Alexis

I eagerly anticipated this CD after the "Four Songs". It didn't let me down. Great songs, especially Orange Sky.

I discovered Alexi through CDBaby, he was the top-selling artist on there for a very long time (until his original EP was no longer available) and one can understand why. His music is soulful and true. It inspires and consoles me. A further plus is the analog recording, which adds a warmth and depth absent from modern-day recordings. (It also proves that we are dealing with true talent here, there's no pitch-correcting and pro-toolsing an analog recording ;-)

If you feel saddened by the lack of truth in modern pop music or have lost hope that there are true artists left in this world, but this CD and it will restore your faith.

I was in search for music with raw emotions. I definately found it with Alexi Murdoch. Dark, romantic, true to life and realistic. This album took me from my past to my present relationships. Alexi is now one of my favorite muscians.

Another reviewer wrote that he loved the album but had a hard time staying with Murdoch in the emotional terrain that he mines in "Time without consequences". I can relate because Murdoch is a rare artist that can write soul wrenching lyrics of introspection and yearning and emotionally deliver them with his vocals. John Trudell, Michael Franti, Bruce Cockburn, and Bob Dylan are a few that come to mind with that rare combination of ablilities. It is road rarely travelled by most singer songwriters being that most don't have the ability or at best flirt with it instead of committing to it.
The album is bold and haunting being that most of the songs don't particularly have a chorus or normal song structures. The songs kind of ebb and flow culminating into min-folk orchestras by the end of some of them. Some of Alexi's lyrics can be unintenitionally challenging like "Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning... ...We'll actually most of the time" in "I had a dream I could fly". This music is intense and soul searching not for the faint of heart!!!

I can't tell you the last time I heard an artist that put me in this kind of trance. Joni Mitchell? Steven Stills? Radiohead? I'm listening to the CD right now. It's overwhelming. I have to thank the River 92.5 for turning me on to such unbelieveable music. Please play at the Red Hook Brewery in Portsmouth, NH soon. OMG. Take me now.

Well the CD hiqhly reminds me of Sobrenatural but it has qreat vocals and nice beats althouqh maybe some thinqs sound a bit repetitive. I like it thouqh not qonna lie thats why I qive it four stars rather than five. =)

Tremenda produccion, desde las liricas a las vocales hasta los arreglos musicales. Aqui si hay calidad de la buena, unica pura y que va a durar como el acero! Este CD comparado a los otros de reggaeton, se tira bien completo con una variacion bien escojida y que tiene muy buen estilo combinado con un gusto comercial que perdura! Esta obra se lleva un 100% por la solidez que tiene en peso de calidad! Muy buena produccion!!!!

give this album a five. greats beats. and good lyrics... are really reyes del perreo.. i downloaded their album online but i had to get the real copy.. to give them the support .. go get this album

La A & La F - Already made a big impact in what`s reggaeton music. They had fusion a lot of hip hop, bachata; making this a great transformation since their 2nd Album " Sobrenatural ". Now we do have more PERRO STYLE, we even still have some bachata with TOBY LOVE.
As a uploader and Admin from blinblineo.net [ OFFICIAL - REGGAETON WEBSITE ] - I could say " cojieron pa` la cima " .
Mostly all the songs were leaked way before the CD was completed. BUT I myself waited for the CD to come - and I`m way too happy that i waited for it.
Score: 10/10
All tracks ARE THE BOMB [!]
This is a MUST HAVE <--
3th CD - Hope to see `em at the Billboards.

-GanGzta.PaPi-
gangzta0papi@blinblineo.net

This album is a million times better than sobrenatural. The Producers are great (Tainy,Nesty"La Mente Maestra" Nely "El Arma Secreta, and Doble A & Nales) About 12 out of the 14 songs can Be radio Hits... Among the best Are Ojos Que No Ven, Bartender, La Cama Pt.2,Copycat & Mi Musica Ehh...Amazing Cd, Ihad it Two weeks Before it came out...It was so good that i actually went to buy it even though i had a copy...These Guys Deserve to sell well over a million Copies....This Is reggaeton at its best... Its up there With Wisin & Yandel... Buy it! You Wont regret It...I Didn't.

