4 comments about Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police.

1. This album was very good. However, it seemed to lack the passion and energy that so many of Jello's albums have displayed so very well. Sure, Jello wrote and researched well, but there were few moments when you could really feel that glorious liberating feeling that comes out of so many other speeches from Jello's glory days. However, this album does happen to contain my favorite of his SW pieces: "Eric Meets the Moose Diarrhea Salesman". Being a fan, it's so entertaining to hear about how he got to where he is. And, if you're not a fan I think you'll like it too. Give it a try....



2. The truth is far stranger than this



3. Jello Biafra, former lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, continues to perform punk rock without the music on "Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police." He also has the quality that most good speakers possess -- even when you disagree with him, you still enjoy his ranting and raving. This is the fourth in a series of spoken word efforts, all of which, I would argue, are of the same general level of substance and quality. Maybe it is because the substance is essentially the same and always poignant -- the police state is coming/here. Like an evangelist who warns us of the final days of earth, Biafra warns us about the final days of freedom. Big Brother, big government is the antichrist, and no one delivers this message so well. Part of this stems from his own experience, which he recounts in one way or another throughout his spoken word recordings, as an artist persecuted by the establishment. For those of you who are unaware, Biafra was arrested and charged with distributing harmful matter to minors and tried in Los Angeles in the latter 1980's (there was a hung jury and the case was dismissed). Biafra's food for thought is seasoned heavily with contempt for the religious right and absolute paranoia with respect to government control -- you get the feeling he is expecting a death squad to be waiting for him outside of the lecture hall at some points. Even so, you, the listener, wind up asking yourself, "What if even 10% of this is true?" It is alarming, to be sure. Unlike many others who peddle inflammatory rhetoric on one subject or another, however, Biafra frequently throws out the sources of his information for his audience. Ultimately, his message really is, "Don't take my word for it, check it out yourself." To use the Bill Maher line from "Politically Incorrect," somebody's got to say it. If somebody's got to say it, you can't do any better than Biafra.



4. Jello has has agreat series of Spoken Word Albums and this is by far the best one!

No comments about Le Bonheur: Vision Occidentale et Chinoise.

5 comments about Twisted Christmas.

1. This is a boxed set featuring Bob Rivers first two Christmas albums (Twisted Christmas and I Am Santa Claus) plus the "bonus disc" Twisted Tunes 1994: The Year in Review. I have reviewed all these albums separately, so there's really no need to review them here. I'll just say they're funny and leave it at that.



2. Being a Bob Rivers enthusiast, I enjoyed this boxed set of Cds. The year in review was a little lame, but the other two disks were the typical Christmas quality!



3. sound more suzi quatro than suzi. other titles are very good,funnyand not offensive. good work



4. I did not realize that only 2 of the boxed set are Twisted Christmas CDs. The third is 1994 a year in review. I would have prefered all Twisted Christmas CDs other wise i would have purchased them seperatly. The two Christmas ones are great!



5. Metaldiva Sez:
   This set is a "must have" for everyone that enjoys the "almost lost" art of satire and take-offs of their favorite holiday, everyday and metal hits and styles. Nothing better than relaxing enough in these crazy, sad times to laugh at ourselves. The Metal take-offs are a blast!!! I first heard "I Am Santa Claus" done to Sabbath's "Iron Man" in December 1998 along with "Walking 'Round in Women's Underwear" done to "Winter Wonderland" on my way to a relocation in Los Angeles. My heart was heavy from the move and they made me crack up and laugh out loud. The imitations are really, really good and can take even metal afficionados like me have to turn-it-up and really listen hard to hear if it is the original artist or not. My metalbaby sons love these and some of the lyrics may be a bit racy to have a 6 and 13 year repeat at school, so parental discretion should be used (as with every truly decent metal song. But my entire family Rockgod, Metalbabes, and yours truly, the Metaldiva herself say get this and have a greatly needed laugh anytime of the year!!!

No comments about Humble Beginnings: The Complete Transatlantic Recordings, 1969-74.

No comments about The Captive, Pt. 1.

No comments about The Golden Keys to the Money Tree & Special Secrets in Being an Oasis of Wellbeing: Spoken.

1 comments about Another Monty Python Box.

1. It's really inappropriate to realese an album like this. The material within, is of course some of the greatest comedy to ever come to life, but do we really need another box set. The joke of that is gone, and everyone who is gonna buy these albums, has pretty much already done so. Only buy this if you don't have these albums.

2 comments about The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes IV.

1. Why grade 9 and above? How about 5th/6th graders?
   (disregard the rating, as I have not yet listened to it)



2. Though not necessarily the best Sherlock Holmes stories, David Timson does a wonderful job bringing flavor and color to stories of our favorite Victorian "consulting detective." Picturing the flat at 221B Baker Street and 19th century London is easy through Watson's naratives and Timson's excellent voice characterizations. David Timson does the best readings among all the Sherlock Holmes audio books I own. I highly recommend any Holmes story read by David Timson.

No comments about Entretiens Par Claude Bochurberg.

5 comments about The Ashes of Eden.

1. I am 31 years old and I have been a Star Trek fan since I was about 9 or 10. However, until now I have never read a Star Trek book. I guess now that I am out of school and have more time on my hands I can read more for fun instead of an assignment. I also haven't had a new Star Trek adventure in a few years now via TV or the big screen so I decided to start checking out the adventures that have been coming out since the beginning of Star Trek. I began with Ashes of Eden!!!!
   
