David Anderson

Like so many risk takers, Jethro Tull have had their share of both admirers and detractors over the years. To their admirers, Ian Anderson and his colleagues did a lot to expand rock's boundaries; to their detractors, they epitomized progressive rock's excesses (especially during the '70s) and were a prime example of why the punk movement was needed. It's no secret that Tull – like Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer – were influenced by European classical music (as well as British folk, Celtic music, blues, and jazz).

Laurie Anderson - Home of the Brave: A Film by Laurie Anderson (1986) [DVD5]
DVD5 -> 4.33 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 4:3 | ~ 91min | Audio: English (Dolby AC3, 2 ch) | ISO Image
© 1990 Reprise / Warner | 5% repair rar
Rock / Experimental Rock / Alternative Rock

While Laurie Anderson's music works well enough on its own terms, her 1986 concert film Home of the Brave (which she directed herself) makes it clear that her work is better served when you can see her performing it. While Anderson isn't exactly playing to the cheap seats most of the time, she's a far more accessible and engaging performer than most folks involved in "performance art" (and watching this film makes it clear that, while music is the core, performance art is indeed what Anderson is doing – the dancing, storytelling, and visual constructs are as much a part of the presentation as the musicians).

Excellent historywise, poor soundwise. A welcome '65 live recording by a band famous for including a young Jon Anderson at harmony vocals, though you wouldn't know by hearing only. Typical repertoire for the era, quite competent playing, excellent guitar parts sometimes sounding well ahead of their time…

This wonderful DVD is the same 95-minute-or-so concert from Jethro Tull's lead vocalist/songwriter and the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt that you'll find on the double-CD audio counterpart, 20 songs beginning with the five-piece band and expanding from there. The visuals are lovely – shots from above, fade ins, split screen, black-and-white footage superimposed on color – which makes the viewing quite appealing…

Jon Anderson joins conductor Nigel Warren-Green and his London Chamber Academy for orchestral arrangements of new material and old favorites on Change We Must (and that sound you hear in the distance is the small army of Anderson's detractors crying "This time he's really gone too far"). But far from being the exercise in self-indulgence that some would charge, Change We Must proves to be a lovely setting for Anderson's compositions. Expertly produced by the vocalist and Tim Handley, the disc finds Anderson's voice in harmonic balance with a wonderful landscape of orchestral sounds. The combined effect is, in a word, lovely. Beginning with the Jon & Vangelis chestnut "State of Independence," the singer and orchestra achieve a natural beauty that the previous pairing aimed at but rarely captured…

Laurie Anderson - United States Live (1983) {4CD Set Warner Bros. 9251922 rel 1991}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.26 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 702 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 75 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1983, 1991 Warner Bros. | 9 25192 2
Experimental Music / Avant-Garde / Alternative

Once her popularity seemed assured, Warner Bros. felt safe releasing this five-record set (since reissued on four CDs) comprising United States' entire four-and-a-half hours. It's not the first place I'd recommend going to hear Anderson's work, but for those so inclined it's well worth the effort. Although live performances of United States included film segments that ran during some of her monologues, United States is about communication and how we interpret and use language. It's a bit pretentious, a tad long-winded, and its size makes it unwieldy to listen to in one sitting, but this is an important work loaded with enough insight, wit, and humanity to make relistening and re-evaluating worthwhile.