It's a soundtrack to a charming film which you need to have seen. Dance around to the last track.

This movie is great because it is a great dynamic between 3 brothers who are bad at keeping secrets. Also, Owen Wilson is great! Plus, its a great way to see India without actually going there. It has an optional opening movie (short) with Natalie Portman, which is cool! Also, have the soundtrack! Have a Good ONE!

Please don't balk at the ringing cliché-o-meters when I call this soundtrack "evocative" since Wes Anderson's soundtracks are always appropriate to the settings and themes on display. Beautiful and emotional, the eclectic mix seems to intentionally involve music of a bygone era in settings that suggest no time has passed, when indeed much has. This sense is very real in India, and the tale of three neurotic, self-involved materialists gaining a vague sense of this along with a need to take corrective action through self-awareness makes this soundtrack appropriate to both story and setting.

For this reason, I think we can forgive the fact that this is less an original soundtrack than an original collection for a theme. Also for this reason, you may wish to see the film first to see if you gain any meaningful associations with individual tracks before committing to a download. I submit that you likely WILL find at least some connections (yes, a movie plug.)

It is, unsurprisingly, heavily weighted towards Indian music, particularly the poppy, Bollywood variety. This can drag on one's desire to replay the soundtrack in its entirety since not all of these tracks are easily connected in one's memory to a scene in the film. Notable exceptions are "Title...from...Jalshagar" as the soundtrack to Bill Murray's quirky "chase" cameo in the opening scene, and "Praise Him" which evokes mix of familiarity and now-foreign disconnects the characters experience upon finding their mother in a remote Indian orphanage.

Great movie and soundtrack. You should be aware that if you download the single "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely) by Peter Sarstedt, from Itunes, for example, you will NOT get the same song as featured in the film. You must buy the soundtrack to get the film's version of the song, which features accordian music, a faster tempo, and a better vocal by Sarstedt. I recommend the soundtrack version.

Wonderful. It is not only a very persuasive soundtrack (of an excellent movie) but a review of some of the best Hindu Movies Music ever made.

I'll admit it: I was coerced into participating in a local production of Titanic The Musical recently and while I never had, nor do I have any desires to perform on stage, I almost reluctantly fell in love with this incredibly moving story that involves an absolutely amazing musical score. I played Benjamin Guggenheim, who along with some of the most famous millionaires in the world (John Jacob Astor, George Widener and the Thayers, literally the Bill Gates and Donald Trumps of their day) died as the Largest Moving Object on the earth slipped beneath the waves, April 15th 1912.

First, one major difference between this re-telling of one of the greatest maritime disasters of all-time and others, there really isn't any two or three characters that stood out as lead roles. The story was carried almost collectively with a large group of people--ALL based on real passengers and crew of the ill-fated luxury liner. Oh, and Molly Brown is entirely absent from the tale having already been done to death many times before.

Second, the music--oh the music! If you are a fan of wonderful music, you simply owe it to yourself to experience this soundtrack. Everything from the opening number to 'Doing the Latest Rag' and so many in between to the closing 'Sail On, Sail On Great Ship Titanic' evokes a tremendous amount of emotion (which was exactly as planned) and is at once music you don't have to LEARN to love.

Kudos to those who helped to bring this magnificent story to the Broadway Stage. The Titanic will forever be one of my favorite stories, and now I add the musical to my long list of reasons to be utterly fascinated by what happened all those years ago in the North Atlantic.

One of my favorites. Although it is wonderful as a whole, there are little bits and pieces of amazing that pop up which are what really make this album soar. Moments such as

Barrett and the other sailors optimistic, "Fare thee well my darlin', I'll be back before a fortnight has passed..."

Alice Beane expressing her longing to be apart of the first class: "I want more than we've got Edgar. Why don't you?"

Jim Farrell coaxing Kate McGowan onto the lifeboat by singing [the semi-reprise], "You're going to be a lady's maid! Lady's maid in America!"

