MusicReviews

A Reason to Smile

This release was heavily anticipated by many fans of music. 37 years in the making. This is the album that was trapped and buried inside Brian Wilson’s head (and bed for that matter) for all these years.

The Beatles – The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 (2004)

The short gray days of winter in the Midwest were recently made brighter by the arrival of this colorful CD box set that contains the first four Beatles’ albums in their original US versions. Here’s a little background for the non-obsessed fan…. Up until the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967, the Beatles’ albums released in the US by Capitol Records bore little resemblance to the albums released in England by EMI. The reasons for this include: (1) a British emphasis upon the e.p., a 7-inch record that help four tracks and played at 33 & 1/3rd, a format that never caught on in the US market. (2) British labels would NOT put hit singles on an LP, believing it was rude to ask people to buy the same songs twice (a trait definitely not shared by US record labels). (3) It was common for the average UK LP release to contain 14 or 15 songs, the US version usually held a maximum of 11 or 12.

Neil Young - Living With War

I want to (sort of) apologize for language that may offend. But President Bush and our military machine really offend me. Sometimes the best way to express this frustration is by using ugly words... I recall sitting in an Italian Restaurant in Cleveland Ohio watching the first waves of Shock and Awe in Baghdad. I was shocked and awed that our democracy and government could commit a crime worse than 9-11 and do it with a smugness that should have frightened the sane. That day in March 2003, I was left feeling angry, saddened, and later embarrassed. I was embarrassed that all I did in protest was mumble to myself and a few others that would listen, that this was an awful mistake.

The Beatles: The Capitol Albums Vol. 2

The long hot days of summer in the Midwest were recently made cooler by the arrival of this CD box set that contains the second four Beatles’ albums in their original US versions. If you’re not familiar with the differences between US and UK Beatles releases, from the start up to 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, you may want to look at the review of the first collection, also on this site. The speed with which material poured from The Beatles in 1964-1966 seems like science fiction in the era of the “new record every 6 years” schedule kept by most modern performers. That the vast majority of this material was of A+ quality AND exhibited a constant growth and maturation is also still hard to wrap one’s brain around.

Dual Nature

The following review is, obviously, self-serving; however, we appreciate Greg Dunn's knowledge of music and asked him to share his thoughts on our recent CD. Thank you Greg for everything you do for us. Click below for his review.