1 comments about Extended Versions.

1. This CD is basically a rehash of the Live At Sturgis album, minus a few good songs. It does have some of the bigger hits, but you would be better off paying a few extra bucks and get the full Live At Sturgis CD. Buy this only if you are strapped for cash.

4 comments about Live at the Whisky A Go-Go '69.

1. For sure, when this was recorded in 1969, this was a group still trying to find a direction. They weren't yet the live powerhouse they would become a couple of years later. However, the talent within the group, Steve Marriott, Peter Frampton and Greg Ridley shines out throughout this charming live recording.
   
   Hallelujah I Love Her So and I Walk on Gilded Splinters are embryonic. Shakey Jake was a wonderful early single, while For Your Love and Shakin' All Over are clever creative cover versions.
   
   Great music, great sound quality. transport yourself back to 1969



2. I bought this CD reminiscing about when live music was more dangerous and less predictable than the arena orientated music we experience now, where we were accustomed to musicians taking risks in their performances.
   Alas this CD is an object lesson in self-centredness. From the first track where Stevie Marriot tells the audience to 'shut up' to the final agonising minutes of the long, foggy jam that is 'Walk on Gilded Splinters' , it appears the assembled talent have disappeared up their own collective jacksy.
   This particular set predicts the interminable delivery of 'progressive rock' that became familiar in the 70's whose only saving grace was that it resulted in the reactive rise of punk and other celebrations of the short sharp song.
   Humble Pie were never very big in the UK and I think this demonstrates why.



3. Humble Pie is a band with lots of musical talent basically three lead singers and there three part harmonies are wonderful. Steve Marriott had to have one of the coolest bluesy voices in rock history and with Peter Frampton along side on Guitar and Vocal's and the hot rhythm section of Greg Ridley on Bass and Vocals and Jerry Shirley on Drums. This band would slow it down and folk it up and go to a heavy mental thunder in no time. The First song is a very very cool acoustic "For Your Love," I love there version, I could listen to it all day, its so infectious. The second song is a hard rockin version of "Shakin' All Over," this shows the direction that the Pie would move in, toward Heavy rock. Nice Harmonica work. On to the third song "Hallelujah I Love Her So" which became a mainstay for Humble Pie for a long time, shows all the talent of the band, a great rocker, from the old blues traditn, it just rocks, very nice guitar work and shared vocals. Then comes song number four "The Sad Bag Of Shakey Jake" (the bands first written song on this Disk By Steve Marriott) this song is based in the folk tradition, and is a story telling song, The rhythm section is just fantastic in this one, which gives the song a very heavy quality, its like folk meets Heavy 70s metal. Also wonderful shared Vocals and great harmonies. And lastly "I Walk On Gilded Splinters," a slow heavy blues based bombastic rocker" The CD comes with a cool fold out of the concert Poster from the Whisky a GO GO, and has a nice writ up (liner notes) and some cool pictures. The sound quality is very good, there is a little tape hiss from the original recording but not bad at all. I love this live set, its 50 minutes from 1969 that will last forever, a must have for any Humble Pie Fan.



4. Slow, terrific, controlled jams, with lots of tension and space between the notes. This is the best live Humble Pie I've ever heard; it beats the bombastic, post-Frampton hard-rock Pie, which I've always had a soft spot for. Later, the band would be plenty fun, loud, over-the-top, faux-soulful, etc. -- but here they're low-key, seriously groovy, unpretentious -- for my money, at the height of their powers.

   The take of "Shakey Jake" is a little limp and leaden (my favorite version is the one on "BBC Sessions"), but the four other looooong jams are fantastic, particularly the 21-minute "I Walk on Gilded Splinters." I'm not a big fan of "jammy" music to begin with -- that's why I was first attracted to the tight, arena-rock Pie -- but this music doesn't try to be "authentically" and studiously bluesy, jazzy, etc. (like so many more famous and respected artists of the day) -- yawn! Instead, it's just truly great rock and roll, intense and relaxed at the same time.

