No comments about Yo-Yo a Go-Go 1999.

2 comments about TG+.

1. This is more than just a great addendum to the TG24 box set, it is, pound for pound (euro for euro, dollar for dollar) a better bargain for the simple reason that both the sound quality and live group cohesion (tightness) are both largely superior. This also features many of their most famous or infamous (i.e. most widely bootlegged) performances. The price is also much lower, of course. If you buy only one of the two "big box" live sets, make it this one.
   
   I only gave it a 4 due to the flimsy packaging on the inside, which ripped apart and left the discs sliding around inside; the remastering quality is nice, and the content is excellent. If I were still dickering due to the price, I'd check out the previous 4 disc live box, which consists of the best four and a half hours of the 35-36 included in TG24 and TG+. My list "So you'd like to subject yourself to Throbbing Gristle" has a link and provides tons of other unsolicited opinions about all manner of other TG and TG-related product.



2. First of all, it's definitely worth the money. If you love TG, this is 10 TG CDs for about $100. Most CDs are more than $10. Good deal.
   
   There is very little in the box aside from the CDs... just a metal TG logo with several pieces, credit card sized. Cool, but not much.
   
   Now to the "psychic rallys" themselves.
   
   As you should know if you're here, this is TG's last 10 shows. The shows contain pieces from Heathen Earth and possibly 20 Jazz Funk Greats (I don't know, I don't have it, but they definitely do "Discipline"...a lot) and occasionally they do "Very Friendly". And in TG fashion, more than half of it is improvised. Since it's the same kind of improv they did in studio, this is kind of like having 10 new TG studio albums, except they're less polished and certain songs show up on multiple disks.
   
   Songs that are played quite frequently in this period are "Something Came Over Me", "Cornets", "Heathen Earth (live only)", "Auschwitz (live only)", "Persuasion (live only)", "Spirits Flying (live only)" and "Discipline". They also do a strange, highly altered "The Old Man Smiled". Note that in different times playing a particular song, the result is rarely the same. The basic beat or synth of the song will loop, and then the band will spontaneously do something (anything) over it. Songs also typically go much longer than studio versions... up to 15 minutes.
   
   The 10 disks can't really be measured by musical quality, only atmosphere and feeling. To see if you'd enjoy this, I'd recommend hearing Rafters (disk 6 here), Oundle School (disk 1), or Mission of Dead Souls (disk 10). The sound on disk 10 here is much better than "Mission", though.
   
   The TG present in these recordings is much less one-dimensional than the one represented in Heathen Earth, many unidentiable metallic sounds present themselves. Screamed vocals echoed into oblivion are all over the place, sometimes singing, typical Chris Carter rhythmic synth lines and percussion, Cosey's guitar wails, and a hell of a lot of sampled stuff, but very little sampled dialogue (later industrial acts used almost all dialogue when sampling). They even sample earlier parts of the performance, it'd seem.
   
   Disk 9, Veterans Auditorium, is a distorted mess, clipped all over the place. TG even admits this recording was distorted. Practically worthless. Other shows are very noisy occasionally as well, particularly Disk 2. I feel obligated to mention that much of the stuff here is unpleasant to the ears. The whole thing is devastating loud.
   
   Kezar Pavilion (10), Rafters (6), Lyceum (8), and Heaven (7) are all totally awesome shows. The 3rd, 4th and 5th disks are great too. A very cold, spacious feel to the mixes, like being in a wind tunnel.
   
   This is truly "psychic" music. Before purchase of any live TG, know this- TG were not musicians. They were a psychological force. They did not play their instruments in patterns that sounded "good". I believe the group that would enjoy something like this set is highly limited, but TG made no promises. Thus, hear some before you buy.

1 comments about Live & Loud.

1. chinese takeaway and vive la revolution are two of the best songs ever written by the adicts. its kinda sickening to me though that i saw some of these really great cd titles on amazon.com, i just hope it never ends up being another mtv or something thats sold out or sells other bands, etc. out. that would definitely not be cool. but the fact that they carry all kinds of music is always great and dont feel like a sell out if you buy a kick a** cd from them or something like that. sharifah

1 comments about Salad Daze (The BBC Radio 1 Sessions).

1. Over the last decade The Mission UK has proven their magnificent entry to alternative music. In spite of the lack of comercialization , songs like severina,wasteland,deliverance and the best of them "Butterfly on the Wheel" are a proof that this english band is the best selection for alternative rock. As a fan of The Mission UK this is album is the best recopilation of them.

5 comments about Dreamweapon: An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music.

