Eac Rip

Richard Wagner - Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg WWV 70
Albert Dohmen / Robert Dean Smith / Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Marek Janowski
3xSACD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 749 MB | Full Artwork: 745 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Pentatone # PTC 5186 405 | Country/Year: Netherlands 2012
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Opera

"This is the 6th instalment of PentaTone’s successful Wagner Edition. It is the first time in the recording history that a label records all major Wagner opera’s with the same orchestra, choir and conductor. This makes the PentaTone Wagner Edition a great collector’s item. All operas are recorded live in the Philharmonie in Berlin. The first five recordings were awarded with “Editor’s Choice” (Gramophone), Recording of the Month and Opera Choice of the Month (BBC Music Magazine), CD of the week (Sunday Times). Based on the reviews of the concert we expect high scores for the Tannhäuser recording as well." ~prestoclassical

Reach for the Truth: Best of the Reprise Years 1971-74. Generously packed with 23 tracks including one previously unreleased selection (a closing acoustic demo version of "Red Light Ladies," the tune that also opens the album), rare photos, extensive liner notes, and track-by-track descriptions from Lewis in the 24-page book, it's hard to imagine a more perfect single-disc representation of her material from these years.

The Bill Evans Trio's 1973 concert in Tokyo was his first recording for Fantasy and it produced yet another Grammy-nomination for the presentation. With bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell, this LP mixes offbeat songs with overlooked gems, familiar standards, and surprisingly, only one Evans composition, the demanding "T.T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune Two)." Bobbie Gentry's "Mornin' Glory" was an unusual choice to open the performance and seems a bit conservative for Evans. The adrenaline picks up considerably with his midtempo waltzing take of Jerome Kern's "Up with the Lark" and a driving "My Romance." Evans also revisits the twisting Scott LaFaro tune "Gloria's Step," which showcases both Gomez and Morell. The closer, "On Green Dolphin Street," is given a slight bossa nova flavor and isn't nearly as aggressive as most of the pianist's live recordings of this popular standard…

The name Young Guns seems ironically amiss until one learns that this recording dates from 1968-69 when organist Gene Ludwig was thirty years old, guitarist Pat Martino twenty-three and drummer Randy Gelispie somewhere in that neighborhood, long before he became fondly known as "Uncle G." The organ trio was in its heyday then, and this one was caught on tape during an exciting live date at Club 118 in Louisville, KY. How many other such performances have been lost forever owing to the absence of a tape recorder or the failure to turn it on is anyone's guess. But this one, thank goodness, has been preserved for present-day ears to appreciate.
Ludwig, an admirer of Jimmy Smith and forerunner of Joey DeFrancesco and other Hammond masters, sprays bluesy notes and ideas all over the landscape, while Martino, a lyrical machine, has the proper phrase for every occasion…

This Xanadu LP has an odd title because only half of the music can be described as international. There are four valuable selections that feature the remarkable altoist Charlie Parker with a group of Swedes (including trumpeter Rolf Ericson) and the great trumpeter Clifford Brown is heard playing a lengthy "Indiana" in 1953 with a group of erratic Danish musicians. Side two of the album is from New York with altoist Phil Woods, Frank Socolow on tenor and baritonist Cecil Payne in a sextet performing fairly long versions of "Yardbird Suite" and "Scrapple from the Apple"; those renditions have since been reissued by Savoy.

Great compilation. Featuring a wide variaty of Dire Straits tours and a very good recording of the last concert of The Notting Hillbillies tour from 1990. All songs are taken from soundboard recordings, good to very good sound quality.

It's strange that a band with a song as immediate as "All Right Now" is a bit of an acquired taste, but it's the truth. Free was a powerful, majestic hard rock band at their peak, but they were also a little obtuse; a lot of their power came from their playing, and their songwriting was epic, but often elliptical. As such, they're for hard rock connoisseurs – a band who gained a spirited, dedicated following largely because they took devotion to unlock their treasures, especially in the years following their breakup. For those fans, the five-disc Songs of Yesterday is a godsend. This is not a box for listeners with less than a consuming interest in the band (even if you think you want total immersion in Free, this will not be as effective as purchasing each of their albums) since this contains a wealth of unreleased material. Very few of the tracks are actual album tracks, most are alternate mixes or alternate versions, plus there are a lot of live tracks in the mix, as well.

Judas Priest‘s 10th studio album is getting the deluxe reissue treatment for its 30th anniversary.
Turbo, originally released in April of 1986, is scheduled to return to stores on Feb. 3 with new artwork, remastered sound, and a heaping helping of bonus material that includes two discs of previously unreleased live recordings from that year’s Fuel for Life tour.

John Mellencamp has been in need of a thorough, career-spanning compilation for a while, and Island/UTV's 2004 release Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits finally fills that gap. His previous hits collection, 1997's The Best That I Could Do, was too short, since he had more hits than could fit on a brief 14-track disc. Words & Music doesn't have the problem of brevity. Spanning 37 songs over two discs, this has nearly all of his charting hits. Radio hits like "Justice and Independence '85" and "Rooty Toot Toot" may be absent, but they're not missed, since all the big hits are here, including "Pink Houses," "Lonely Ol' Night," "Paper in Fire," "Authority Song," "Crumblin' Down," "Small Town," "Hurts So Good," and "Jack & Diane," among many others (including two solid new songs).