2 comments about Backyard Barbecue Broadcast.

1. A nearly perfect set, the feel is equal parts GiantSand and Blacky Ranchette. Highlight is the meandering "BBQ Suite" . You take your 2-4 beers, your macrame lawn chair & your Saturday afternoon, plop yerself down by the cow-laden backyard grill, drop the needle on that puppy and sail away. "Mope-A-Long", less polished, more languid than the "Still Lookin'Good" version, "Get To Leave", here but a lowfi seed, yet to bloom on SnoAngel. By the time "Lester The Lampshade" comes about, that 2nd (or 3rd) beer is doomed and you're grinning. That's a promise. "Lean", the GiantSandiest of the bunch. "Blue Waltz Reprise" flows in and out, low tide now, wait 5 minutes for hidden track "Rolling Stones I Am". Here's homage, nasty, lowdown dirty blues, Howe-style. Thrashed? Yep. Trashed? You bet. It's a BBQ, afterall. This music makes me happy, you too is my hope. "You gotcha (only) so many days here on the planet"-HG



2. Giant Sand is the perfect example of less being more. The tone and feeling of space within this cd speak to the listener. I love it.

2 comments about Live in Philadelphia 1978 & Dallas 1980.

1. blondie has no doubt earned the title of the greatest new wave band ever!
   this album was worth the money i highly recommend you get it blondie fan or not it is a must have!!!!!!



2. Made in EU in 1999, Serial# 5-21233-2, Playing Time: 75 min.

   This CD is a re-issue of the limited edition album "Picture This Live" released in 1997. ALL the tracks are live: tracks 7 to 12 in Philadelphia during the "Parallel Lines" tour; the other tracks are recorded in Dallas during the "Eat To The Beat" tour.

   The recording quality is good, and the versions are raw and full of enthusiasm. This album doesn't have the polish of their latest "Live" album, but the band is performing at 100%, flaws and all. Of special note is the last track, a 15-minute medley of the T.REX classic "Bang-A-Gong(Get It On)" with the Bowie/Iggy Pop penned "Funtime".

5 comments about Live and Rare.

1. I remember when this came out in the early 90's I wanted it sooo bad. I didn't get to listen to it until years later, and though it's good, I found I wasn't missing that much. Don't get me wrong, it's all sweet, but can mostly be found elsewhere. And once "Kettle Whistle" was released, this was really unneeded. Of what's here, I mostly love the tracks "L.A. Medley", which was on the "Classic Girl" single, and "I Would For You" demo, which was on the "Stop" single. At this point I'd say only the completist need get "Live And Rare". Their other albums offer far more, even "Strays".



2. This is a fun compilation, but needlessly expensive here (I picked up my new copy in a record store for only 16 bucks). I was enjoying the listen, but when I heard the "LA Medley" featuring "Nausea" by my favorite LA punk band, "X", I was very pleased that I had picked this up! Ignore the negative comments elsewhere; I think they are grousing simply because they paid too much.



3. I don't even want to mention how much I paid for this lousy CD, but let's just say it's enough to prompt this warning to all JA fans, new or old.

   Some of the live tunes contained within can be found (for a pittance) on the 'Classic Girl' maxi-single. "Three Days" pts. 1 and 2 are simply the album version split in two (I'm not joking) tracks. The "Been Caught Stealing" remix is amusing, but not nearly good enough to warrant picking this up.




4. Don't waste your money. Sounds like they took a bunch of tracks and remastered them through a Peavey soundboard.



5. It's not a bad cd or anything. It's just not anything different.

   If you already own the singles and the LPs, then you've got everything this cd has EXCEPT the Had A Dad Demo.

   The "demo" version of Jane Says is actually the same version that is on Nothings Shocking.

   Just as another reviewer stated, Three Days 1 & 2 is merely a different track marker splitting the song where the song doesn't need to be broken up.

   I have this disc in my collection, but only because I am a die hard collector. I don't recommend this for the average fan, save your money or try to find it used.

4 comments about Live (X Cert).

