2 comments about Psychedelic Navigator.

1. The teaming of Mani Neumeier, Kawabata Makoto & Atsushi Tsuyama was definitely one of the best tours last year. I saw them in Philly at Johnny Brenda's, I had the pleasure to meet all three musicians and picked up this CD (among many others) from them at the show, plus I had them sign the awesome picture inside the gatefold sleeve. Mani is still the best, when he played "For Bunka-San" (his "pots & pans" drum piece) I was front and center keeping his "drums" on the stage as they continually flew off. That was phenomenal!!!!! During "Psychedelic Navigator" Kawabata (Speed Guru) would be still one second and the next be all over the place like he was having a seizure with his long hair flying all over the place than back to calm before lift off again. Atsushi is the best (Monster) bass player there is, just listen to this CD and judge for yourself, plus he really knows how to work the audience (Cosmic Joker). You can check out a few clips of the show on Youtube (you'll see me front and center at the Philly gig).
   
   If you are reading this you must either be an Acid Mothers Temple fan, a Guru Guru fan and now you will be an Acid Mothers Guru Guru fan. If you are thinking about adding this CD to your listening library you will not regret it. Being a huge Guru Guru fan for the past 3 decades and an Acid Mothers Temple freak since first hearing their debut "Acid Mothers Temple and The Melting Paraiso U.F.O." I was a little skeptical when I first heard of this union, because alot of times when musicians of this caliber do these collaborations the music tends to go nowhere. This CD goes everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. I can't agree with the other review by (Mike Reed) where he says "essentially this is a Guru Guru show", you can definitely hear and feel Kawabata and Atsushi just as much as Mani. Do yourself a favor after digesting this CD. Go buy the following DVD: Acid Mothers Temple Festival Vol. 5! Recorded live at Tokuzo in Nagoya, Japan on December 9, 2006. The DVD features Mani, Kawabata, Atsushi, Higashi Hiroshi (Dancin' King), Kuriyama Jun, Kitagawa Hao & Tabata Mitsuru. You will see an excellent performance and how well they all work together on some killer AMT tracks. Some excellent Mani footage (including his "plate" solo) also you will see and hear how much Kawabata and Atsushi add to the show. But hurry the DVD is limited to 1000 copies only. Decent progrock sites should have it or eBay.
   I'll see you at the next Acid Mothers Temple gig : )



2. As most of you know, Guru Guru drummer / founder Mani Neumeier was in the states this last fall for a handful of tour dates with two members of Acid Mothers Temple, guitarist Kawabata Makoto and bassist Atsushi Tsuyama. This 'Psychedelic Navigator' CD release is a live show the three had played in Nagoya, Japan the previous year when this callaboration apparently first took place. I was utterly amazed at how great this disc is. Starts off with "Stonerrock Socks" that reminds me of a hard-to-find five-track Jimi Hendrix 'Early Instrumentals' EP, as "Bayangobi" (brings to mind a couple of similar Guru Guru classics - "LSD Marsch" or "Electric Junk") and "For Bunka-San" is where Mani steps out in from of his drum set to place a dozen pots, pans and cymbals to randomly hit on each piece of metal to create some over-the-top experimental sounds. Then there's the twenty-minute title cut "Psychedelic Navigator" with an almost Avant Garde vibe to it and the finale is the 1971 Guru Guru concert staple, the foot-stomping "Bo Diddley" which is a bit diiferent than their traditional version. Essentially, this is a Guru Guru show. Never thought a drummer could actually 'make' a band what it is. Highly recommended.

2 comments about A-Sides, Pt. 1: 1982-1984.

1. First off to the "Music fan" from texas, This is not a crass albem! Its an albem on crass records. Its a compilation of some of the bands that recorded on crass records. Crass isnt even of this record. Anyway. Buy this now



2. Crass has always been able to maintain its status as the most intelligent a-political band yet. Their message is strong enough to convert even the most stubborn to believe other then what they were taught. This particular album has about the same quality of any crass album (terrible) if not worst, but considering the fact that they had no musical talent and mostly revoloved their practices around alcoholic consumption, they did pretty good. Besides, the message makes up for the low quality, and after a while, you really begin to enjoy the songs. I have found myself singing these songs everywhere I go. This album along with any other Crass album is an aquired taste, and not for the narrow minded.

5 comments about Sacred Fire: Santana Live in South America.

1. This is from a period when Santana still rocked, and there was still some fire left in his soul. All the tunes reflect that feeling, where spirit and flesh merge in an alchemy of soul-delight, to paraphrase Santana's former spiritual master, Sri Chinmoy. That soulful fusion that he was known for in the Golden Decade can still be felt here, in the extended jams. I was lucky to have been in one of the shows on that tour, and this album captures the feel and mystical atmosphere of a Santana live show wonderfully. Definitely his best release of the 80's and 90's, which has made his old-time fans very happy (before alienating them in the new Millennium with his big pop sellout)



2. 3 1/2 stars really.
   the music is quite good, as so many other reviewers have stated. My beef?There isn't enough guitar, and what is there, is lost in the other instruments. I've seen Santana in concert several times, and the main reason for going, is his guitar. I recommend Lotus instead. Despite its technical flaws, Lotus is a better album overall.



