A Want You 2:30
03. Everything I Own 3:08
04. Diary 3:09
05. Guitar Man 3:49
06. Aubrey 3:40
07. Fancy Dancer 3:29
08. Sweet Surrender 2:38
09. Yours For Life 3:21
10. She Knows 2:30
11. Clouds (Alternate Single Edit) 2:50
12. I Use The Soap 2:27
13. Sail Around The World 3:19
14. Ann 3:51
15. Never Let Her Go 3:09
16. Part Time Love 2:26
17. Lost Without Your Love 2:57
18. She's The Only One 2:57
19. Hooked On You 2:19
20. The Chosen One 4:39
21. Goodbye Girl 2:48
22. Took The Last Train 4:32
23. Where Does The Lovin' Go 3:06
24. Take Me Now 3:21
25. For All We Know 1:23

srijeda, 17.06.2009.

Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline (1969) (Remaster 2003)

John Wesley Harding suggested country with its textures and structures, but Nashville Skyline was a full-fledged country album, complete with steel guitars and brief, direct songs. It's a warm, friendly album, particularly since Bob Dylan is singing in a previously unheard gentle croon -- the sound of his voice is so different it may be disarming upon first listen, but it suits the songs. While there are a handful of lightweight numbers on the record, at its core are several excellent songs -- "Lay Lady Lay," "To Be Alone With You," "I Threw It All Away," "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You," as well as a duet with Johnny Cash on "Girl From the North Country" -- that have become country-rock standards. And there's no discounting that Nashville Skyline, arriving in the spring of 1969, established country-rock as a vital force in pop music, as well as a commercially viable genre. [In 2003, Columbia/Legacy reissued 15 selected titles from Dylan's catalog as hybrid SACDs, playable in both regular CD players and Super Audio CD players. Each title is packaged as a digipak, containing the full original artwork. On each of the titles, and on each of the layers, the remastered sound is spectacular, a considerable upgrade from the initial CD pressings.] ....Thomas

Codec: flac
Size: 152 MB
Genre :Folk- Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Girl from the North Country 3:44
02 Nashville Skyline Rag 3:14
03 To Be Alone With You 2:10
04 I Threw It All Away 2:26
05 Peggy Day 2:05
06 Lay Lady Lay 3:21
07 One More Night 2:25
08 Tell Me That It Isn't True 2:43
09 Country Pie 1:39
10 Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You 3:23

The Motels - Shock (1985) (1990)

Released on Capitol Records in 1985, Shock was the Motels' fifth studio album (not including their unreleased Apocalypso album from 1981). "Shame," the lead single, peaked at No. 21 on the Pop Singles Chart. The title track was remixed and released as single, peaking at No. 84 on the Pop Singles Chart. Produced by Richie Zito, the album reached No. 36 on the Pop Albums Chart. Soon afterward the Motels disbanded and Martha Davis went solo, releasing her Policy album in 1987. Reissued on CD in the US in 1990, Shock is long out of print and difficult to find.

With Shock, the Motels attempted to move squarely into the MTV-sponsored pop/rock mainstream, adding harder guitars and bigger hooks. Although their makeover isn't entirely successful, the best moments on the album -- "Shame," "Cries and Whispers" and the title track -- are enjoyable mainstream rock.

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 107 MB
Genre : Altern. Rock
2000mustangs

Line-up

Arthur Barrow - Synthesizer, Fretless Bass
Martha Davis - Guitar, Vocals
Brian Glascock - Percussion, Drums
Michael Goodroe - Bass
Martin Jourard - Keyboards, Saxophone
Guy Perry - Guitar
Scott Thurston - Guitar, Keyboards

Tracklist:

01 Shock 04:32
02 Shame 04:14
03 Hungry 04:22
04 Annie Told Me 04:23
05 Icy Red 04:33
06 New York Times 03:59
07 State of the Heart 04:45
08 My Love Stops Here 03:49
09 Cries and Whispers 04:12
10 Night by Night 04:42
11 Hideen Track - Shock (Single Remix) 04:11

utorak, 16.06.2009.

Supertramp - Brother Where You Bound (1985) (Remaster Edit 2002)

This is the last great Supertramp album. I loved Breakfast, Paris, Crime of the Century. When this album came out, many people felt it was all over without Hodgson. However, this album was a statement that the band could continue and do it right, right bloody well right. This cd has some great songs namely the title tune which is truly one of Supertramp's most ambitious compositions. The other songs are fine as well namely Cannonball with wonderful instrumental work. If they would have continued along this path, I would have been happy. Yet, since this cd they have put out jazz lite tuneless heaps of garbage. Let's be honest superfans, this cd is leaps and bounds better than anything they have put out since. And it is a shame because this album reveals this band had great potential even without the wonderful Hodgson. And to those out there who don't feel as though this band is progressive, just listen to this gem. Yes I'm talking about pebozo a.k.a. pedroza, daniel. I'm still waiting for Davies and the gang to go back to this aggressive, progressive approach...R. Neoprog

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 98 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01. Cannonball 7.40
02. Still In Love 4.28
03. No Inbetween 4.41
04. Better Days 6.12
05. Brother Where You Bound 16.30
06. Ever Open Door 3.06

Amen Corner - If Paradise Is Half As Nice (2002)

Amen Corner was a Welsh R&B-tinged pop band of the '60s featuring singer Andy Fairweather Low, organist Blue Weaver, guitarist Neil Jones, bassist Clive Taylor, saxophonists Allen Jones and Mike Smith, and drummer Dennis Bryon. They scored the first of their six British chart hits with "Gin House" in the summer of 1967. "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" went to number one in early 1969. By then, Fairweather Low had become a teenage heartthrob and the band had switched management and record companies, but they split up by the end of the year.

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 118 MB
Genre : Pop
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 (If paradise is) Half as nice 2.49
02 Hello Susie 2.54
03 Lady Riga 3.18
04 Things ain't what they used to be 2.04
05 Mr Nonchalant 3.30
06 At last I've found someone to love 3.46
07 Scream and scream again 3.34
08 Recess 2.28
09 The weight 5.50
10 Farewell to the real magnificent seven 6.,37
11 Shake a tail feather (live) 1.58
12 Penny Lane (live) 3.11
13 High in the sky (live) 3.08
14 Gin house (live) 3.51
15 Bend me, shape me (live) 2.45

ponedjeljak, 15.06.2009.

Jefferson Starship - Blows Against the Empire (1970) (15-track Remaster 2005)

Paul Kantner's debut solo album actually was credited to "Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship," the first use of the "Starship" billing, predating the formation of the group with that name by four years. Kantner used it, extrapolating on the name of his current band, Jefferson Airplane, to refer to Blows's science fiction concept: A bunch of left-wing hippies closely resembling his San Francisco Bay Area compatriots hijack a government-built starship and head off to re-start the human race on another planet. Kantner had presaged this post-apocalyptic colonization idea on "Wooden Ships" on the last Airplane album, Volunteers, and here he expanded it out to album length with the help of members of The Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Crosby, Stills and Nash, plus assorted others, a shifting supergroup informally known as PERRO, The Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra. (Kantner later would borrow that name for a subsequent solo album.) Blows actually was a little loose as concept albums go, seeming as concerned with the arrival of Kantner and Grace Slick's baby as with the departure of the starship. Kantner employed often dense instrumentation and complex arrangements, but there were enough hooks and harmonies to keep things interesting. Blows eventually went gold, and it was even nominated for a science fiction award usually reserved for novels. William Ruhlman

As concept albums go from the classic rock era, Blows Against the Empire by Paul Kantner and his new construction Jefferson Starship -- an amalgam more than a band at the time -- put together a true curiosity piece, loosely centered around the theme of young people leaving a dead planet. With the birth of Grace Slick's and Kantner's child on the way to add the flavor of "newness" into the mix, Blows is certainly an oddity. Kantner and Slick formed the core of the band with help from Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart (from the Grateful Dead), David Crosby and Graham Nash from CS&N, and alternating bassists Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane) and Harvey Brooks. Kantner and Slick wrote the majority of the songs here, but folkie Rosalie Sorrels contributed "The Baby Tree." Crosby and the rest also wrote some of the tunes, making the entire thing seem like a raw, impromptu communal effort -- which, in a sense, it was. Entirely at odd angles with itself, some of the Airplane's more modal melodies haunt songs like "Mau Mau (Amerikon)," and "Hijack," while Slick, Crosby, and Kantner's "A Child Is Coming" is simply a beautiful, slightly surreal ballad, while odd, textured sounds come from the ether -- mainly courtesy of Garcia's otherworldly pedal steel. A record like this could only have come from San Francisco. It was actually nominated for a Hugo award, a prize normally reserved for literary science-fiction novels. The Legacy Edition contains four bonus tracks including an alternate of "Let's Go Together," with different lyrics, Slick's acoustic demo of "Sunrise," an acoustic demo of "Hijack" by Kantner, an elongated live version of "Starship," from the Fillmore in 1970, and a throwaway piece entitled "SFX" by Garcia and Hart. The sound has been remastered and the CD packaging contains a replica of the original booklet that accompanied the original set. While Blows eventually went gold, it's hard to surmise at this juncture whether this reissue will find an audience, because of its dated sounds, songs, and concepts Still, it is a singular if shambolic work of ambition and vision...T. Jurek

