The Hit Co.~ The Ultimate Motown Sound Collection III

Motown has released numerous collections over the years, including the definitive HITSVILLE USA box set. But this collection is one of the best. [It should be noted that MOTOWN GOLD was first released in 2000 under the title MOTOWN THE CLASSIC YEARS. But if you didn't make that purchase, GOLD is selling at a midline price and is clearly the better buy.] 


 The Ultimate Motown Sound Collection III buy from Amazon:

The Best of R&B and Soul Classics Vol. 3 MP3 Album [$44.49]

The Hit Co.~ The Ultimate Motown Sound Collection II

There isn't a song on this 40-track collection that hasn't already been permanently etched on my brain. When I was a teen in the Sixties, these songs were a part of the soundtrack of my life. [Only the final four tracks charted after 1970.] 


The Ultimate Motown Sound Collection II buy from Amazon:

The Best of R&B and Soul Classics Vol. 2 MP3 Album [$44.49]

The Hit Co.~ The Ultimate Motown Sound Collection I

Over the years Motown Records has repackaged its legendary artists and hits to varying degrees of commercial and critical success. And as with many labels it seemed at times that the retrospectives became more important to the company coffers than developing new talent or promoting new releases by existing artists. 


The Ultimate Motown Sound Collection I buy from Amazon:

The Best of R&B and Soul Classics Vol. 1 MP3 Album [$44.49]

Discover The Classics Album

The sound quality is excellent, easy to listen to. There is definitely a "lite" feel about the CD on the whole, pleasantly upbeat. I'm sure most people who are serious fans of contemporary music have already heard this. But if there are a few unfortunates such as I was myself until recently, this truly is on the short list of must-see rock documentaries.


Discover The Classics Album buy from Amazon:


Discover The Classics MP3 Album [$43.49]

Various Artists ~ The World's Greatest Symphonies

Each one covers the top ten pieces from a different time period. Even if you don't know most of the names of the pieces, you will probably recognize most of the music. Each piece is rendered by a different orchestra such as the London Philharmonic for "The Marriage of Figaro" to the Vienna Mozart Ensemble and many others. This is a basic beginner set for people who own no other Classical or who can't decide or identify which of 'that music' they like.


The World's Greatest Symphonies buy from Amazon:

The World's Greatest Symphonies MP3 Album [$41.93]

Various Artists ~ Beethoven: The Complete Symphonies Nos 1-9

The best transfer of these "not great but not embarrassing" early '60s performances of Beethoven's 9 performed by the LSO and Josef Krips. The performances are better than I remember (maybe the cruddy sound in the transfers I listened to had something to do with it). Recommended because the price cannot be beat and it's a cheap and honest way to become familiar with these great symphonies.


Beethoven: The Complete Symphonies Nos 1-9 buy from Amazon:

The Complete Symphonies Nos 1-9 MP3 Album [$41.93]

Paco Nula, Ramon Sole & Sergi Vicente Antonio De Lucena album

For the collector or classical guitar enthusiast, the chief disadvantages of the album are duplication of other recordings, and that the way at least some of the works on this album are listed isn't helpful in telling the listener the set(s) to which these pieces belong and how to find them. The font listing the titles and track numbers is small and somewhat hard to read. 


100 Classical Spanish Guitar album buy from Amazon:

100 Classical Spanish Guitar MP3 Album [$41.93]

Michael Endres ~ Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas

You could easily pay 4 to 5 times as much for the same works on regular CDs. By downloading these wonderful performances, you get the entire set of Mozart sonatas for less than eight dollars. Easily, one of the greatest bargains ever for classical music.


Michael Endres ~ Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas buy from Amazon:

Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas MP3 Album [$41.99]

Harnoncourt - The Complete Beethoven Recordings

This 14 CD box set is truly a magnificient collection uniting virtually all of Beethoven's orchestral works performed by a single orchestra and conductor: Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. It is magnificient not only for its breadth and depth, but more importantly, for its overall quality, since many of these recordings can be regarded as definitive recordings of these Beethoven pieces, which were recorded between the years 1990 and 2003.


Harnoncourt - The Complete Beethoven Recordings buy from Amazon:

The Complete Beethoven Recordings MP3 Album [$44.99]

Paul Robeson: The Complete EMI Sessions 1928-1939

I could not afford this seven-disc box, but my dear friends Jim and Cindy Clark of Kansas, realizing that I am the only Robeson fan they are ever likely to meet, gifted me with this. I am extremely grateful. I "discovered" Paul in 1959, when I was 14, via a Vanguard folk sampler I checked out of the Trenton, NJ Public Library. The song was "Get on Board, Little Children" and lasted all of 77 seconds, but it changed my life. (On the same set, I "discovered" Cisco Houston, and that track also changed my life. What a great trip to the library that turned out to be.) 