3 comments about King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Dixie Dregs.

1. If you're a Dregs completist, you'll definitely want this live album, recorded in 1979 for the King Biscuit radio show. But if you're new to the Dregs, go with "Bring 'em Back Alive", a live album with better sound, song selection, and even performance. The song selection isn't ideal: all the cuts here are from the Dregs first three albums, and two of these ("Freefall" and "Night of the Living Dregs") were their two weakest albums, in my opinion. The sound man doesn't seem to know the material; for example, the keyboards often fade in one or two measures into a solo. The album picks up in intensity halfway through -- from the ballad "Night Meets Light" on, it becomes a much better album, roaring through rockers "Punk Sandwich", "Cruise Control", and "Take It Off the Top", and hyperspeed bluegrass number "The Bash". Earlier on, you get more of the Dregs' trademark variety: fusion numbers like "Freefall" and "Night of the Living Dregs", the funky "Ice Cakes", and country number "Moe Down". Most of the organ part on "Travel Tunes" is left out in place of a longer guitar solo. This is a 3-1/2 star album.

   (1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)




2. Not content with blending jazz and rock as Miles Davis and Weather Report had done, Steve Morse and the Dixie Dregs stretched a little further by tossing some country, folk and even a little bluegrass into the mix. And if that last sentence gives an impression of a group of guys in flannel playing a barn dance, please don't be scared off; "The Bash" is the only real yee-hawing hoedown on this disc. The others range from hard hitting rock ("Punk Sandwich," "Take It Off the Top") to free jazz ("Travel Tunes") to rock with a Celtic touch ("Ice Cakes"). For those unfamiliar with the Dregs, it's a good introduction to their sound and a good overview of their first three albums. The energy of the performance would put most college bands to shame. And if you know the group already, none of the above should be a surprise.. I'll only add that the sound quality is quite good. Enjoy.



3. This live cd captured a quite strong performance by the Dregs. You'll get straight rock and roll, country, fusion,some blues, and more... all performed incredibly tight by the band. In my opinion, The Dregs were one of the best ensembles out there, specially Guitar virtuoso Steve Morse, who can play any style in top form. He masters the instrument in an awesome way; even Steve Howe of Yes has expressed his admiration for his wide vocabulary, technique and feeling. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Live at the Whisky.

1. Steve Walsh had some setbacks in his life, this was unfortunately one of them. The only reason I can see this being produced...contractual obligation.
   Mark this into the "hopefully they'll end up a in a landfill and no one will listen or watch the CD/Video Tape" category.
   
   If you want live, check out the newer "Device Voice Drum" DVD/CD, or wait July 1st for the remixed "Two for the Show" that was recorded in the late 70's.



2. This is the lineup I saw a couple of times in small theatres and hole-in-the-wall clubs in the '90s:
   
   Steve Walsh - vocals and keyboards
   Greg Robert - keyboards
   Billy Greer - bass and vocals
   Richard Williams - guitars
   David Ragsdale - violin and guitar
   Phil Ehart - drums
   
   This is a very rough recording, and, as has been noted, Walsh's vocals are not his best, but it's still commendable. However, it is definitely not on the same level as "Two For The Show" or "Device Voice Drum".
   
   Kerry Livgren makes a "guest" appearance on "Dust In The Wind". I wonder if this was done just to give the album a bit of a push sales-wise..."Hey, Kerry Livgren's on it!"
   
   There is also an old recording of the hard blues "Lonely Street" done with the original lineup, which is actually better than most of the rest of the album.
   
   It's not horrible. Listening to it brings back good memories of when I saw them live. But get one of their other live albums instead.



3. Don't get me wrong. I love this band and have everything they've ever released, including Walsh's and Livgren's solo material. Like someone said earlier, the band sounds great but Walsh is so awful during this I'm surprised it was ever released. I listened to this once and won't listen to it again (remember, I love this band). So save yourself the money and instead buy Sail On or Device, Voice, Drum if you want to see live Kansas. Also, Walsh's new solo CD, Shadowman is very good. Buy it now!