1. I would like to think that I am a little biased when it comes to talking about the Stranglers as I have been a fan for years.I first heard this album in 1979 and loved it,as a punk teenager would!I never heard it for years after that,but brought it on amazon a few months ago & to be honest can't stop playing the disc,it drives my girlfriend crazy but she does like it too, which suprises me as we have slightly different taste,but thats what it does,it's so raw,powerful & ripe for a live album.One of the best live albums you will ever hear



2. Strong, muscular live album from a time when this much-maligned group's output was pretty much indispensable. The versions are good, but vastly insuperior to their studio counterparts, as is the case with all live albums.
   I remember seeing the Stranglers in Manchester, sometime in the 80's and they had a brass section and girlie backing-singers, embarrassing to be sure, but this collection is a purer bred animal, leaner and certainly more aggressive.
   I was never sure why the Stranglers always appeared so angry, when it seemed to me they didn't have much to be angry about. Sell-out tours, top-ten records and much wine, women and drugs, what a rotten life! Lets drown some journalists!
   Perhaps the proliferation at the time, of punky young good-lookers like Idol or October made the Stranglers feel old, swarthy and resentful, but it also made them determined to keep these little chancers in their place, and this they undoubtedly did.
   The first four studio Stranglers albums are superb, then the wheels came off. This is good. How many of the original `class of 77' released FOUR classic lps? Not many. (Even the Clash only managed three). This was a mighty rock music indeed, and its' been kinda misplaced in the rock history sense.
   By that I mean they don't seem to be celebrated anything like some of the (mostly lesser) talents of the time, and yet, four classic lps!
   Never the darlings of the media, perhaps a bit TOO out there sometimes, always(often tiresomely) the roguish pranksters, the lads, they must have been a tv schedulers (and an EMI execs) worst nightmare! You couldn't book 'em for TOTP or anything else for that matter. Interviews a PR disaster, European concerts ending in riots with members of the group doing bird, racism, drug busts, strippers...great fun of course, but all in all, a wee bit of a waste?
   It's a reasonable assumption that they bored themselves with it all and perhaps sub-consciously, deliberately self-destructed. Witness the apparent inexplicable slide between the excellent `the Raven' and the pitiful `Meninblack', and then give an explanation as to why. Gradual decline is one thing, but that's a precipice.
   Still, fair do's, four classic lps!
   If I'd been asked to review this when it came out, I probably would've attacked it mercilessly, drawing powerful comparisons with HM and being deeply suspicious of it's financial motives, but time and nostalgia has tempered my hostility. The songs are great (tho the bitchin' `Bitching' is AWOL), the productions good and it does give a sharp suggestion of what a Stranglers show was like all those long, short, mad years ago.
   Of its kind and of its time, live albums eh?
   
   3 1/2 stars



3. This captures three different periods from Strangler's 77-79. There's a few tunes from Black and White but most of the first part of the album is their more raw punky tunes. Grip is great and very fast. I enjoyed this though ultimately I think I enjoy the studio versions better. However here they show that they are good players and performers as well as being able to put together classic studio material. A must for fans of the classic Stranglers.



4. This live album from the late seventies, showcases these old men of Punk at their best. I bought this album first in the early eighties and played it to death. It and SLF's Hanx are probably the best live albums I've ever heard.

   There's only one of their expected hit songs (Grip) on this record which is refreshing for a live album (which usually are only greatest hits albums). The songs which are here show the stranglers at their darkest and most menacing best. The mellower stranglers are good but not as good as their darker side. So if you're in a bad mood and want to vent some anger put this on, it works everytime for me.

5 comments about Human Butt.

1. "Donate Your Bodies To Science You Fools!"
   I was laughing so hard during that story, I had to stop the tape..!!!
   
   Why only four stars? The rough bootleg style of recording makes this release pale in comparison to his later work.



2. By essential, I mean as in 'The essence of..' rather than 'A must buy for everyone who reads this'. Appalling recording quality aside (I think this is another recording-by-walkman job) this is a good CD for a couple of reasons.