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 160 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Mau Mau (Amerikon) 6:37
02 The Baby Tree 1:44
03 Let's Go Together 4:23
04 A Child Is Coming 6:19
05 Sunrise 1:53
06 Hijack 8:17
07 Home 0:36
08 Have You Seen the Stars Tonight? 3:43
09 X-M 1:24
10 Starship 7:07
11 Let's Go Together prev.unreleased / Bonus / Alternate Lyrics 4:22
12 Sunrise prev. unreleased / Bonus / Grace's Acoustic Demo TK. 8 1:21
13 Hijack prev. unreleased / Bonus / Paul's Acoustic Demo Tk. 5 7:02
14 SFX prev. unreleased / Bonus 2:04
15 Starship Live / prev. unreleased / Bonus 13:04

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

Animal Collective have brought the celestial down to earth with each record, but they've never sounded simultaneously otherworldly and approachable quite like they do on Merriweather Post Pavilion. Their eighth studio LP, it finds them at their best -- straining farther away from conventional song structure and accompaniment, even while doubling back to reach lyrical themes and modes of singing at their most basic or child-like. Where before AC expertly inserted experimental snippets into relatively straight-ahead songs, Merriweather Post Pavilion sees them reach some kind of denouement where pop music ends and pure sonic experience begins -- the sound is the only structure. Dismantling the framework of a pop song almost entirely (but using recurring passages in a very poppy way), the group offer a series of overlapping circular elements, all of which occasionally come together for a chorus but then break apart just as quickly. The music itself, at least what's describable about it, consists of deep bass pulses and art-damaged guitars with overlapping vocal harmonies that rise in a holy chorus. This may sound much like previous Animal Collective highlights, but where those records seemed like a series of accidental masterpieces -- the type of work that sounds brilliant only because it's been culled from hundreds of hours of tape -- Merriweather Post Pavilion is a perfectly organized record, not a note out of place, not a second wasted. It has the excitement and energy of Sung Tongs, the ragged sonic glory of Feels, and Strawberry Jam's ability to make separate parts come together in a glorious whole. Like the best experimental rockers surging toward nirvana -- from the Beach Boys to Mercury Rev -- Animal Collective have not only created a private soundworld like none other, they've also made it an inviting place to visit...J. Bush

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 126 MB
Genre : Indie Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 In the Flowers 5:22
02 My Girls 5:40
03 Also Frightened 5:14
04 Summertime Clothes 4:30
05 Daily Routine 5:46
06 Bluish 5:13
07 Guys Eyes 4:30
08 Taste 3:53
09 Lion in a Coma 4:12
10 No More Runnin 4:23
11 Brother Sport 5:59

nedjelja, 14.06.2009.

Bob Dylan - Desire (1976) (Remaster 2004)

If Blood on the Tracks was an unapologetically intimate affair, Desire is unwieldy and messy, the deliberate work of a collective. And while Bob Dylan directly addresses his crumbling relationship with his wife, Sara, on the final track, Desire is hardly as personal as its predecessor, finding Dylan returning to topical songwriting and folk tales for the core of the record. It's all over the map, as far as songwriting goes, and so is it musically, capturing Dylan at the beginning of the Rolling Thunder Revue era, which was more notable for its chaos than its music. And, so it's only fitting that Desire fits that description as well, as it careens between surging folk-rock, Mideastern dirges, skipping pop, and epic narratives. It's little surprise that Desire doesn't quite gel, yet it retains its own character -- really, there's no other place where Dylan tried as many different styles, as many weird detours, as he does here. And, there's something to be said for its rambling, sprawling character, which has a charm of its own. Even so, the record would have been assisted by a more consistent set of songs; there are some masterpieces here, though: "Hurricane" is the best-known, but the effervescent "Mozambique" is Dylan at his breeziest, "Sara" at his most nakedly emotional, and "Isis" is one of his very best songs of the '70s, a hypnotic, contemporized spin on a classic fable. This may not add up to a masterpiece, but it does result in one of his most fascinating records of the '70s and '80s -- more intriguing, lyrically and musically, than most of his latter-day affairs. [In 2003, Columbia/Legacy reissued 15 selected titles from Dylan's catalog as hybrid SACDs, playable in both regular CD players and Super Audio CD players. Each title is packaged as a digipak, containing the full original artwork. On each of the titles, and on each of the layers, the remastered sound is spectacular, a considerable upgrade from the initial CD pressings.]...S. T. Erlewine

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 128 MB
Genre : Folk Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Hurricane 8:32
02 Isis 6:58
03 Mozambique 3:01
04 One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) 3:47
05 Oh, Sister 4:03
06 Joey 11:05
07 Romance in Durango 5:44
08 Black Diamond Bay 7:30
09 Sara 5:31

Supertramp - Retrospectacle: The Supertramp Anthology (Remastered 2005)

Considering their career spanned close to 30 years, it's amazing how condensed most people's vision of Supertramp has become. Or maybe not. Few listeners, after all, would disagree that their prime period encompassed the mere six or so years that divided Crime Of The Century (their third album) from Breakfast In America (their sixth), and that the pile of vinyl on either side of that is more or less padding. Certainly Retrospectacle has no problem with that scenario. A completist's eye for affairs does permit the first two albums to enjoy a quick look-in, with one song apiece; and similar treatment is meted out to the seven albums that took the band through the '80s and beyond. The meat of the moment, however, arrives with "Land Ho," the first vinyl manifestation of the so-called "classic" 'tramp lineup, and a lost 45 from early 1974. And, from thereon in, it's all plain sailing -- five songs from Crime of the Century, four apiece from Crisis? What Crisis and Even in the Quietest Moments. . ., and a whopping six from Breakfast in America, all selected to depict the band at the peak of its creative and musical powers -- the haunted harp that opens "School," the staccato percussion that powers "Lady," the lurid harmonies of "From Now On," and on to the sheer illogical madness of "The Logical Song" -- in fact, the only weakness here is the substitution of a live "You Started Laughing" for the vastly superior studio B-side. That aside, though, Retrospectacle tells its story with as much panache as the best of Supertramp could ever demand...D.Thompson

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: ca. 350 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

CD 1

01. Surely 1:03
02. Your Poppa Don't Mind 2:59
03. Land Ho 3:54
04. Summer Romance 2:51
05. School 5:34
06. Bloody Well Right 4:32
07. Dreamer 3:31
08. Rudy 7:18
09. Crime Of The Century 5:34
10. Sister Moonshine 5:18
11. Ain't Nobody But Me 5:10
12. Lady 5:23
13. Two Of Us 3:26
14. Give A Little Bit 4:08
15. Downstream 4:02
16. Even In The Quietest Moments 6:27
17. From Now On 6:20

CD 2

01. Gone Hollywood 5:20
02. 2. The Logical Song 4:08
03. Goodbye Stranger 5:48
04. Breakfast In America 2:39
05. Oh Darling 3:49
06. Take The Long Way Home 5:00
07. You Started Laughing 4:02
08. It's Raining Again 4:24
09. My Kind Of Lady 5:14
10. Don't Leave Me Now 6:20
11. Cannonball 7:39
12. Free As A Bird 4:21
13. You Win, I Lose 4:33
14. Another Man's Woman 9:35
15. Over You 3:31

subota, 13.06.2009.

Cheap Trick - The Essential Cheap Trick (2 CD Remaster 2004)

Since both fans and critics agree on what Cheap Trick's core canon is, from the first three albums to the highlights that follow, it seems like it would be a fairly easy job to assemble a good overview of the band. History has proven that theory wrong several times. 1991's Greatest Hits largely ignored the first three albums, the 1996 box set Sex, America, Cheap Trick was a rarities-filled extravaganza pitched at the converted, and while 2000's Authorized Greatest Hits was a notable improvement on the first compilation, it had some puzzling inclusions, including substituting alternate takes and live cuts for original single versions. So, there was a need for a new collection, one that got it right. Enter The Essential Cheap Trick, the band's installment of Sony/Legacy's largely excellent Essential series. Spanning two discs and 36 tracks, it is the most generous hits collection yet assembled, but it still falls short of being a definitive overview. Again, there is a considerable problem of substituting alternate versions for the original studio versions; it is toned down from Authorized Greatest Hits, but when the fourth song in is a live version of "Mandocello" from 1998, with guest guitarist Billy Corgan, the momentum is knocked off-track immediately. Then, the song selection is a little idiosyncratic, which is often the case with artist-selected compilations, which The Essential Cheap Trick is. While the classic first three albums are represented well -- indeed, the entire first disc is devoted to '70s material (well, there are the two live tracks from 1998, but they're of '70s songs) -- some fans will inevitably find a favorite or two missing, including "Oh, Candy," "Oh Caroline," "On Top of the World," and "How Are You?" The real problem is that the collection loses steam on the second disc, which covers the '80s and '90s. The band has chosen to bypass several charting singles for album tracks, which may frustrate some chart-bound listeners, but it does make for a disc that's stronger overall. Still, it's hard to deny that the material on the second disc is simply not as good as that on the first, which makes this collection a bit too lopsided to be consistently enjoyable. Nevertheless, that first disc makes for very good listening (apart from the '98 tracks, that is) and, overall, it gives a good sense of the band's history, even if any of the first three albums and Live at Budokan remain the best introductions to the band...S. Thomas