4. Kansas is the world's greatest live band, since the early 1970s. They can absolutely blow anyone off the stage when it comes to playing. And let it be said that Steve Walsh is an amazing vocalist; in his prime, he was peerless in all of rock and roll. Alas, LIVE AT THE WHISKY does not find Walsh in his prime. The band plays as well as ever...the sound here is HUGE and extremely lively. Production by Drummer Phil Ehart and old school production cohort Jeff Glixman is absolutely perfect...honestly, the band hasn't sounded this good since 1977's POINT OF KNOW RETURN. (Yep, the band here even outplays itself from the TWO FOR THE SHOW days). Sadly, what could have been a complete sonic triumph is marred somewhat by Walsh's ragged, off-key croaking. In subsequent years, he seemed to re-gain form by the time FREAKS OF NATURE, ALWAYS NEVER THE SAME, and SOMEWHERE TO ELSEWHERE rolled around, but on this night, his voice just isn't quite up to the extremely demanding task of hitting those high notes. Still, Walsh has never lacked for passion and guts, and he gives this show his all. Ultimately, Walsh's sheer determination carries the day, for the most part. The band absolutely sizzles through vibrant versions of "Paradox" and the jamming "Point of Know Return." The celestial studio version of "Song for America" is replaced by a more aggressive, muscular approach on WHISKY that gives it renewed vitality. Man, just LISTEN to Phil Ehart drumming...flawless! Walsh, Ehart, Rich "Meatwall" Williams (guitar), and Billy Greer are joined by new bandmates: Greg Robert on keyboards and David Ragsdale (guitar and violin). Robert and Ragsdale greatly enhance the Kansas live sound...particularly when the violin kicks in. And, oh yes, a "special guest" makes an appearance on "Dust in the Wind" and "Carry On Wayward Son." It's band founder/guitarist KERRY LIVGREN! How sweet it is! There are a few painful moments, particularly with the higher-pitched ballads: the wheels come off vocally on "The Wall," "Hold On," and "Dust in the Wind," but these classic songs are redeemed by very strong instrumental performances by the band, particularly the interplay between Ragsdale's violin and the Livgren/Williams guitars on the latter. "Miracles Out of Nowhere" is reliably proggy and "Mysteries and Mayhem" is headbangingly raucous...with an interesting little boogie-woogie thrown in for fun. Walsh hams it up considerably with his vocals and the band sounds like a buzzsaw. Ehart kicks things up another notch with the crowd-pleasing "Portrait," and the band gives a simmering performance segueing into "Carry On Wayward Son." Again, the band absolutely crackles with energy and power, and Steve Walsh somehow manages to hold it all together vocally...it's definitely a killer version of this rousing Kansas chestnut. Usually, it would be time to call in the dogs and head for home, but Kansas still has some considerable fire left...an explosive version of "Down the Road" follows that blows away the SONG FOR AMERICA studio version. Walsh gets a litle winded on this "Zeppelin-meets-Charlie Daniels" rave-up, but he's pretty game nonetheless...and the band throws in some closing bars of "Magnum Opus" just for good measure to bring things to a rollicking conclusion. What a show! You can practically feel the sweat flying off of your CD changer as this one spins. As a bonus track, "Lonely Street" (Live-Cleveland, 1975) is included...this bluesy, simmering, intense track even exceeds the studio version...and Walsh's voice is in it's mid-70s pristine state. It's a nice little bonus for what is already a stellar live CD. Take all of this from a longtime "Wheathead" who saw the band live twice and has made listening to the band a 30-year habit. This CD isn't always easy to find, so grab it while you can.



5. what an awesome ced those who dissed this cd have the personality of a turnip thse cd is worth it to all fans of kansas new and old steves voice is on top as always the whole band plays tight and awesome buy it rock on!

5 comments about Steal Your Face!.