Also, "The Blame" is an excellent song. Highly reccommended.

Wow a great musical do not understand why it was cancelled in this country. The music and lyrics are very moving and make great listening. I will have to visit USA to see it I suppose.

This is my all-time favorite musical! It really works out when you're in love with Broadway Musicals and Titanic, like me! Michael Cerevis really shines as the builder Thomas Andrews in the song "In Every Age", as does Brian d'Arcy James as stoker Frederick Barrett in "Barrett's Song". This recording is definately worth your money for the most part and you'll probably love it almost as much as do.
Godspeed Titanic!

Robyn
aka Mrs Harold Bride :)

Very good CD not normally that easily available but delivered on time for a reasonable price.

The only reason this cd gets two stars, is that the intended song selection was initially good. However, the cd sounds like (you know what). I'm not an audio expert, but I think they individually recorded each instrument individually in a sound room, and then mixed all of them together, for all of the songs. A lack of big-hall sound gives it a hollow / empty feeling when listening to it. Save your money or look elsewhere!

This set is really a must have for anyone who enjoys good music.
We are on our 3rd copy- we scratched the first and lost the second in a move.

Watch out for the volume leveling mentioned in another review. Surely the compliers could have come up with a better sort order than by composer. The change in tempo/volume between pieces makes it impossible to enjoy. My two CD's ended up in the trash.

Ken

This is a great CD full of many songs that you will recognize and enjoy. If you are someone who likes classical music but doesn't necessarily know which songs or which composers you like, then this CD is for you. You will likely recognize many of the songs as the classical songs you would have picked out to be your favorites.

Most of the tracks were chopped down to 3-4 minutes so some of the best parts of the compositions are missing. I don't know what I was thinking trying to buy 40 classical songs on two CD's. If you really want to enjoy the music you would do better to purchase a CD with fewer, but better quality tracks.

Sondheim produces music that I can never get out of my head. I don't always catch onto the tunes and rhythms right away, but with time they become embedded in my mind. "Follies" is one of my favorites and sadly, one of the Sondheim plays I'm dying to see but think I have no chance. Too bad, because I'd love to see these songs come to life on the stage.

My only real complaint is that since the original ambitious plans for a gatefold, vinyl double album were jettisoned for a smaller production, the ending especially feels cut off. Maybe the original didn't end with a big fluorish and refrain of "Beautiful Girls" but I can't imagine that being true. Despite being recorded in 1971, this cast album is lush and sounds more organic than other recordings of the same show. Excellent.

Here's the bottom line: The original cast recording of Follies is one you should own. This is truly one of the most satisfying cast recordings out there. It's got all the smarty-pants technique of Stephen Sondheim at his most erudite, but it's also chock full of that most elusive quality in Broadway musicals in the last forty years--memorable melodies! And lots of `em!

When Sondheim gives you clever and touching lyrics along with a great melody line, it just doesn't get better. And that, my dear, is how you get classic songs like "I'm Still Here" and "Losing My Mind", both of which are best represented on this recording.

Yes, yes, I know. There's Follies in Concert to consider. And that's a fine recording too with a lot going for it. Get both. But if you can't, get this one instead. It really is the definitive Follies. Yes, it's abridged, hence the four stars instead of five. Even so--by comparison to other CD recordings, these are the performances you want.

The premise of the show examines the anxieties, regrets, and illusions that haunt a group of aging performers, well past their prime as they meet for a reunion before the old theater is torn down. (The characters are mostly chorus girls for the "Weismann Follies".) Wisely, the original cast was comprised primarily of--yep!--aging performers that many regarded as well past their prime. The voices aren't always pretty, yet the songs are often performed with a depth and understanding you simply won't find in a younger, less jaded performer. The full production employed a motif of having much older characters are joined by younger and rangier versions of themselves. This comes to haunting effect, for example, when an elderly, wheelchair bound Justine Johnson wistfully sings "One More Kiss" in duet with her memory of herself come to life. And then there's the legendary moment when Yvonne DeCarlo, having, in reality, just been thrown from the train of her career after the cancellation of The Munsters (she played Lily), brings off a fiercely satisfying delivery of "I'm Still Here".

