3 comments about Teenage Lust.

1. I've said it before and I'll surely say it again.I just love these unreleased archive concert performances released on CD.Specially when it's of a tour/gig that you wouldn't oridinarly expect.This ten track gem was recorded on January 1,1970 at the Civic Center in Saginaw,MI.It's sound quality is between very good to excellent.Several MC5 tresures included in the set, just sounds so much better when played live.Most notable cuts are the title track "Teen Age Lust","Looking At You","Human Being Lawnmower" and the foot-stomping "Black To Comm" which is squeezed into a medley with "Starship" and "Kick Out The Jams".Guitarist Fred Smith steps up to provide the vocals on "Shakin' Streets".This version kicks ass!!Nice cover.



2. I'd probably rate the CD at 5 stars if the sound quality was a little better. The CD is in real stereo, but like many of the other live recordings that have surfaced and been released since the band broke up, the main problem is the balancing of the lead vocal with the instruments. On this recording it's sometimes difficult to hear the vocal at all. The sound improves after awhile on some songs, but is always a little muddy and compacted, and you can hear tape hiss, making me believe the original tape was probably recorded at a low speed. Apart from the sound, the performances are fantastic, more professional and tight than on Kick Out the Jams, but not razor-sharp with no bass like on Back in the USA. Highlights would be the take on "Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa", "Human Being Lawnmower" (on which the vocal is nearly inaudible, unfortunately), and "It's A Man's World." The "Kick Out the Jams" medley isn't that impressive at that end. It's hard to top the live version at the Grande Ballroom. It's ironic that John Sinclair produced this release since he had no involvement with the band at this stage of their evolution, and some of his comments in the notes reveal remaining bitterness. When MC5 played shows like this, they could blow any other group away. Nobody who is a first-generation fan of this group should ever forget that at the time, this was the hardest-rocking group out there and had a sound that was fresh and exciting, and they could outplay and outperform anyone. The "Kick Out the Jams" album exhibits the wild, raw and loud power of the MC5 and is the best of their original 3 albums. "Teenage Lust" reveals a more professional band, with just as much power but with more depth and creativity. I keep this CD in a fitting place, alongside their original 3 releases from Elektra and Atlantic. I'd recommend it for original fans of the group more than I would any of the other recent releases.



3. The sound isn't quite perfect, but it doesn't really matter, these boys go for it more than anyone else I've heard (perhaps bar the Stooges), but they still manage to play music that is actually quite challenging. The guitar playing by Kramer and Smith is superb throughout; they manage to convey so much energy it's unreal. A particular highlight is the great rendition of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown, where the two guitarists even manage to get in some delicate two-part harmony amidst the more out 'n out rocking moments on the album.

5 comments about Destination-Love Live! At Cold Rice.

1. OK, so get this. Make Up should not be taken at face value. As they tell you, the listener, Make is lies. Make Up (i.e. cosmetics) is something you put on your face to cultivate an appearance. Make Up the band cultivates the appearance of a 60s soul band, promising a hedonistic liberation that is "revolutionary." It's humbug. That's not necessarily a condemnation. You can take it as a promise of a collective suspension of disbelief, or as a brilliant, fluent deployment of pop cultural signifiers. As they put it, "R U A Believer?" Make Up understand that mass movements succeed by earnest promise, though Ian's knowingness means that Make Up is anything but earnest. (And by the way, the Nation of Ulysses wasn't _actually_ a terrorist organziation, and Cupid Car Club did not actually want you to kill yourself.)
   
   Make Up is about turning surfaces into depth, about the potential to make over your everyday life and society in general. Make Up is a critique of the earnestness of emo music. Make Up is about the promise of lies.
   
   Destination Love is a great album. Musically it is based on tight funky r&b from the 60s but it has a little something modern. And it succeeds at synthesizing styles rather than copying. It really rocks (or funks) or whatever.
   
   Sonically, it really pops--a truly great, tactile recording done on 8 analog tracks at Pirate House. It doesn't sound clean like a modern rock recording, nor does it sound processed like the Strokes, but like a modern version of an old soul recording. And like every "live" album of the 1960s, it's a studio recording with audience noise dubbed in--in a really really obvious way.
   
