Audiophile

Gong are – and were – a completely indefinable and free-thinking outfit. They are still touring and touching minds, even after the death of founder Daevid Allen but this trilogy of albums was the best music that they ever produced…

Since Neil Peart joined the band in time for 1975's Fly by Night, Rush had been experimenting and growing musically with each successive release. By 1980's Permanent Waves, the modern sounds of new wave (the Police, Peter Gabriel, etc.) began to creep into Rush's sound, but the trio still kept their hard rock roots intact. The new approach paid off – two of their most popular songs, the "make a difference" anthem "Freewill," and a tribute to the Toronto radio station CFNY, "The Spirit of Radio" (the latter a U.K. Top 15 hit), are spectacular highlights.

Although the cover art might suggest that this compiles, features, or in some way includes material from Michael Nesmith's four-year (1966-1970) tenure as a Monkee, this isn't the case at all. Additionally confusing matters is that the same 25 tracks on this collection are replicated – right down to the exact running order – on the unimaginatively titled Best Of: Original Hits. Regardless, the contents of both have been culled from Nesmith's first half-dozen post-Monkees long-players. The tune stack is well represented by the First National Band LPs Magnetic South (1970), Loose Salute (1970), and Nevada Fighter (1971) – plus, to a much lesser extent, Tantamount to Treason (1972), And the Hits Just Keep on Comin' (1972), as well as Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash (1973).

Breaking Silence finds Ian ditching her past waifishness for a confident, mature, contemporary acoustic approach relying mostly on spare guitar and piano textures. Opening with "All Roads to the River" (also recorded by John Mellencamp), Breaking Silence includes among its highlights the Holocaust-survivor tale "Tattoo" and the dramatic half-a cappella, half-syncopated-rocker title track.

George Crumb - Makrokosmos III & IV - Bojan Gorisek (1997) {Audiophile Classics APC101301-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 191 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 144 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 8 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1997 Audiophile Classics | APC 101.301-2
Classical / Contemporary Classical / Avant-Garde / Piano

Volume III: A collection of five pieces completed in 1974 and titled Music for a Summer Evening forms the third volume of Makrokosmos. It departs considerably from the previous two. Commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation for Swarthmore College, the work is scored for two amplified pianos and percussion (two players), contains fewer pieces, and does not associate any of the pieces with Zodiac signs.