" But if they want more, and if the more devoted fan is OK with rebuying a lot of what is already on their CD rack, they will be rewarded. Each album is also presented in 5.1 surround sound, again an enticement to those who already have the albums.
The DVDs also include a smattering of rare videos and photos. He chose the latter. Are there shades of Zeppelin?
Yes, of course. Plant s love affair with bluesy rock will always rear its gorgeous head and he maintains much of his former band s creative spirit. The strikingly dark "Pictures at Eleven" and "The Principle of Moments" feature soft synthesizers and a mostly restrained Plant.
A brief collaboration with Jimmy Page yielded a fun homage to 50s rock n roll ("The Honeydrippers") before he hit a low with "Shaken n Stirred." It is horrible 80s cheese, but be forgiving it inspired Plant to regroup and record a trio of records that reminded us how great he could be. "Now and Zen" embraces mysticism yet remains wholly modern; "Manic Nirvana" is a dynamic rocker on which Plant can be both unleashed and controlled; and "Fate of Nations" showcases his introspective side backed by acoustic folk.
Following an extended reunion with Page, Plant returned in the new millennium with a pair of Grammy-nominated records. He unveiled "Dreamcatcher," a diverse collection of covers, in 2002 and the Middle Eastern-tinted "The Mighty Rearranger" in 2005 easily two of his finest works. The set supplements each disc with a selection of bonus tracks, including live cuts and B-sides, and also contains a DVD with videos, live footage and interviews, as well as a 60-page booklet with photos and extensive liner notes on every phase of Plant s career.
With plenty of highlights and just a smattering of lows, "Nine Lives" is a worthy journey through one man s adventurous musical vision. For nearly three decades, as the pop and country worlds have grown more aggressive and more electric, top acoustic musicians have always found a quality home on Sugar Hill Records. The label s first boxed set, "Sugar Hill Records: A Retrospective," features 80 songs packed onto four discs, offering an enlightening and always entertaining overview of the North Carolina label s valuable contribution to American music.
Heavy on contemporary bluegrass, but making room for distinctive singer-songwriters and progressive string musicians of all stripes, Sugar Hill is one of the few modern record labels to forge an artistic identity of its own. The set charts the label s course, from lending enthusiastic support to early discoveries like Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart , Doyle Lawson and Newgrass Revival to developing into a reputable label that attracted estimable veterans like Doc Watson, Guy Clark , Rodney Crowell and Dolly Parton . These days, the label remains a brand of quality: It provided acoustic wizards Nickel Creek an environment that encouraged creative growth, while also taking chances on such iconoclastic talents as rock-leaning songwriter Scott Miller, quirky Austin club band The Gourds and young instrumental talents Bryan Sutton and Aubrey Haynie.
In an era of mass consolidation and play-it-safe record labels, Sugar Hill remains a sweet mountain of integrity and stability. A career retrospective on Waylon Jennings should come with a warning: To truly represent his entire career, it must include the sappy, forgettable songs that his label forced him to record and that pushed him to become a musical outlaw in the first place. This one fills that bill.
The comprehensive, 92-song "Nashville Rebel" boxed set includes a dozen or more of the pre-rebellion recordings that Jennings later disavowed. The collection does feature the monumental hits that made the one-time Buddy Holly sideman a country music legend, including "Waymore Blues," "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way," and "Luchenbach, Texas." But it also includes the generic tunes and tinny, overly cheerful production pressed n him by the pre-outlaw Nashville system, including such stinkers as "Love of the Common People" and "Yours Love.
" For those wanting to track Jennings from his days as an Arizona nightclub hoss to his final recordings as an American statesman waxing wisely on his rough-and-rowdy life, Nashville Rebel is the most complete compilation yet of this important Texan s work. But for a complete collection of the work that stands as his greatest artistic legacy, pick up the albums he made between 1972 and 1978, when his tough-as-leather, rhythm-driven style gave country music a gruffer, earthier, sexier sound. Michael McCall, for The AP These 1957-58 recording sessions heralded the emergence of John Coltrane as a leader, ushering in a decade-long creative outpouring that saw the saxophonist take jazz in new directions.
