Best North American Music
2009 remaster of the groundbreaking 1969 album, his first with Crazy Horse, from the original analogue master tapes.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The album included a number of extraordinary songs, among them being: "Cinnamon Girl", "Cowgirl In The Sand", and "Down By The River." Neil Young made a distinct mark for himself earlier in the California folk-rock scene as a member of the popular, but short-lived group, Buffalo Springfield, with his outstanding songwriting and guitar playing. Neil Young even went to the extreme and left the band entirely for a brief period of time to pursue his work in the studio in a different manner, and on his own terms, with Nitzsche's assistance. At about the same time, Stephen Stills, Neil Young's former colleague from the Buffalo Springfield, joined David Crosby, a close friend from The Byrds and Graham Nash, another friend from the British band, The Hollies, to form a vocal band named, "Crosby, Stills, and Nash." At the suggestion of the president of the record company, Neil Young joined the trio in the studio in a collaboration of sorts."
"A highly underrated guitar player who has produced music so unique and powerful it will never be matched."
"Neil Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere...Timeless Classic Rock on heavy weight 180 gram vinyl...Vinyl is the ultimate audio source."
"I have purchased this album many times, and many times I have loaned, lost or worn it out, it always gets replaced."
"This is Neil Young rocking out big time, his guitar riff duels with Danny Whitten are especially crunchy on Down By The River. When this album was released all the college late night AOR FM stations were playing cuts, then it became too popular to be "cool" and then a few years later people looked back and said that maybe, just maybe, this is as good as it got with Neil Young?"
"Makes me want to head out to the country and sit on a sandy shore of a river with my cowgirl girlfriend!"
"The late night FM staples are there, of course, with Cowgirl in the Sand and Down by the River, but other gems are there, too, like Running Dry (Requiem for The Rockets) and that ethereal, haunting violin by Bobby Notkoff (thanks, Google)."
"This has always been one of my favorite Neil Young albums and I think Neil has always been at his best with Crazy Horse."
Canadian singer/composer Loreena McKennitt is self-managed, self-produced, and the head of her own internationally successful record label, Quinlan Road.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Love, love, love the sensual, exotic music of Lorena McKennitt!"
"Loreena McKennitt has the most soothing voice and her music is relaxing enough to break the worst stress."
"I loved the song Mummer's Dance, but the rest of the album wasn't that interesting."
"I love to hear the music of different nations and read the stories about how she went about writing them."
"one of the kind."
"Beautiful angelic voice, celtic music."
"Love this CD and Loreena McKennitt."
2008 release.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I just love Loreena McKennitt and I love these Christmas songs."
"_And this CD was definitely worth waiting for -- it is a tapestry of poignant emotions, sensual touchstones and richly imbued musical artistry that has not a single cliched "holiday" tune on it. Overall, I get a deep sense of beauty and peace from the CD, and I imagine I will have many Christmas dreams while listening to it, as the Winter Solstice comes and goes."
"By that I mean this amazing talent in general and, more specifically, this particular set of seasonal tunes. Loreena has prepared for you an enriching mix of songs you'll find as delightful as winter's breath stirring a snow drift into a Dervish dance. This is a luscious melange of pleasing holiday tunes built upon Celtic, Middle Eastern and other worldly instrumentals and rhythms and buoyed by Loreena's heaven-gifted voice."
"A MIDWINTER NIGHT'S DREAM is a mix of old and new Christmas songs from Loreena McKennitt. There were a few songs that I wasn't familiar but the beauty of the melodies and Loreena's hypnotic vocals made the listening experience very enjoyable. I really do appreciate the fact that Loreena did not opt to make your standard Christmas album with "Silent Night" and "Away in a Manger"."
"I was glad to see that McKennitt came out with another wintertime delight."
"if anyone has a chance to see her perform do it."