1. 
   To start off - there is no sitar played in this recording. It's all guitar and some effects. That's where they're going with the "An Evening of *Contemporary* Sitar Music" title. The style is eastern influenced, and tonally reminiscent of Indian/sitar music. Vox vibratos more masterfully crafted than anything pulled off by Marr in "How Soon is Now?" and guitar rambles which are both totally captivating and completely simple. You hear soul. You hear passion.
   
   The primary, 44-minute recording is as influenced by marijuana as anything else, and if you're of the aesthetic subscriptions that appreciates music of such influences, this is a maioribus opus. A prime candidate soundtrack for modern meditation, a massage, and afternoon nod, quieting a restless mood or indeed restless children. Getting on an airplane? Pump this into your earbuds as you sit, close your eyes, and drift. External stimuli cease to pertain.



2. The 45-minute "evening of contemporary sitar music" is the reason to buy this. It is droning, repetetive and utterly sublime. If the 45-minutes part along with the droning and repetitive commments don't sound like your cup of tea, that's ok, too -- it is not much like "perfect prescription." But this is a tremendous record to go to sleep or do other nighttime stuff to...spacemen three say: relax.



3. One thing about 'Dreamweapon' is that it's quite a bit different from their other live recordings,at least the ones that I've heard.Originally released in 1990 and reissued in 2003.The tracks on 'Dreamweapon' were recorded at a UK concert that took place in August,1988.Really enjoyed the 44-minute epic "An Evening Of Contemporary Sitar Music" which,of course features some top notch sitar playing.Best described as dreamy neo psychedelia.The disc's other two cuts are "Ecstasy In Slow Motion" and "Spacemen Jam",which were penned by Sonic Boom.Basically,if you're a Spacemen 3 fan and you even somewhat dig sitar playing,you SHOULD have no problem digging on this CD.



4. La Monte Young's classic band (archival material has been released by John Cale) was the seed of the Velvet Underground and is clearly where Spacemen 3's influences lie. Most of their albums are focused around trippy psych punk jams. However, this cd leaves out the harsher edges and is a punked out modern day equivalent of what La Monte Young and Terry Riley were doing in the sixties. On first listen you may find this album to be repetitive and unfocused but if you try to use it as an ambient experience rather than trying to relate to it as a song you will really enjoy it. This is ambient music that "goes somewhere"



5. too bad this is out of print again! the first track is revelatory (and not just because it reveals fragments of many songs that would appear on 1989's Playing with Fire). in addtion, it's a fantastic album to fall asleep to!

1 comments about Bad Fish.

1. This EP CD is incredible. A rarity. It's a must buy for any serious Sublime fan because of it's rare quality, it's awesome cover art (by Opie as usual) and it's tracks that are not available on any studio albums. The tracks are as follows:
   
   1. Badfish - The classic. The same version from 40 Oz. To Freedom.
   2. Don't Push - The Original. Same version from Second Hand Smoke.
   3. Untitled Dub - An early, rare, live version of Pawn Shop, way before the self titled album was released.
   4. We're Only Gonna Die For Our Arrogance - Live version of the track from 40 Oz. To Freedom.
   5. Roots Of Creation - This previously unrealesed 1998 studio recording is the highlight of this EP. This track is one of Sublime's earliest (and best) recordings, with similar instrumentation to their song Romeo from Second Hand Smoke.

5 comments about Live!.

1. This double live CD is a fair and good snapshot at a couple of their tours. It was nice to hear their live performances cleaned up after listening to countless horrible bootlegs over the years. These discs are not definitive as it would have been nice to hear some of the live material from the 1982 tour and the 1984 concerts at the end of the Synchronicity tour. The live performance that hit Japan TV from February 2008 is a good alternative to the official release of the final New York show.



2. Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R87V3WUK7W9I5 I own more live albums then I will ever bother to count and this set is exactly what I want out of any such set. Rather than being cobbled together from several concerts in a short time frame and then having the instruments and/or vocals overdubbed to sound less "live" (WTF?) as so many bands do, The Police gave us a true live album -blemishes and all- consisting of two very different concerts from two very different eras of the band's career. This highlights the extreme musical growth of the band in a relatively short time and proves that they could harness some serious energy playing live. Anybody unhappy with the sound obviously is not a fan of live music and should stick to studio recordings because this is as good as a genuine live album gets (aside from a slight sound problem during the first verse of "Next to You"). There can be no argument.
   
