No comments about Chansons Eternelles.

3 comments about Eternelle: Les Plus Grandes Chansons d'Edith Piaf.

1. The cover of this 2-CD set is so beautiful that I was almost tempted to buy it right away, not to mention the several never-released pieces. But why bother to implement the copy-control codes? First, such code makes it not playable on some computers and even some expensive audio CD players; secondly, many users have already reported that such code makes the recording sound weird. It is, therefore, very ironical that on one hand recording engineers have struggled to improve the sound quality of the recording while on the other hand the code lowers the sound quality. While some people may blame the historical recording for the questionable sound quality, the same weird and somewhat digital/mechanical sound effect can be heard on even the recent copy-controlled CD's such as Sarah Brightman's "Harem". Thus this could-have-been-wonderful 2CD-set does not deserve more than 3 stars simply because of the redundant and avoidable copy-control code so implemented that unduly and unavoidaby worsens the sound.



2. This CD is "copy controlled", though that fact is not listed in the product details. It won't play on my system (an mp3 media center).

   The music may be fantastic, but I'm returning to get a different Piaf CD.




3. Just purchased Eternelle Les Plus Grandes Chansons d'Edith Piaf in Paris (where it is being featured) and think it is the best compliation of her work. Excellent reproduction - even the scratchy songs from the 30's and 40's are of good quality. All of her good songs (43) on 2 discs.

   Am impressed to find this CD at Amazon.com, and at a lower price than we just paid in Paris!

5 comments about The Wall: Live in Berlin, 1990.

1. I agree with those who find some of the guest stars to be a bit dated (Bryan Adams, The Hooters) but can you argue with their performances?
   
   To me, not having heard some of these songs since the heady days of high school, this is a revelation. Kudos especially to Garth Hudson, of The Band, who delivers a great sax and accordian solo. Joni sounds amazing, Van The Man rocks it, and while I can do without Jerry Hall, in context it really doesn't sound too bad.
   
   But the songwriting, and arrangements, sound as great as ever.
   
   If you like the original, you really should pick this up for a second look at these timeless classics.



2. I agree with many reviewers, this was one of the greatest album of all time, but if you want to hear it "Live", get "Is there anybody out there?" and hear the real live version of "The Wall". Many guests artist are making a real bad job on this cd, it all begin with Ute Lepter making a bad job on "The thin ice", we really miss David Gilmour voice here. Sinead O'Connor is bad also (Roger was there, so why asking somebody else to sing his part ?) and "The Band" ruins one of the best chorus of this double cd. Horrible ! Joni Mitchel is a real joke on "Goodbye blue sky", again, we're missing David Gilmour here, I don't know what Mrs Mitchell was on, but it doesn't seems to give a good effect ! Bryan Adams is doin' really great in my mind, his voice is the perfect choice for "Young Lust"
   Jerry Hall is also a real joke in the opening of "One of my turns"
   Paul Carrack is just OK on "Hey you". We have a great version of "Nobody Home", even better that the original, with a drum beat and a good guitar solo, good addition in my mind.
   Here we get to the really bad moment of the album, which should have been the highlight, I am talking about "Confortably Numb" Van Morrisson and "The Band" should be sewed for such a disaster. Roger should have asked Paul Carrack to sing David Gilmour's part, it would have been better. This is a total disaster....it is really bad. The Australian Pink Floyd show is doin' a lot better that this ! The closing song has been replaced by "The Tide is turning", I am not sure it was a good idea, again, some guest are doin' great (Bryan Adams) but some are miserable, like Van Morrisson, yes him again ! Overall, the album is a deception for me, and I am a huge fan. Try "Is there anybody out there ?! instead.



3. I was never a huge Pink Floyd fan--which is not to say I didn't like their music or respect their talent. But, I dunno, maybe it was just ALL those annoying sound effects and voiceovers. Even good music can seem a little gimmicky when tarted up with too much extraneous noise. Yeah, I admit I liked the ringing cash registers drawer in "Money," but so much of the other stuff was, well, just a drag.
   
   Literally, all that clutter dragged the music down. How often do I really need to hear that little kid prattle "Look mommy, there's an airplane in the sky" anyway?
   
   But the real reason I never became a such a huge Floydfan was simply their ubiquity. Back in the late 60s and early 70s, it seemed like everybody I knew had every single one of their albums. And they had already become FM rock staples by then. You could escape the Pinks if you wanted to. Resultantly, I think maybe the last actual album of theirs that I even bothered to buy was UMMAGUMMA--or maybe ATOM HEART MOTHER. Can't recall which.
   