The Complete EMI Sessions 1928-1939 buy from Amazon:

The Complete EMI Sessions 1928-1939 MP3 Album [$44.41]

Captain Beefheart ~ Grow Fins - Rarities 1965-1982

Although the price of "Grow Fins" is steep, this set is essential if you are a fan of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. Although they could have fit discs one and two onto one disc, I don't care. Although they could have added more video cuts or even some "clean" copies of Beefheart gems for which we have been waiting years (e.g., "Bat Chain Puller" original album), I don't care. Although the Trout Mask Sessions disc is filled with endless meaningless studio chatter, I don't care.


Grow Fins - Rarities 1965-1982 buy from Amazon:

Grow Fins - Rarities 1965-1982 MP3 Album [$45.49]

Queensryche ~ Revolution Calling Album

Revolution Calling, a boxed set containing all the remastered Queensryche albums on EMI, suffers from the same problem as on the Greatest Hits CD. There's a degree of thoughtlessness here that's disheartening, suggesting that the band had limited involvement in the project.

I was standing in the aisle of the record store not sure whether I should go the full monty with the boxed set or just buy several of the remastered CDs. 

Queensryche ~ Revolution Calling Album buy from Amazon:

Revolution Calling MP3 Album [$45.15]

Nat King Cole ~ The Classic Singles

Nat King Cole was one of the top performers of the 20th century, but it seems like only Capitol fails to realise that. They are the guardians of his musical legacy, the ones that have the responsibility of making his music live on well into the 21st century, and what do they give us? Compilation after compilation of previously released material (when hundreds of unreleased tracks still lay dormant in their vaults),and when they finally come up with an interesting project, they mess it up with average sound quality!


Nat King Cole ~ The Classic Singles buy from Amazon:

The Classic Singles MP3 Album [$45.15]

Various Artists ~ Brahms: Complete Edition

I would have gladly paid that much just for some of the individual sections. Of course, if the performances were terrible, or even mediocre, I would have been much better off seeking out individual performances or competing box sets like Brilliant Classic's collection of complete Brahms works. But I already had a couple of the individual works (portions of the symphonies conducted by Karajan and performed by the Berlin Philharmonic from their digital 1980s recordings, for example)and knew that they were outstanding performances.


Brahms: Complete Edition  buy from Amazon:

Brahms: Complete Edition MP3 Album [$90.30]

The Stooges ~ 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions

142 outtakes from the Fun House sessions, and the download costs almost $100? Hey I love that album as much as anybody but one of the reasons I like it so much is that Don Galluci pushed the band to do multiple takes until everything was just right. I'm pretty sure hearing all of the false starts and failed takes would not add to my overall appreciation.


1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions buy from Amazon:

1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions MP3 Album [$99.99]

András Schiff ~ Bach, J.S.: The Solo Keyboard Works

In this "golden era of classical music recordings", there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of recordings of Bach's solo keyboard works available in the market, using instruments from the harpsichord (with 1 or 2 manuals), organ, clavichord and early fortepiano to the modern grand piano. I have listened to many of them. Truth be told, even though each good performer brings out different aspects of these great works, not many are worth repeated listening. To my ears, this set stands out among the distinguished performances mainly in 2 ways: its elucidation of counterpoint and its fusion of the Historically-Informed Performance (HIP) practice with the expressive devices of the modern grand pianos. In fact, these 2 points are most closely related. The enumeration is merely for the convenience of exposition.


Bach, J.S.: The Solo Keyboard Works buy from Amazon:

Bach, J.S.: The Solo Keyboard Works MP3 Album [$97.94]

Holiday All-Stars ~ Christmas Greetings from Santa for Boys

Christmas All Time Greatest Records, Volume 1 has 12 classic Christmas songs that remain exquisite to this day. It's no secret that Christmastime music is some of our very best music; this type of music usually has very upbeat sounding melodies and catchy lyrics that make you want to sing along with them practically wherever you are! These songs have been lovingly crafted and performed with a great deal of sensitivity; and that's grand. I also like that this is a budget priced CD; this way as many people as possible can afford to buy it--the price is very reasonable as of the time of this writing. 




Christmas Greetings from Santa for Boys buy from Amazon:

Christmas Greetings from Santa for Boys MP3 Album [$92.49]

The Angeles String Quartet ~Haydn: The Complete String Quartets

Most reviews of this impressive set give a definate "thumbs up" for the performance. Penguin gives it 3/3 stars while ClassicsToday rated this work a perfect 10/10 for artistic quality/sound quality and Gramophone also rates it high (2/3 circles). Additionally, this quartet scored a Grammy Award in 2002 for "Best Chamber Performance." Many find these performances here to be among the best offered for complete sets. 


