CD Albums - Reviews by sladesounds

CD Albums - Reviews by sladesounds

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
sladesounds 5th Sep 2022		CD Album Various Artists - Now That's What I Call Classic Rock (2015)	Review Starts with great intentions but gets lost as it works though CD2 then loses the theme completely with CD3 only just redeeming itself with Velvet Underground and Argent. All 3 CDs contain great tracks but not all are worthy of the "Classic Rock" moniker. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
sladesounds 5th Aug 2020		CD Album Aske - Down The Gates (2019)	Review Finish Black Metal. Absolute shite of the first class... Has made me finally appreciate what a top band Steps were ✔︎ Helpful Review?
sladesounds 9th Jul 2019		CD Album Various Artists - Soul Legends (2018)	Review 60 tracks gives plenty of room to get the "Legends" bit right and this compilation easily achieves it. On a personal level I think that The Foundations, The Undisputed Truth, The Stylistics and The Whispers, whilst quality groups, placing them alongside Marvin Gaye and the other Motown legends is to me pushing the definition of "Legends" to the max, more of fillers hence my ratings on a few of the tracks. What's it missing?, maybe something from Otis Redding, a decent track from Aretha Franklin (not the poor gospel number used here) and something from Al Green. Nevertheless, overall a great compilation worth picking up. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
sladesounds 11th Oct 2017		CD Album Johnny Cash - America (2001)	Review An interesting album that was first released in 1972. On the album Johnny Cash attempts to tell the 200 year story of America condensed into a 40 minute mixture of songs and spoken word. Subject covered are many and include Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, tales of Paul Reeve and Big Foot and renditions of a few classic songs such as The Battle of New Orleans. There are better Cash albums out there and I would be tempted to point people elsewhere if they wanted classic Cash but then this is the man singing about America and how good it is and has been, and for many that's good enough! Personally 2.5 / 5 stars 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
sladesounds 20th Sep 2017		CD Album Various Artists - No More Heroes (2015)	Review Artwork shows the obligatory safety pin so this must be cutting edge (or so the advertising gurus will want us to think). What you actually get is a good run through some of the great pop releases that hit the UK charts during 1978 - 83 with a few obscure gems chucked in to meet the punk tag. Disc one features a few early punk tracks from The Damned, Ramones and Richard Hell but is mostly great power pop tunes from the likes of Buzzcocks, Skids, Rezillos. Automatic Lover by The Vibrators is a good one that does not turn up on these complications that often. Disc two carries on the power pop theme with Blondie, Pretenders, Regents but again slips a the odd more obscure one such as Shake Some Action from the Flamin' Groovies. Split Enz and The Mobiles... both good songs but really stretching the genre to include them on this compilation (I always thought of The Mobiles as Hazel O'Connor soundalikes). Disc 3 again has some great tracks that at the time were marketed as New WaveAlternative but again more power pop oriented. One or two real gems are there with The Damned, 999, and Wreckless Eric. Nice to see Glen Matlock's Rich Kids getting an entry. All of this is music of my youth so I don't personally think there is a bad song on any of the three discs. Overall a big thumbs up from me especially as it can picked up on ebay for just a few pounds. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
sladesounds 2nd Oct 2016		CD Album Elvis Presley - Platinum (1997)	Review This collection of music from Elvis was released just before the 20th anniversary of his death. Although the set comprises of lots of alternate takes, live recordings and rehearsal output this collection is not just for the die-hard Elvis fans. The recordings cover his full career from the early 50s through to outtakes from his final recordings. Unlike some box sets that feature rough demos and studio outtakes this entire collection (IMHO) is a delight to listen to and if you are looking as a first time Elvis buyer to add something to your collection this set is as good, if not better, than many of the "Greatest Hits/Best of" compilations that have surfaced over the last 40 years since his death. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
sladesounds 5th Mar 2015		CD Album Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash At San Quentin (The Complete 1969 Concert) (2000)	Review [YouTube Video] To put the performance on Johnny Cash at San Quentin in a bit of perspective: Johnny Cash's key partner in the Tennessee Two, guitarist Luther Perkins, died in August 1968, just seven months before this set was recorded in February 1969. In addition to that, Cash was nearing the peak of his popularity -- his 1968 live album, At Folsom Prison, was a smash success -- but he was nearly at his wildest in his personal life, which surely spilled over into his performance. All of this sets the stage for Johnny Cash at San Quentin, a nominal sequel to At Folsom Prison that surpasses its predecessor and captures Cash at his rawest and wildest. Part of this is due to how he feeds off of his captive audience, playing to the prisoners and seeming like one of them, but it's also due to the shifting dynamic within the band. Without Perkins, Cash isn't tied to the percolating two-step that defined his music to that point. Sure, it's still there, but it has a different feel coming from a different guitarist, and Cash sounds unhinged as he careens through his jailhouse ballads, old hits, and rockabilly-styled ravers, and even covers the Lovin' Spoonful ("Darlin' Companion"). No other Johnny Cash record sounds as wild as this. He sounds like an outlaw and renegade here, which is what gives it power -- listen to "A Boy Named Sue," a Shel Silverstein composition that could have been too cute by half, but is rescued by the wild-eyed, committed performance by Cash, where it sounds like he really was set on murdering that son of a bitch who named him Sue. He sounds that way throughout the record, and while most of the best moments did make it to the original 1969 album, the 2000 Columbia/Legacy release eclipses it by presenting nine previously unreleased bonus tracks, doubling the album's length, and presenting such insanely wild numbers as "Big River" as well as sweeter selections like "Daddy Sang Bass." Now, that's the only way to get the record, and that's how it should be, because this extra material makes a legendary album all the greater -- in fact, it helps make a case that this is the best Johnny Cash album ever cut. All Music Guide Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
sladesounds 18th Aug 2014		CD Album Die Toten Hosen - Learning English, Lesson One (1991)	Review [YouTube Video] [YouTube Video] At once a tribute and a perfect calling card for an Anglophonic audience, Learning English is a hilarious romp through a slew of punk classics (and not-exactly classics) that's impossible to resist. Sure, many might want to hear the originals instead, but the fact remains that the quartet didn't become huge in their native country for nothing -- if the need is for loud, three-chord classics and shoutalong choruses, Die Toten Hosen can deliver in spades and with plenty of spirit. What seems like a gimmick -- the participation of at least one member from every band covered on the appropriate song -- actually makes Learning English feel like a great party album, with everyone taking a turn at the mike. If some voices are a bit thrashed with time, it's still good to hear everyone from Joey Ramone and the Damned's Captain Sensible to Chelsea's Gene October and Knox from the Vibrators take a bow. Even escaped U.K. convict Ronald Biggs, famous for his association with the post-Rotten Sex Pistols, takes a bow with "Punk Was," the one original on the album and a nostalgia-filled celebration. The choice of songs throughout may seem idiosyncratic -- one really needs to know U.K. punk to recognize tracks like "Do You Remember" by The Rockafellas and "Love and a Molotov Cocktail" by The Flys. But the great performances on such unquestioned monsters from the spirit of 1977 like "If the Kids Are United," "Smash It Up," and "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" -- not to mention "Born to Lose," one of the last recordings featuring Johnny Thunders before his death -- rule the roost. Add in detailed liner notes from the band expressing their sheer delight at working with their heroes and a slew of memorabilia from the members' punk-crazed youth, plus between-song clips from a fake language instruction record (thus the album title), and the result is great fun. All Music Review by Ned Raggett ✔︎ Helpful Review?