   So when THE WALL came out, well, I heard it and as I recall my first reaction was something like, "Oh, are they still doing 'concept albums'?" OK, OK, I'm kidding--I did like it well enough, but it wasn't a life changing experience exactly either. The lyrics were intelligent enough, and as a "song cycle," it hung together very well. But it was actually hard to discern any real overarching themes and even the metaphoric "wall" itself seemed, if not "mixed," then perhaps a bit overextended. Was "the wall" a psychological construct, i.e. the protective "walls" we all build up around ourselves to protect ourselves from the vicissitudes of life ("All in all, it was all just bricks in the wall." OR was it a social one, i.e. the pernicious socialization of a rigid educational and, by extension, political system that crushed individuality and turned individual human beings into "bricks" in society's wall.
   
   Well, the answer was obviously BOTH. And that extended metaphor never seemed to bother the fans overly much. There are, as it turns out, all kinds of walls. And so it was that in 1990, THE WALL's main composer--former Floydster Roger Waters--extended the metaphor even further, this time into the political realm. By staging an all-star concert revival of his 70s magnum opus in "post-Wall" Berlin. A brilliant ploy, to be sure, but certainly the "wall" being evoked was not a purely pychological or sociological phenomenon. The "wall" German fans (and they were legion as I recall from my own days in Deutschland) related to was a painful historical reality and legacy.
   
   So the concert added on another layer of meaning to an already ambiguous (but really not overly subtle) work of art. Including local talent like Scorpions and Ute Lemper was then virtually de riguer--or should I say, "notwendig." And of course, Berlin was an international city for so long that adding other British, American AND even Russian acts to the roster was certainly appropriate. (Wait a minute, where are the French?) It's an "open city," and it's now torn down wall is open to new interpretation.
   
   It's not surprising that die-hard Floyd fans see the guest vocalists' interpretations here as something akin to sacrilege. Imagine having a popster like Cyndi Lauper sing "The Wall, Pt. 2." Who'd a thunk it? Well, it's not a song that provides much room for Lauper's patented multi-octave wailing, but hey, the former Blue Angel has deeper rock roots than classic rock fanatics would ever acknowledge. And who better to sing the lines "We don't need no education" than one of popular musics most famous high school drop-outs? Of course, the repressiveness of the British school system is of a somewhat different order than that of the Catholic and public school system of Queens. But the business of churning out more bricks in and for the wall. And that's true whether you pronounce it "classroom" a la Lauper or "clahsroom," as does the chorus.
   
   And there is a certain delicious irony in having a mother-complexed female artist like Sinead O'Connor take on Floyd's "Mother" and give it a delicate, thoughtful reading--while still expressing fears about them breaking, in this case, HER (metaphorical?) balls. And as conflicted as I often am about Joni Mitchell's work, her interpretion of "Goodbye, Blue Sky" is elegant. Her voice was getting a bit smoky by the early 90s, and it was just right for this somber reflection on war in the (post)modern world.
   
   And that's just the women--and only disc one. But it was downright smart of Waters (whom, I gather, has sometimes been accused of misogyny) to fill up the first half of the program with heavyweight women artists (and to throw in a comic turn by Jerry Hall to boot: yes, the album is rife with former flames of Mick Jagger, since Marianne Faithfull shows up on Disc 2,as who else, "Mother").
   
   As for the men, Van Morrison and Paul Carrack offer subtle, distinctive shadings on "Comfortably Numb" and "Hey You" respectively. Roger Waters voice seems, for the most part, shot, but actually that can be a just the right coloration for some of the grimmer, more desperate tracks. Again the hardcore contingent will mourn David Gilmour's absence. The rest of us will find the newer interpretations at the very least interesting, if not quite revelatory.
   
   There are all kinds of ways of becoming "comfortably numb." Refusing to accept any alternate takes on your own personal classic rock canon is likely one of them. Take it from a non-fan, this project is at least worth the attention of you die-hards. Open your ears--and tear down the walls.



4. I rented this concert on VHS one day. I love it.
   
   The goods
   ) Bryan Adams singing Young Lust
   Bryan Adams did this song good. He is one of my favorite singers today.
   ) Sinad o' conner singing mother
   I loved this version of the song
   
   Bads
   ) Cyndi Lauper singing Another Brick in the wall Pt. 2
   It wasn't that good
   ) Hey you
   I miss David Gilmore and Roger singing this song
   
   All and All this was an ok cd.



5. Although many people gave this live concert a low rating due to Roger Waters' choice of substitute singers/musicians for some of the songs from the original Wall recording, after seeing it on video for the first time, it became easier to listen to the recording alone afterward.
   
   What really blew me away at that time was Roger having a "communist" orchestra accompany the music of a rock and roll album!! This was the highlight of the entire event, and their performance was excellent!!!

No comments about Best Recordings.

No comments about Falling in Love Again.

1 comments about Moulin Rouge.

1. THIS MUSIC IS UPBEAT AND IS GOOD FOR GETTING YOUR BLO0D A PUMPING! I CLEAN MY HOUSE TO THIS MUSIC AND NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT. THAT IS IF I AM GOING MORE THAN 30 MILES....GREAT CD!!!

2 comments about Complete Capitol Small Group Transcriptions.