3. This is a "must have" cd for any Santana fan. It captures the mood and energy of seeing Santana live very well. In fact, I would consider it the best live album I've ever heard. It's got the dialog (in spanish) between songs and at the beginning of the show. I find the words and music to be very inspiring. I could go on and on but to put it simply, this is one of my all time favorite cds. An amazing performance by an amazing band. Just buy it!!



4. I have all the old vinyls and all the new cds, but non touch the live performance of Carlos on this album. This truly shows he is by far the greatest guitarist of all time. Hendrix was great, but he's dead!. Oh yeah, and shame on anyone who doesn't aggree that Santana live is better than any studio recording. And if this his his best live album, then this is his best album of all. I highly recomend. This is comming from a Carlos fan who's been listening to him since the beginning. Trust me you won't be dissapointed.



5. Sacred Fire: Santana Live in South America is a nice recording of an early 90's Santana concert.
   The sound quality is first-rate.
   The musicians, while very good, are no match for the Santana band of the late 60's and early 70's.
   Of course, Carlos Santana's fiery guitar still has the power to carry the show.
   I didn't particularly care for a few of songs on this album (like Esperando and Make Someone Happy) but the renditions of their earlier works like "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" and "Toussaint L'Overture" are fantastic.
   Overall a rewarding musical experience but for the best live recording of a Santana performance I'll stick to "Lotus".

1 comments about Live! Blueswailing July '64.

1. I really enjoyed this CD. I find any Clapton performance before Derek and the Dominos entertaining and this one is no exception. I think I would still recommend getting Five Live Yardbirds first. This CD is certainly on the same level as Five Live, and if you like it and want more, this would be a great addition to your music library.

No comments about Live at the Uncon 2006.

4 comments about Billboard Top Dance Hits: 1979.

1. Tracklisting:
   1 Patrick Hernandez Born To Be Alive (3:26)
   2 Edwin Starr Contact (3:45)
   3 France Joli Come To Me (4:16)
   4 Anita Ward Ring My Bell (3:35)
   5 Cher Take Me Home (3:29)
   6 Deniece Williams I've Got The Next Dance (3:49)
   7 Diana Ross No One Gets The Prize/The Boss (6:41)
   8 Destination (2) Move On Up / Up Up Up (8:35)
   9 Donna Summer Hot Stuff / Bad Girls (11:44)
   10 Gloria Gaynor I Will Survive (3:17)



2. I own three CD's in this series by Rhino (the other 2 being 1976 and 1977 - see my reviews), but this one is clearly the best. 1979 was the year disco music peaked. There was disco music after 1979, but they just stopped calling it disco because of the negative connotation. That year saw lots of non-disco artists jump on the disco band wagon including Rod Stewart (Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?), Paul McCartney (Goodnight Tonight), Blondie (Heart of Glass), and Barbra Streisand (The Main Event/Fight). Here is my track by track review of this CD:
   
   1. Born to be Alive by Patrick Hernandez: An infectious rock/disco song that is great to dance to. One of my all-time favourites and a Pop hit (#16) as well. Also, Madonna got her start as a dancer for him.
   
   2. Contact by Edwin Starr: This song did not do as well on the Pop chart as it should have, reaching only #65. A great funk/disco number.
   
   3. Come to Me by France Joli: Although she had lots of dance hits and international hits, this was her only song to crossover and have Pop succes (#15). I still love this song even though it is almost 26 years old.
   
   4. Ring my Bell by Anita Ward: This song has been sampled many times by rappers over the years (Marky Mark, Will Smith, etc). Disco was much maligned, but it is funny how often that driving disco beat has been recycled over the years. Very sexy song and a #1 Pop hit as well.
   
   5. Take me Home by Cher: Cher was another artist to jump on the disco band wagon with this song. However, unlike some of the other artists who "went disco", Cher had a little bit more credibility in stepping into the genre as she was a regular at Studio 54 during that period. A great song and her last big Pop hit (#8) until late '87/early '88 when she resurfaced as the queen of the power ballad.
   
   6. I've Got the Next Dance by Deniece Williams: Not one of Deniece's strongest records. This song only went to #73 on the Pop chart, and I think it is because even disco music at the time was constantly changing and this tune seems more like something from 1976 or 1977 as opposed to the more driving beats of 1979.
   
   7. No One Gets the Prize/The Boss by Diana Ross: This mix presented here is great. Although I remember only hearing "The Boss" part on Top 40 radio at the time, hearing the 2 songs together sounds even better. A club classic.
   