From the time of their full-throttled 1977 debut (whose shredded, punky demeanor often foreshadowed grunge rock by nearly a decade-and-a-half), Cheap Trick has arguably been one of most resilient and influential (Billy Corgan and Steve Albini have variously sung their praises one side side of the generation gap, John Lennon and Jeff Beck on the other), if critically underappreciated bands of the last three decades. While the Budokan-mania and "Yardbirds play Abba" (in bassist Tom Petersson's estimation) pop of "I Want You to Want Me" will be instantly familiar thanks to their classic rock warhorse status, those unfamiliar with the band's true range and enduring live power (paid ample tribute by stage versions of "Gonna Raise Hell" and a Billy Corgan-guesting "Mandocello" from '98, and the dramatic "Hard to Tell" from their 25th anniversary live show of '99) will find this collection a revelation. Spanning the decidedly mixed blessing of their sole #1 hit "The Flame" and the latter day indie-label exile that's nonetheless produced two of their strongest collections (Cheap Trick and Special One) and featuring a salting of rarities (including the long version of "If You Want My Love" and an outtake of "Walk Away" featuring more upfront vocals by guest Chrissie Hynde), this is the best single introduction to a rock band that defiantly remains one of America's greatest...J. McCulley

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 337 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

CD 1

01 ELO Kiddies Singles Version 3:42
02 Hot Love 2:31
03 He's a Whore 2:44
04 Mandocello Live 5:11
05 Clock Strikes Ten 2:59
06 Southern Girls Single Version 3:35
07 Downed 4:11
08 Hello There 1:42
09 Surrender 4:15
10 California Man 3:44
11 High Roller 3:58
12 Auf Wiederseh'n 3:42
13 I Want You to Want Me Live 3:43
14 Ain't That a Shame 5:17
15 Takin' Me Back 4:52
16 Dream Police 3:51
17 Voices 4:22
18 Gonna Raise Hell Live 9:06

CD 2

01 Way of the World 3:37
02 Stop This Game 3:57
03 World's Greatest Lover 4:51
04 Everything Works If You Let It Full Version 3:55
05 She's Tight 2:59
06 If You Want My Love Alternate, Extra Bridge Version 4:26
07 I Can't Take It 3:28
08 Tonight It's You 4:47
09 This Time Around 4:34
10 The Flame 5:38
11 Had to Make You Mine 3:16
12 I Can't Understand It 3:30
13 Can't Stop Fallin' Into Love 3:49
14 Walk Away / Chrissie Hynde prev. unreleased 3:42
15 Woke Up With a Monster 4:54
16 Hard to Tell Live 3:45
17 Say Goodbye 3:29
18 Scent of a Woman 4:48

Uriah Heep - The Magician's Birthday (1972) (17-track Japan Mini LP 2007)

2007 expanded deluxe digipak pressing of their 1972 album includes nine bonus tracks, 'Silver White Man' (Instrumental Version - Previously Unreleased), 'Crystal Ball' (Previously Unreleased Version), 'Gary's Song' (Outtake Previously Unreleased), 'Silver White Man' (outtake - Previously Unreleased), 'Echoes In The Dark' (Previously Unreleased), 'Proud Words' (Previously Unreleased Version From MB Sessions), 'Rain' (Previously Unreleased Version), 'Happy Birthday' (Previously Unreleased) and 'Sunrise' (Single Version).

|The second album by the “classic” line up is a natural follow on to the magnificent “Demons and Wizards”. All the elements are still in place, the Roger Dean Sleeve, the fantasy themes, and of course the great music. “Sunrise”, which became the opener for the live set, sets the scene immediately, with Byron’s first appearance being in the form of a controlled scream. The track are generally short and straight forward, with only the title track having a more complex structure. “The Magician’s Birthday” (track) picks up the fantasy theme, and weaves a tale around the battle between good and evil. This is interrupted by a lengthy guitar solo from Mick Box, accompanied only by Lee Kerslake on drums, and the occasional spooky theme from Hensley’s keyboards. The track climaxes in the battle itself, played out with stereo effects, before Byron ascends to ethereal bliss and fades. There are softer numbers on the album such as the lovely Hensley ballad “Rain”. Apparently Hensley wanted to make the final chorus much louder and more powerful, but the rest of the band pushed back. He took the opportunity to record his preferred version on his solo album “Proud words on a dusty shelf”. The tracks are generally marginally less strong than those on “Demons and Wizards” but, “The Magician’s Birthday is still a superb album with many fine moments...B. McBeath

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 168 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01. Sunrise 4.05
02. Spider Woman 2.26
03. Blind Eye 3.34
04. Echoes in the Dark 4.52
05. Rain 3.59
06. Sweet Lorraine 4.13
07. Tales 4.10
08. Magician's Birthday 10.28
09. Crystal Ball [Outtake] 4.08
10. Silver White Man [Outtake] 3.40
11. Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf [Alternate Version] 3.24
12. Echoes in the Dark [Edited Version] 4.23
13. Rain [Edited Version] 3.16
14. Happy Birthday (prev. unreleased version) 4.44
15. Sunrise [Single Edit] 2.49
16. Gary's Song [Outtake] 4.25
17. Silver White Man [Instrumental][Outtake] 3.43

petak, 12.06.2009.

Deep Purple - Deep Purple (1969) (13-track Remaster 2000)

The 2000 remastered edition on the Spitfire label, by way of EMI, sounds magnificent and offers five bonus tracks: a killer hard rock B-side, "Emmaretta," showcasing a slashing Ritchie Blackmore guitar break, and a looser, more flowing BBC-recorded version of the latter song, plus "Lalena" and "The Painter" and a harder alternate take of "The Bird Has Flown." ”

Codec: flac
Size: 312 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01. Chasing Shadows 5.34
02. Blind 5.26
03. Lalena 5.05
04. Fault Line 1.46
05. The Painter 3.51
06. Why Didn't Rosemary 5.04
07. Bird Has Flown 5.36
08. April 12.10
9. The Bird Has Flown (Alternate A-Side version) 2.54
10. Emmaretta (Studio A-Side) 3.00
11. Emmaretta (BBC Top Gear Session) 3.09
12. Lalena (BBC Radio Session) 3.33
13. The Painter (BBC Radio Session) 2.18

The Motels - No Vacancy (Best Of) (1990)

Led by the charismatic Martha Davis, The Motels were one of the most successful and acclaimed bands to emerge from the fertile Los Angeles new wave scene, reaching the Top Ten in 1982 with their biggest hit, "Only the Lonely." Davis formed the group in 1972 while living in Berkeley, CA, recruiting guitarist Dean Chamberlain and bassist Richard d'Andrea; originally dubbed the Warfield Foxes, they became the Motels upon relocating to L.A., but despite interest from a number of record labels, the group suffered through endless lineup changes, finally disbanding in 1976. Davis soon formed a new Motels roster with guitarist Jeff Jourard, his saxophonist/keyboardist brother Marty, bassist Michael Goodroe, and drummer Brian Glascock; signing to Capitol, in 1979 the group issued their self-titled debut LP, scoring a minor hit with the ballad "Total Control." Guitarist Tim McGovern, formerly of the Pop, replaced Jeff Jourard prior to the release of the 1980 sophomore effort Careful. After Capitol rejected the Motels' third album, All Four One, McGovern exited, and the group re-recorded the album with guitarist Guy Perry and assorted session musicians. This time the label relented, releasing All Four One in 1982; the album eventually went gold on the strength of the atmospheric "Only the Lonely," which ascended to the number nine spot. ..D. Jellinc

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 161 MB
Genre : Altern. Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Danger 3:24
02 Only the Lonely 3:16
03 Celia 3:05
04 Shame 4:09
05 Careful 3:29
06 Suddenly Last Summer 3:40
07 So L.A. 3:35
08 Cries and Whispers 4:09
09 Icy Red 4:28
10 Apocalypso 3:30
11 Total Control 3:51
12 Take the L 3:40
13 Trust Me 3:24
14 Remember the Nights 3:06
15 Bonjour Baby 3:25
16 Little Robbers 3:54
17 Annie Told Me 4:18
18 Kix 2:14
19 Whose Problem? 3:54

Bob Dylan - Together Through Life (2009)

By all accounts Together Through Life arrived quickly, cut swiftly by Bob Dylan and his touring band in the fall of 2008, surprising the label upon its delivery a couple months later, then rushed into stores in April '09, just a half year after the release of the monumental archive project Tell Tale Signs. Given the speed of its creation, it fits that that album has a spontaneous, kinetic kick, feeling so alive that it's a little messy, teeming with contradictions, crossed signals and frayed ends. That liveliness turns Together Through Life into a much lighter affair than its weighty predecessor Modern Times, which was tinged with doom and had thematic unity, two things missing from this comparatively breezy affair. If Together Through Life is about any one thing it is, as its title and cover photo elliptically suggest, the enduring power of romance, how it provides sustenance and how its absence can make life hard. But all this suggests that Dylan has turned in a meditation of the meaning of life and love here, when its core charm is its very modesty. It's an old-fashioned 10 tracks, clocking in at 45 minutes, a simple set of songs co-written with Robert Hunter - Jerry Garcia's lyricist and previous Dylan collaborator, co-writing the irresistibly jaunty "Silvio" in 1988 - and delivered without adornment, its clean yet earthy production slyly emphasizing the musical variety here. Sonically, this is right in line with Dylan's 2000s albums, the sound of a well-lubricated traveling band easing into the same chords they play every night, but this isn't strictly roadhouse rock & roll: Dylan remains fixated on pre-rock & roll American music, emphasizing the blues but eager to croon love-struck ballads. In this context, David Hidalgo's accordion - which appears so often it soon ceases to be noteworthy - can suggest a romantic stroll down Parisian streets or a steamy sojourn with Doug Sahm on a Tex-Mex border town, but everything here is recognizably, thoroughly Dylan's mythic picturesque America that stretches from the hazy past to the barbed present. While the music is proudly, almost defiantly, rooted in the past, with Dylan borrowing Willie Dixon's "I Just Want To Make Love To You" for the riotous "My Wife's Home Town," there's no avoidance of the present here, with Bob even going so far as to turn the omnipresent catch phrase "It's All Good" into a mordantly funny rocker. Dylan's not just aware of the modern-day vernacular he's wound up with an album that fits the spirit of '09: it's troubled but hopeful, firmly in favor of love and romance, but if that fails there are always romantic dreams and sardonic jokes to get you through life...S. Erlewine

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 242 MB
Genre : Folk- Pop
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

CD 1

01 Beyond Here Lies Nothin' 3:50
02 Life Is Hard 3:39
03 My Wife's Home Town 4:15
04 If You Ever Go to Houston 5:48
05 Forgetful Heart 3:42
06 Jolene 3:50
07 This Dream of You 5:54
08 Shake Shake Mama 3:37
09 I Feel a Change Comin' On 5:25
10 It's All Good 5:27

CD 2

01 Theme Town Radio Hour (Interview Recorded in Studio B) 60:00

četvrtak, 11.06.2009.