1. This is quite a nice disc, with lovely packaging and excellent sound quality. Having been transferred from the original sources using 24-bit technology, there is amazing clarity, presence, and depth to the music.

   June is featured here with a loose band of sidemen from Stan Kenton's orchestra known as The Kentones. The first thirteen tracks, recorded in December of 1945, feature trumpet, trombone, alto sax, piano, guitar, bass, and drums. The last 12 tracks, recorded July and August of 1946, feature a similar lineup, although alto sax is replaced by tenor. Musicians include Ray Wetzel on trumpet, Shelly Manne on drums, and Dave Barbour, who plays fine electric guitar throughout. Every instrumentalist featured is great, and the loose arrangements offer them frequent opportunities for concise improvisatory & written solos, as well as for general atmospheric embellishments. This intimate setting is also the perfect straight-ahead jazz environment for June to display her awesomely textured voice, nuanced phrasing, and inimitable way with a lyric. The tunes are an ideal mix of seductive, engaging ballads and bouncy up tempo swingers, often invoking Billie Holiday's early sides with Lester Young. One look at the track list reveals a most uncommon (and welcome) selection of top-drawer standards by the likes of Hammerstein & Kern, Dubin & Warren, Burke & Haggart, Kholer & Arlen, Khan, Webb, Goodman, Berlin, Gershwin, and Ellington. I highly recommend this 72 minute program of music to every fan (or potential fan) of June Christy, and to anyone who simply enjoys good jazz.




2. June Christy made this intimate recordings in the 'mid-40s, a good five years or so before she really began coming into her own as a persuasive and different kind of jazz singer. Her voice and style are only in the formation stage. Still, the album is pleasant and offers a lot of great standards.

No comments about Les Bonbons.

1 comments about Guess Who's in Town: Bobby Short Performs the Songs of Andy Razaf.

1. Bobby Short is an incredible artist and performer. He has been an staple in the NY City music and art scene for decades and this album demonstrates why he has gained such a loyal following. The story of Andy Razaf alone is a breathtaking story of accomplishment in spite of the numerous obstacles that were present during that period in history. This album is a dignified testimony to the wonderful, yet poignant music and compositions of Andy Razaf. Done masterfully well, as only Bobby Short could do it, each song is like a single diamond in a cluster-flawless and hypnotic in its beauty, grace and style. You will feel as if you have been transported to another time when you listen to the renditions presented here on this classic undertaking. Enjoy.

2 comments about Irving Berlin: A Hundred Years.

1. Irving Berlin, the dean of American song- writers wrote over one- thousand published songs in his life. Yet as with everything most of these are not remembered today, and Berlin is known today for a few dozen major songs. Among those included here are 'Cheek to Cheek' 'Easter Parade' ' White Christmas' 'Alexander's Ragtime Band'.'I've Got my Love to keep my warm' 'Always' 'What'll I do'.
   However a number of his greatest songs are not included, and among them perhaps the most famous one of all, the song many have thought should be the national anthem, "God Bless America'
   The singers and the arrangements here are not in every case the best, but Fred Astaire in 'Cheek to Cheek' is unbeatable.
   The songs included are:
   Let Me Sing And I'm Happy - Ben Selvin & His Orchestra 2. Puttin' On The Ritz - Jan Garber & His Greater Columbia Recording Orch.
   3. Say It Isn't So - Connie Boswell
   4. I Love A Piano - Arthur Schutt
   5. Face The Music Medley - Victor Young And The Brunswick Orchestra W/Bing C.
   6. Mandy - Eddie Cantor
   7. Easter Parade - Gene Austin 8. Harlem On My Mind - Ethel Waters
   9. Alexander's Ragtime Band - Boswell Sisters With The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra 10. Cheek To Cheek - Fred Astaire Listen Listen Listen
   11. Let Yourself Go - Bunny Berigan And His Orchestra 12. Remember - Red Norvo And His Orchestra Listen Listen Listen
   13. This Year's Kisses - Teddy Wilson And His Orchestra W/ Billie Holiday
   14. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm - Red Norvo And His Orchestra W/ Mildred Bailey
   15. How Deep Is The Ocean - Benny Goodmman And His Orchestra W/Peggy Lee Listen Listen Listen
   16. Doin' What Comes Naturally - Dinah Shore 17. Always - Tony Bennett Listen Listen Listen
   18. You're Just In Love - Rosemary Clooney And Guy Mitchell Listen Listen Listen
   19. White Christmas - Johnny Mathis
   20. What'll I Do -



2. Well, it's just as I remembered it from my old cassette version, but now I don't need to wind the tape or flip it over! Otherwise, it's the same as the tape: great Berlin songs, brought to life by some of the most famous voices...Fred Astaire does his best version of "Cheek to Cheek", Dinah Shore for me *defines* the number "Doin' What Comes Naturally", and I much prefer Barbara Streisand's rendition of "What'll I Do"...this isn't some definitive collection, but it's a rock-solid introduction to one of America's most beloved classic composers!