No comments about Live in Leeds 1984.

No comments about Totale's Turns (It's Now or Never).

5 comments about Who's Got the 10½?.

1. Then you know what I'm here after. Any band that quotes Black Oak Arkansas on their own live album is the real deal and it doesn't get any realer than Black Flag.
   
   Lots of people hated the band back around this time. I saw this tour in NYC (Irving Plaza) just a few days after I graduated high school and it blew my mind. Saint Vitus opened. People hated them. Most of the crowd hated Black Flag too. I couldn't figure out why since they were one of the best bands I'd ever seen (still true to this day). I didn't realize until later that their old fans hated them for having long hair and for putting a lot of energy into their music. Oh well. At least you can play this record loud alongside Kick Out The Jams, Raunch N Roll, No Sleep Til Hammersmith, Double Live Gonzo and Grand Funk's Live Album where it belongs.
   
   Check out Mighty High...In Drug City.



2. INCREDIBLE album. Pees all over the other live album both cd and dvd !!! Good sounding, raw, lightning-fast sped-up versions of a lot of their slugde-rock songs on their last 2 records mixed with a healthy dose of revisited oldies with a twist ( and a half !! ) 65' in lenght, yet Hank's banter has been edited out. Anthony Martínez is just as good as Bill Stevenson and GGinn's guitarwork is more structured, tighter, r&roll-oriented than before. The result is a levelling steamroller of a live concert. It really captures the raw, live feel of an actual show. Get this puppy and also their allegedly ¨sludgier¨ material.



3. Just your typical "greatest hits played faster" live album.
   Just kidding.
   
   First, the good:
   
   The band is on fire through most of this, especially the rhythm section. The song selection cherry-picks the best of the often boring middle-period Flag, which can be excellent indeed. Examples include the extended "Slip It In/Gimme Gimme Gimme", "I'm The One", "Wasted" (a very early track), "Modern Man" and "Drinking And Driving" (from their last album}. And the sound quality is killer - all the instruments are well separated; the drums and bass have a LOT of punch, and are spot-on all the time, even when the guitar isn't. More on that below.
   
   Second, the "ehh...":
   
   Rollins' voice is totally SHOT on such tracks as "My War", due to excessive touring (I believe I heard a statistic like 250 days a year). "Sinking" is boring, frankly, but thankfully is one of the only plodding, ponderous tracks on the album. Fast and driving usually means high quality in the Black Flag catalog. Also, Ginn's playing can be a pretty sloppy, despite being extremely creative. And finally, although you can't hear it in her playing, you can imagine Kira suffering with carpal tunnel syndrome as she plays - a byproduct of Greg Ginn's maniacal insistence on practicing as much as eight hours a day, every day, when not touring (and probably when touring too). You can read more about this stuff in Michael Azerrad's excellent book "This Band Could Be Your Life" - I admit I'm cribbing some of this review from said source. Please don't hate me for doing so.
   
   I hope the fact that the con section outweighs the pro wordwise doesn't dissuade you from buying the album. It's def. a worthy purchase, and you'll get a lot out of it if you enjoy the best that eighties punk had to offer. And by the way, go ahead and order the vinyl version direct from SST if you like (which is often the best way to go with SST titles, because of the better sound quality of the pure waveforms of vinyl), but this is a rare case in which the CD is better, due to the extended performances allowed by the CD format's longer length. (It says "extended CD version" on the back of the case.)



4. I bought this one on CD in Minnesota when it came out and was completely blown away by the intensity of the set. While most Black Flag records have a slower feel that is sometiems difficult, this CD packs a lot of punch. As already written it is played with lots of energy and speed which makes it the best place to start if you want to explore Blac Flag. Also Greg Ginn's guitar playing is not really standard for any punk rock group since he solos a lot and also tends not to simply play the usual chaords and does go for a more experimental sound. A favourite is Louie, Louie towards the end of the CD. Also, you can hear the rage in henry Rollins and this was way be fore he became well known.



5. This CD is what it is. It's a well recorded live performance of Black Flag playing mainly their Loose Nut era material. The songs are played at a higher pace than on the albums, which adds a slight degree of intensity to an already intense collection of material. If you've never bought a Black Flag CD before, this is a great place to start. If you already own a Black Flag CD or two, this will be a great compliment. If you already own the entire Black Flag discography and are just reading this page for fun, why not consider just buying another copy of Whose got the 10 1/2? You never know... it could could come in handy.