   The biggest one is that, like a lot of his early offerings, this performance is more bittersweet and poignant than later ones. It's not funny for funny's sake; it's Rollins speaking about things that have happened in his lifetime, and it is his delivery and perspective on these events more than anything that creates the humour.

   Another plus about this album is that it has the small-show (and somehow more realistic) dynamic that the later sellout theatre-hall CDs lack. It's a record of where Rollins' shows have come from; hand-to-mouthing it across the country, doing these shows just to buy food and fill in time till the next time he tours with the band. One can gain a much broader insight into the man himself from these CDs as opposed to more recent outings.

   Another one that is more suited to the fans than the casual first-timer, but certainly not a worse CD for it.




3. If you're a fan of hardasses with brains, you'll love just about anything Rollins does. His storytelling style is reminiscent of William Burroughs and his "pull no punches" judgement of the world around him puts him right up there with Robert A. Heinlein. (Which, I expect, would horrify Mr. Rollins were he to find out).

   "Human Butt" is a supurb example of Rollins' personal experiences distilled into the storytelling art form. Do yourself a favot and buy this one.




4. This is one of my favorite Rollins album, simply for the story "Donate Your Bodies to Science, You Fools!" If you think that Rollins is the screaming front man of Black Flag and the Rollins Band...well, you're right. But he's also dead-on funny, and a wide-awake commentator on American life. In "Donate," he runs from nostalgia to his youth to disgust with his youth, from awe at the neighborhood bum to gut-wrenching pain. Rollins is in prime condition here. Buy this record. You'll dig it.



5. Henry's spoken words were my first real introduction to him. I had seen him in movies and on MTV before and figured him to be another marketing gimmick. I was wrong.

   His spoken words are hard hitting, eye opening and sometimes downright funny. And I'm talking laugh-yourself-to-tears funny, when I say funny.

   This particualar album has some really good material on it. I do prefer Think Tank and Big Ugly Mouth to this one, but it is still really good.

   The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because the sound quality is really terrible. I can barely understand him with my cd player turned all the way up. I ended up having to listen to it on my computer with headphones. Other than that, this is really worth the money.

4 comments about Kill the Child.

1. For a recorded 'live' CD, this album is as intimate and personal as something spooky hollering in the middle of the night from your dark bedroom closet. Gloomy progressive gothic rock, too blunt to be metal classified and too dramatic to be punk, it creates a musical nightmare, the kind of dream you wake up from and ponder into the void over it's complexity, made all the more unsettling by an audience applauding and sometimes chatting indifferently over the superb performance. I discovered 'Swans' music after swearing allegiance to M. Gira's solo work ( "Drainland"; his current band is "Angels Of Light" ), and inititally found this to be industrially exotic, like a bootlegged former Soviet Republic's banned rock and roll. It has since found a niche in the corner of my mind reserved for great music. If this is symbolic of a 'swan', it has a bloody knife under it's big white wing. OK, the title of this CD is a little dark, but while the current state of 'indie' and other music is leaning dangerously close to what could be described as musical romantic fiction, let me slip into my headphones and shout out in a satanic tongue, "Down with organized religion! Release the animal instinct in all of us!", and then it's right back to my life, my job, Radiohead, and the real world.



2. Jeff Moores review comes from Terrorizer magazine's top 100 albums of the 1990's and belongs to their 'Great Annihilator' album. I think this is so wrong it is a fantastic review by the writer Damien. Oh yeah Swans rule.



3. This album consists of live tracks culled from 3 (or four?) different shows. It's all placed on one track because it's meant to be listened to as if you were at a show- at their mercy, no fast forwarding or skipping around. Swans are one of those bands that go through "phases". One set of fans might listen to a totally different "swans" then another set of fans. This album is for those who love the groundbreaking, primitive power and brutality of the early Swans.
   Music so extreme that it might not be considered "music" by some... its more like performance art. Each song is incredibly heavy and disturbing. the title track (second song) is worth the price of the album as a whole but the other songs are fantastic. I gave it four stars as opposed to five because two of the songs were not recorded very well and the audience noise is too loud. Also, i think the album would have worked better if they had simply recorded one entire show instead of 3.
   all in all a must buy for any swans fans. newcomers should get "real love"- the Swans greatest live album to date.



4. Cop was my intro to Swans. I didn't really think much of that album. I picked this one up in hoping I would finally "get" the Swans, but I couldn't The music is decent enough, but it's just not my thing. The band is obviously talented and I commend their efforts to push music further.

5 comments about Made Again: Live.

1. I dislike Live CD's but here is an exception. I feel like I am watching the group perform live at a concert. No if's, an's or but's, this is a great CD.



2. This double cd capture the essential of Marillion up to their 1995 realease "Afraid of Sunlight" There was no need to get back to their earlier releases with "Fish" because we already have "The thieving magpie"
   In my opinion, we really have the best of the Hoggart era, in great live version and the second cd offers "Brave" in an amazing live interpretation.
   This double cd contains also live versions of some of my favorite tracks like "Easter", "Something to happen", "Afraid of Sunlight" and "Seasons end" A must have if you like Marillion with Steve Hoggart like I do.



3. "Made Again", a two disc set that captures Marilion with Steve H at their best...Live!!!
   The album covers three different album tours: The '91 Holidays In Eden tour, the '94 Brave tour, and the '95 Afraid Of Sunlight tour. Being a Marillion fan myself for about 15 years now (since 1990) and having seen the band perform live three times (I was in Rotterdam in '95) I can say that this album really gives you the live feeling you have at one of their gigs.
   If you realy really want to get a feeling, play "Wave" and turn the stereo all the way up. Do you feel it in your stomach?? :)
   
   This is a must have for all Marillion fans, even the die hard Fish era fans. Marillion has been my favorite band for a long long time now. Sure enough, they've had their good albums and their not so good ones (I don't want to call them bad), but it's a band with an unique sound. H's voice always sounds great, and Rothery is most definately one of all time's greatest guitar players. The band deserves a lot more credit than they get. So go out to your CD shop and get "Made Again" and all the rest of their catalogue!!!



4. If you're new to Marillion, this is perhaps one of the best crash courses you can get into their music, specially into their work after Fish and the band parted ways. If you know their music, you know already that this album contains some of the best Steve Hogarth-era works by Marillion.
   
   With only a couple of tracks ("Kayleigh" and "Lavender") from the band's time with Fish, the first disc samples from "Season's End" and "Holidays in Eden", and even throws "Beautiful" into the mix, a track from their "Afraid of Sunlight" production. Disc 2 is the entire "Brave" album live, which is something you JUST have to own, if you are a serious Marillion follower (and you know it). The conceptual "Brave" is simply the best work they've ever recorded and this live rendition of the album does justice to it.
   
   I personally prefer this live album over all their other live productions. I recommend it without any doubt!



5. This is Marillion's second live album, the first one being 'The thieving magpie' back when Fish was still in the band. This is their first one with h (Steve Hogarth) on vocals (followed a few years later by 'Anorak in the UK').

   This 2 CD collection is a combination of three different concerts, on done in 1991 from the 'Holidays in Eden' tour, from which Splintering heart, Easter, No one can, Waiting to happen, Cover my eyes and The space were taken; another from 1994, from the 'Brave' tour. The whole album is present live in the second CD. And finally, a concert from 1995, from the 'Afraid of sunlight' tour, from which Hooks in you, Beautiful, Kayleigh, Lavender, Afraid of sunlight and King were recorded.

   It is without a doubt a gret testament to what the band can do when performing live. You must remember that these are songs of some complexity, yet the lads play perfectly, giving them new strength and passion.

   There's also a 'Brave live 2002' CD being sold at marillion.com. If you like this here CD, you should get the newer version and compare them...it's really worth it to hear how they've changed and grown in six years...

1 comments about Room to Live.

1. the music of The Fall is both engaging and off-putting...equal parts clever and brilliant mixed with the confounding and annoying. the casual fan of punk or post rock will probably be confused. and that my friends, may be the point. or maybe not. you decide. take a listen.
   Room To Live is not an essential Fall record..but worth a spin or two. it's nice to see it re-issued with some bonus flub. does adding 6 extra songs make a mini album a full grown album?

5 comments about What Do Pretty Girls Do?.

1. A nice sampling of Kirsty's career through '99. Sparse arrangements of some of her better known songs. Do yourself a favor and splurge on 1999's exceptional "TROPICAL BRAINSTORM" or her out-of-print in the US "GALORE".

   One of the truly great pop songwriters of our time. She will be sorely missed.




2. Ah, this is a sad day. Kirsty's MacColl's untimely demise deprives us of one of pop music's smartest singers and songwriters. While this isn't a substitute for finding her original CDs (or the excellent "best of" Galore), which are currently out of print, it does show off her voice and songwriting talents to fine effect.

   In addition, Billy Bragg completists _need_ this CD for the duets, on the funny "Darling, Let's Have Another Baby", and Billy's "New England" (one of her early hits.)

   Live, Kirsty's voice has a smoky quality not prevalent in the studio recordings. This works magic with the mostly acoustic arrangements here. "He's on the Beach", is a particular highlight in this regard.

   The acoustic arrangements also let you savor the lyrics. One of Ms MacColl's strenghts is the quality of her writing. "Chip Shop", "Caroline", "Don't Come the Cowboy.." -- her lyrics are just smart and knowing.

   Pop music has lost a fine, and woefully undercognized talent with her death. The perversity of the music business probably means that _now_ all of her CDs will be reissued, and she will achieve at least a small measure of the reknown she should have had in life. Whatever. You, however, should ignore all that, buy this CD now, and hunt for her others in your nearest used CD shop.




3. The NY Times reported Dec. 19, 2000, that Kirsty MacColl died in Mexico today. I'm really bummed. I bought two of her CDs several years ago and really enjoyed them. Her rendition of the Smiths' ""You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby'' was terrific. She'll sorely be missed.



4. Recorded between 1989 and 1995, this album consists of four sets of live BBC Radio 1 recordings of Kirsty -- and they are fantastic. New versions of several classic hits are included as well as some great catalog cuts. Two songs are duets with Billy Bragg, which, of course, makes for absolutely wonderful listening. The eight-page liner notes are weak on photos, but the text is informative and interesting (especially the letter from Kirsty).



5. Kirsty MacColl is kinda in the same boat as Carlene Carter: pretty women with first-rank songwriting brains and talent; great pipes, unmatchable musical pedigrees that gleams through their work (Kirsty's father and step-mother are Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger), several excellent albums each, serious respect and recognition from their peers and critics - and no big sales. Both should be major forces in their respective genres. But where Carlene will eventually get her full due (wait'll you see the Country Hall Of Fame list in 2050; there'll be some real shockers in there), Kirsty's latest work seems to disappear with the changing of the seasons. Only three of her catalog are available by my count (read: orderable), fortunately this is one of them. It's an excellent introduction to her work for the uninitiated, and a major addition for her fans. The songs span two decades, not a weak one among them, and the live, small band intimate setting - think "unplugged" - allows Kirsty's songwritng and singing skills to be highlighted, a natural setting for her talents and actually an improvement on the original larger productions. Get this collection and use it as a reasonable "best of" until the inevitable major retrospective comes out and lets you fill in the gaps. The woman's too gifted to be denied forever.

5 comments about Live @ the Granada Theater.