Rose Tattoo - Assault & Battery (1981) (2002)

Following a successful tour through UK and Europe that also included an appearance at Redding Festival in 1981, their second album 'Assault & Battery' reached #1 on the UK Heavy Metal Charts. It also produced 2 big singles 'Out Of This Place' and 'Manzil Madness'

I remember buying this on a cassette tape back in the early to mid 80's. I think I caught a video of theirs on MTV late at night one night. I've owned a few of their tapes and lp's. I have to say I never understood why this band didn't get more play time in the USA.
Assault & Battery is probably my favorite Tatt's record all the way through. They are an Austrlian band and at one time them and AC/DC were the two biggest hard rock bands in their country. I don't know what to say other then it's straight forward rock n roll with balls. Angry Anderson, while small in stature is a great front man that has great visual presence. His voice is raspy and I would say has the same appeal as Bon Scott, who sang origianlly for AC/DC. Pete Wells played slide guitar and he really gave this band a unique sound. I would say that Anderson and Wells were the focal points of this group.
I would recommend this album to anyone that is an early AC/DC fan or is looking to explore some of Rose Tatto's work...K. Johnson

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 87 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustannngs

Tracklist:

01 Out of This Place 4:23
02 All the Lessons 3:08
03 Let It Go 3:50
04 Assault and Battery 3:33
05 Magnum Maid 3:11
06 Rock 'N' Roll Is King 3:26
07 Manzil Madness 2:15
08 Chinese Dunkirk 5:58
09 Sidewalk Sally 3:06
10 Suicide City 4:11

srijeda, 10.06.2009.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) (Japan Mini LP 2006)

Limited edition Japanese pressing of the 1991 album comes packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. Featuring some of the band's best known moments ('Under The Bridge', 'Give It Away', 'Breaking The Girl' and 'Suck My Kiss', this was the band's breakthrough album that turned them into worldwide arena superstars. Distriibuted for a limited time in Europe with new UPC number.WB. 2006.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' best album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik benefits immensely from Rick Rubin's production -- John Frusciante's guitar is less overpoweringly noisy, leaving room for differing textures and clearer lines, while the band overall is more focused and less indulgent, even if some of the grooves drag on too long. Lyrically, Anthony Kiedis is as preoccupied with sex as ever, whether invoking it as his muse, begging for it, or boasting in great detail about his prowess, best showcased on the infectiously funky singles "Give It Away" and "Suck My Kiss." However, he tempers his testosterone with a more sensitive side, writing about the emotional side of failed relationships ("Breaking the Girl," "I Could Have Lied"), his drug addictions ("Under the Bridge" and an elegy for Hillel Slovak, "My Lovely Man"), and some hippie-ish calls for a peaceful utopia. Three of those last four songs (excluding "My Lovely Man") mark the band's first consistent embrace of lilting acoustic balladry, and while it's not what Kiedis does best as a vocalist, these are some of the album's finest moments, varying and expanding the group's musical and emotional range. Frusciante departed after the supporting tour, leaving Blood Sugar Sex Magik as probably the best album the Chili Peppers will ever make...S. Huey

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size:170 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangss

Tracklist:

01 The Power of Equality 4:03
02 If You Have to Ask 3:37
03 Breaking the Girl 4:55
04 Funky Monks 5:23
05 Suck My Kiss 3:37
06 I Could Have Lied 4:04
07 Mellowship Slinky In B Major 4:00
08 The Righteous & The Wicked 4:08
09 Give It Away 4:43
10 Blood Sugar Sex Magik 4:31
11 Under the Bridge 4:24
12 Naked In The Rain 4:26
13 Apache Rose Peacock 4:42
14 The Greeting Song 3:14
15 My Lovely Man 4:39
16 Sir Psycho Sexy 8:17
17 They're Red Hot 1:12

utorak, 09.06.2009.

Jefferson Starship - Red Octopus (1975) (Legacy Remaster Edit 2005)

Technically speaking, Red Octopus was the first album credited to Jefferson Starship, though practically the same lineup made Dragon Fly, credited to Grace Slick/Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship. The difference, however, was crucial: Marty Balin was once again a fully integrated bandmember, writing or co-writing five of the ten tracks. And there can be little doubt that it was Balin's irresistible ballad "Miracles," the biggest hit single in the Jefferson Whatever catalog, that propelled Red Octopus to the top of the charts; the only Jefferson album to chart that high; and the best-selling album in their collective lives. This must have been sweet vindication for Balin, who founded Jefferson Airplane but then drifted away from the group as it veered away from his musical vision. Now, the collective was incorporating his taste without quite integrating it: "Miracles," with its strings and sax solo by non-bandmember Irv Cox, was hardly a characteristic Airplane/Starship track. But then, neither exactly was Papa John Creach's showcase, "Git Fiddler," or bassist Pete Sears' instrumental "Sandalphon," which sounded like something from an early Procol Harum album. Slick has three strong songs, among them the second single "Play on Love." Like Dragon Fly, Red Octopus reflected a multiplicity of musical tastes; there were ten credited songwriters, seven of whom were in the band. If there is any consistency in this material, it is in subject matter (love songs). The album is more ballad-heavy and melodic than the Airplane albums, which made it more accessible to the broader audience it reached, though "Sweeter Than Honey" is as tough a rocker as the band ever played. [The 2005 reissue of Red Octopus contains four bonus tracks including the single version of "Miracles" and songs recorded live at Winterland in 1975.]...W. Ruhlmann

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 142 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Fast Buck Freddie 3:30
02 Miracles 6:53
03 Git Fiddler Instrumental 3:11
04 Al Garimasu (There Is Love) 4:17
05 Sweeter Than Honey 3:23
06 Play on Love 3:46
07 Tumblin' 3:29
08 I Want to See Another World 4:36
09 Sandalphon Instrumental 4:11
10 There Will Be Love 5:08
11 Miracles - Bonus / Single Version 3:30
12 Band Introduction- Live / prev. unreleased / Bonus 1:15
13 Fast Buck Freddie - Live / prev. unreleased / Bonus 3:35
14 There Will Be Love- Live / prev. unreleased / Bonus 4:58
15 You're Driving Me Crazy - Live / prev. unreleased / Bonus 6:45

04. Jefferson Starship - Ai Garimasu (There Is Love)

Bob Marley - Babylon By Bus (1978) (Remaster 2006)

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. Universal. 2006.

Arguably the most influential live reggae album ever, Babylon by Bus captures Bob Marley and the Wailers during the European leg of their Kaya tour in the spring of 1978. The success of this set was not entirely unexpected, however. If the universal and widespread acclaim of LIVE! -- their first concert recording -- was an indicator, all involved knew that a Bob Marley & the Wailers performance contained unique energies and a vibe all of its own. Sharply contrasting the somewhat pastoral grooves of the Kaya album, Babylon by Bus possesses a more aggressive sound -- which was a trademark of this particular band. Tyrone Downie's progressive rock keyboard flavors on "Exodus," as well his judiciously located percussive clavinet accentuations during "Punky Reggae Party," lock in with Aston "Familyman" Barrett's viscous basslines to create something akin to psychedelic reggae or even along the lines of Parliament/Funkadelic. Likewise, "Heathen" highlights Anderson's explosive guitar leads, which are distinctly reminiscent of Eddie Hazel from his early days with Funkadelic. The lead guitar solos on "Rebel Music (3 O' Clock Roadblock)" and "Is This Love" also define Al Anderson's innovative and decidedly Western guitar style, as it is seamlessly and thoroughly integrated with Marley and the Wailers. As with their first concert album, Babylon by Bus highlights material from the band's history up to that point. "No More Trouble" is placed in an entirely new context when linked with "War," which features lyrics taken from a United Nations speech given by Haille Selassie I, the Ethiopian emperor considered the father of modern Rastafarianism. Other early tracks, such as "Kinky Reggae" and "Stir It Up," prove to be not the only favorites of concert attendees. More recent offerings of "Is This Love," "Jammin'," and "Exodus" actually garner the most audible support. Without question, Babylon by Bus is an integral component of any popular music collection...L. Planer

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 168 MB
Genre : Reggae
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Positive Vibration 5:50
02 Punky Reggae Party 5:51
03 Exodus 7:41
04 Stir It Up 5:17
05 Rat Race 3:41
06 Concrete Jungle 5:37
07 Kinky Reggae 4:46
08 Lively up Yourself 6:18
09 Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock) 5:20
10 War/No More Trouble 5:28
11 Is This Love 7:27
12 Heathen 4:29
13 Jamming 5:54

ponedjeljak, 08.06.2009.