Until now, it s been difficult to follow Coltrane s early development because the low-budget Prestige label spread these sessions out over 11 albums released between 1957-65. Although the 48 remastered tracks on this six-CD set contain no unreleased material, they are available for the first time in chronological order and augmented by detailed session notes by Coltrane biographer Lewis Porter. From the first May 1957 session, Coltrane shows his mastery of the basic building blocks of mainstream jazz blues, romantic ballads and standards fronting mostly quartets and quintets with such accomplished post-bop players as pianist Red Garland and bassist Paul Chambers (from Miles Davis group), drummer Art Taylor, and various trumpeters, including Freddie Hubbard and the underrated Wilbur Harden.
The saxophonist gradually introduces the elements that came to mark his improvisational style, including the rapid flurries of notes dubbed "sheets of sound." By May 1958, his solos have become lengthier and more exploratory on such gems as the 18-minute-plus "Sweet Sapphire Blues." Just months after the last December 1958 session, Coltrane would record two of the most influential albums in jazz history Davis modal "Kind of Blue" and his own compositional breakthrough, "Giant Steps," with its innovative chord progressions.
Even casual jazz fans can find much to savor in the nearly six hours of music a powerful and passionate expression of mainstream jazz at its best before the leader became a legend. If you like John Lee Hooker well enough to consider this new four-disc box set, chances are you already own most of these tracks a few times over. The Boogie Man has seen his recordings repackaged in various best-of collections over the years, but this is a worthy addition to the catalog.
And when Hooker launches into some guitar licks on the first track "Boogie Chillen ," we are reminded why his music endures. He s got a raw groove built inside of him that only knows one way out, and listeners are the beneficiaries. Much of the music on the first two discs taps in his early foot stomping work with no backup band.
Hooker and his guitar are plenty on tracks like "Crawlin King Snake." There s also a nice version of "I m in the Mood," with Hooker accompanied by Eddie Kirkland on the guitar. Kirkland does a good job keeping up with Hooker s often ramshackle musical backphrasing.
Hooker made ends meet while living in Detroit by recording outside of his proper contract under pseudonyms. Those are also nicely detailed here, with Hooker playing under the name John Lee Booker on the blistering 50s-era song "Leave My Wife Alone" and as Texas Slim on "Wandering Blues." The fourth disc has a lot of collaborations with admiring artists such as Los Lobos and Eric Clapton .
It rounds out the homage to Hooker nicely, but give me the solo recordings of the 1950s any day. Hooker, and his guitar and his signature growl-and-howl style, never needed the help. David Crosby s been a part of the some of the most seminal groups in rock history most notably The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and Young).
The 52-song, three-disc box set "Voyage" offers an overview of Crosby s career both with those groups and solo or in collaboration with one or more of his bandmates. Predictably, the songs culled from his days with the Byrds and CSN are more familiar, and better, than his solo work. But there are some gems to be found there as well, most notably 1975 s "Carry Me.
" The 16 songs on disc three are all previously unreleased, making the box set attractive for anyone who would happen to have all of Crosby s albums already. Highlights include demo versions of some of his most famous songs, like "Deja Vu" and "Wooden Ships" as well as "Cowboy Movie," which features Neil Young , Jerry Garcia and two other members of the Grateful Dead. Anyone who knows more about Crosby s sometimes sensational personal life than his art would be well-served to check out his music in more depth.
While not all of "Voyage" is worthy of remembering, when Crosby is on the mark either with his friends or by himself, no one is better. "The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited" (Various Artists, Shout) More than five decades ago, an eccentric genius with an obsession for roots music assembled 84 tracks from the 1920s and 1930s into the seminal "Anthology of American Folk Music," which was nothing less than a driving force behind the folk revival. In rather dramatic fashion, it took the music of American yesterdays ballads, blues, religious songs and propelled it into the ears of the musicians who would not only redefine folk music but help create modern country, rock and rhythm and blues.