   The sampling of songs is spot-on on both discs; the first representing the band's early years aspiring to harness the energy of punk rock and reggae, the second showing the band at it's creative peak. Both are wonderful documents of where the band was at musically at the time and both absolutely rock. Sting's voice sounds killer and his typically solid bass-playing is on full display. He works the crowd and occasionally ad-libs during songs, adding some flavor to the proceedings. Andy Summers' guitar playing is the missing link between the firey punk attitude of Mick Jones and The Edge's soundscaping virtuosity; at times allowing his solos to devolve into distorted feedback that would make Greg Ginn (Black Flag) smile and other times letting subtle arpeggios and the ambience of his guitar effects work their magic -sometimes in the same song. It only takes two words to sum up Stewart Copeland: drummer's drummer.
   
   This is easily one of my favorite live albums and if you share my enthusiasm for concert recordings and The Police then this is a no-brainer. All it wants is to be next to you.



3. It is hard to believe that a band can become a Hall of Fame band with just five studio albums to their name, but the Police are such a band. This is an honor that the Police are most worthy of. The Police were sort of an off-shoot of the Punk Rock movement of the late 1970s. The band would eventually encompass other influences - namely Classic Rock, Reggae, Jazz, Dance, and even Folk. For the most part, it is fair to say there was a Punk Rock and Reggae influence on the band for their first two albums" - "Outlandos D'Amour" and "Regatta de Blanc". Both of these albums were terrific efforts - mostly because The Police used applied their unique style to a formula that worked. The Police would soon transform their sound to a more Classic Rock sound. With each successive album ("Zenyatta Mondatta", "Ghost in the Machine", and "Synchronicity"), the Police would continue to grow as a band and incorporate a variety of genres into their sound. When the Police would disband in 1986, they did not have a live album in their portfolio - despite the fact they had emerged as one of the great live bands of all-time. It would be nearly a decade later when the Police would release their first live collection - 1995's "The Police - Live!". Despite some negative criticism, this collection is worthy of the Police's Hall of Fame career as well as prove to be worth the long wait.
   
   "The Police - Live!" is a very unique live collection. It consists of two concerts - one from 1979 and one from 1983. Each concert is on a separate disc. The concerts show a great reflection of the Police's career. The November, 1979 concert, recorded in Boston at the Orpheum Theater and broadcast on WBCN radio showcases the Police's early Punk Rock and Reggae roots. This concert has much more of a "raw" edge, but you can also tell that the Police were performing in a more intimate setting. By 1983, the Police had progressed their sound and had much more of a Rock edge. The November, 1983 concert was recorded at Atlanta's Omni Arena and this concert definitely has more of an Arena Rock feel. The 1983 concert showcases a good amount of material from the "Synchronicity" album (this was the tour in support of that album), while the 1979 concert is drawn from the band's first two albums.
   
   I've heard a lot of people complain about the sound. It is important to remember that a live album will never have the audio standards of a studio album. This CD set was recorded in ADD format - meaning an Analog tape recorder was used during initial recording and a Digital tape recorder used during mixing/editing and for mastering. Overall, I think the album was well mixed and well engineered. Compared to many live albums, I consider this album to be one of the better sound qualities.
   
   Here are eleven things to look for on this collection:
   
   1-The 1979 Boston Concert contains all of the tracks from the Police's debut album with the exception of the instrumental track, "Masoko Tanga". This includes rare performances of "Peanuts", "Born in the 50s", and "Be My Girl/Sally".
   
   2-Despite the fact that "Reggata De Blanc" was the newer album, there is less material played at the Boston concert. "Message in a Bottle", "Walking On the Moon", "Bring on the Night", and "The Bed's Too Big Without You" are the only songs that are represented. The instrumental "Reggata De Blanc" is played as part of "Can't Stand Losing You" - a tradition the Police have done throughout their careers.
   
   3-The Boston concert plays two early singles not found on albums - "Fall Out" and "Landlord".
   
   4-Sting has said he had been battling laryngitis at the time of the Boston concert, but for the most part you can't tell it. The only exception seems to happen during "Peanuts" - where it definitely sounded like he was having some issues with his voice.
   
   5-The 1983 Atlanta Concert contains eight songs from "Synchronicity", including a rare performance of the Andy Summers tune - "O My God". Unfortunately the albums "Zenyatta Mondatta" and "Ghost in the Machine" end up being the big losers in this collection as only three songs total are found on the two CD set.
   
   6-I love the segue from "Synchronicity I" into "Synchronicity II" at the Atlanta concert. The segue seemed almost natural. Both performances showed the Police at the top of their game.
   
   7-The best song on the two disc set is found on the Omni performance with "King of Pain". I've always considered this a great song - and this live version is even better.
   
