25dp

Bill Evans & George Russell Orchestra - Living Time (1972) {CBS Japan 25DP 5306 rel 1988}
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© 1972, 1988 CBS / Sony Japan | 25DP 5306
Jazz / Post Bop / Experimental Big Band / Keyboards

A brilliant "experimental" album featuring elaborate and rhythmically complex compositions by jazz academician George Russell performed by an large ensemble, and featuring Bill Evans on piano and Fender Rhodes. Very psychedelic and groovy. Pianist Bill Evans' second and final Columbia album was a rematch of sorts with composer-arranger George Russell; Evans had been on a couple of Russell's more significant albums of the late '50s. Russell's lengthy and episodic work "Living Time" (which has eight "events") features crowded ensembles as played by Evans' trio plus 19 musicians (including two additional keyboardists). Despite the major names in the "backup group" (including the reeds of Jimmy Giuffre, Sam Rivers and Joe Henderson), the focus throughout is on Evans' acoustic and electric keyboards.

Charlie Parker - Bird With Strings: Live At The Apollo, Carnegie Hall & Birdland (1950) {CBS-Sony Japan 25DP 5302, Early Press}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 113 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 91 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 28 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1950-52, 1988 CBS-Sony Japan | 25DP 5302
Jazz / BeBop / Bop / Saxophone

During 1949-54 Charlie Parker often recorded and performed with a string section. This LP contains a cross section of Bird's live performances from 1950-52 and, although the string arrangements are the same as for the studio recordings, Parker's solos are quite a bit different.

If The Times They Are a-Changin' isn't a marked step from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, even if it is his first collection of all originals, it's nevertheless a fine collection all the same. It isn't as rich as Freewheelin', and Dylan has tempered his sense of humor considerably, choosing to concentrate on social protests in the style of "Blowin' in the Wind."…

It's hard to overestimate the importance of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, the record that firmly established Dylan as an unparalleled songwriter, one of considerable skill, imagination, and vision. At the time, folk had been quite popular on college campuses and bohemian circles, making headway onto the pop charts in diluted form, and while there certainly were a number of gifted songwriters, nobody had transcended the scene as Dylan did with this record…

Rare 1989 Japanese only 1st issue 17-track promotional sample CD featuring all the hits Brown Sugar, It's Only Rock 'n Roll, Start Me Up, Honky Tonk Woman and Jumping Jack Flash…

Ejected from Metallica despite being their prodigiously-talented lead guitar player and primary songwriter, Dave Mustaine was so filled with anger and bitterness and determination for revenge upon his dismissal some weeks before the recording of Metallica's seminal debut album, that he would spend the next 20-odd years singularly trying to prove what a mistake they made…

This Ozzy compilation from Sony Japan may boast only ten cuts, but at least they're all good. In fact, Best of Ozz holds up as one of the better collections out there, due in part to its reliance on material from Osbourne's first four albums, Blizzard of Ozz, Diary of a Madman, Bark at the Moon, and The Ultimate Sin. Songs like "Over the Mountain," "Mr. Crowley," and "Crazy Train," peppered with the brilliant guitar work of Randy Rhodes, are bona fide Ozzy classics, and "Shot in the Dark," "The Ultimate Sin," and "Bark at the Moon," peppered with the brilliant guitar work of Jake E. Lee, are mid-period classics. While by no means a career retrospective, Best of Ozz is a nice little sampler of Osbourne's early post-Sabbath career.

Metallica formed in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. The duo first met through an ad in a Los Angeles-based music newspaper. At the time, Ulrich had little musical experience and no band but managed to secure a slot on an upcoming compilation record called “Metal Massacre”. Metallica’s contribution, “Hit The Lights”, featured Hetfield, Ulrich and lead guitarist Lloyd Grant…