4 comments about Motor City Is Burning.

1. Sixteen track compilation of poor-sounding bootlegged material that's been obviously pulled from various MC 5 previous releases,like the Sturgis Armoury in Michigan for one.QUESTION:where exactly did the taper of 'some' of these tunes sit during the actual performance,in the stall in the men's room?I mean,come on!I believe I even heard some problems with the tape speed.I've heard worse,but not MUCH worse.I suppose that after a few listens,you COULD grow to accept this CD as a hard-to-find audio treasure,IF you're an MC 5 completist.Good song selection though,like the opener "Kick Out The Jams","Revolutionary Blues","Human Being Lawnmower",my all time MC 5 favorite "Looking At You" and "Black To Comm".You've been warned.



2. The sound quality here renders this album unlistenable to even the most devout MC5 fan. I strongly advise saving your cash here and spending your hard earned money on the new "Purity, Accuracy" box set. You can get it here on zShops for almost half off the list and it is worth every single cent.



3. I have a watch. It's a Casio and it has a calculator and a voice recorder in it. It's a cool watch; it records stuff and you can play it back, like funny things friends said when they were drunk or bad lines from a movie--but the sound quality is crap. But what do you expect? It's on a freaking watch.

   This live MC5 album sounds like it was recorded on my watch. It's bad. Of course, it's cool because it's MC5, but the quality is h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e. I didn't think they were allowed to release something that sounded this bad.




4. "Archive" releases are a double-edged sword. Yeah, it's cool to get a live cd of the 5, but damn, this sounds like it was recorded with a boombox OUTSIDE of the venue where the 5 were kickin' 'em out, dig? Tape speed is messed up, too, on some tracks Tyner sounds about 300 pounds heavier than he did normally. Killer version of "Shakin' Street" is a saving grace, but unless you're a FANATIC, avoid this at all costs. You want a killer live MC5 recording, pick up Thunder Express (live in the studio, tight as hell).

No comments about The Radio Sessions.

5 comments about Live: Too Much Too Young.

1. This show is from Aston University in 1979. This is the full show, and is not cut like the later release on Castle Records with the same title. Part of the show also appears on Blue Plate Specials along with Coventry Automatics tracks. For some reason, the band is listed as the Toy Dolls at the time I did this review. That is incorrect.



2. I rediscovered this album a few years back and I've finally realised how incredible it is. Amazing guitar and hilarious themes make this a winner!



3. A sentimental favorite from sixth grade, where screaming MODERN SCHOOL OF MOTORING seemed the essence of Danny Zucko-cool. Assuring many a doubter that- yes- that's a guy, and that the 'dolls do know how to jam, everyone got a kick out of the vacuuming scene on the B side. Enjoy if you dare.



4. You have to hear the cover off of wipeout on this. If you have never heard it it is worth the $



5. -yeah, maybe... And it's a heckofalot more fun than "christmas with the carpenters"! OI!

No comments about Live at the Marquee 1977.

5 comments about United States Live.

1. A vast and sweeping recording, more cohesive than her other albums. The music is challenging and beautifully done and the stories are poinient and at times hilarious. My favorites include "Language Is A Virus" and "Mach 20". Contains versions of her big hits, "O Superman" and "Big Science". Strongly recommended for fans of alternative music.



2. Would have loved to see this live, Can't start it without devoting hours to it , in order to finish it. A truly unique and special recording from one of modern music's finest



3. On this beautifull live recording Mrs Anderson shows her brilliant understanding of storytelling and musical basics in her own invented mix of sci-fi, absurdism, folk, modern technology nightmares, andsoforth. You have to hear it, to understand it.



4. I attended the performances of this at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in 1983, over two nights, in excellent seats, well placed to see the visuals. (If you were up in the nosebleed seats at BAM it would not have been ideal.) This was quite a riveting series of performances, and I bought the recordings on 4 cassettes when they appeared. (Note that the original performances were around eight hours, so this is just more than half of the total.)
   
   Laurie Anderson was part avant-garde, part carnival huckster, and you could watch and listen to her and never know exactly which side she was leaning toward. It's easy to dismiss her clichés and simplifications, some of which would almost be stand-up comedy; on the other hand, some of her comments and ideas are much deeper and more complex than they seem.
   