   8-The Police "wrap-up" the Omni concert with two songs from their first album - the traditional extended jam of "Can't Stand Losing You" (featuring "Regatta De Blanc") followed by "So Lonely".
   
   9-The Omni performance has the Police using outside singers. I had mixed feelings about this because I always liked the fact the Police would make "every sound" on their recordings. Yet, the outside vocalists add a new dimension to the band.
   
   10-One thing that is great about the Police is how they improvise during their live performances as well as create new arrangements of their songs. Both concerts showcase how well the Police has been able to do these things.
   
   11-For the most part, both concerts appear to preserve the order of the songs and give the feeling of being at the 1979 and 1983 performances respectively. It's hard to tell whether these are "complete" shows. Usually with live CDs, some songs are not included when recorded from the show.
   
   Overall this is an outstanding collection. The two concerts really contrast the early days and the latter days of the band - with both performances being outstanding. It is a live album that is truly worthy of a Hall of Fame band.



4. If you listen to this product you'll definetly consider the police a very weak live band. Actually, they are very good musicians, this is their only official live album, as far as I know and in this compilation the first disc, recorded live in 1979 is VERY painful to listen to, the band hurries through the songs, copeland constantly overplays on every song, example: the beds too big without you: it gives the impression that copeland is rearranging the song live to make it more interesting but neither Sting nor Andy seem to be able to catch on, and sting finally comes into the first verse after three attempts, Roxanne seems to fluctuate and flutter all over the place, cant stand losing you loses steam as it goes on. Overall the first record sounds like an unrehearsed police cover band. The second disc is pretty standard though absolutely not exciting, even their big hit every breath you take sounds very weak compared to the studio version. I have never seen the police live, but have heard people commenting on how great they were. I guess if this was them at their worst their best was overrated.
   
   PS: after watching the Stu Copeland movie "everybody stares" about the police, I can finally say that they were really pathetic live. very very bad, thus this album is not a fluke, the police were really this bad.



5. I bought this album after hearing the Police on Live Earth. The first cd is horrible. The band sounds like they are rushing through the concert and would rather be somewhere else. The second cd is much better.

5 comments about 25/5/00 - Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain.

1. The second show of any tour of this length should sound so good. The Barcelona crowd's enthusiasm pulls Pearl Jam onto it's back, and the band rides it for all it's worth, missed chords and all. If there were a few less miscues and stumbles, this show would have easily rated 5 stars. As it is, it's still a must have for any fan, if only to hear how a great crowd and a great band can carry each other. Keep in mind that a ragged live performance by Pearl Jam can usually eclipse other band's best shows. This one is worth tracking down.



2. This is the second show of Pearl Jam's 2000 tour. The opener at Lisbon was a perfectly solid performance, surprising since it was the first show. It is at Barcelona that Pearl Jam shows that they're still warming up. The show is a little more ragged than Lisbon, but it is to be expected. This does not mean that there are no great performances to be found here. There are several, most notably the opener "Long Road," "Even Flow," and a blistering take on "Breakerfall" on the first disc, and "Black" and "Yellow Ledbetter" are highlights on disc two.

   But as stated above, the show is ragged, with mistakes to be found on "Light Years," "State Of Love And Trust," "Wishlist," and "Elderly Woman." Normally pounding rockers such as "Hail Hail," "Animal," and "Do The Evolution" don't have nearly the amount of furious energy they should, and the first tour performance of "Rearviewmirror" is incredibly rusty. This night's performance of "Daughter" is better than the opening night at Lisbon, but as the bootleg series progresses, the song becomes much better than what is featured here.

   However, I don't blame Pearl Jam for a bad show at Barcelona. It's a competent performance by a band that isn't completely warmed up yet.




3. Disclaimer: Owner of all 72 official PJ bootlegs. This second show of Pearl Jam's mammoth 2000 world tour really shows the band waking up and starting to get down to business. The tour opener in Lisbon was very rusty and disjointed (understandably); but this follow-up in Barcelona, while still a little ragged, is a great improvement and shows that the band is really ready to get this tour rolling. There must have been a great atmosphere in this venue, as the band sounds incredibly relaxed and limber. Thus the songs have a very loose feel, and a bluesy, groovy sound is the result. This is especially true of Jeff Ament and Matt Cameron, who deliver a little extra swing tonight. Stone Gossard and Mike McCready are relaxed and perfectly in sync, giving each other plenty of room to operate. Good examples of this extra groove are the more mid-tempo numbers, like "Given to Fly," "I Got S**t," and "Betterman" (which here is more compact and is not yet the jam-session vehicle that it would become later in the tour). Never fear, because the loose mood also improves the heavy rockers, like "Animal," "Even Flow," and "State of Love and Trust." This show begins and ends in an impressive fashion, with extra emotional renditions of "Long Road" (a highly effective opener) and "Yellow Ledbetter." Unfortunately, the groovy feel of this show doesn't last, and miscues and errors start to pile up towards the end of the set, making this bootleg rather average overall (as compared to all the other bootlegs), but it is still enjoyable.