The man behind the "Anthology" was Harry Smith. And it is his curatorial prowess that is celebrated in the outstanding new collection, "The Harry Smith Project: The Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited," a four-disc set that includes an ample helping of music, live DVD performances and an engaging documentary about Smith and his place in the culture. Just as Smith served up old-time musicians like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Clarence "Tom" Ashley, Eck Robertson, Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Mississippi John Hurt to a new generation, so, too, does the Smith Project reconceive those old songs for a new century.
(The songs were recorded at a series of concerts in 1999 and 2001.) Take, for example, "Sugar Baby" by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. The "Anthology" version, performed by Appalachian banjo master Dock Boggs at his nasal death-ballad best in the late 1920s, is a spare mountain song a controlled screech molded by Boggs into pained art.
By contrast, the McGarrigle sisters, with their soft harmonizations, build "Sugar Baby" into something entirely different and astounding that manages to be modern and ancient, gentle and angry all at once. In fact, that s what unites all these songs as delivered by such masters as Lou Reed , Nick Cave , Steve Earle , Elvis Costello and David Johansen . In the most curious of ways, today s artists somehow remake early 20th-century renditions of 19th-century songs into fundamentally new pieces of 21st-century music while still retaining the soul of the earlier versions.
The kernel of truth, of authenticity, that lies at the heart of so many songs on Smith s 1952 "Anthology" simply will not be ignored. And they are in good hands the hands of talented modern musicians who are engaging in a calibrated and necessary plunder of the past that helps us look upon our most familiar classics in entirely new ways. The curious goth genre finally gets it s proper reflective release with "Life Less Lived," and overall it s an excellent education of the often dark and experimental musical style.
The first disc has some real top-notch stuff. The Cure, goth s best act, delivers "Charlotte Sometimes" with the proper lilt of melancholy. It s poorly mastered, but Smith s vocals make up for the flat audio resolution.
Disc one also shines with other excellent tracks, including "She s In Parties" from Bauhaus and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" from Specimen. The Bauhaus number is quintessential downbeat goth, scorching guitar licks over a stilted drumming with just enough rock to keep it hard edge but darkly paced enough to keep the mood gloomy. However, other songs on "Life Less Lived" are just flat goofy.
Nick Cave the Badseeds sound corny and over-emotive on "The Weeping Song." And The Lords of the New Church are expendable on their peppy track "Open Your Eyes." The packaging of "Life Less Lived" is gorgeous, replete with laced faux-leather corset over the black and red boxed set.
Inside, a booklet gives a history of the death-themed goth genre and a DVD disc gives us a glimpse at the creepy kids past in action. There s even a how-to dance goth primer. Nice touch.
The Byrds, "There is a Season" (Sony) There s more to The Byrds than "Mr. Tambourine Man" and other Bob Dylan covers. The four-disc, 99-song box set "There is a Season" proves that.
To be sure, it was the Byrds interpretations of Dylan s songs that launched the folk-rock era and cemented the band s place in rock history. But the story doesn t stop there. The Byrds went on to produce a wide variety of other music, including what could arguably be the start of the country-rock genre with 1968 s "Sweetheart of the Rodeo.
" There s not much previously unreleased music just five songs not counting 10 unissued TV performances on a DVD but the comprehensive overview of the Byrds career is a necessity for any serious music fan s collection. It should be noted, however, that there was another Byrds boxed set released in 1990 as well as extended editions of every Byrds album. "There is a Season" is perfect for anyone who has little or no Byrds music.
For everyone else, it s a tougher sell. This is the first boxed set featuring Weather Report, the pre-eminent jazz-rock fusion band of the 1970s formed by saxophonist Wayne Shorter and keyboard player Joe Zawinul. Weather Report set a high standard for its collective improvisations, innovative compositions, high-energy rock grooves, world music influences and use of cutting-edge electronics to create an orchestral sound.