1. I'm no deadhead, I'm just a fan who spends about 45% of my day studying Dead history, Dead facts, looking for old rare live shows, fingering Dead songs on guitar, bass, and occasionally drums, and looking for any Dead tribute bands playing within 100 miles of my city. I've never seen the Dead live though, that's the reason I am not a Dead head, however I have heard over 100 live dead shows (www.archive.org) and this live album is good! Most people say they sound tired, and lazy, well cry me a river, it's the Grateful Dead, just a bunch of guys trying to have a good time with a crowd full of people tryin to dance to this music. The Dead are not clean cut young men who are classically trained (besides phil) to sing or play there instruments, or let alone harmonize. Good lord, the dead are horrible at harmonizing, but Bob Dylan can't sing, play more than 5 chords in a song, or play harmonica, but he's made something of himself. Fans are judging the Dead too harsh. Let up, these are the same group of hippies that traveled the country with Ken Kesey, intaking Acid by the ton.



2. The reviews so far seem to be split regarding song choice, sound quality, and performance. I think the song choice is pretty good, in the sense that some of the selections are hard to find on other live albums; not exactly "greatest hit" material, as some other reviewers have said, but interesting. Regarding sound quality, it's not exactly the best recording that I've ever heard, but was nevertheless acceptable for me. But I'm not all that picky in the sound quality department anyways. Performancewise, they do sound a little tired, but heck, they're still the Dead at their prime!



3. Originally i was going to give this disc one star, but seeing it is the dead, it warrants one more. If you haven't bought this disc already, skip it. There are far better recordings out there. The only good thing about this disc is the song selection. Sound quality isn't the best, and the band sounds tired. Move on.



4. It's amazing how history gets quickly forgotten. At the time of its release this album created a stink - even the band disowned it as a poor record of their "closing week" in Winterland, 1974, when it seemed as if the Dead was heading for retirement.

   It does not stand up well at all. No thrill, passion, excitement, and a bizarre choice of material given the wealth of good performances from the same run of shows. Lacklustre sums it up. If you have seen the Grateful Dead movie, this is from the same era. And traditionally it rates as the poorest ever official release by the Dead.

   Not a fitting memnorial. You have, thankfully, a whole host of better material to choose from. Same era? Look at Dicks Picks , the Boston 1974 show. Avoid this.




5. Not one of the best live grateful dead recordings. Go for One from the Vault first. It's from about the same time but is much more solid. I'm not saying this album is bad, but there is much better stuff out there.

No comments about Live in Hollywood: Highlights from the Aquarius Theater Performances.

3 comments about Showtime.

1. This is not meant to be critical of releases by the artist but I now own two albums by this artist and plan to own more...I think I will stick with his solo releases now (which is about all that is left). My previous review was of "Just Like This"... and compared to this release I would recommend it highly. The main reason for this recommendation is SOUND. The CD itself indicates that the sound is not of professional quality throughout the disc. Their are many fadeouts during the songs and the stuff recorded live with Ian Hunter is of especially poor quality. Ok but enough of the bad stuff. Overall this is a wonderful ducument of Mick Live, and some of the recordings are still very enjoyable...however .... if you have a choice maybe try something else by Mick and come back to this later. Overall, I would say sound-wise the disc gets worse as it goes along but overall again the disc is quite listenable.



2. It's Showtime for the former David Bowie: Spider's From Mars guitarist Mick Ronson. Showtime is a great album for any fan of the great guitar players of the seventies. This album show cases how great of a performer Ronson really was as a guitarist and solo artist. This album is a compilation of some of his best solo work live. From the the wham bam slammin'rockin' cover version of The Velvet UnderGround's White light/White Heat to the very tender, beautifilly played instrumental Sweet Dreamer, this album showcases his many talents as a player, singer and arranger. I think Ronson ranks right up there with all of those classic "Guitar Gods" like Clapton, Hendrix, Beck and Page. And this Live album proves it. In particular the Classic instrumental, Slaughter on 10th ave. would blow everyone away.