Uriah Heep - Return To Fantasy (1975)(Remaster Edit 2004)

After two albums that downplayed their penchant for gothic sounds and mystical lyrics, Uriah Heep brought these elements back to the fore on 1975's Return to Fantasy. The resulting album retains the musical experimentation that marked Sweet Freedom and Wonderworld but has an overall harder-rocking feel that makes it more consistent than either one of those albums. Return to Fantasy throws down the gauntlet with the title track, which builds from a tapestry of spooky synthesizer and organ riffs into a thunderous rock tune where the guitar and organ duel over a galloping backbeat laid down by Lee Kerslake. It's bracing stuff and one of the finest rockers in the Uriah Heep canon. The rest of the first side continues in a similarly strong hard rock vein and its other key highlight is "Beautiful Dream," a song that marries stomping hard rock verses to a spooky, ethereal chorus that sounds like it could have been plucked from mid-'70s Pink Floyd album. On the second side, Uriah Heep gives themselves over to experiments that, while listenable, cause the album to lose focus. For instance, "Prima Donna" is a sardonic commentary on the rock & roll world that features a prominent brass section and prominently overdubbed Beach Boys-style harmonies, while "Your Turn to Remember" is the kind of bluesy AOR ballad that would later be specialized in by groups like Journey. Both songs are fun listening but stray too far from the group's traditional sound and are too dissimilar to make Return to Fantasy a cohesive experience. Despite these problems, the group never turns in a less-than-engaging instrumental performance and the consistent quality of their work keeps the album from getting carried away by all the genre-hopping. In the end, Return to Fantasy lacks the coherence of a top-shelf Uriah Heep classic like Demons and Wizards but remains a strong and likable album that is guaranteed to please the group's fans. [The 2001 reissue offers the same four bonus tracks that were added to the original CD release of this album]...D.Guarisco

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 170 MB
Genre : Hard Rock
2000mustangs

Line-up:

David Byron - vocals
Ken Hensley - keyboard, guitars, synthesizer, vocals
Mick Box - guitars
Lee Kerslake - drums, percussion, vocals
John Wetton - bass guitar, mellotron, vocals

Tracklist:

01. Return to Fantasy - 4:29
02. Shady Lady - 3:38
03. Devil's Daughter - 4:27
04. Beautiful Dream - 3:39
05. Prima Donna - 2:43
06. Your Turn to Remember - 2:56
07. Showdown - 5:59
08. Why Did You Go - 3:39
09. A Year or a Day - 6:10
10. Shout It Out (B-side) - 3:35
11. The Time Will Come (B-side) - 4:08
12. Prima Donna (Alternate demo version) - 4:06
13. Why Did You Go (Alternate demo version) - 5:19
14. Showdown (Alternate demo version) - 4:18
15. Beautiful Dream (Alternate demo version) - 5:49
16. Return To Fantasy) (Extended Version) - 7:14

nedjelja, 07.06.2009.

Uriah Heep - Salisbury (1971) (13-trck Japan Mini LP 2007)

K2 24Bit Japanese digitally remastered limited edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork. Includes bonus tracks 'Simon The Bullet Freak (US Album Version)', 'Here Am I (Alternate Version)', ''Lady In Black (Alternate Version)', 'High Priestess (Single Edit)', 'Salisbury (Single Edit)', 'The Park' (Alternate Mix)' and 'Time To Live (Alternate Mix)'.

On their second album, Uriah Heep jettison the experiments that weighed down Very 'Eavy...Very 'Umble and work toward perfecting their blend of heavy metal power and prog rock complexity. Salisbury tips the band's style in the prog direction, containing one side of songs and one side dominated by a lengthy and ornate epic-length composition. Highlights on the song-oriented side include "Bird of Prey," a soaring rocker that blends furious, power chord-fueled verses with spacy, keyboard-drenched instrumental breaks, and "Lady in Black," a stylishly arranged tune that builds from a folk-styled acoustic tune into a throbbing rocker full of ghostly harmonies and crunching guitar riffs. The big surprise on this side is "The Park," a ballad-style song built on a light blend of acoustic guitars and ethereal keyboards. It has a gentle, appealingly psychedelic feel that is topped off by David Byron's falsetto vocal and some soaring harmonies from Byron and Ken Hensley. However, Salisbury is undone by its title track, the 16-minute track that dominates the album's entire second side: it feels more like a lengthy jam session instead of a prog epic with distinctive and carefully crafted sections. Another problem is that the overly busy brass and woodwind arrangements that have been grafted onto it intrude on the group's sound instead of fleshing it out. All in all, Salisbury is too unfocused for the casual listener, but offers enough solid songs for the Uriah Heep completist. Collector's note: the American version of this album had different cover art (the tank on the British edition was replaced by a gruesome image of a man tearing out of his own skin) and replaced "Bird of Prey" with a bluesy B-side entitled "Simon the Bullet Freak." [Sanctuary's 2003 and 2004 reissues of Salisbury were newly remastered, featured expanded artwork and slipcase packaging, and included alternate versions, B-sides, and BBC sessions.]...D. A. Guarisco

Codec: flac
Size: 434 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Bird Of Prey 04:16
02 The Park 05:46
03 Time To Live 04:05
04 Lady In Black 04:44
05 High Priestess 03:43
06 Salisbury 16:19
07 Simon The Bullet Freak (US Album Version) 03:29
08 Here Am I (Prev. Unreleased Version) 07:52
09 Lady In Black (Prev. Unreleased Version) 03:35
10 High Priestess (Single Edit) 03:40
11 Salisbury (Prev. Unreleased Single Edit) 04:23
12 The Park (Prev. Unreleased Mix) 05:20
13 Time To Live (Prev. Unreleased Mix) 04:14

Rose Tattoo - Pain (2002)

Ever wonder what Led Zeppelin might have sounded like had they added a couple members of AC/DC and a couple members of Lynyrd Skynyrd to their lineup? The answer might lie in this album. Indeed, Rose Tattoo's gritty, bluesy rock & roll certainly does feel a lot like a Southern rock take on Zep with some Australian influence thrown in. The Aussie elements should come naturally, as that is the place from which Tattoo hails, but where does that Southern element fit in? Two of the most blatant examples of the band's Zeppelin-esque tendencies are the disc-opening "Black Magic" and "No Mercy." Interestingly, the latter cut also feels quite a bit like '70s hard rock stalwarts Nazareth. That is a sound that also shows up throughout the disc. If you want to see the most solid showing of the "Aussie sound," just jump ahead to the title track. It is a bit strange, a bit awkward, a lot angry, and very Australian. All in all, these veterans have shown that they really do live up to the rock & roll legacy of the greats. This is 16 tracks of great rock adrenaline that should leave you shouting "Long live rock & roll", perhaps with the added and "Rose Tattoo."...G. Hill

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 130 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustannngs

Tracklist:

01 Black Magic 2:19
02 The Devil Does It Well 5:32
03 No Mercy 3:03
04 Pain 4:47
05 Kisses and Hugs 2:17
06 17 Stitches 2:38
07 House of Pain 4:32
08 I Can't Help It If I'm Lucky 2:42
09 Union Man 2:50
10 Satan's Eyes 3:15
11 Hard Rockin' Man 2:58
12 Stir Crzy 4:34
13 Living Outside My Means 3:43
14 Heat of the Moment 4:28
15 Illustrated Man 2:40
16 One More Drink With the Boys 4:11

subota, 06.06.2009.

Deep Purple - The Book Of Taliesyn (1969) (12 track-Remaster Edit 2000)

Remastered reissue of 1968 album with 5 bonus tracks 'Oh No No No' (Studio Out Take), 'It's All Over' (BBC Top Gear Session), 'Hey Bop A Re Bop' (BBC Top Gear Session), 'Wring ThatNeck' (BBC Top Gear Session), 'Playground' (Remixed Instrumental Studio Out Take) all previously unissued. 2000 release. Standard jewel case.

A year after the innovative remake of "You Keep Me Hanging On," England's answer to Vanilla Fudge, was this early version of Deep Purple, which featured vocalist Rod Evans, and bassist Nick Simper, along with mainstays Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice. This, their second album, followed on the heels of "Hush," a dynamic arrangement of a Joe South tune, far removed from the flavor of one of his own hits, "Walk a Mile in My Shoes." Four months later, this album's cover of Neil Diamond's Top 25, 1967 gem "Kentucky Woman," went Top 40 for Deep Purple. Also like Vanilla Fudge, the group's own originals were creative, thought-provoking, but not nearly as interesting as their take on cover tunes. Vanilla Fudge did "Eleanor Rigby," and Deep Purple respond by going inside "We Can Work It Out" -- it falls out of nowhere after the progressive rock jam "Exposition," Ritchie Blackmore's leads zipping in between Rod Evans smooth and precise vocals. As Vanilla Fudge was progressively leaning more towards psychedelia, here Deep Purple are the opposite. The boys claim to be inspired by the Bard of King Arthur's court in Camelot, Taliesyn. John Vernon Lord, under the art direction of Les Weisbrich, paints a superb wonderland on the album jacket, equal to the madness of Hieronymous Bosch's cover painting used for the third album. Originals "The Shield" and "Anthem" make early Syd Barrett Pink Floyd appear punk in comparison. Novel sounds are aided by Lord's dominating keyboards, a signature of this group.