1. The Get Up Kids have been writing sincere, honest music for over 10 years now; a decade in music usually warrants a collection of an artists/band's best 'best' tracks to date in the form of either a Singles Collection, Greatest Hits or, more riskily, a Live Album. As anyone who has been to a Live Get Up Kids show will testify, the band are a lively bunch with a fair share of banter in their shows and - as is to be expected from a decade in music - a killer choice of songs to choose from. The tracklisting of 'Live @ The Granada Theater' reads as testament to that decade, including tracks from all 4 full-lengths and 'Mass Pike' and 'Woodson' from the 'Red Letter Day' and 'Woodson' EPs respectively.
   The album's first 5 songs are the doubtless highlight; 'Coming Clean' is immediate, 'The One You Want' proves itself to be better Live than on Guilt Show, 'Holiday' and 'Action and Action' from Something to Write Home About re-ignite the catharticism in Matthew Pryor's vocals that the sophomore album deserves, and even 'Stay Gone' from the mediocre On a Wire is surprisingly emotional.
   To say that the album goes downhill from track 5 would be a disservice to the Band; there's a nice little on-stage quip at the end of 'Woodson', and 'I'm a Loner, Dottie, A Rebel...' features some fair crowd participation, and the same could be said for 'Don't Hate Me'. There are several problems, though; the 'Red Letter Day' intro - for all its intended intensity-building - is a bit of a jumbled mess, both the proper and faux-endings feel like a bit of a cop-out (Granted, 'I'll Catch You' is from the band's most popular album, but it sounds a little canned, and 'Is There a Way Out?' fails to have any real effect on the show as a whole at all). Whilst the tracklisting is, at times, surprising, it should be noted that this CD doesn't feature the whole show from the Granada Theater tour dates; 'Walking on a Wire' is sorely missed, as 'On a Wire' is only represented by two songs here. Where's Anne Arbour? Wouldn't Hannah Hold On prove a more sombre, pleasant finale? The biggest clanger though, I feel, is in the choice of songs from Guilt Show: whilst 'The One You Want' and 'Martyr Me' shed a favourable light on the 'Kids final full-length the inclusion of 'Is there a Way Out?' and the frankly forgettable 'Sick in her Skin' surely should've made way for the likes of 'How Long Is Too Long?', 'In Your Sea', 'Sympathy', or maybe even 'Holy Roman Style'
   For those who were there, the reception of the album is bound to be as equally mixed as for those who weren't; the songs are doubtlessly of high quality, but the execution of some of them (both by the band and those recording the concert) fails to capture the true spirit of a great live show.
   The DVD scheduled to be released later this year has much to improve on this recording in order to end the legacy of The Get Up Kids as befits a band of their talents and influence, which winds up vaguely unsatisfying after repeated playings



2. I've been an avid Get Up Kids fan since they started 10 years ago. Somehow I have never seen them perform live tho (though i will be seeing them live tonight at the Fillmore in SF!). This cd is simply amazing! A lot of bands that sound good in studio dont measure up when put in the live spotlight. Its nice to see the Get Up Kids have no problems performing live and in fact do it incredibly well. An awesome recording from an awesome band!



3. I've seen TGUK a few times & this album doesn't do their live gigs justice but it is a fine swan song for a great (& greatly underappreciatted !) band. The banter between the "kids" was always a fun part of their shows & none of it makes the disc,
   (remember Jim's impromptu "Milkshake" cover on the last tour?) but hey, it's about the tunes right? I'm seeing them for the last time on June 24th in NYC, & I'll be as sad about them hangin' them up, as I will be happy about seeing a great rock band play their hearts out...
   
   Thanks Matt,Robert,Ryan,Jim & James.



4. It's like seeing your best friend leave town forever. The Get Up Kids have brought so much joy to my life it is hard to write about them dissolving. When I heard they were coming out with a Live Album, I jumped for joy. This Album is a great blend of new and old stuff. I would recommend Live @ Granda Theatre to anyone, not just emo nerds and lonely art students. It's an emotional trip back to first time I heard Woodson or when I saw them live on my 21st birthday. An amazing band with a great farewell tribute to their die-hard fans. They will be missed but we'll always have my memories!



5. Well this could be the last album we get of The Get Up Kids, who are breaking up after a final farewell tour this summer. It's been a great ride, and this album gives a good selection of their greatest hits, especially a lot of their older stuff, the songs that got most of us fans hooked in the first place. Hopefully they won't "Stay Gone" forever..