Police Live In Concert

As part of The Stranglers' celebration of their Ruby Anniversary, the definitive collection of the B-side recordings they made whilst signed to Epic is released for the first time, via their own label. Appropriately, as befits a band marking forty years together, Here & There: The Epic B-sides Collection 1983-1991 gathers 40 tracks across 2 CDs and is also released as a 40 track digital package. The Stranglers released no less than 13 singles in the UK during this period, which saw them produce five albums: four studio and one live. The Stranglers signed to Epic Records in 1982 having been with United Artists / Liberty since 1977. The change of label coincided with changes in marketing policy across the UK industry - often dubbed "the Frankie Goes to Hollywood effect". Previously, The Stranglers' had released only one 12" single - an extended version of Bear Cage in 1980 - but from 2nd Epic single, Midnight Summer Dream until 1990, each release had a 12" version which required extra studio or, increasingly, live tracks to "add value" to the package.

Jethro Tull - 17 Chrysalis Album Collection (1968-87) [19CD+DVD] {2001-2005 Japan Mini LP Remaster} [combined repost]
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC(tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 6.36 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 2.39 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 336 Mb
© 2001-2005 Toshiba-EMI / Chrysalis | TOCP-65879~67682
Rock / Prog Rock / Art Rock

Jethro Tull's first album, THIS WAS, recorded and released in 1968, shows a band that is a far cry from their better-known incarnation as a prog rock outfit in the late 1970s. Instead, Tull come across here as a solid and talented blues band with elements of jazz, folk, and psychedelia thrown in. The band's sound was heavily influenced by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Mick Abrahams, whose bluesy singing and leads distinguish this disc in Tull's discography. Frontman Ian Anderson also shines with tunes like "Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You" and the excellent cover of Rashaan Roland Kirk's "Serenade to a Cuckoo."

The official police count of the audience at this concert was 175,000 - however, being a free concert, there were obviously no ticket sales to count, and people would have come and gone all day. One estimate put the total attendance at a quarter of a million, but even allowing for some East Berliners listening behind the Berlin Wall, that's probably rather on the high side.

The Clash - Live At Shea Stadium (1982) {Sony BMG Limited Deluxe Edition 88697353662 rel 2008}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 393 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 118 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 71 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1982, 2008 Epic / Sony BMG | 8869735366
Rock / Punk Rock / British Punk

In Clash lore, the band's stint as the opening act for the Who's farewell tour in 1982 is where the band had stardom in its hand and dropped it on the floor. That's how Joe Strummer phrased it in retrospect, but in 1982 the pairing was seen as a rock cultural clash, with the Who's audience bristling at the punks, and the punks not quite being comfortable operating on a larger scale – a suspicion somewhat proven by the band's implosion within months of the Shea Stadium gig.

Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Beat The Boots, Vol II (1992) {Rhino R2 71017~023 rec 1968-1978}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.07 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 899 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 312 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1968-78, 1992 Rhino / FOO-EEE | R2 71017~023
Rock / Experimental Rock / Art Rock

This is the second (and final) bootleg-gone-legit box that was actually sanctioned by Frank Zappa. But rather than go to the expense and time to use better sources – which the artist presumably had access to – he simply ripped off the illicit recordings that had been doing the same to him for decades. And voila, Beat the Boots was born. Zappa enlisted Rhino Records to manufacture and distribute the anthologies – which were packaged to appear as if the contents were being sold in a low budget cardboard box. However once inside Beat the Boots!, Vol. 2 (1992), consumers were treated to a full LP jacket-sized 40-page memorabilia scrapbook, a black felt beret and a red pin/badge bearing the hammer-in-fist artwork emblazoned on it.

June thru July 1966! The most complete documentary of their Far East Tour of Japan and the Phillipines! After months and research - it's here! More than you would believe! In color and black and white - since much is silent, a musical soundtrack accompanies the film.

In terms of the music, The Clash Live: Revolution Rock would be a decent acquisition for fans of the band. There is some rare footage from concerts across the world (everywhere from Munich to Glasgow), and 22 songs are featured throughout the course of the DVD. What is lacking the documentary element to it all. Every once in a while you might get a sentence or two about what The Clash was doing around the time of the performance seen, but it's brief and doesn't reveal too much new information.

Collection includes: Red Hot Chili Peppers (1984); Freaky Styley (1985); The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987); Mother's Milk (1989); Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991); One Hot Minute (1995); Californication (1999); By the Way (2002); Stadium Arcadium (2006).