1234 王磊

Every aspect of this Rolling Stone's solo album screams of superstar indulgence, from its bizarre cover shot - look, there's Ron riding a camel under some jets - to co-producer Andy Johns' fawningly surreal back cover exhortation to "don't let anybody tape it because the label needs the money." There's no chance of such an occurrence: three studios are credited - and every track boasts a different lineup. Many of the usual suspects appear, including sub-Stones keyboardist Ian McLagan, pianist Nicky Hopkins, and saxophonist Bobby Keys; R&B vocalist Bobby Womack; and pianist Nicky Hopkius. Even Stones drummer Charlie Watts pops up on a couple of tracks. Also, this rarefied company didn't have decent material to stretch out their chops…

Leo Kottke - Balance (1979) {Vinyl, Chrysalis CHR-1234}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/48kHz - VINYL RIP -> 171 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 78 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 1979 Chrysalis / Capitol Records-EMI Of Canada | CHR-1234
Finger-Picked Guitar / Progressive Folk / Contemporary Folk / New Acoustic

Out of all of Kottke's albums, I find myself going back to this one and 6 & 12 String Guitar the most. Balance is an underappreciated gem. Leo Kottke stands out to me as one of the most distinctive and talented guitarists of our day, along with the likes of Michael Hedges, Pat Metheny, Phil Keaggy, Andy Summers, The Edge, Johnny Marr, and probably a few others. His style is unlike anyone I know, full of rich acoustic textures and a voice that grows on you after a while.

No single box set–however sumptuously packaged, however comprehensively compiled–could hope to contain the bewildering, diverse array of musical styles and opinions that was brought together under the loose description "punk" between 1976 and 1979. There were so many fresh ideas and concepts–the final, irreversible emancipation of women in rock and the creation of an entirely new, non-R&B, guitar-based music form–contained within that one word, no compilation could hope to represent it fairly. 1-2-3-4 has a damn good try, though. Five CDs, featuring 100 tracks from the good, bad and downright ugly of punk.

This expanded and remastered edition, released in January of 2001, solved most problems with mastering as well as offering five additional tracks. The remastering, done sometime in 2000, has imparted greater resolution to the music without losing the wall-of-sound effect that most of the album was intended to display. In the process, it's possible to discern the various guitars at work far better than on the original LP set, and to better appreciate the virtuosity of the playing involved as well as the sheer size of the ensemble Harrison assembled. Additionally, and almost more important in terms of enjoying the album as a whole, the new edition captures the warmth and nuances of Harrison's singing on songs like "Let It Down," "Run of the Mill," and "Isn't It a Pity (Version Two)"…

Emigrate, featuring Rammstein guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe, will release their third album, A Million Degrees, on 30 November via Spinefarm/Universal Music.