All The Weight of The World (2004)

Sony’s Legacy Recordings will issue a three-disc deluxe edition of Van Morrison‘s 1997 album The Healing Game which features unreleased session tracks, collaborations and live performances.

Do we really need another live double CD by the Allman Brothers Band? Oh yeah. In fact, when they play this well, we need them in droves. This collection marks the second time the Allman Brothers have issued music from their storied shows at the Beacon Theater in New York. The first, Peakin' at the Beacon, was issued in 2000 with Dickey Betts and Derek Trucks in the lineup. Betts had not yet been fired and Warren Haynes was yet to return to the fold. While Betts is a singular voice and is one of the pillars of the ABB's sound, this new version of the band with Trucks and Haynes manning the guitars has gelled into a formidable unit; in fact, they are something spectacular.

The Battle At Garden’s Gate introduces a new chapter from the band - focused on fighting for what you believe in, self-empowerment, freedom, as well as the Internal and external battles of one’s self. As drummer Danny explains, “ We realized that while growing up, we had been shielded by a lot of things, we were unaware of a lot of things. And then we were thrown out into this huge world, and it was a bit of a culture shock at first.” “We’ve seen how people live in different parts of the world,” added Sam, “and we’ve developed intrinsic respect for different cultures and people. We’ve gone from driving down a highway to a show and seeing endless miles of shantytowns in Sao Paulo, to playing some of the richest places on earth.” Added Jake, “The more we’ve seen - different cultures, people, and traditions - we’ve also seen a similarity between ourselves and these different cultures. It surprises me how similar we all are.”