And I haven't even mentioned my favorite songs yet. Suffice it to say that Alexis Smith (Yes, that Alexis Smith, whose old movies you can never remember, but whose name you know you know) performs two solos that may be some of the most refined vocal acting you'll ever encounter on an original cast recording.

God knows I could go on, but if you're not convinced yet, well then I just don't know what to do with you. Just buy the CD already. We'll all feel better.

I saw the original play with the great original cast three times. everytime it was better.i have the original cast recording,and it is excellent,although quite abridged.nevertheless a masterpiece.i really enjoyed Dorothy Collins,and her rendition of Losing My Mind.-it is absolutely the greatest. you can feel the emotion of the song as she sang it.a perfect job..i really liked Yvonne DeCarlo and I'm Still Here.her singing voice-was rather low,but her voice fitted the song,and what a tune.she was great singing that so true tune that really reflects life.I really didn't care for Alexis Smith as her voice while singing was sort of talking the songs through,her voice came across better on stage,i thought,rather than on the recording.Harold Prince should have had the complete recording of all the songs,not an abridged version.however,i still give it five stars.buy it-Dorothy Collins,i think, was the greatest singer in the show.her pitch,diction,and emotions and her great acting-fantastic-just came through so great...enjoy it.bob

Wonderful performances of Sondheim songs, especially from Dorothy Collins. There are other recordings with equally good performances, especially the one with Barbara Cook, and what one hears in listening to different recordings is how many valid ways there are of performing the songs.

Being a lover of Sondheim's music, I have enjoyed "Follies" many times already, and expect to enjoy listening to this CD again and again.

I bought this because I wanted the cheapest CD that had Anna Moffo's incomparably superb performance of Vocalise. (You can get a free preview of the full Anna Moffo Vocalise performance if you seach on YouTube). I just love this piece. The other Rachmaninoff selections on the CD are very good too, but they are still excerpts-- I would recommend this only for people unfamiliar with Rachmaninoff who want a sampler, or want the Anna Moffo Vocalise selection. If you love Rachmaninoff you'll want to get separate CD's with the full piano concertos, full piano preludes, etc. However, the Moffo Vocalise performance is hard to find, so I bought this-- and at this low price, you can't go very wrong.

Of course, the music is wonderful. That is time tested. But, the quality of performance and the technical clarity 'almost' takes you into the concert hall.

I thought this was so good, especially tracks 8 thru 11 that I bought copies for my six siblings.

This is a beautiful work by the master composer Rachmaninoff. I have been a fan of his work, but when I heard this recording it nearly blew me away. Listen to Vocalise - the beauty of this track is what sold me on the rest of the album.

This is an excellent choice for those who enjoy piano and jazz. The cuts do not bore and haven't so far gotten old to my ear - I've listened to this CD almost constantly since I received it and I hear something different each time. I had been to a recital by Hamelin at which he played Sonata in a State of Jazz and was intrigued by both his ability and the work. The quality of this recording is superb and he is a master at this genre. For jazz lovers, or even those who crave something a little different, I recommend this CD.

Shades of Art Tatum! Marc-André Hamelin must have incredible virtuosic hands and a quick brain to have performed such demanding works. Modern classical composers have been influenced by jagged jazz tempos and structures...we quickly think of Gershwin, Stravinsky, Ravel, Milhaud, and Bernstein, and jazz musicians have an unusually high regard for classical music. Composer Friedrich Gulda is featured here, and like Andre Previn, has feet in both realms. His exercises or etudes helped him to get away from the rigidity of classical forms. Nikolai Kaspustin's Sonata No. 2, of 1989 vintage is a marvel from Russia. The liner notes provides a long statement by Alexis Weissenberg about the development of his highly complex Sonate en état de jazz. The concluding brief piece by George Antheil is full of wit, nonsense, and joy. As Weissenberg observes, a state of jazz is not a normal state but a drunkenness of the soul operating within a cubist logic. If you love both jazz and classical music, you will especially dig this album. If jazz is terra incognita, buy it anyway and enjoy the splendor!