   I enjoyed this book a lot. I was warned before I began that Shatner was basically writing this for himself. "William Shatner was aboard the enterprise not Captain Kirk" However, I still got a big kick out of this book. Sure Shatner had Kirk go out on an adventure, having endless sex with a woman 1/3 his age. Not to mention he was the big hero at the end(I didn't ruin anything this is before the movie Generations you know he didn't die). Shatner not only knows the Star Trek Universe but he knows the characters, not just Kirk but all the others too.
   
   Captain Kirk is thinking that his adventures are a think of his past, until he meets a young woman who is offering him one more adventure (among other things) Kirk accepts the mission even though McCoy and Spock do not approve. He heads to a planet out of federation space. What he doesn't know is the new leader of Starfleet decides it time to get revenge of Kirk for something Kirk did in his past. He goes after Kirk and brings along the crew that knows Kirk best. They are all along for the ride. Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura. Shatner brought in past adventures from the TV Series and the movies and combined it with original idea to create a great story.
   
   Next for me is Collision Course by Shatner.



2. A great story or book on tape for anyone. If you have seen any of the first six Star Trek movies or the original series this is a must hear/read.



3. Like many great sagas out there the first chapter tends to be the best, and Ashes of Eden proves that theory to be true. The finale of the 10 part Kirk Saga "Captain's Glory" is absolutely superb too, but that review is on another webpage. Anyway, I read this book originally when I was 15 years old when it came out and couldn't put it down. I have recently reread Ashes of Eden as well as its two counterparts "The Return" and "Avenger." (these three novels make up the first trilogy entitled "The odyssey").
   
   This time around I enjoyed Ashes of Eden ten fold. Not only is the book fast paced, full of action, and actually more of a love story, it has many things that trek fans love. Great interaction between the original crew, the Excelsior in action, and the true fate of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A.
   
   If you have never read a Shatner Kirk novel YOU MUST START WITH THIS ONE! William Shatner does a marvelous job building on each novel and when the day comes you finally read the concluding chapter "Captain's Glory", you will be grateful you read them all in order. There are 9 novels totaling the Kirk Saga.
   
   Again, Star Trek Ashes of Eden is a superb novel and arguably one of the greates Star Trek novels ever printed. 10/10 A+.



4. This is the first Star Trek novel that William Shatner collaborated on. He has since collaborated on others and written many on his own, in addition to the successful Tek Wars, which was made in to a TV series. I read the original hardback version, which is now out of print.
   
   Here we find a retired, now civilian, James Kirk in a new adventure to save an independent planet recognized by the Federation, but claimed by both the Romulan and the Klingon Empires. Kirk is once again asked to become the Captain of the Enterprise.
   
   But the Enterprise is no longer a Federation Ship. She has now been decommissioned and stripped of much of her equipment, too top-secret to be allowed on a now-civilian vessel. The vessel has been bought by an independent planet, Chal, and handed to Kirk, for his new assignment. That assignment is unclear at first, but the full story gradually is revealed, and Kirk finds himself on a different adventure than he first imagined.
   
   Kirk's former crew under Captain Sulu get caught up in a high-level plot to undermine the whole Federation, and the trail leads right to the top. A showdown occurs at the planet Kirk has been contracted to save, where Kirk's former crew are pitted against Kirk and his new planetary defense force.
   
   Kirk finds himself facing down the Commander in Chief of the Federation, who shows up to join his special team, Sulu and crew, in a new twist of this strange scenario developing on planet Chal. Kirk in his new role on behalf of Chal, is captain of the private, remiliatarized Enterprise as a defense ship for the almost defenseless planet.
   
   A secret treasure of information on the planet holds a key to interpreting this mystery, unexpected even by the beleaguered inhabitants who invited Kirk to develop a defense for them.



5. Firstly, I love William Shatner, he is just someone I enjoy watching--he clearly takes a great deal of enjoyment from what he does also. The same is true to this book, it is at times easy to see through the prose to perhaps other more personal moments, as it is hard to seperate Kirk from Shatner--and it makes interesting reading to ponder what Shatner is thinking and saying though his most famous character.
   
   I was impressed, first and foremost at how well he utilized the other characters. Chekov is given impressive amounts of page time, Spock and McCoy are well written and Scotty is the only member of the original crew who accompanies Kirk on his crazy mission (loyalty to the Enterprise afterall). I agree with one of the other reviewers, that perhaps this was Shatner's olive branch to James Doohan. The characters have several thoughtful conversations where Kirk admits to himself that he has often not listened to Scotty as he should have.
   
   The plot isn't an end of the world one, its Kirk in the middle of an extreme midlife crisis, along with a good old dose of rivalry (an old Academy classmate of Kirk's who is now head of Starfleet). I did find at times that I felt the book was a little too long and so skimmed someof the more descriptive scenes.
   
   The book is very thoughtful, even though it does have some action moments too, but it ties in huge amounts of the Trek Universe (I'm guessing alot of this is the work of Shatner's helpmates). It is also more thought provoking than most of the trek books out there.
   
   I really enjoyed this book as of the original series books I have been reading so far this has some of the BEST characterizations I have seen. (I really was expecting alot more of Kirk in a blaze of glory but instead Kirk is a very well layered and human character, with very noticable flaws,more so than on film it seems)