3. It's Showtime for the former David Bowie: Spider's From Mars guitarist Mick Ronson. Showtime is a great album for any fan of the great guitar players of the seventies. This album show cases how great of a performer Ronson really was as a guitarist and solo artist. This album is a compilation of some of his best solo work live. From the the wham bam slammin'rockin' cover version of The Velvet UnderGround's White light/White Heat to the very tender, beautifilly played instrumental Sweet Dreamer, this album showcases his many talents as a player, singer and arranger. I think Ronson ranks right up there with all of those classic "Guitar Gods" like Clapton, Hendrix, Beck and Page. And this Live album proves it. In particular the Classic instrumental, Slaughter on 10th ave. would blow everyone away.

4 comments about Live Collection.

1. This import has two great live songs available on CD nowhere else. The 10-minute "Incident on 57th Street" here is the finest version of this great song ever done (available only as a single b-side and all versions I heard of the single had loud popping record noise on it - it's clean here). Also this live wersion of "For You" is wonderful. Highly recommended for these two songs. Its a very high priced import, so try to get a good price of it used.



2. Simply not worth it for the price, especially now that the Hammersmith '75 show, long a popular bootleg, has been released ('73-'78 was Springsteen's real peak as a live performer) to complement the other multiple Bruce live sets already available. It's a fun listen but I certainly wouldn't pay more than $15 for it, unless you're the sort of Bruce fan whoa absolutely has to have everything, in which case no price will be too high anyway.



3. There are two absolutely essential live Springsteen cuts on this CD that are unavailable anywhere else. These were b-sides released on the singles of "Fire" and "War" that came out to promote "Live 75-85". "Incident" is one of Bruce's all-time classic epics, rivaling Jungleland as one of his best and longest songs. "For You" is nice early Bruce, and the live rendition is much better than the studio version on his first album. There is nothing finer than live Springsteen material, and even moderate fans value it above all else in their collections. And it doesn't get any better than the two songs I just mentioned ("Rosalita" and "Fire" are equally good, but already available on his live box-set). But Bruce's live material is a double-edged sword- it is so good that you want as much as you can get, but Bruce is notoriously stingy with his releases in general, and his live material in particular. Why he would make this (and other recent, equally desirable singles) available to much of his fanbase only as a ridiculoulsly overpriced import is completely beyond me. C'mon, Bruce- you're known as a down-to-earth guy who celebrates the common struggles of life. Please make your highly desirable live releases as readily avaialable as possible!



4. This import only release is well worth purchasing if only for the epic version of Incident on 57th Street. It contains one of the greatest of Bruce's dramatic, crying guitar solos and is one of the reasons that its rare appearances in Springsteen's setlists are so highly prized by the faithful. The version of "For You" is also a great version that is only available here. Rosalita and Fire are outstanding live songs but are heard in the same version on the Live 75-85 box set. For hard core Bruce tramps only but if you're not one, what's wrong with you???

1 comments about Todd Rundgren - Greatest Hits Live.

1. There are currently four different versions of this release circulating. The first came out in 2000 with a slip so you could get three extra songs and a Todd interview by downloading it from the King Bissuit web site and the enhanced cd took you right there. In 2001 JVC in Japan did a version called Live, that included a bonus song which was The Ikon/Freedom Fighters which was a download song. In 2002, this was released again but with the extra stuff on a bonus disc. In 2004 this was released yet again as the Best Of Todd Rundgren Live. This release is made up of three different shows, two of which had already been released. The 1978 show is Live in NYC '78 and the '85 show is A Cappella both of which are currently available in the box set Can't Sop Running. The 5/8/77 show is actually a Utopia concert and is were the bonus The Ikon/Freedom Fighters is from. This show is the best performed of the three. I really wish that they had just released that performance and bypassed everything else. If you're going to get this, make sure to contact the seller and that you get the two disc version like I have. If you can't find that, then go with the import with the bonus song.