   8. Move on Up/Up Up Up by Destination: A fairly anonymous disco song that I had never heard until I bought this CD.
   
   9. Hot Stuff/Bad Girls by Donna Summer: I owned this 12" back in the summer of 1979 and played it over and over. I have many Donna Summer CD's, but I am so glad Rhino provided this 12" mix of the 2 songs as I used to love playing them back during that magical Summer of '79. And it truly was the "Summer of '79" as Donna ruled the charts in 1979 with 5 Top 10 Pop Hits and 3 #1 Double Albums (the only artist to ever achieve 3 #1 double albums in one chart year).
   
   10. I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor: A great, dramatic disco song and a #1 Pop hit as well. This possibly has been a little overplayed over the years, but I still love it.
   
   All of the songs on this CD are #1 Disco hits except "Take me Home" which went to #2. A great compilation of the Top Disco songs of 1979. Relive the magic!



3. The year saw the culmination of the disco era; in the next decade dance music became Hi-NRG and lost some of its melodic appeal and variety. Born To Be Alive by Patrick Hernandez is a brilliant piece of passionate disco with lots of hooks and a great tune, while Anita Ward's Ring My Bell introduced the syndrum to great effect, I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor is a powerful anthem and the Hot Stuff/Bad Girls mix is an ageless classic, a devastating dance piece containing two of Donna Summer's greatest hits from the year when she dominated the Billboard charts with at least four hits from her brilliant Bad Girls album. At one stage during that year, these songs occupied the No. 1 and 2 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 for a couple of weeks. Both Hot Stuff and Bad Girls featured heavy rock guitar, representing a dramatic break from Summer's earlier synth and strings sound. The other songs have aged surprisingly well although they don't quite have the status of classics. This album is ideal for parties but also offers great listening enjoyment.



4. The songs in this collection are amazing! Donna Summer, Cher,and Diana Ross are just some of the divas that are included in this collection. Hot Stuff and Bad Girls are in here in an extended version, longer than that of the album version. Diana Ross' "No one gets the prize/ the boss" are mixed nicely together. Overall, I recommend this CD. It has great sound and it is a nice way to get acquainted with Disco's greatest stars.

5 comments about ELECTRIC LADYLAND.

1. Great CD i love the songs and etc. Only thing is it took a while to get it shipping wasn't very fast.



2. Electric Ladyland is, in my humble opinion, the single greatest recording ever made. 'nough said.



3. I am at a loss for words [speaking of Jimi]. I've purchased this recording at least 4 times !!! Since it first came out on vinyl !!! The only question to ask is, Quality of the reproduction?
   
   YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET !!! If you buy a cheap quality reproduction ,,, it will sound like poop.
   
   Pay the money and get GREAT QUALITY ,,, take it from a wise man who has traversed the trials and tribulations of a ca. 60's baby-boomer !!!
   
   THIS CD IS AWESOME, MOST EXCELLENT ,,, IT WILL NOT DISAPPOINT !!! enough said, peace



4. A great album timeless. Its not just a rock album but a, jazz, blues, funk, and mainly psychedelic rock album. Coming out in the summer of 68' this was a huge hit. This album is also really experiementing with the wah-wah pedal a lot. Some key tracks on here are, voodoo child(slight return), still raning still dreaming, rainy day dream away, gypsy eyes, all along with the watchtower, 1983 a merman i should turn too be, house burning down etc.
   1. ... And The Gods Made Love 4/5 stars
   2. Have you ever been to electric ladyland 4/5 stars
   3. Crosstown Traffic 5/5 stars
   4. Voodoo Chile 5/5 stars
   5. Little Miss Strange 4/5 stars
   6. Long Hot Summer Night 5/5 stars
   7. Come On Let The Good Times Roll 4/5 stars
   8. Gypsy Eyes 5/5 stars
   9. Burning Of The Midnight Lamp 5/5 stars
   10. Rainy Day Dream Away 5/5 stars
   11. 1983(a merman i should turn to be) 5/5 stars
   12. Moon Turn The Tides Gently, 4/5 stars
   13. Still Raining Still Dreaming 5/5 stars
   14. House Burning Down 5/5 stars
   15. All Along The Watchtower 5/5 stars
   16. Voodoo Child(Slight Return) 5/5 stars