   Lyrically, Ian spins phrases and concepts and tales like a master. He understands pop symbology. "There is an anvil up in the night sky/And it hammered out you and I" begins the iconic "You and I Against the World." It's always fun to hear Ian throw some sand in the cultural sandbox.
   
   And culturally, it is time to give Make Up credit, like Nation of Ulysses before them, for setting the musical agenda, in this case for all the revivalist bands that followed.
   
   Start here or with the singles comp I Want Some.



2. Listen, I first heard this album when it first came out when I was a DJing college radio, and boy, did I play the living ... out of it!!! It still holds up today, and it's 2003!!! First of all, all the reviewers of this record are WRONG. THIS ALBUM IS NOT REALLY A LIVE ALBUM. IT WAS RECORDED TO SOUND LIVE. But they are all right on one thing - that this album is simply brilliant. Nothing short of brilliant. And they were INCREDIBLE to see live back in the day. They wore an assortment of matching suits at every show of a variety of colors. And you were expecially lucky to see them play in the yellow suits. Unparalled in sheer, raw energy, showmanship and charisma!! WOO!! But besides all this, Ian Svenonius is a real musical genius, even from the days of Nation of Ulysses. So ahead of his time. And If I were in the Make Up or The Makers right now, I would simply be spitting on the lame attempts of ridiculous bands like "The Hives" who are trying to make "music" (if that's what they call it) reminicent of this style. They don't even come remotely close to this stuff. And they should all sit down and listen to this record AND LEARN SOMETHING, for .... sake!!! We all know the real truth, Ian. And we say "YEAH" to the final judgement!!!!

   BEWARE OR BE ARMED, "Hives!"




3. The first Make Up full length album, and it's live.

   I recall being disappointed with this after all the great seven inches they put out up to this point (later put on "I want some"). But...after repeated listens I grew to like this pretty well. The British MC that comes on at the beginning, middle, and end of the album is pretty funny.

   "Dont mind the mind" and "bring the birds down" are beautiful soul songs. "Here comes the Judge" is the big rocker. This album alternates between soul music or ghoulish garage rock a la "They Live by Night."

   I still think that their best album is "Save Yourself."




4. This is the best Make-Up recording out there. It is beautiful. Their other albums are good investments but it's almost impossible to compare how they sound in a recording studio to how they sound live. This album definitely shows how amazing they are live and considering that they've broken up, it may be your only chance to hear them live.



5. i first heard of the make-up through my boyfriend and he could not stop talking about them. when were in chicago we found this cd and it blew me away. i highly recomend it to anyone that likes punk or funk. i normaly don't listen to punk (i am a huge cure fan) but this really got me.it is absolutely one of the best albums that i have heard in 5 years. the second that you pick up on the grove of Ian and feel the bass you will start dancing around. i think that the strongest part of this album is the fact that it is live. i feel that is the only way to hear the make up. i have heard them on a regular recording as well and though it is good, live is way better. so, buy it.

1 comments about Live: 07-08-03 New York, NY.

1. I was at this concert at Madison Square Garden and it was one of the best shows I've ever been to. The energy in the room was unbelievable. PJ flat out rocked for three hours, joined by surprise guest Ben Harper on Daughter and Indifference. Highlights were an 8 minute Evenflow and a performance of Do The Evolution that you'll just have to listen to because I can't explain what it was like. I can't honestly say that this recording is the next best thing to being there, because the next best thing would be a mind-blowing orgasm, but this 3 CD set is the next best thing below that.

No comments about Interim.

No comments about Instant Live: Dome Theatre - Niagara Falls, NY, 11/16/05.

3 comments about Entertaining Friends.

1. This was a unique band in so many ways. But what matters is the MUSIC, and the Buzzcocks were always about aching melodies for lyrics of unrequited love, guitars that ring and clang in gorgeous controlled disarray, and a rock solid rhythm section. Here you get it all plus the bonus of knowing it was just another gig for these lads ... this is one whole show and it ROCKS. The energy they had as a live band comes through LOUD and clear.