Though "The Anthem" is more intriguing than the heavy metal thunder of Machine Head, it is overwhelmed by the majesty of their "River Deep, Mountain High" cover, definitely not the inspiration for the Supremes and Four Tops 1971 hit version. By the time 1972 came around, Deep Purple immersed themselves in dumb lyrics, unforgettable riffs, and a huge presence, much like Black Sabbath. The evolution from progressive to hard rock was complete, but a combination of what they did here -- words that mattered matched by innovative musical passages -- would have been a more pleasing combination. Vanilla Fudge would cut Donovan's "Season of the Witch," Deep Purple followed this album by covering his "Lalena"; both bands abandoned the rewrites their fans found so fascinating. Rod Evans voice was subtle enough to take "River Deep, Mountain High" to places Ian Gillam might have demolished. The CD contains an additional five tracks...J. Viglione

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 148 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Listen, Learn, Read On 4:04
02 Hard Road (Wring That Neck) 5:13
03 Kentucky Woman 4:44
04 Exposition/We Can Work It Out 7:07
05 The Shield 6:06
06 Anthem 6:31
07 River Deep, Mountain High 10:12
08 Oh No No No prev. unreleased / Bonus / Studio Outtake 4:25
09 It's All Over prev. unreleased / Bonus / BBC Top Gear Session 4:14
10 Hey Bop-A-Rebop prev. unreleased / Bonus / BBC Top Gear Session 3:31
11 Hard Road (Wring That Neck) prev. unreleased / Bonus / BBC Top Gear Session 4:42
12 Playground prev. unreleased / Bonus / Remixed Instrumental Studio Out Take 4:29

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (2009)

It's hard to decide what the most impressive thing about Veckatimest is: Grizzly Bear's ambition, which is seemingly boundless, or the fact that this boundless ambition never eclipses these songs. The band already made such an impressive leap from Horn of Plenty to Yellow House that an album to catch their breath would have been understandable. However, Grizzly Bear are most comfortable when they're challenging themselves, and Veckatimest delivers everything that Yellow House did and more. Just as that album blew off the dust and noise that covered Horn of Plenty's lo-fi sketches, this album's production clears away any remaining cobwebs, revealing these songs in all their intricate detail. That detail includes string quartet and choral arrangements by composer and conductor Nico Muhly on some tracks, but all of Veckatimest has a more rarefied air than any of Grizzly Bear's previous work. The band hints at the just how big the album's scope is with its first two tracks: "Southern Point"'s psychedelic folk-jazz throws listeners into its bustling acoustic guitars, piles of vocal harmonies, swishy drums, and various sparkling sounds, making it a disorienting and dazzling opening salvo. The gorgeous "Two Weeks," by contrast, is the album's most immediate moment, its "Would you always? Maybe sometimes? Make it easy? Take your time" chorus teetering elegantly between pleading and reassuring as it's buoyed by backing vocals courtesy of Beach House's Victoria LeGrand. From there, Veckatimest ranges from Yellow House-like rambles such as "Hold Still" and "Dory" -- which plays like a kissing cousin to "Little Brother" -- to elaborate, quicksilver suites like "I Live with You," which builds from the Brooklyn Youth Choir's vocals into skyward-climbing chamber pop, to "While You Wait for the Others" and "Cheerleader"'s deceptively simple pop. At the heart of all these songs are negotiations with someone close, as on "All We Ask"'s admission "I can't get out of what I'm into with you." Though the sheer heft of songs such as "Fine for Now" could easily topple the album's balance between ambition and intimacy, Grizzly Bear knows when to come in for close-focus moments like "About Face" and the final track, "Foreground" which, with its plaintive vocals and simple piano melody, is one of the band's most beautiful ballads yet. It's clear that Veckatimest was made for a lot of listening. Nearly every song feels like the musical equivalent of a big meal: there's lots to digest, and coming back for second (and thirds, and more) is necessary...H. Phares

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 120 MB
Genre :Folk Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Southern Point 5:02
02 Two Weeks 4:03
03 All We Ask 5:21
04 Fine for Now 5:31
05 Cheerleader 4:54
06 Dory 4:26
07 Ready, Able 4:17
08 About Face 3:21
09 Hold Still 2:24
10 While You Wait for the Others 4:29
11 I Live with You 4:57
12 Foreground 3:35

petak, 05.06.2009.

Cheap Trick - Dream Police (1979)(Remaster 2006)

Exclusive Japanese limited edition digitally remastered reissue of this 1979 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve featuring .four bonus tracks: 'The House Is Rockin'' (Live), 'Way Of The World' (Live), 'Dream Police' (Alternate Mix) and 'I Know What I Want'. CBS 2006.

Dream Police shows the band expanding into longer, more complex songs and incorporating orchestration on several tracks. Sessions for Dream Police were completed before the recording of their previous release, the live album At Budokan. Epic Records held off on releasing Dream Police to capitalize on At Budokan's unexpected success. "Need Your Love" was actually introduced to the public as a track on At Budokan. "I Know What I Want" is sung by bassist Tom Petersson, and is the only Cheap Trick studio track to feature someone other than Robin Zander on lead vocals. The group originally planned to have Petersson sing "Voices", but it was later recut with a slower tempo and Zander on vocals... An expanded edition of Dream Police was released in 2006 with four 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...S. Erlewine

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 148 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Line-up

Robin Zander - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Rick Nielsen - lead guitars, mandocello, vocals
Tom Petersson - bass, 8 & 12 string bass, lead vocals on "8"
Bun E. Carlos - drums

Tracklist:

01 Dream Police 3:54
02 Way of the World 3:38
03 The House Is Rockin' (With Domestic Problems) 5:11
04 Gonna Raise Hell 9:20
05 I'll Be with You Tonight 3:51
06 Voices 4:22
07 Writing on the Wall 3:27
08 I Know What I Want 4:30
09 Need Your Love 7:40
10 The Hosue Is Rockin' / Live / prev. unreleased / Bonus 6:16
11 Way of the World Live / prev. unreleased / Bonus 4:00
12 Dream Police prev.unreleased / Bonus / No Strings Version 3:53
13 I Know What I Want Live / Bonus 4:44

Michael Chapman - Pleasures Of The Street (1975) (Remaster Edit 2000)

First ever CD release of the British folk artist's classic live album originally released in 1975. Recorded in 1975 in Hamburg, Germany at Onkel Po's. Digitally remastered with 5 bonus tracks, 'Sea Of Wine', 'Hero Returns', 'Firewater Dreams', 'Deal Gone Down' & 'Shuffleboat River Farewell'. Liner notes written by Chapman himself. 2000 release. Standard jewel case...Dhar Jellinc

Pleasures takes us back to the live album of that name culled from two evenings of concerts in Hamburg in August 1975, and is a reissue of that album together with five extra cuts from the same sets (three of which duplicate songs featured earlier in alternate performances). This is definitive mid-70s Chapman, here featured first in solo acoustic mode then from track five onwards with a band (Keef Hartley, Steffi Stephen and Achim Reichel), arguably at the zenith of the soulful-rockin' phase of his career.

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 136 MB
Genre : Folk Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Party Pieces 4:21
02 Among the Trees 3:58
03 In the Valley 5:31
04 Shuffleboat River Farewell 5:08
05 Time Enough to Spare 5:14
06 Firewater Dreams 4:21
07 Wrecked Again 4:23
08 Deal Gone Down 5:05
09 Sea of Wine (Bonus) 3:07
10 Hero Returns (Bonus) 3:42
11 Firewater Dreams (Bonus) 4:28
12 Deal Gone Down (Bonus) 5:56
13 Shuffleboat River Farewell (Bonus) 4:48

četvrtak, 04.06.2009.

Cold Chisel - East (1980) (Remaster Edit 2000)

Okay, we have seen a lot of "enhanced" CDs in the 90s. Nearly all the classic rock albums have been remastered to get another buck from the fans and sometimes it was even worth it. And this is definetly the case with Cold Chisel's East! The quality of the recording definetly increased and three bonus tracks (outtakes from the recording sessions) have been added to the CD. There is even multimedia material for your computer! Cold Chisel is one of Australia's rock classics and "East" is one of their best recordings. This "enhanced" version is worth every cent!..M. Doering

In mid-1977, Cold Chisel was a hard rocking blues band that couldn't get a record deal. By the end of 1980, they were the biggest-selling act in the country. This album is why. A finely-crafted slab of contemporary radio-friendly rock and pop, East never faltered from its opening seconds and remains to this day one of the best Australian albums ever made.
Cold Chisel's previous album Breakfast at Sweethearts had taken the rough edges off the band's brash sound and begun to display its pop sensibilities. With East, the slick production of Mark Opitz enhanced them even further. That all five of the band's members contributed songs for the first time also helped to create a bunch of tunes that continue to resonate through the national psyche.
East succeeds because its subjects are so familiar to its audience. They are simple songs about the everyday experience: "Every night when I come home/I settle down to prime-time limbo," sings Jimmy Barnes in "Ita"; on "Standing on the Outside" he dreams about robbing a TAB and setting himself up in a personal Paradise somewhere. Other songs are about dreams come unstuck, like the jaded protagonist of "Cheap Wine", who just leaves it all behind for "cheap wine and a three days' growth". "Four Walls" is a sorrowful piano ballad about life behind bars and the emotional "Choir Girl" follows a young woman through an abortion.
Of course it wouldn't be Cold Chisel without straight out rocking, and the pensive mood of the ballads is balanced by the brash rockabilly of Barnes' "Rising Sun", the smouldering, political "Star Hotel" and the ragged "My Turn to Cry". Every song was memorable, as East struck the perfect balance of all the band's moods. Ian Moss' "Never Before" became the first song ever played on Triple J, Barnes still performs "Rising Sun" in his live shows and Phil Small's sweet pop ditty "My Baby" remains a radio staple to this day.