"You probably won't be interested at all in this collection unless you know and appreciate Loreena McKennitt's approach to music and this has all the hallmarks you would expect. Complex but spare arrangements, intense but thoughful vocalizing, great respect for creative sources are all present in the "new Celtic" influenced approach to English, French and Latin texts."
Best Appalachian Music
These Copland performances have been the preferred versions since they were first issued--better even than the composer's own, later recordings.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm a sucker for sentiment, so I particularly love Appalachian Spring: Doppio movimento (sometimes called Variations on a Shaker Tune or Simple Gifts), but it's all wonderful."
"Considering that this is played in the car with the road noise, and player electronics, this recording was a nice relief to commute traffic."
"This CD must be in every American music collection!"
"A classic set of recordings."
"What more could you ask for -- Copland and Bernstein."
"On the last part of Appalachian Spring track 8 Moderato - Coda, the phrasing of the string section is absolutely gorgeous, and every note is played with such feeling and clarity."
"This recording of Hoe Down is sharper and clearer than is the Boston Pops rendition, but I do prefer the slightly slower pace of that recording."
Best Eskimo & Inuit Music
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I downloade it I to my coputer play it everyday thank you hopefull will buy more when they come out with a new album."
"This was received extremely quickly, five days before the first date of estimated shipping."
"The CD and the case were in great condition when I got them."
"It isn't Kolya's rare self titled which that CD is for 29.99 and its much more of a rare band than Circa."
Best Native American Music
NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTES & SOUNDS OF NATURE (Relaxing Native American Flute & Nature Sounds for Massage, Sleep, Spas & Yoga) by Jessita Reyes.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"We use this in our infrared sauna at our salon."
"this is another favorite of my clients, and nature sounds are so close and real, i was looking for birds the other day;). great to unwind with."
"Not what I expected."
"Love Native American music...."
"enjoy this music very much has been great for listening before going to sleep."
"Couldnt get this cd to play in any of my players."
Best Tejano
At the time of her murder in 1995, she was being called the Mexican Madonna while others were saying she was destined to be one of the biggest stars in the world.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is Perfect for Selena fans & Tejano Music lovers!"
"As a vinyl lover I couldn't pass this up, the vinyl is a beautiful translucent marbled purple, it sounds amazing for a color vinyl, the cover does smudge very easily though."
"Although this is a great record, love the color, and songs chosen... this is a review for the product quality itself."
"It brings back memories of the two of us just being silly kids dancing around her house, and honestly despite my normal taste in music being completely different from Selena in general I still love to listen to her too."
"Love this especially being from Texas it was a must."
"The CD was a gift for my niece's 13th bday."
"Most of the time reissues are worth it because they take advantage of new technology or respond to demand that the producers didn't realize was there at the first release. A huge unsightly "Press ENTER" line intrudes into EVERY picture in the gallery and ruins the display. The pictures for the 20 Year Series promotion (album covers) are distorted so badly they make Selena look strange."
"I love the songs on this album but unfortunately the first record is warped and very noticeable."
Best Jewish & Yiddish
The epic sweep of Ragtime is captured in its opening prologue, a nine-minute kaleidoscope of fictional characters mingling with historical figures from the early 20th century as originally captured in E.L. Doctorow's sprawling novel . Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens ( Once on This Island ) mix marches, cakewalks, and of course ragtime to create a rich, compelling score, including Sarah's song to her baby, "Your Daddy's Son," her soaring duet with Coalhouse, "Wheels of a Dream," Mother's self-revealing "Back to Before," and numerous set pieces, all performed by a perfect cast.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This was supposed to be the later full cast recording, when I went to download the MP3 it was the earlier version that eliminated much of the dialog, e.g., the opening number is only 3 minutes rather than the 5 to 8 minutes it should be for a full version."
"Marin Mazzie sings the remarkable "Back To Before" and Audra MacDonald "Your Daddy's Hands" making them songs that will stand as monuments to theatre the way that "People" does for Streisand, "Rose's Turn" For Merman, "Hello Dolly" for Carol Channing. The songs themselves are spectacular; each piece develops and we do hear character development themes; each repeated motif in a song has thickened and developed along with the character, so we never ever feel as though the score was written hastily."
"This great work would have made it on the music alone, but when you factor in some of the best voices in the business, it's incredible. The musical focuses more strongly on the black-and-white race relationships than the original novel, and this works to the advantage. The juxtaposition of cultures makes for not only great storytelling, but variety in musical numbers, keeping the boredom factor at bay. An example of this occurs when the Irish Fireman--after a blatant display or racism--claims, "They'll get used to it the way we had to," pointing out the fact that at one time the Irish were not treated so well in this country. The cons: This is not a short musical."
"An excellent cast performs an excellent musical."
"I forgot how good the show was and how great the voices of the cast are on the recording."
"THIS 2 DISC CD BRINGS IT TO LIFE...."
"This music is incredible."
"great Broadway musical play sound track about the immigration from europe to US at the turn of the 1900 century----. they made a dramatic movie starring James Cagney in his later years .....BUT THE MOVIE MUSICAL DOES NOT EXIST....ITS STRICTLY. BROADWAY STAGE PROPERTY......"
Best African Music
The fury stirred up among the Nigerian police and military by Fela’s confrontational Alagbon Close (1974) and Kalakuta Show (1976), and the beatings and harassments Fela and Africa 70 suffered as a consequence, were as nothing compared to the reprisals following 1976’s Zombie. Within months of its release, a brutal army attack left Fela’s Kalakuta Republic compound burnt to the ground and many of its residents, including Fela, assaulted and seriously injured. On the title track, over an urgent, quick-march accompaniment from Afrika 70, Fela and the backup singers ridicule the mindset of men in uniform. Go and quench!” Each phrase is followed by the women singers’ taunting response, “Zombie!” Fela continues: “No brains, no job, no sense joro jara jo; tell am to go kill joro jara jo; tell am to go quench joro jara jo (meaning, “no brains, no job, no sense left right left; tell him to go kill left right left; tell him to go die left right left.”) The army’s response was terrible... On 18 February, 1977, around 1,000 soldiers, most of them armed, swooped on Kalakuta.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Black music without concessions."
"Fellastico as always."
Best South & Central American Music
Deluxe expanded version of the Pop diva's massively successful album features seven bonus tracks including three new songs, a megamix and versions of "E.T" featuring Kanye West, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)".
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I purchased this album for my little Sun Goddess who has a high taste of music and is not really in to lollypop music! I rather kids listen to this type of music which is at least meaningful and musically valuable, than listen to lollypop music and baseless mindless techno and rap."
"its a fun album."
"Pop music history, the singles are iconic."
"Very uplifting album."
"Love Katy Perry's songs on this complete collection, still listen to teenage dream, we all had them."
"what a great album."
"One of the best cd's ever."
Best European Music
The classic original Beatles studio albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period utilising state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"In fact, much of the album was written in India."
"I wrote this review in order to assist the general consumer make an informative decision when purchasing a product that they can't touch prior***."
"It's the Beatles' White Album - what else is there to say?"
"It has Bungalow Bill, Back in the USSR, Rocky Racoon, and Blackbird plus a lot more."
"A 2 CD "mini-box" with a picture book, and a small version of a collage poster that may have been part of the original album all those years ago."
"Awesome tunes written/performed by 4 awesome talented me."
"Album cover was slightly warped, but other than that it was sure nice to hear these old songs again."
"I could go in depth about this album in my review, but don't need to: This mono issue has different versions of many tracks that cannot be heard anywhere else, including the Anthology series."
Best Far East & Asian Music
1 CD (Random) + 100P Photobook + 20p The Note of 'The Most Beautiful Moment In Life' + 1 Photocard (Random 1 out of 28 Photocard + 1 Special photocard in limited quantity) + Special Stickers // This is the official release and will be counted towards Billboard / Hanteo / Gaon Charts.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm listening to the album for the 3rd time in a row."
"The only thing I'm upset about is that I didn't get the poster... which I for sure thought I would get since this was the link that Bighit posted on their twitter."
"Just finished listening to it for the first time through!"
"I'm listening right now and to hear such great vocals and unexpected beat drops makes me happy."
"I pre-ordered the album for my sister's birthday gift."
"Comes with everything as promised and a special song plus commentary from the members in the book though it is all in Korean so be aware of that."
"I love the album so much I bought 3 - one for myself, one for a white elephant gift exchange and one for a fellow BTS stan!"
"I have a 15 year old niece that's obsessed with BTS and this was their newest album."
Best Middle Eastern Music
Debut solo album by Yasmine Hamdan, written and produced in collaboration with Marc Collin (Nouvelle Vague).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm selective about music of any kind, but this music was like finding that mysterious sweet spot on the radio dial between middle eastern world music and popular music. I don't have any music quite like this in my collection, but it reminds me slightly of instruments and/or vocals from these bands and artists: Bjork, Irfan (Bulgarian group), Cocteau Twins, Tanita Tikaram, Camera Obscura... but... the vocals on Ya Nass are what set this apart from a lot of music."
"She has little recorded work, young, talented, concerned enough with building her kind of music in her native Lebanon she tends to turn down recordings, contracts which would have her appearing on the Continent and singing in French and English in addition to Arabic."
"This solo debut by Yasmine Hamdan is a delight."
"The sound is compelling, and it adds to the ambiance in a way to not understand any of the lyrics... well, except for habibi, but I have no idea how it fits into the theme of the song."
"her voice is hauntingly beautiful."
"I am enjoying this CD and listen to it often!!"
"Her voice is so alluring and she sings with such emotion that you can feel what the songs are about even without understanding Arabic."
"The Arab answer to the late Amy Winehouse."
Best Caribbean & Cuban Music
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend Vinyl LP.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you have a home theater with 5.1 Surround sound and an appreciation for the art of music and quality audio, you will LOVE this set."
"Bought it as a surprise for my mother to go along with a Bluetooth suitcase record player from Amazon as well."
"THE MOST GORGEOUS VINYL IN MY COLLECTION!!!"
"Great song."
"How can you go wrong with Bob Marley?!?"
"I love Bob Marley and this CD has lots of the old favorites."
"What can I say, It's one of my all time favorite artist and albums. Wore the last disk out."
"There is just something about Bob Marley's music and sound."
Best Indian & Pakistani Music
Features performances from George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Leon Russell, and Billy Preston. The publicity-shy former Beatle could've easily written a check and forgotten all about the matter--impoverished East Pakistani refugees stranded in India--but instead recruited some of his most talented and compassionate friends and created an event remembered as much for the quality of its music as the purity of its intent. Highlights include Billy Preston's rousing "That's the Way God Planned It" and Dylan's heartfelt five-song set, starting with "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I have this LP, but wanted it electronically for my smart phone."
"The CD was just great."
"great concert and good sound!"
"takes me back to the time."
"Amazing concert!"
"Harrison was on top of his game, great sound recording."
"So happy to have this."
Best Music of the Pacific Islands
Most touching are the string-backed laments that open and close the album, "Hawai'i '78 Introduction" and "Hawai'i '78," initially a reflection on his father's death, later on the passing of Hawaii's native culture. Best known is his medley "Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World," which played over the closing credits of the film Meet Joe Black .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I stumbled across Israel while I was looking for a copy of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and when I sampled it I said to myself "yes, this voice is from somewhere over the rainbow" The combination of his voice with his ukulele is simple in content yet profoundly deep and resonant in it's spirit."
"Terrific music."
"No problems or complaints."
"Excellent product as advertised."
"Purchased as gift."
"Love this CD it's beautiful music."
"Izzi combines traditional with modern songs on this album."
"I only like one song on it."