   BUY THIS CD!




2. This is an essential purchase for any Buzzcocks fan. The sound quality is great & hearing the 'cocks play in a live environment adds an edge of rawness and energy that's missing from the studio sessions.

   For those who don't know the Buzzcocks, they were one of a handful of great English punk bands (although some might categorize them more as power-pop). In any case, they wrote energetic, punchy, bitchy, and melodic songs that have influenced scads of bands over the past 20-some years.

   The Clash were more political, the Sex Pistols more raw and venemous, but the Buzzcocks hold their own in terms of intelligence and songcraft.

   If you want to know where bands like the Strokes, Blink 182, Green Day, Weezer got their ideas, you must hear the Buzzcocks. They did it first, and they haven't been equalled.




3. Amongst all the live and demo sets out there, it's easy to forget that the Buzzcocks only ever had about 40 fully developed songs to their credit. Entertaining Friends is proof that though the versions proliferate, the songs remain the same. For much of the Buzzcocks oeuvre, live versions are in fact best, since they always got a tinny, bottomless mix out of the studio. This live set is clearly their best - the mix is a bit muddy, but played at high volume, you don't notice, and it approximates their buzzsaw attack quite accurately. The arrangements here are very similar to the studio cuts, though Sixteen and Breakdown are clearly superior and everything else sounds great. If you've only ever heard the studio albums and always wondered why the Buzzcocks were considered punk, listen to this and it will all make sense.

5 comments about In Case You Didn't Feel Like Plugging In.

1. This is an acoustic feel-good record with their voices in focus. It sounds like background music at a pub and "Suddenly Mary" is better than the original version.
   
   Victoria Bjuringer



2. Having never had the chance to see the Posies live, "In Case," has helped to turn what would otherwise be a complete void into just a partial one, though what you'll hear here is really just Auer and Stringfellow and a couple of guitars. I listen to this album often and the one thing that immediately gets me is the intimacy of the thing, which can be attributed to much more than its "unplugged" atmosphere. Performed on their home-turf, in Seattle in early 2000 (long after the "grunge" label they were inaccurately tagged with had worn off, for lack of there really being any music left that even resembled grunge), you quickly realize that they're playing to a crowd of die-hard fans here and little else. The crowd sings along accurately, receives the on-stage banter genuinely, cheers and laughs at all the right moments and help make this recording what a great live album should be - fun. One still wishes they were there, but the superior sound quality and perfect choosing of what had to be dozens of recordings of Auer/Stringfellow sets gets you about as close as you can without having been. The actual performances themselves are stellar. Stripped down (but not low-key by any means) this album actually comes across more powerfully to me than its sister-album released the previous year, "Alive Before the Iceberg," which featured what remained of the full Posies, with pounding drums and full-on distortion. This set includes many fan favorites, opens with the best version of "Grant Hart" I've ever heard and masterfully works its way through some of the best moments of this duo's already impressive catalogue. That, along with the on-stage banter make this an absolute must-have-and-listen-to-incessantly for fans and a respectable introduction for novices. It does come up a little short though, clocking in at only about 40 minutues and excluding what would have been welcome versions of "Dream All Day" or especially "Everyone Moves Away." But when the worst thing you can say about an album is that you wish it had been longer, that's a pretty good thing.



3. Although I've seen the Posies live many times since 1991, I decided to forgo Jon & Ken's acoustic show when it came through my city a few months ago in lieu of watching the final episode of Survivor. I immediately realized upon listening to this CD what an egregious mistake that was.

   Not only are their harmonies as gorgeous and lifting as ever, but the inclusion such treasures as "I May Hate You Sometimes (But I'll Always Love You)" and "Suddenly Mary" are enough to inspire a heartfelt sigh of loss. If you've never had the privilege of seeing this band live (or even if you have, and would like to revisit very happy memories), order this CD!




4. So they have done it again. When you think The Posies are gone they make a dramatic rebirth and release another album. For you true Posies fans, and I know you have to be, because The Posies are not like those everyday & overplayed bands you find on Mtv, I am saying this truthfully you will love this album, & it will remain forever cherished. So shell out the big bucks and get it while you have a chance.

