June First

This is a UK four CD repackaging of this excellent box set. Over a single weekend in June 1967, Monterey entered history as the very first rock festival. The paucity of official releases over the intervening years led to Monterey–like the Rolling Stones' Rock & Roll Circus–becoming as much a figment of rock & roll myth as hard fact. Finally though, in 1994, the British company Castle Communications put together this beautifully assembled 4 CD box set. Unfortunately, some acts (Simon & Garfunkel, Grateful Dead)–perhaps feeling their performances were below-par–refused to license their material. But with over four hours of music, this set still presents a vivid snapshot of the event. For once, the packaging is as important as the music: a booklet is bound in, complete with memorabilia, previously unpublished photos, and first-hand reminiscences from performers like David Crosby, Dennis Hopper, Steve Miller, Eric Burdon and John Phillips.

Verdi: Rigoletto - Callas, di Stefano, Campolonhi - Mugnai - Mexico City, 17 June 1952
Classical | 2 CDs | MP3 | VBR - 192 kbps | NO BOOKS | COVER | 131 MB
URANIA URN 22.223 | Release Date: 2000

In June 1952, Maria Callas gave a legendary series of performances at the Palacio de las Bellas Artes, Mexico City. That series included not only this "Rigoletto", but three performances of "Lucia di Lamermoor" at the first of which she reprised the entire Mad scene. Callas went on to record "Rigoletto" in 1995 at La Scala in a studio recording with Tito Gobbi in the title role. Inevitably this recording can never replace that one and Pietro Campolonghi is no match for Tito Gobbi, but it is a fascinating and rewarding document.

Guns N' Roses - Live Era '87-'93 is a four record live album by Guns N' Roses, released on November 23, 1999. The album was the first official Guns N' Roses release since "The Spaghetti Incident?" released on the same day in 1993. Former guitarist Slash notes that the album is "not pretty and there are a lot of mistakes, but this is Guns N' Roses, not the fucking Mahavishnu Orchestra. It's as honest as it gets." The dates and locations of the tracks are not revealed in the liner notes, and are only referred to simply as being "Recorded across the universe between 1987 and 1993". However, the majority of the tracks on the four records are sourced from the extensive Use Your Illusion Tour of 1991-1993. Only two tracks come from 1988 live recordings - "Used to Love Her" and "You're Crazy".