5 comments about Got Live If You Want It!.

1. This is an interesting record that I don't play very often. I guess it just doesn't have the real feel of a live record like the bootleg "LiveR than You'll Ever Be," and the official "Get Yer Ya-Ya's out. In fact two of the songs, "Fortune Teller" and "I've Been Loving You" were actually recorded in the studio with the applause overdubbed. I've heard the band weren't happy with this record, though I don't know how true this is. Anyway, this is my least favorite Stones early Stones record, but still it's worth four stars, because if you compare it to other groups who were recording at the time, it's head and hands above them all. Gosh, who do you compare the Rolling Stones with other than themselves? Yeah, I want it live, I just like the later live ones better, especially "LiveR." Still this record is a keeper.



2. Maybe this is my punk sensibilities coming through on this but compared to many things out there THE SOUND QUALITY IS NOT THAT BAD! Come on people, this was the 1966, you can't expect them to have mastered all the arts and technologies behind recording albums. Either way, it's irrelevant, because this album is one of the most rockin' live albums I've heard in quite some time. Yeah, so they did some overdubs. Yeah, two songs are actually studio tracks. I don't think that diminishes the quality of the album. It's so raw and ready to kick your butt. It showcases the fact that before they became, along with U2, one of the ugly behemouths of concert gluttony, they were real and raw and had Brian Jones rather than Ron (who?) Wood. Sorry, Stones fans, but everything they did after Jones SUCKS save Let It Bleed and Exile on Mainstreet, and this album only reaffirms it.



3. There is no reason to own this album because the music is drowned out by screaming girls and some of this was recorded in the studio with screaming overdubbed (WTF?) - AVOID. The worst live album by the Stones and maybe the worst live album ever.



4. I agree that this album is a true relic of the works of the Roling Stones. The songs "Under My Thumb" and "Get Under My Cloud" were played beautifully-as if they were played in one setting and time.
   

   Of course, "Lady Jane" is a true classic that is etched in my mind for years to come. Here,g uitarist Keith Richards played a gentle lead-accompanied by one of the greatest instrumentalists of rock history-Brian Jones (may he rest in peace), using a dulcimer that was audiable even while playing live.Let us not forget the R&B classic "Not Fade Away";of course Mick Jaggar played his heart out(as usual).Throughout the rest of the CD, bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts(banging the cymbals as always)did their parts quite well throughout the entire Cd-as well as Richards,Jagger, and Jones.And who can forget "Satisfaction" and "Time is on My Side"-considering being performed circa 1966.

   This is all of the good points that I can find while listening to this relic. With the exception of the first two tracks, ALL of the other songs were fragmented together. This "fragmentation" job of editing was pathetic.If one could piece together several tracks of different authenticity, he could had done a better job-even to the 1960s standards.

   Also, the "opening drum sequence(7 seconds)" before "The Last Time" is what I am talking about. That drumming sequence,before the first three chords of "The Last Time" sounded like the opening sequence of "I Ca't Get No Satisfaction" instead of the latter.
   

   I also share my fellow reviewers'comments on tracks four and five. I thought that this was suposed to be a TOTALLY LIVE album.What a dissapointment.
   

   Personally, despite the numerous flaws in the production, this CD is still a fine relic that you can capture the Roling Stones while they were still getting started in their fine career.I hope that other Rolling Stones fans will concur.




5. There was never any need to release this nor own it,nor re-master it on CD. I believe that initially it was only a US release that never came out in Britain. Only 5 songs were actually recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall show that the credits claim it's from. The rest are demos with dubbed in crowd noise,sometimes louder than the music itself.The version of "Fortune Teller" is really good though, and you can turn off one channel and here it minus the screaming girls.The actual live cuts were recorded by someone who had no clue how to record a live rock band at all;and at times most of the instruments are inaudible, and all we here are Mick and Keith's vocals. Obviously this was a record label cash in attempt, and maybe one of the worst live albums ever made.