28 years later, East is still the perfect Australian rock album.

Line-up

Jimmy Barnes - Vocals
Ian Moss - Guitar, Vocals on "Never before", "My baby" & "Best kept lies"
Don Walker - Piano, Synthesiser, Backing Vocals
Phill Small - Bass, Backing Vocals
Steven Prestwich - Drums, Backing Vocals
Joe Camilleri - Saxophones

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 120 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01. Standing On The Outside 2.53
02. Never Before 4.09
03. Choirgirl 3.14
04. Rising Sun 3.26
05. My Baby 4.02
06. Tomorrow 3.33
07. Cheap Wine 3.24
08. Best Kept Lies 3.48
09. Ita 3.33
10. Star Hotel 4.10
11. Four Walls 2.23
12. My Turn To Cry 3.31
13. Pay Day In A Pub (Bonus) 4.53
14. Hands Out Of My Pocket (Bonus) 2.20
15. The Party's Over (Bonus) 3.03

Cold Chisel - Circus Animals (1982) (Remaster Edit 2000)

I know of only a few people who have even heard of Cold Chisel, but I'd venture to guess that virtually any American fan of classic rock ranging from Steely Dan to Bob Seger to Blue Oyster Cult to Bruce Springsteen would love this Australian band if they ever got a chance to hear them. "Circus Animals", their 4th studio album, shows them moving in a slightly pop direction with great songs like "Forever Now", and "No Good For You". Of course they still rock like crazy on "Bow River", "Wild Colonial Boy", etc. Cold Chisel have got the musical chops, the great guitar leads from Ian Moss, the great singing of Jimmy Barnes, and most important, the great songs of Don Walker, who writes the kind of lyrics that would fit right in on an album by Dylan or Jackson Browne and are so seldom heard on music that rocks this hard. The complete package!..Eric R. Last

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 124 MB
Genre : Classic Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01. You Got Nothing I Want 3.16
02. Bow River 4.23
03. Forever Now 4.26
04. Taipan 3.55
05. Hound Dog 5.04
06. Wild Colonial Boy 4.52
07. No Good For You 3.16
08. Numbers Fall 4.46
09. When the War Is Over 4.25
10. Letter To Alan 5.57
11. Suicide Sal (Bonus) 2.45
12. Notion For You (Bonus) 3.40
13. F-111 (Bonus) 3.51

Uriah Heep - Live January 1973 (1973) (2 CD Japan SHM Remaster 2003)

Uriah Heep was at the peak of their career on this live album...So what do you get??? One of the GREATEST live recording ever.This album is great! All the Wizards on this album Ken Hensley - organ,David Byron - Vocals, Mick Box - Guitars, Gary Thain - Bass,and Lee Kerslake performed remarkably!!! If you have never heard Uriah Heep in your entire life before. This is the Ultimate album to start with!

Uriah Heep Live. Those three words say it all, and if you're a fan of the band, this is without saying a must have. Four LP sides of material (that's about seventy minutes for you children of the CD age) from the classic first five albums, plus a medley of 50's rockers as a bonus encore. Full of atmosphere and panache, this album is ideal listening for a get-together chill session in your basement. This album is what the seventies concert going experience, and the best of seventies hard progressive rock, was all about. And it features "Circle of Hands", probably the greatest live song ever done by anyone! If you are new to the band, this serves as a good introduction not only because of the song selection but primarily because the book contains some information about the band's history and the members at that time.



Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 350 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Line-up

David Byron – vocals
Mick Box – guitar
Ken Hensley – keyboards
Gary Thain – bass guitar
Lee Kerslake – drums

Tracklist:

CD 1

00. Introduction 0:50
01. Sunrise 4:09
02. Sweet Lorraine 5:00
03. Traveller in Time 3:37
04. Easy Livin' 3:00
05. July Morning 11:55
06. Tears in My Eyes 5:02
07. Gypsy 14:06
08. Circle of Hands 8:59
09. Look at Yourself 7:28
10. Magician's Birthday 1:45
11. Love Machine 3:27
12. Rock 'n' Roll Medley '74

CD 2

01. Something Or Nothing (US Radio Show)
02. I Won't Mind (US Radio Show)
03. Look At Yourself (US Radio Show)
04. Gypsy (US Radio Show)
05. Easy Livin' (Film Mixes Used For Radio)
06. So Tired (Film Mixes Used For Radio)
07. I Won'y Mind (Film Mixes Used For Radio)
08. Something Or Nothing (Film Mixes Used For Radio)
09. The Easy Road (Film Mixes Used For Radio)
10. Stealin' (Film Mixes Used For Radio)
11. Love Machine (Film Mixes Used For Radio)
12. Rock 'n' Roll Medley '74-Roll Over Beethoven-Blue Suede Shoes-Mean Woman Blues
Hound Dog-At The Hop-Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On-Blue Suede Shoes (Film Mixes Used For Radio)

srijeda, 03.06.2009.

Cold Chisel - Last Wave of Summer (1998)

One of the biggest Australian bands of the early 1980's and featuring Jimmy Barnes. After being unavailable for years this '97/'98 reunion album is out again.

With their 1998 comeback disc, The Last Wave of Summer -- their first album of new material since 1984's Twentieth Century -- Aussie rock legends Cold Chisel proved that they still had "the stuff." A tad shy of the standard of their heyday albums of the '70s and '80s, Summer is still formidable rock & roll. As the band's first release in the CD age and, at just under an hour running time, LWOS was considerably longer than their previous studio albums. Hence the makeup is a little different. There is more down-tempo and lighter fare here, which shifts the feel from the usual short sharp-shock of a Chisel disc to a quite different type of listening experience. Less visceral; more cerebral. Also, this was an older, more mature Chisel -- accomplished songsmiths and musicians with nothing left to prove. Consequently, The Last Wave of Summer has the trappings of a more patient album than past efforts, and that comes out of the speakers loud and clear. Still, Chisel being Chisel, they avoid sounding clinical. The blood and thunder are still present, and Exhibit A is the customary, blasting-cap rocker that ignites every CC album, in this case "Yakuza Girls." Few bands have ever rocked as hard as Cold Chisel, and this song is one of their most raucous -- which is saying a lot. Blazing rock & roll with typically high-raunch lyrics. There's more grit to be found in songs like the AC/DC nod "Baby's on Fire" (an original number, not to be confused with the excellent Brian Eno song or others of the same name). Or the sassy, bump 'n' grind of "Pretty Little Thing," which Jimmy Barnes sings like a banshee with its balls in a vice. In fact, Barnes' razor-wire voice has never sounded better or bitten harder than on Summer. There's no question that his delivery sparks the entire disc. There's a shade less catchiness to this album than, say, Breakfast at Sweethearts or East, but it still has a bunch more kick-and-punch than most of the rock & roll albums of its time. When you've set the bar so high, it's hard to clear it every time. But The Last Wave of Summer is still primo stuff...Arian Zupp

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 134 MB
Genre : Classic Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01. Mr Crown Prosecutor 03:21
02. The Things I Love In You 03:20
03. Baby's On Fire 03:05
04. Way Down 03:58
05. Bal A Versailles 05:00
06. Yakuza Girls 02:26
07. He Can't Believe It's Over With You 03:55
08. Angel In My Room 03:42
09. Never Stop Loving You 04:01
10. Red Sand 04:55
11. Pretty Little Thing 03:14
12. So Hard 03:50
13. Water Into Wine 04:56
14. The Last Wave Of Summer 06:03
15. Once Around The Sun (Hidden Track) 03:42

Cold Chisel - Breakfast At Sweetheart's (1979) (Remsater Edit 2000)

As I see it, there have been many great Australian bands - Birthday Party, Hoodoo Gurus, Midnight Oil, Laughing Clowns, Saints, and maybe INXS...but Australia is responsible for two classic bands, The Church, and Cold Chisel. Cold Chisel were an Australian phenomenon, they formed in Adelaide in 1973 ('a "karass"' they called themselves), and with one line up change only, became the unit that played blinding soulful blues rock night after night and for years even, unable to afford even decent food. But they were very very good. They had the chemistry that makes a band 'great'. Moreso, they had a genius songwriter, piano/keyboardist Don Walker, a Mathematics graduate who as a lyricist I'd rate only second to Dylan...and what did he write about, the other half, sort of what Springsteen was writing about in the USA. His songs are very much of their time and place and yet remain pertinent and timeless. And the range of styles conveyed by the band and Walker's songwriting delve between brilliant propulsive blues rock'n'roll to sublimely tender - yet hard - jazz blues classics. 'Breakfast at Sweethearts' is the band's second album...not their best as it suffers from a somewhat muted production. But lyrically it's possibly Walker's finest set. The title track is absolutely first-class. Can't really say much more but if you're a fairly serious person at times and are into Springsteen and Dylan then you'll love Cold Chisel. Note that this particular version of the album has three extra tracks which are all brilliant, 'Metho Blues' (piano & guitar only) & the gospel 'It ain't wrong' are again, absolutely first-class compositions. Possibly the best introduction to Cold Chisel is their greatest hits package or 'East', which is their most radio-friendly (and commercially successful) album...Red Grevilea