5. Jimi Hendrix's third and final album with the original Experience found him taking his funk and psychedelic sounds to the absolute limit. The result was not only one of the best rock albums of the era, but also Hendrix's original musical vision at its absolute apex. When revisionist rock critics refer to him as the maker of a generation's mightiest dope music, this is the album they're referring to.
   But Electric Ladyland is so much more than just background music for chemical intake. Kudos to engineer Eddie Kramer (who supervised the remastering of the original two-track stereo masters for this 1997 reissue on MCA) for taking Hendrix's visions of a soundscape behind his music and giving it all context, experimenting with odd mic techniques, echo, backward tape, flanging, and chorusing, all new techniques at the time, at least the way they're used here. What Hendrix sonically achieved on this record expanded the concept of what could be gotten out of a modern recording studio in much the same manner as Phil Spector had done a decade before with his Wall of Sound. As an album this influential (and as far as influencing a generation of players and beyond, this was his ultimate statement for many), the highlights speak for themselves: "Crosstown Traffic," his reinterpretation of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," "Burning of the Midnight Lamp," the spacy "1983...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be)," and "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)," a landmark in Hendrix's playing. With this double set (now on one compact disc), Hendrix once again pushed the concept album to new horizons.

5 comments about Mayfield: Remixed - The Curtis Mayfield Collection.

1. It is exactly what the title says it is...a remix album. If you like house and dance music, it's for you. If you want traditional, untouched Mayfield, stick to his unaltered recordings.



2. If you're like me, old enough to remember Curtis in his prime and also old enough to have suffered through Disco, then this disk will be like torture to you. Most of these "remixs" come across and lame, discoizations of superior music. That same old tired "thumpa thumpa" beat is used in song after song.
   
   I believe the "artists" who made these remixes have little or no love nor familiarity with Curtis' materiel. Most of the these tracks seemed to consist of Curtis' vocals being "square pegged" into some canned beat. Only "Move On Up" seems to have been complimented and/or improved by it's treatment on this disk. The rest are regrettable and forgettable Frankensteinian mish mashes that neither entertain nor enlighten.
   
   If you honor and love Curtis and his legacy, avoid this piece of trash like the plague.
   
   Da Worfster



3. This has got to be one of the worst albums I've heard. Most songs are unrecognizable from the originals. If you like Curtis, skip this. If you are a fan of house music, you may like it.



4. A Curtis Mayfield remix album ? Not a bad idea. Are there really Acapella tapes in the vault of the record co. ? That should be a dream come true and it should have been a boxed set of 10 CDs with the WHO'S WHO of the pop/rock/dance scene. Remixes by THE ROOTS, perhaps LINKIN PARK, LENNY KRAVITZ again (like Superfly 1990 with Ice-T), COLDCUT, BILL LASWELL (hey !!!), ...ok, ok,...WAKE UP, music fans and open-minded listerners, what we have got here in our hands after all is an overall disappointment (2 stars rating means Ashley Beedle, King Britt and Mixmaster "Pusher" [that "izzay" or what?] ;-0 did their job almost well. Louie Vega's Remix could've been so much better (he worked with Mr. Puente and Roy Ayers etc.; they should've helped him on this one), or is it really necessary to throw a 909 kickdrum and some housey organ sounds (all-)over everything ? Grandmaster Flash is losing it on the Go-Go scene ? By the way - ask Trouble Funk to do this again... Maurice Joshua also would've done better with a 303 bassline and some old school 909 beats on "If There's A Hell..". Instead he did a ugly digital sounding DJ-tool out of it. The record companies (what's up with Rhino anyway ?) should do better researching on possible artists or release the original tapes for the customers to do a remix by themselves. In this case here nearly every second homemade Remix would've been better. Take a listen - and just overlook this release. With hope on a better future release...



5. The 4 stars is an average between the bravery to Remix a MonsterKing of the music (5 stars for bravery) and for the outcome music(3 stars).
   The cd is a little more than a remixed and a little less that a remake.
   The original songs are easy to identify but finally they are new songs (this is a remix or a remake?).
   Anyway if you are a fan of Curtis probably you miss this side of his music (but if you are a purist probably you will not like it)and if you are a beginner probably is a good way to know the King Curtis.
   A clever experience i am happy that this cd is in my collection.

5 comments about Smooth.

1. I loved Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20 and this song is just sensual and also great to dance with. It deserved all the awards it recieved. It was well worth the purchase and its a song that won't be easily forgotten.



2. This song was damned worthy of its victory as the Best Song of last year. And a special remix single of it is available....but I don't want to give it away. A follow-up to Supernatural the album is on the way next year.

   I'm glad sexy Santana knocked Wacko Jacko off his throne once and for all.




3. IF you like to hear the song Smooth on the radio, but don't really want to buy the entire Supernatural compact disc, then you probably want to buy this single. This single is nothing special because it only has the radio edit of Smooth and El Farol. While these songs are good, some club mixes or something like that would have been nice. The Maria Maria single is a good example of what this single could have been.



4. Santana certainly has re-emerged with a bang. This song is just great. Santana and Thomas make great music in Smooth. What a song!

   Welcome back, Carlos....we missed your music!




5. waste of money. This is no way Santana.

No comments about Rolled Gold+: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones.