CD Albums - Comments / Reviews by Phantom Gtowner

CD Albums - Comments / Reviews by Phantom Gtowner

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Phantom Gtowner 7th Mar 2021		CD Album Art Garfunkel - Garfunkel (1988)	Review I purchased this CD for only one reason. To get "Second Avenue", perhaps my all-time favorite Garfunkel track on CD. You see, this tune had only been available as a 45 since 1974 and I needed to hear it again desperately. Okay, so here we get an abbreviated version which is extremely annoying. Even on this collection there is a certain amount of wallpaper like "When A Man Loves A Woman". Yes it is a fine song but, my gawd, why has everybody and his brother recorded it? Truthfully I am sick of it. The best tracks are stunning, "All I Know", "Bright Eyes", "99 Miles From L.A." and "A Heart In New York" to go along with the previous mentioned "Second Avenue". Other tracks I didn't really need or want are the syrupy "So Much In Love" and the redundant "What A Wonderful World". One of Garfunkel's problems is that he doesn't write his own music so in that regard he is at the mercy of others. In the past, though he nearly always had impeccable taste in choosing his material like Stephen Bishop's "Looking For The Right One" or Van Morrison's "I Shall Sing", neither of which is included here unfortunately. In short, this might be a good starting place for you to enjoy Art Garfunkel and his glorious voice but after you digest this, and it won't take long, you need to dig deeper. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 7th Mar 2021		CD Album Michael Nesmith - ... Tropical Campfires ... (2001)	Review This CD marked a return to a more rootsy sound on several of the 12 tracks. In many ways this recording may be his crowning accomplishment. The musicianship is excellent, production and sound also very good. The band comprises of John Hobbs on keyboards, Joe Chemay on bass, Red Rhodes on steel guitar, John Jorgenson on guitar & mandolin, Louis Conte on percussion and Nesmith on guitar. “Yellow Butterfly” is the opening track and while understated and fairly uneventful, it seems noteworthy that a steel guitar is in evidence subtly telling us the frivolity of “The Newer Stuff” is a thing of the past. "Laugh Kills Lonesome" is an up-tempo piano driven cowboy song based on a Charles Russell painting of the same name. "Julianna" is a romantic love song without much if any country flavor. "Brazil", one of three cover songs, is sung convincingly in Spanish and surprisingly fits in with all the rest. The other two covers are both by Cole Porter "In The Still Of The Night" and "Begin The Beguine". He amazingly manages to blend these somewhat jazzy pieces into a mix with country, tex-mex and Spanish rhythms…and with ease. Other stand-out tracks are “Moon Over The Rio Grande”, a track that Roy Rogers would have been proud to do and “Rising In Love”, a happy little song that is sneaky good. The two part track, “One…For The Island” is particularly entertaining, especially the first section which is mostly instrumental and quite delightful. It all ends with "Twilight On The Trail", another cowboy song much along the lines of "Prairie Lullaby" and several other songs he's done in this vein. This is a very easy CD to like. It’s got melody, lyrics and fine arrangements. Beginning probably with “Infinite Rider”, he seems to have become much more adventuresome and versatile as a tunesmith, something that was not quite as evident on his earlier LP’s. It is another recording that would be a good introduction to those who don't know his music. Whenever I'm listening to Nesmith I'm always thinking, "When is the rest of world going to discover this guy?" Well, it’s probably too late and the truth is the rest of the world missed out. This CD is as good as it gets. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 7th Mar 2021		CD Album Barry Manilow - The Greatest Songs Of The Fifties (2006)	Review Barry Manilow did some very good pop music from the mid 1970's and into the 1980's. "Mandy", "Could It Be Magic" and "Weekend In New England", amongst several others, are all finely crafted pop songs. But nothing he did, even in his heyday, could be described in any way as "cutting edge" and Barry himself would probably agree. This latest CD is comprised of 1950's standards and is done extremely well and in a very professional manner. He covers pre-rock tunes like Tony Bennett's "Rags To Riches" and The Four Lads' "Moments To Remember" to post rock songs such as The Everly Brothers' "All I Have To Do Is Dream" and Frankie Avalon's "Venus". His voice sounds pretty good too for a guy who must be at least 60 years of age. I like Barry Manilow and I actually like this CD. It is miles better, and infinitely more interesting, than any of Rod Stewart’s latest recordings. Despite it’s apparent popularity, there is a bigger picture. Something tells me that when you record CD’s of old well known songs and play Las Vegas, your career as a valid artist is essentially over. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 22nd Jun 2020		CD Album The Monkees - Instant Replay (1995)	Review Released in February 1969, officially this was the first Monkees LP without Peter Tork. He made his exit from the group in December 1968 so this is the first Monkees release without him. Well, not really. All the tracks on this CD were recorded while Peter was still involved although he isn't mentioned as a vocalist or intsrumentalist anywhere in the liner notes. This 1995 CD by Rhino contains all original twelve tracks plus seven more bonus selections. The group recorded nine LP's between 1966 and 1970, yet until the CD age, probably half of their recorded works were unreleased. Hence all these "bonus" tracks many of which are as good or better than what was issued in the 1960's. This CD is a real mixed bag of Monkees music, most of them recorded in 1968 although a couple of tracks, "I Won't Be The Same Without Her" and "Tear Drop City" go back to 1966. "Tear Drop City" was the 45 RPM release from Instant Replay, a tune that sounded like an inside-out version of "Last Train To Clarksville" and only half as good. It climbed only to #56 on the Billboard top 100, a sign that the Monkees had lost a lot of their sales momentum. Exposure from their TV series was long over and they were viewed by many as being phonies because they generally didn't play on their recordings. Other bands were given a pass on this kind of behavior including, although not exclusively, the Byrds and the Beach Boys. Surprisingly the recording is not that bad. It's not their finest hour but it's very listenable and has the mark of all the talented professionals that went into the making of it. The recordings were done sporadically and the producers include Boyce & Hart, Bones Howe, Carole Bayer & Neil Sedaka and in addition Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones. Much of the arranging is attributed to Shorty Rogers and Don McGinnis. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 8th Apr 2020		CD Album Michael Nesmith - Rays (2006)	Review “Rays” is the first release from Michael Nesmith in a dozen years. It becomes very apparent on listening he put a lot of time and passion into it and it’s great to hear something new from this most underrated and ignored singer/songwriter. Many tunes are instrumental and on first listen sound like T.V. documentary themes and some of the vocal tracks suffer from heavy handed arrangements. By that I mean the vocals tend to be partially drowned out by the instruments. This is not some sort of oversight by Nesmith, he worked on this project for roughly five years, maybe more. I’m sure he designed it that way. I know it’s just me, but I find this frustrating and impedes my listening enjoyment. One thing that really impressed me was the percussion throughout this recording. Nesmith nearly always uses interesting percussionists. It’s a good piece of work but a little disappointing for me. I would have wanted far less instrumentals and more vocals. Stand out tracks are the title track and “Follows the Heart”, proof that he can still write great tunes. Maybe next time…let’s see, at this rate, what will that be, 2018 maybe? (review written in 2007) 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 25th Mar 2020		CD Album Patsy Cline - 12 Greatest Hits (1988)	Review There isn't one song on this disc that is even moderately bad. The obvious classics like "I Fall To Pieces", "Crazy" and "Sweet Dreams" merge with "Walkin' After Midnight" (re-recorded here unfortunately), "Faded Love" and “She’s Got You”. Two really great tracks that are not quite as well known, but should be, are “Back In Baby’s Arms” and “Leavin’ On Your Mind”. I know some people who, due to a certain musical discrimination, won’t listen to anything even remotely bordering country music. They lose out here because, as I see it, one of the biggest myths about Patsy Cline is that she is some kind of hard core "country singer". Forget that she’s wearing a cowboy shirt on the cover, it’s just a wafer thin veneer. Some reports would suggest that Patsy longed to do a more country and less pop sound but producer Owen Bradley wouldn’t hear of it. On many selections on "12 Greatest Hits" she is no more country than her label mate Brenda Lee. Recorded in the early 1960’s, these songs were aimed directly at that invisible gap between pop and country with the hopes of picking up sales from both camps. If you want to hear a harder country sound, you need to check out her earlier recordings. No one with even a passing interest in American popular music should be without this CD. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 25th Mar 2020		CD Album Simon And Garfunkel - Sounds Of Silence (2001)	Review I won't go into a detailed description of the history of the making of this LP but Columbia Records rushed it out so that they could get another S & G LP on the shelves to support their first huge hit "The Sounds Of Silence". And it shows. Two tracks, "We've Got A Groovy Thing Goin' " and "Somewhere They Can't Find Me" were recorded much earlier in May 1965, and have poppy arrangements unlike the rest of the tunes which are much more folk oriented. The title track was recorded back in 1964 and was buried on their first LP which quickly hit the delete bins until its resurrection. The rest of this record, including overdubs of drums and electric guitar to “The Sounds Of Silence”, was hastily recorded in December 1965. Because of a lack of new material, a lot of these tunes were re-recorded from Paul Simon’s first solo LP recorded in Britain in (I think) mid 1965. This record has some fine moments and could have been a lot better had more time been taken to produce it. It deals with many human emotions and activities including insecurity on "I Am A Rock" and "Leaves That Are Green" and suicide on "A Most Peculiar Man" and "Richard Cory". "I Am A Rock" is a different recording (the vocal at least) than the later mono 45 version. They must have re-recorded it for the single which I think was superior to the version here. Simon & Garfunkel scaled much higher ground with their subsequent releases but despite its flaws this album shows them in the learning process and without the polish of their later material. (This re-mastered copy is far better than my original CD in that it has informative liner notes and four bonus tracks, only one of which actually was from the December 1965 sessions.) 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 7th Mar 2020		CD Album Elvis Costello With Burt Bacharach - Painted From Memory (1998)	Review It's not that this is a terrible CD, far from it. But after you take in the delightful, yet slightly jazzy backdrop, there's a couple of major problems. Elvis Costello is not blessed with the greatest singing voice. It’s not his fault, just the way nature planned it. But in many of the musical situations on “Painted From Memory”, a solid vocalist is essential to the overall enjoyment. Here, Elvis’ voice begins to get stretched beyond its normal limits. I’ll give him this though, he does his very best and at times, like in “God Give Me Strength” actually turns it into an asset. The melodies, all written by Burt Bacharach, are not nearly as jaunty or as easy to like as “Do You Know The Way To San Jose” or “I Say A Little Prayer” or for that matter most of his better known work. It's a little like many Joni Mitchell albums in that you need to hear it more than once or twice to get familiarized with it. That's the dodgy part. The good news is that there actually seems to be some common ground between Bacharach, a 1960's easy listening icon, and Costello who is an equal icon of the post punk/new wave era. Old meets new with interesting, although definitely mixed, results. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 6th Feb 2020		CD Album Michael Nesmith - The Newer Stuff (1989)	Review The Newer Stuff is comprised of eight new songs plus six previously released recordings from the latter 1970’s. I will deal with only the new songs for this review. Of the eight tracks, five were recorded for his shelved “movie/musical” called “Video Ranch” in circa 1981. It is not at all unlike “Infinite Rider..” in that it incorporates background singers and synthesizers and has little or no country influence. The main difference to me is that this is Nesmith’s satirical and humorous LP. The delightful looseness of Infinite Rider remains. He sounds confident and he displays an amazing ability to produce commercial pop music. Six of the new songs are written by Nesmith and the other two are by his friend Bill Martin. In tracks like “Total Control”, “Formosa Diner” and “Chow Mein And Bowling” he takes a few good natured swats at suburban American life in the 1980’s. “Tanya” is a pretty love song. It would have made a good single although it sounds a little like Carly Simon’s “Comin’ Round Again”. “I'll Remember You”, a high point, is a nostalgic look and at Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and John Lennon. “Tahiti Condo” is a pretty zany song. It sounds like maybe Mike had been listening to Frank Zappa at the time. Then there’s “Eldorado To The Moon”, a Bill Martin fun tune about taking a Cadillac on an interstellar journey. Had this LP/CD been exposed to the public, it had the potential to have become a huge cult hit. Probably six of the eight tracks would have had no trouble getting radio airplay. Unfortunately only Nesmith fans such as I have had the pleasure to behold this minor masterpiece. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 21st Jan 2019		CD Album Ray Price - The Essential Ray Price 1951–1962 (1991)	Review This CD is a truly wonderful example of 1950s honky tonk style country music by a man who today might be better known to most for his smooth Nashville style balladry such as “For The Good Times” in the early 1970s. And please don’t get me wrong, I loved his version of that tune, but this stuff just might be better. You can really sink your teeth into it. Check out classics like “Crazy Arms” “My Shoes Keeping Walking Back To You”, “You Done Me Wrong” and “City Lights” and somewhat lesser known numbers (to me at least) like “Falling, Falling, Falling” and “Pride”. The liner notes don’t mention who the players are but there’s some great fiddle, steel guitar and Floyd Cramer style piano on almost every track. This music demonstrates what country/western used to be compared what it has become in recent decades. There’s no doubt this may not be for everyone, I understand that, but it’s definitely for me. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 16th Nov 2018		CD Album Roy Clark - Greatest Hits (1995)	I was pleasantly surprised that "Tips Of My Fingers" was the original Capitol recording, rather than a re-recording of it. This is a great overview of his major hits. Highly recommended!
Phantom Gtowner 31st Oct 2018		CD Album The Cyrkle - Rock Artifacts (1991)	Review I really wanted "Red Rubber Ball" more than anything else. But their other three hits and a few misses are quite enjoyable too. The calliope on "Red Rubber Ball" seems slightly buried compared to my original 45 in which it's right out front. The issue is likely the difference between the mono 45 and the stereo CD. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 31st Oct 2018		CD Album The Buckinghams - Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (A Collection) (1991)	Review Great CD although "Kind Of A Drag" is not as punchy as the original 45. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 31st Oct 2018		CD Album Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys - Take Me Back To Tulsa (2001)	Review This might not be for everyone because it sounds very dated but if you can get over that this includes some fairly essential roots music. A great influence on many country/western singers who followed including Hank Thompson and Merle Haggard. I had no idea there were lyrics to "San Antonio Rose". What a pleasant surprise. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 31st Oct 2018		CD Album Paul McCartney - McCartney (2011)	Review Why try to compete with "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be"? Just do something low key. A brilliant decision by Paul in retrospect. If you're looking for Paul's finest work you won't find it here but the record is still a great listen. He plays all the instruments including some blazing guitar work but you'll have to excuse the drumming. "Maybe I'm Amazed" got a lot of airplay from this record but was never issued as a single. Big mistake there. As with "Ram", the bonus tracks are interesting but hardly essential. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 31st Oct 2018		CD Album Jack Jones - Greatest Hits (1995)	Review Jack Jones had eighteen songs on the Kapp label reach the Billboard Top 100 yet only nine of those are on this "Greatest Hits" CD. I have no issue with the tracks they've included but it hardly represents his best "hits". Missing are "Toys In The Attic", "The First Night Of The Full Moon","Where Love Has Gone", "Seeing The Right Love Go Wrong", "Just Yesterday", "Love Bug", "I'm Indestructible", "Now I Know" and "Our Song". Please check to see the songs you want are included. It might save you some money. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Phantom Gtowner 31st Oct 2018		CD Album Johnny Rivers - The Best Of Johnny Rivers (1995)	Great overview of Rivers' career but where is "Under Your Spell Again"?
Phantom Gtowner 27th Oct 2018		CD Album Paul McCartney - McCartney (2011)	Review Why try to compete with "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be"? Just do something low key. A brilliant decision by Paul in retrospect. If you're looking for Paul's finest work you won't find it here but the record is still a great listen. He plays all the instruments including some blazing guitar work but you'll have to excuse the drumming. "Maybe I'm Amazed" got a lot of airplay from this record but was never issued as a single. Big mistake there. As with "Ram", the bonus tracks are interesting but hardly essential. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?