1969 was the year that Alice Cooper released their first album, Pretties For You. It was a strange album for the time, and is still quite strange by today's standards. Amidst gems that really showed what was to come from the group, such as "sing low, sweet cheerio", "fields of regret", and "changing arranging", were strange tidbit ideas of songs clocking in at 2 minutes or less, featuring odd vocal stylings, unexpected and frequent tempo changes and start-stop rhythms. This live album, recorded at the record's release party is a great window into the band's workings at the time. The quality far surpasses that of the much easier to find toronto rock'n'roll revival set from the same time period, and features a much more diverse setlist.
Official Release #107. Uncle Meat gets the deluxe treatment in this three CD Project/Object Audio Documentary. Included is the original 1969 vinyl mix (restored, remastered and available digitally for the first time), an original sequence that includes unique source material and bonus vault tracks mostly compiled from the recording sessions at Apostolic Studios in NYC between 1967 and 1969.
A deluxe 4cd set and a 2cd set. The annoying thing is that the 2cd set has a few songs that arent on the mega 4 disc version, so if you're a completist, you will need both and you end up with a lot of duplicate material. That is my only real problem with mofo, pretty much everything else about this box is fantastic. For me, the best part is the beautiul remaster of the original 1966 Stereo mix of "Freak Out!". The Freak Out cd that frank released in the 80's and is currently in print through rykodisc was a re-mix which sounds pretty good, but this original mix is much warmer and full of life. There is no contest as which mix I prefer, the original 1966 version is far superior in my opinion. The rest of the sets contains various alternate mixes, backing tracks, interviews, studio improvisations (all lead by Frank) and some early live recordings. There is one bonafide outtake "Groupie Bang Bang" which is as good as anything elese on the album. A great Bo Diddley type rhythm with hilarious lyrics (sung by Ray Collins) about, you guessed it, a groupie!
Maar liefst 14 cd's met daarop verzameld het mooiste uit 20 jaar Top 2000. De cd's zijn gerangschikt naar de periode van waaruit de nummers komen: de 50, de 60,'s, de 70's, de 80. de 90's, de 00's en de 10's. Daarnaast is er nog een dubbelcd met daarop Long Versions van een aantal classic Top 2000 nummers.
Of the numerous British blues-rock bands to spring up in the late '60s, the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation was one of the better known, though solid reception on tours did not translate into heavy record sales. Musically, the group recalled John Mayall's Bluesbreakers during the 1966-1967 era that had produced that group's A Hard Road album, though with a somewhat more downbeat tone. The similarities were hardly coincidental, as the band's founder and leader, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, had been in the Bluesbreakers lineup that recorded the A Hard Road LP. Too, bassist Alex Dmochowski would go on to play with Mayall in the 1970s, and guitarist Jon Morshead was friendly with fellow axeman Peter Green (also in the Bluesbreakers' A Hard Road lineup), whom he had replaced in Shotgun Express.
Weighing in at 15 CDs, The Studio Albums 1969-1983 is a hefty box set but, at $85, it is relatively affordable considering that it contains everything Alice Cooper – both the band and the man – recorded at Straight and Warner. Whatever bonus material attached to CD reissues over the years has been stripped away – nothing from the 2001 deluxe edition of Billion Dollar Babies, then – and there are no new remasters of the albums, but this set isn't bare bones. The mini-LP replicas contain a few inserts carried over from the vinyl and, more importantly, those early Straight Records are present, which is good because they were out of print for a while. Not everything here is great – he did have a rough patch in the late '70s and early '80s – but it's all interesting, and it's especially nice to be able to get the entire catalog so easily and cheaply.
Before the advent of MTV in the '80s, there was only one way rock bands hit the big time–through non-stop, hardcore touring. Nazareth was one of the '70s top road warriors, and 1998's double disc set LIVE AT THE BEEB proves it. Recorded during the band's many in-concert appearances on Britain's BBC Radio from 1972 through 1977, LIVE AT THE BEEB captures Nazareth at the height of its popularity and heavy metal powers…