Hard-core Weather Report fans might be disappointed because the three-CD/one-DVD package lacks some favorites and only includes two previously unreleased tracks, a studio version of "Directions" and a live performance of "Nubian Sundance." But "Forecast: Tomorrow" does offer a good overview on its 37 tracks of Weather Report s evolution from its roots (Miles Davis 1969 recording of Zawinul s "In A Silent Way") to its lasting influence (DJ Logic s 2005 remix of Zawinul s funky 1973 tune "125th Street Congress"). Disc one covers Weather Report s 1970-73 phase, featuring Miroslav Vitous on acoustic bass, characterized by freer-form tunes such as "Eurydice" and "Orange Lady.
" On disc two (1974-79), the band turns to an all-electronic format, playing tighter tunes with high-energy funky grooves, including their biggest hit, "Birdland." This period is highlighted by the arrival of Jaco Pastorius, who revolutionized electric bass playing on such tunes as his own "Havona." Disc three covers the band s final years before the 1986 breakup when electric bassist Victor Bailey and drummer Omar Hakim injected new energy on such tunes as "D-Flat Waltz" and "Plaza Real.
" The bonus DVD, a videotape of a 1978 two-hour concert in Germany, captures the band in peak form, covering not only their own originals but also a Duke Ellington and Jimi Hendrix tune, reflecting the group s varied influences. With her eternally platinum bouffant and curve-hugging clothes, Dolly Parton has scorched through decades of genres, from country to commercial pop. But it was the 60-year-old superstar s decision to turn back to her Tennessee bluegrass roots with 1999 s Grammy-winning "The Grass is Blue" that raised the profile of her already stellar song-writing.
Parton, not only a sweet-toned singer but an expert banjo player, enlisted producer Steve Buckingham and such A-list musicians as guitarist Jerry Douglas , fiddler Stuart Duncan and mandolin player Sam Bush. That album, plus 2001 s "Little Sparrow" and 2002 s "Halos and Horns," make up the bluegrass trifecta of Parton s new box set, which includes a bonus DVD of videos, song mixes and tribute covers. Tunes such as "Little Sparrow" slip along on bittersweet melodies, while Parton s pared down version of Led Zeppelin s "Stairway to Heaven" is gloriously effective.
It s Parton s ability to spin love and heartache, heightened by vocal mixes of "Seven Bridges Road" and "Travelin Prayer" featuring mega harmonies with the likes of Alison Krauss, that make this box set worth it. Other highlights include a live on-stage performance of Parton with a smoky, piano-playing Norah Jones . The box set s only drawback is actually the videos from the campy "I m Gone" (pink never looked so bright!
) to a frighteningly close-up shot of Parton in the sadly beautiful "Dagger Through the Heart." The best video, a cover of Collective Soul s "Shine," starts off in black-and-white and bursts into color as Parton walks along a country-to-city road. Kind of like her own life s path, which is still twisting.
Either you already know Vicente Fernandez, or you just don t realize that you already know him. If you ve heard any music at all from Mexico, it s most likely that you ve heard the dramatic voice of Vicente Fernandez, who is one of those rare folks who lives up to the "living legend" label. Fernandez, indeed, is the modern voice of Mexico.
It is fitting that Fernandez is a rancher s son who was born in Jalisco, the state that gives Mexico many of its cultural icons: the strappingly dressed mariachi musician; tough cowboys; the beautiful Tapatia women; and, of course, tequila. This handsome, three-disc box set includes a lengthy write-up on Fernandez, in English and Spanish, which includes an often mentioned comparison to Sinatra. Yes, it could be said that Fernandez is the Sinatra of Mexico, in that he is so representative of the culture.
But he is also the Pavarotti of Mexico, in that his soaring tenor is capable of emotional subtlety and operatic drama. Much of Fernandez s range is captured in this set, with its discs divided into songs paying homage to Mexico, another of songs that might be dedicated to a fellow cantina-goer, and another to the theme of love. The selection does not include some of Fernandez s best-known pieces, such as his signature "Volver, Volver.
" The choices, nonetheless, are good for both those listeners who well know Fernandez and those who are just discovering this treasured voice. 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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