First heard on Canadian radio, I was lucky to find it at AMazon. (where else?) As a long time listener to what is erroniously called "classical" music, I have found the clarity of expression in this CD amazing. Mr. Hamelin's renditions are a marvel of dexterity, and the Kapustin Sonata No 2 is so full of ear worms that I don't know whether to be angry or hopelessly in love. On a scale of five stars, 17!

Marc-Andre Hamelin's jazz CD is fabulous! I was totally unfamiliar with the works on this CD and, as usual, Hamelin never ceases to amaze me both in his facility, but also his superb interpretations! I can't even imagine these works played better.

Alexis Weissenberg playing Debussy. Exquisite!! What more needs to be said. If you are looking for your first disc of Debussy paino music you would do no better than buy this one!

I have heard and admired Rubinstein, Van Cliburn, Vasary, and Entremont playing some of these pieces, among others. Weissenberg plays them with a fresh approach to tempo and rubato. The rhythm is more heavily accentuated than in the other pianists' versions. In addition to several of the more well-known works of Debussy, Weissenberg chose to include "Etude No. IXI pour les Arpeges Composes" in this recording and he makes it into a hypnotic miniature fireworks display of his virtuosity.

The slower pieces, such as "Clair de lune," are played with sensitivity and tenderness, with Weissenberg bringing out the beauty of every note while never losing the forward momentum of the piece, gradually building its level of sound and intensity and then taking it back down; it's a magical performance.

The first three selections, "Pagodes," "La Soiree dans Grenade" and "Jardins sous la pluie" are exotic perfumed slices of musical heaven, with "Pagodes," especially, being exquisitely performed. The "Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum" and "L'Isle Joyeuse" are a scintillating cascades of notes, while "Serenade for the Doll" is absolutely charming. Although my sentimental favorite of the different versions of "La Plus que Lente" remains Rubinstein's 1970 recording, this one by Weissenberg is also wonderful; it's different, fresh, with a more pronounced rhythm in the faster passages that evokes the image of dancers in a ballroom.

Perhaps my favorite selection on this CD is "The Snow is Dancing," which Weissenberg plays in such a way that one can practically see the swirling snowflakes dancing in the air. Actually, all of the selections are beautiful small musical gems, played with elegance, grace, charm, and passion. This CD receives my highest recommendation.

One of the most infamous discs of Debussy's piano works ever recorded,sealing Weissenberg's controversial reputation.The rather conservative Penguin Record Guide disliked it so much that they awarded no stars and said it was 'totally unacceptable artistically' and 'the most brutal account of Debussy ever committed to disc'.
That was back in the mid-eighties.Now,his approach seems like a breath of fresh air:woodpecker like staccato in the Passepied from the 'suite bergamasque'and swirling cascades of notes in a double expresso account of 'L'isle Joyeuse'.
Fast,hurtling tempos and disregard for the softer end of the spectrum are the norm in these performances but that is part of the pleasure in a peculiar sort of way as the charisma of the playing is inescapable.A quick comparison with a young glamorous french pianist in the same works,everything is more flat footed,less visceral.
While not quite in the same league as the Bach and Rachmaninov Weissenberg also recorded for DG at the end of his career,this is still worth getting to know!

This CD, although long out of date, retains a crisp and refreshing air that must be heard to be appreciated. Yes, Weissenberg leaves behind the dreamy melodicism of others, but by contrast, he plays in a way that will keep you awake. This is no opium dream!

I find this performance by Alexis Weissenberg to have but one fault; The recording itself. He plays it far too fast. The impressionistic/contemplative style that Debussy's works are written for is totally thrown away. In its place is a work totally devoid of personality, and mechanical. My greatest pet peeve when listening to an artist's rendition of a classic is the seemingly ubiqitous, but subtle need to quicken the tempo, as if speed were the transcending value of a performance. These melodies are almost sacred! Speed freaks should not track mud over them to perhaps, make a name for themselves for acheiving a newer "interpretation" of it.