No Encore!

Recorded live between 1973 & 1976. The title of this CD should actually be called "Steve Miller Band Live". As for the quality of these live performances, they aren't bad, and credit should be given for the inclusion of early Miller material like "Going to Mexico," "Going to the Country,"and "Seasons," making this of interest to Miller fans.

Extended Versions: The Encore Collection is a compilation of live tracks recorded by the band Styx. The album was released in 2000, but each track on the album had been released as part of Styx's 1997 double live album Return to Paradise. Styx is an American rock band from Chicago that formed in 1972 and became famous for its albums released in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known for melding hard rock guitar balanced with acoustic guitar, synthesizers mixed with acoustic piano, upbeat tracks with power ballads, and incorporating elements of international musical theatre. The band established itself with a progressive rock sound in the 1970s, and began to incorporate pop rock and soft rock elements in the 1980s.

Extended Versions: The Encore Collection is a compilation of live tracks recorded by the band Styx. The album was released in 2000, but each track on the album had been released as part of Styx's 1997 double live album Return to Paradise. Styx is an American rock band from Chicago that formed in 1972 and became famous for its albums released in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known for melding hard rock guitar balanced with acoustic guitar, synthesizers mixed with acoustic piano, upbeat tracks with power ballads, and incorporating elements of international musical theatre. The band established itself with a progressive rock sound in the 1970s, and began to incorporate pop rock and soft rock elements in the 1980s.

An exceptional instrumentalist, Thierry Caens had lived at 25 years enough to fill the life of any normally constituted musician (international awards, prestigious orchestral soloist places, international solo tours). But the young prodigy of the trumpet, gifted student of Maurice André, immediately felt cramped in his first-class clothes and very early on let his ears and his trumpet hang out elsewhere … Peeping towards the universes from jazz, song or film music, he has ventured, without giving up his identity as a classical musician, on less traveled roads, not necessarily the shortest path to recognition by the musical microcosm. But whatever! Thierry Caens always wanted to defend an open vision of music, opened up and uninhibited.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! was first performed in 1943, and was a significant turning point in the history of musical theatre. It was the first musical to put drama and plot to the fore, portrayed by rounded, believable characters. It swept aside traditions that had their roots in vaudeville – star turns, comic sketches, and endless lines of high-kicking chorus girls. Oklahoma! does feature dance, but in the hands of the choreographer, Agnes de Mille, this was idiomatic to the plot, and revolutionary in terms of the fifteen-minute dream-sequence ballet at the close of Act I. The first collaboration between composer and writer, the show was a hit, running for more than five years on Broadway, and paving the way for their masterpieces to come.

The budget-priced Extended Versions series usually focuses on live tracks by veteran classic rock artists. But the Lynyrd Skynyrd edition is one of the few entries to feature studio tracks amidst the live cuts. Including tracks from the latter-day, Johnny Van Zant era of Skynyrd, the majority of the selections are newer tunes, including such standouts as "Berneice" and "O.R.R.," with only a smattering of live versions of classics – "What's Your Name?," "Free Bird," "Sweet Home Alabama," etc. While the modern-day Skynyrd does an admirable job of re-creating the vibe of their definitive lineup, it doesn't hold up to One More from the Road, one of the finest live rock albums of all time. But if you're curious to hear what Skynyrd has been up to in recent times, Extended Versions is a worthy, and very affordable, collection.

Encore - Tangerine Dream Live, 1977 is one of the better concert albums from Tangerine Dream. As with most of their live releases, this disc features all new material. Each of the long-form (over 16 minutes) pieces has its own set of movements. In effect, it is like listening to four electronic symphonies. This is also one of the strongest TD lineups. The set features Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke and Peter Baumann on synthesizers, effects and other electronic devices. (It is Baumann's last recording with the band.) The music ranges from dirge-like drones to piano solos to crashing experimental textures. There are echoes of progressive and avant-garde rock. The set is uniquely Tangerine Dream, however, with similarities to Genesis, Pink Floyd and other art rock practitioners of that era.