Haydn: The Complete String Quartets buy from Amazon:

Haydn: The Complete String Quartets MP3 Album [$96.46]

Various Artists ~ Stax-Volt: The Complete Singles 1959-1968

This is an undeniably great set, with tons of great tunes. However, there *is* a little fat on it. Not every single was a classic; there's no way they could be, as fast as they were pumping them out. Still, for people who really want a handle on deep soul and who want off-the-beaten-path gems along with the hits, this is a great set to check out. 


Stax-Volt: The Complete Singles 1959-1968 buy from Amazon:

Stax-Volt: The Complete Singles MP3 Album [$99.99]

Kodaly Quartet ~ Haydn: Complete String Quartets

When these quartets were recorded, in the 1990's and early 2000's, the Kodaly Quartet ("KQ") had been playing together for more than a quarter century. It shows. What is evident on these recordings is the perfect cohesion of these highly talented musicians; they clearly have an intimate knowledge of the score of each quartet and thoroughly enjoy playing together. The KQ's performance is fresh, truly conveys their love for this music, and fully brings to life the range of emotions contained in this musical microcosm - playfulness, elegance, sunny joy, and gentle reverie - with every movement of these quartets having a quality of refinement and graciousness that allows the listener to savor every note. 


Haydn: Complete String Quartets buy from Amazon:

Haydn: Complete String Quartets MP3 Album [$99.99]

Grateful Dead ~ The Golden Road [1965-1973]

This is a perfect box set, doing what all good box sets should. It is comprehensive (Over 100 pages worth of essay and liner notes. It has excellent sound (recieving the digital remastering treatment). And it has plenty of unreleased material. (Over 7 hours, stretching each disc to 80 minutes in length) You can't go wrong with a 12 cd box set covering the golden era in Dead history.


Grateful Dead ~ The Golden Road [1965-1973] buy from Amazon:

The Golden Road [1965-1973] MP3 Album [$99.99]

Metallica ~ The Metallica Collection

When Metallica - Classic Album (The Black Album) was released on DVD and VHS initially in 2001, it was sought out by Metal and Metallica fans all over the country. As a VIDEO release it was buried in the newly created DVD section of most accounts. This DVD chronicles the recording, from the BAND (James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted) and the Producer (Bob Rock) the making of this ground breaking release. The Black Album launched Metallica into the sheds where they promoted The Black Album on the road for almost 2 years!


Metallica ~ The Metallica Collection buy from Amazon:


The Metallica Collection [Explicit] MP3 Album [$9.99]

Led Zeppelin ~ The Complete Album

Big enough for Led Zeppelin's towering sound, this 10-CD box set collects all nine of the legendary band's original studio albums released from 1969 to 1982. Included are: Led Zeppelin I (1969), Led Zeppelin II (1969), Led Zeppelin III (1970), IV (1971), Houses of the Holy (1973), Physical Graffitti (1975) (2CD), Presence (1976), In Through the Out Door (1979), and Coda (1982). A true stairway to heaven for Zep fans, this massive box originally released in 1993 features each classic title with its original album artwork.


Led Zeppelin ~ The Complete Album buy from Amazon:

The Complete Led Zeppelin MP3 Album [$99.99]

Aerosmith ~ Big Ones Album

Few comebacks in rock and roll history have been as amazing as that of Aerosmith. Their triumphant return to the charts in the '80s not only rekindled the band's earlier success, but also significantly surpassed it. With their top 20 hits "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)," "Ragdoll," and the top 10 power ballad, "Angel," the group proved they had even more fire left in their fight than anyone could have imagined. Leaving behind its reckless lifestyle, the band sacrificed none of their rowdy rock and roll. "Ragdoll" and "Love in an Elevator" built upon Aerosmith's raunchy blues approach to hard rock, complete with singer Steven Tyler's howl in the best form of his career.


Aerosmith ~ Big Ones Album buy from Amazon:

Big Ones MP3 Album [$5.00]
Big Ones Audio CD [$9.99]

The Naked And Famous ~ Passive Me, Aggressive You

This album feels like a mix-tape of really good bands. One song has me comparing them to Passion Pit or Temper Trap, but then the next song has me thinking M83. Then another suggests Stars, and then another suggests Radiohead. In this case, I really like the range. High energy stuff. Fun album.


Passive Me, Aggressive You Album buy from Amazon:

Passive Me, Aggressive You MP3 Album [$5.99]
Passive Me Aggressive You Audio CD [$9.99]
Passive Me, Aggressive You Vinyl [$18.98]