   United States was more of a compilation than a thematic performance. She had been riffing about these ideas for several years, and after the success of O, Superman, managed to tie everything together in this longish performance that took place over two nights. Looking back more than twenty years, some of it still stands up, but much of her music and ideas seems sophmoric. Nevertheless, they are a good reflection of an era: when the Cold War was still alive, when music had just shifted from rock to disco to new wave, when a variety of currents had started becoming mainstream (the music of Philip Glass and Steve Reich made it big in those years, notably with a huge Reich retrospective at BAM and a revival of Einstein on the Beach). So there was, even then, a tinge of nostalgia in United States.
   
   I'll agree with what one reviewer says: the visuals were an integral part of this performance. I seem to recall cameras, but I guess there was never enough demand for a video back then. (If it were performed today, there would be a DVD immediately.)
   
   In spite of any negatives, Laurie Andersond had stage presence, had the courage to present some pretty quirky ideas (her style, however, has become mainstream, as can be seen in many movies these days), and was, for a brief period, unique. Unfortunately, after United States, she started repeating the same stuff over and over.
   
   If you lived through the period, and, especially, if you were fortunate enough to see the performances, this would be a good bit of nostalgia. If not, you'll probably be perplexed. It would be interesting, though, to listen to this closely and see just how much the world has changed since then.



5. ALL THE BEST SONGS ARE ON OTHER ALBUMS.
   
   This is an audio recording from multi-media presentations. Much of the material is geared around visuals and Anderson's stage personnae. This is like listening to a television broadcast of a football game without the picture. You get the general idea what is going on, but you miss a lot. It is not like listening to a football game over the radio, where the broadcasters explain what you aren't seeing.
   
   Without the visuals to go with this CD, many of the stories and jokes come up flat.
   
   This CD set is about 4 and a half hours long. It was taken from several years of Anderson's live shows that eventually became the United States. Each CD more or less covers a specific "tour". Her back up band changes from CD to CD. You can tell that as time goes on, she gets more famous (and maybe has more money) she is able to add more to the shows (and her backup band gets bigger).
   
   The sound quality is amazingly good. It is sharp and crystal clear. There is almost no audience noise, which does help create a good atmosphere for her stories.
   
   About 80% of the material is spoken word. There is some music. It is probably less than 45 minutes of the total 4 and a half hour production.
   
   The recordings come from early in her career. She later redid most of the best material and put in on other albums.
   
   I would suggest getting her other CD's. Or if you want to see her performance art work, I would suggest searching out the Home Of the Brave VHS tape (I don't think it has been released on DVD). Don't get the Home of the Brave CD.

1 comments about The Big Sleep.

1. This album isnt quite as good as special view, but it is definitely worth buying any true power pop or pre-punk rock and roll fan should put this in their album collection right away.

3 comments about Chaos Rules - Live at the Trocadero.

1. I think that this is a really good buy for a dead milkmen fan. This CD is great, the dead milkmen live from the peak of there performace. I love the way that they change the lyrics and they get the crowd into it, almost makes you feel like you were there



2. I didn't know what to expect when I purchased this CD. Having seen the DM live 3 times, I knew that their live show isn't exactly always sonically impressive.
   Look at it this way- Pink Floyd and the other bloated 'quad-sound-only' live-acts can sleep soundly at night.
   That said, the performances captured on this CD are VERY energetic, and the song selection is pretty much spot-on.
   I agree with the previous review - if this is your first DM CD, I would start with, say, "Big Lizard" or "Beezelbubba" (as with any group, it's never a good idea to start with a live-album). For all DM fans, however, this is a GREAT, worthy purchase.



3. I like the Dead Milkmen, so I like this cd, but if you've never heard them, try their studio stuff first. This cd probably won't win over too many new fans. Try Beezlebubba, Bucky Fellini, or Richard, Not Dick or whatever it's called. (if you can find it) Anyway, back to THIS cd. It has sort of a raw production, but not so raw that it sounds completely bad. Some well known songs are performed like "Punk Rock Girl" and "Bitchin Camaro". This show was recorded during the Beelzebubba tour, I assume, because there are no songs that came out after that on this cd. There is a hidden track at the end. You'll find a live version of "If I Had A Gun". If you're already a DM fan, this cd is for you. If you're not familiar, get a studio cd first.