   Now about this album, for starters it is a live preformance recorded unplugged, hence the album title, from the Showbox in Seattle. This album gives you the opportunity to experience The Posies in concert, incase you never got the chance, like me. I promise the songs choosen for this album will not disappoint you. There are great songs such as: Grant Heart, Every Bitter Drop, Flavor of the Month, Believe in Something Other (than yourself), Suddenly Mary, Solar Sister, I May Hate You Sometimes, Please Return It, Precious Moments, and Throwaway plus a few comments from Jon and Ken. (By the way all the songs listed correctly above. get the album and you will understand.) Now I know The Posies have many great songs and some of them might not appear on this album, but I know you true fans will not be disappointed. In closing, BUY THE ALBUM!!!!!!!!




5. Has breaking up been the best thing to happen to the Posies? Since they called it quits two years ago, they've had a greatest hits package, a live album and now-an "unplugged" set. Founding members Jon Auer & Ken Stringfellow still haven't officially joined any other groups, they're still doing occasional shows together and there's even a 4-disc box set on its way next month. Pretty active for a group that isn't around anymore. And it's too bad, because the Posies definitely had one of the best songwriting partnersips in Auer & Stringfellow since Big Star's Alex Chilton & Chris Bell or the dB's Chris Stamey & Peter Holsapple. Here they pare down their trademark power pop guitars and put the emphasis on their harmonies. And even though the whole "unplugged" craze is kinda died off, the disc still makes a swell companion to the recent and electrified "Before the Iceberg". Of course, this set is more intimate, and in just 39 minutes they offer not just a show but an entire history-both fan faves and seldom performed songs-that lets the music do all the talking.

1 comments about Silver Side Up/Live at Home.

1. if you like nickleback get this set if only for the DVD. they rock out and at home they kick you know what.

2 comments about Live.

1. This is a must-own for all fans of GA, but this is just one solid live rock disc. Anyone would appreciate the performances captured here.



2. Hey hey, cant go wrong w/ this cd. Fans been waiting for this & its finally has arrive. thanks so much to guano apes. its really great, no disappointment here. If you are a GA fan, this is the must for your collection.

3 comments about Caught Live.

1. "We're Hagfish, and we go like this...", starts out the new live CD from Dallas punksters Hagfish. After I saw them play in Denton in December, I was really disappointed, but is CD makes me remember why I liked them in the first place. Opening with "Anniversary Song", they rock out like never before, and don't let up at all throughout the CD. Up next is the best performance on the disc - "Trixie". This song has always been one of my favorites live, and this performance has to be one of the best I've ever seen (or, in this case, heard). As usual with their live show, the inbetween song banter is funny if not ridiculous (listen to the story in the middle of "Envy"). They even throw in some non-CD tracks such as Moaner" and "Grin Doggie". Other notables on here are "Crater", "White Food", "Stamp", and "Bop". Unfortunately, and somewhat surprisingly, "Happiness" is nowhere to be found on this disc. George, as usual, forgets some lyrics, in this case in "Fruit" and "Sucker". During the last song, "Flat", they mention that this is their last show ever, even thoughit was recorded at Trees in October, and I saw their next, in Denton, and my brother saw the one after that (their "real" last show ever) at Trees in April. And even after that show, Zach, the guitarist told my brother that they might play a show in Dallas at the end of the summer. Anyway, this CD really does kick ass, and you should get it.



2. igot this cd from a friend on my birthday and never had heard them befor i listned to it and it was great i love the songs trixxy and stamp and white food



3. This CD shows Hagfish at its best. For those of you who own RYLA, Buick Men or the self-titled, you know Hagfish can rock. But the studio recordings don't do justice to this band. Hagfish is MADE for live venues -- no studio CD could EVER duplicate the energy and excitement of a Hagfish show. Although you can never beat witnessing Hagfish perform live, fans can have the next best thing with this CD. If I could give it six start out of five, I would. Hagfish earns extra credit on this release.