4. I had the privelege of stumbling into this concert while backpacking around Europe this past May. I have always been a big Pearl Jam fan, but never had been able to see them live, given the difficulty just about every Pearl Jam fan has had trying to get tickets to one of their rare shows.

   This concert was perhaps the best I've ever attended. It was general admission, and the large floor in front of the stage was packed full of people. Despite a mostly Spanish audience, the crowd sang along, word for word, to every song.

   In the recording, Eddie's vocals drown out the crowd in most parts, but during some refrains the echoes really add to the feel of the disc. Rear View Mirror features one of the coolest Pearl Jam jams I've ever heard.

   Pearl Jam flat out played their hearts out on May 25, 2000, and everyone in the audience could feel it. I will never forget that concert, and after hearing this release, it makes perfect sense why. If you are a Pearl Jam fan, buy this album!




5. I was at this show and it was truly amazing. I have since been converted to being a PJ fan (many can't believe I wasn't before). The boys were extremely excited to be doing the show and they absolutely cranked.

5 comments about Live in NYC - 1975: Red Patent Leather.

1. It's the New York Dolls Live, what vcan I say. you're probably dead bored of hearing about the sound quality but it clears up a bit on Something Else. The only problems throughout the record his the guitars are buried by the rest of the band and everytime they do a "doo-doo dodoo" it's fuzzy louder than everything else.
   Closest we'll ever get to a third album. i definately recommend this.

   Hey a bit o trivia I think it was around '00/'01 when a record company offered Sylvain Sylvain 1 million dollars to do a New York Dolls reunion, his reply was "Hey I agreed to do one back in '84. The only one who won't do it is David."




2. The sound quality is lacking but the spirit of the music is fantastic rock and roll. If you can put up with Husker Du's "Land Speed Record," this should be a breeze. Sloppy but magnificent.



3. Listening to this disk will make any Dolls fan frustrated! This is the only known recording of several songs that would've made up the 3rd Dolls album (and did show up later on their solo LPs). The new songs are all awesome--but you cannot hear Johnny Thunders at all (this is a soundboard tape done in a small club, which means the vocals, drums and Syl's keyboards dominate the mix--the guitars blasted out thru the amps, meaning not on the recording). Yet another reason to hate Heroin, as Johnny and Jerry both walked out because they were being deprived of it while on tour before the band could record these gems. (Gawd, and I taught English at the very company that invented it, a hundred years after the fact, back in 1898... a year after they invented aspirin)(!))



4. Since there was no official 3rd Dolls album this is the next best thing, as the first 7 songs were intended for the 3rd release, and this is the only known recording of them. The sound quality is'nt THAT bad, by bootleg standards anyway, and is certainly listenable. The rest of tracks are useless as better versions exist elsewhere, but definately worth getting for the first 7. The awesome cover photo alone is almost worth the price! Casual listeners be warned though, this one's for fans only.



5. I would dearly love to recommend this album, having searched for it for ages as a kid--on vinyl, yet--but having obtained the CD version, I have to warn all Dolls fans the world over not to be terribly impressed with this one.

   The performance sounds worthy--ditto for the new tracks--but the sound quality is atrocious. Usually I can take a spotty recording, especially depending on who the artist is. But posterity notwithstanding, even the five songs they recorded on Don Kirschner's 'Rock Concert' (Stranded..., Trash, Chatterbox, Don't Start Me Talkin', Personality Crisis) would have been better than this one.

1 comments about Live from Deep Ellum.

1. Anyone who has had the opportunity to see Stavesacre live knows they are a very powerful live act. Their studio recordings are great, but they are amazing in person. While the concert experience can never be 100% captured on a CD, I was still excited to find this live EP, recorded at The Door club in Dallas.

   And after listening to it, I was not disappointed. There are five live tracks, those being Sundown Motel, Gold and Silver, Rivers Underneath, Minuteman, and Keep Waiting. All five live tracks really rock, with Gold and Silver being my favorite. The sixth track is a demo version of Witch Trial, a song off their upcoming album. Although I might have preferred an extra live song, this was a still good addition.

   I really have nothing to complain about with this CD. A live EP can't get any better than this. If you like Stavesacre, buy it while you can still find it easily.