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 110 MB
Genre : Classic Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01. Conversations 4.34
02. Merry-Go-Round 3.44
03. Dresden 3.58
04. Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye) 2.51
05. Plaza 2.09
06. Shipping Steel 3.23
07. I'm Gonna Roll Ya 3.28
08. Showtime 3.45
09. Breakfast At Sweethearts 4.11
10. The Door 4.32
11. It Ain't Wrong (Bonus) 3.13
12. Mona And The Preacher (Bonus) 4.00
13. Metho Blues (Bonus) 7.07

Lou Reed - Lou Reed (1972) (Japan Mini LP Remaster 2006)

Nearly 30 years after it came out, Lou Reed's solo debut suggests that neither Reed nor his new record company were quite sure about what to do with him in 1972. It would be years before the cult of the Velvet Underground became big enough to mean anything commercially, leaving Lou pretty much back where he started from in the public eye after five years of hard work, and he seemed to be searching for a different musical direction on this set without quite deciding what it would be; while the best tunes are admirably lean, no-frills rock & roll, there are also several featuring tricked-up arrangements that don't suit the material terribly well (at no other time in history would anyone believe that Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman would be a good choice as backing musicians for the guy who wrote "Sister Ray"). Lou also didn't appear to have done much songwriting since he left the Velvets in 1970; with the exception of the hilariously catty "Wild Child" and "Berlin," a song Reed would revisit a few years later, nearly every significant song on Lou Reed dated back to his tenure with the Velvet Underground, though it would be years before that band's recordings of "I Can't Stand It," "Lisa Says," or "Ocean" would surface. On its own terms, Lou Reed isn't a bad album, but it isn't a terribly interesting one either, and since superior performances of most of these songs are available elsewhere, it stands today more as a historical curiosity than anything else...R. Black

Codec: flac
Size: 213 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01. I Can't Stand It 2:35
02. Going Down 2:55
03. Walk And Talk It 3:37
04. Lisa Says 5:32
05. Berlin 5:14
06. I Love You 2:18
07. Wild Child 4:39
08. Love Makes You Feel 3:11
09. Ride Into The Sun 3:14
10. Ocean 5:07

utorak, 02.06.2009.

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (1966) (Remaster Edit 2004)

Taking the first, electric side of Bringing It All Back Home to its logical conclusion, Bob Dylan hired a full rock & roll band, featuring guitarist Michael Bloomfield, for Highway 61 Revisited. Opening with the epic "Like a Rolling Stone," Highway 61 Revisited careens through nine songs that range from reflective folk-rock ("Desolation Row") and blues ("It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry") to flat-out garage rock ("Tombstone Blues," "From a Buick 6," "Highway 61 Revisited"). Dylan had not only changed his sound, but his persona, trading the folk troubadour for a streetwise, cynical hipster. Throughout the album, he embraces druggy, surreal imagery, which can either have a sense of menace or beauty, and the music reflects that, jumping between soothing melodies to hard, bluesy rock. And that is the most revolutionary thing about Highway 61 Revisited -- it proved that rock & roll needn't be collegiate and tame in order to be literate, poetic, and complex. [In 2003, Columbia/Legacy reissued 15 selected titles from Dylan's catalog as hybrid SACDs, playable in both regular CD players and Super Audio CD players. Each title is packaged as a digipak, containing the full original artwork. On each of the titles, and on each of the layers, the remastered sound is spectacular, a considerable upgrade from the initial CD pressings.]...S. Erlewine

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 118 MB
Genre : Folk Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Like a Rolling Stone 6:13
02 Tombstone Blues 5:58
03 It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry 4:09
04 From a Buick 6 3:19
05 Ballad of a Thin Man 5:58
06 Queen Jane Approximately 5:31
07 Highway 61 Revisited 3:30
08 Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues 5:31
09 Desolation Row 11:21

Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle (1976) (Gold Disc 2001)

Fly Like an Eagle is the ninth studio album by the Steve Miller Band and is their best selling album having gone 4x Platinum in the United States.

Steve Miller had started to essay his classic sound with The Joker, but 1976's Fly Like an Eagle is where he took flight, creating his definitive slice of space blues. The key is focus, even on an album as stylishly, self-consciously trippy as this, since the focus brings about his strongest set of songs (both originals and covers), plus a detailed atmospheric production where everything fits. It still can sound fairly dated — those whooshing keyboards and cavernous echoes are certainly of their time — but its essence hasn't aged, as "Fly Like an Eagle" drifts like a cool breeze, while "Take the Money and Run" and "Rock 'n Me" are fiendishly hooky, friendly rockers. The rest of the album may not be quite up to those standards, but there aren't any duds, either, as "Wild Mountain Honey" and "Mercury Blues" give this a comfortable backdrop, thanks to Miller's offhand, lazy charm. Though it may not quite transcend its time, it certainly is an album rock landmark of the mid-'70s and its best moments (namely, the aforementioned singles) are classics of the idiom...d. Jellinc

Codec: flac
Size: 216 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 Space Intro 1:14
02 Fly Like an Eagle 4:55
03 Wild Mountain Honey 4:51
04 Serenade 3:13
05 Dance, Dance, Dance 2:17
06 Mercury Blues 3:30
07 Take the Money and Run 3:14
08 Rock 'N Me 3:22
09 You Send Me 2:42
10 Blue Odyssey 0:53
11 Sweet Maree 4:04
12 The Window 4:19

ponedjeljak, 01.06.2009.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (1999)(Japan 16-track album 2006)

Limited edition Japanese pressing of the 1999 album comes packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. With the return of guitarist John Frusciante, the band returned with their most exciting and best-selling album to date. Features 'Scar Tissue', the title track and many more now-classic radio staples. Distriibuted for a limited time in Europe with new UPC number.WB. 2006.

To commemorate hitting the 15-year mark, the Red Hot Chili Peppers reunited with guitarist John Frusciante and producer Rick Rubin (from 1991's triumphant Blood Sugar Sex Magik) and headed for the studio. With the band having matured at least a little in those years, Californication contains more sun-baked slow ones than your usual RHCP disc, but that doesn't mean the fire's gone out. Frontman Anthony Kiedis seems comfortable in his mellower "Under the Bridge" mode, singing about home and relationships instead of spieling out hard-partying raps. Frusciante is back in form, unraveling cheerful, tricky Hendrix homages, while bassist Flea and drummer Chad Smith remain a nonpareil funk-rock rhythm section, locking in and grooving whenever they get the chance. All fronts come together on the breathless new wave of "Parallel Universe," the taut and snappy "I Like Dirt," and "Right on Time," an ultra high-energy snatch of disco. It's on songs like these, when the Chili Peppers hit that perfect beat, that you can almost hear the grins spreading on the band's faces...D. Wolk

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 137 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustaangss

Tracklist:

01 Around the World 3:58
02 Parallel Universe 4:30
03 Scar Tissue 3:37
04 Otherside 4:15
05 Get on Top 3:18
06 Californication 5:21
07 Easily 3:51
08 Porcelain 2:43
09 Emit Remmus 4:00
10 I Like Dirt 2:37
11 This Velvet Glove 3:45
12 Savior 4:52
13 Purple Stain 4:13
14 Right on Time 1:52
15 Road Trippin' 3:25
16. Gong Li 3:45

Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow (1967) (Japan 17-track Mini LP 2008)

Limited Japanese Vinyl Replica Edition Of Jefferson Airplanes Famous LP feat. Jerry Garcia from The Grateful Dead.

Because Surrealistic Pillow was the first album by a San Francisco band to go gold, and because it also spawned two Top Ten singles (the emblematic-of-their-era "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit"), it's tempting to think of Jefferson Airplane as merely hippies with hits. Actually, the band's musical roots were considerably earthier than that might suggest. True, there was a folk-music contingent in the Airplane, at least on the guitar end, but a good half of the group (singer Marty Balin, bassist Jack Casady, and drummer Spencer Dreyden) were seasoned bar-band and studio vets with long experience in R&B and jazz. Which probably explains why these so-called hippies were such a ferocious live act and why this record, against the odds, has dated very little. Chock-full of first-rate songs, the album ranges from exquisite ballads ("Today") to rustic acoustic guitar interludes ("Embryonic Journey") to careening psychedelic apocalypses (the aptly titled "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds"). Make sure you get the 1996 reissue, which features remastered mono and stereo versions; the mono, out of print for years, is by far the best sound the band ever got on record...S. Simels

Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 134 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs

Tracklist:

01 She Has Funny Cars 3:10
02 Somebody to Love 2:58
03 My Best Friend 3:01
04 Today 2:59
05 Comin' Back to Me 5:18
06 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds 3:41
07 D.C.B.A. -25 2:37
08 How Do You Feel 3:31
09 Embryonic Journey 1:53
10 White Rabbit 2:30
11 Plastic Fantastic Lover 2:37
12 In the Morning Bonus 6:21
13 J.P.P. McStep B. Blues Bonus 2:37
14 Go to Her Bonus / Version Two 4:02
15 Come Back Baby Bonus 2:56
16 Somebody to Love Bonus / Mono Version / Version 2:58
17 White Rabbit Bonus / Mono Version / Version 5:20

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