Wednesday, August 30, 2006
emusic.com/CD reviews
A couple of months ago I signed up for emusic.com.
The way it works is you purchase music by the song (in mp3 format). You can listen to the tracks with an mp3 player, or you can burn your own CDs assuming you have a CD burner on your computer. It's about $0.25 per song or less, which translates into $3 - $4 for a typical album. I tend to just download all the songs in an album, instead of cherry-picking the best songs. It's certainly much cheaper than buying the actual CD, although this way you don't get the liner notes. They make you pay a monthly fee--$10 for 40 songs, in my case--rather than having you pay as you go. Actually, I signed up for a one-year committement, which comes with a discount, so I think I'm paying only $0.20 a song.
They don't have all albums ever made, but they do have an interesting assortment. Here's a list of the albums I've downloaded since I signed up, with my reviews/ratings.
3 albums of Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts music:
A Boy Named Charlie Brown - 10/10
A Charlie Brown Christmas - 10/10
Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits - 10/10
These albums are what got me originally interested in emusic--a local friend (Patrick) mentioned that he picked up several albums from Vince Guaraldi as part of a free trial. Since we're a fan of the Peanuts TV specials and George Winston's "Linus and Lucy: the Music of Vince Guaraldi" album, my interest here was natural. Plus they had been highly recommended by other friends back in Berkeley (Matt & Suzette), and these albums are hard to find. That is, you may be able to get them from amazon.com, but I've never seen them in an actual CD store.
Smilin', by Rockapella - 7/10
Up-beat acapella music by Rockapella, a group made famous by the TV show Carmen Sandiego. Pauline and I saw them in a concert in La Crosse last year that was very entertaining. Their style might not be for everyone, though. "Off My Mind" and "Lazy River" are two on this album that they performed in their La Crosse concert--I know, because I jotted them down at the time as being ones that I especially liked. The album has many strong songs if you like this type of thing, such as "Shambala" and interesting arrangements of "Here Comes the Sun" and "Surfin' Safari".
Happy Together, by the Turtles - 6/10
This albums contains songs that I've known since I bought a "Turtles' Greatest Hits" tape in high school: "Happy Together", "She'd Rather Be With Me", "She's My Girl", and "You Know What I Mean". A couple of other nice songs were "Me About You", and "Too Young To Be One" (to the tune of Simple Gifts).
Earth Songs, by John Denver - 6/10. Pretty mellow. Some nice songs, but nothing in particular stands out. I had 4 of the tracks already on a Greatest Hits album, so I didn't download them--otherwise it would have gotten a higher rating (probably 7.5/10). Those tracks were "Rocky Mountain High", "Sunshine on My Shoulders", "The Eagle and the Hawk", and "Wind Song".
Be Thou My Vision, by John Rutter directing the Cambridge Singers - 10/10. Simply fabulous. These are all Rutter-composed pieces, directed by Rutter himself. If you have any interest in religious choral music at all, you must get this album! One of the highlights of my musical life was attending a concert of a University of Maryland choir in which my mom sang, that featured Rutter as a guest conductor. Listening to this album is almost as good! ;-) There are too many good pieces to start naming all of my favorites, but these are likely to be the ones most well-known to Mormons, having been recorded by the Tabernacle Choir on recent albums: "Open Thou Mine Eyes", "A Gaelic Blessing", "All Things Bright and Beautiful", "As the Bridegroom to His Chosen", "For the Beauty of the Earth", and "The Lord Bless You and Keep You".
Chronicle Volume 1, by Credence Clearwater Revival - 10/10. Great classic rock! Classic songs on this album include "Susie Q", "Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising", "Down on the Corner", "Travelin' Band", "Who'll Stop the Rain", "Lookin' Out My Back Door", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (11 minute long version! much of which is the instrumentalists just jamming together), and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?". Guaranteed to make your feet start tapping!
Hits! Hits! Hits! by Roy Orbison - 8/10. Contains classics that almost everyone will recognize: "Crying", "Only the Lonely", and "Pretty Woman". There are also a lot of other really good songs, such as "Ooby Dooby", "Working for the Man", and "Blue Bayou".
They Might Be Giants, by They Might Be Giants - 7.5/10. A lot like their very good and very well-known album Flood, but less polished--I think this was their first album. Interesting music, and bizarre lyrics. Here's the one I just happen to be listening to right now, the song called "Boat of Car":
Bells are Ringing, soundtrack from the musical - A cute musical that I know fairly well, because AIS (American International School, where I went to grades 1-5) put on the show when we lived in Vienna. The high school part of AIS, that is, not the elementary school part. I guess Nancy must have been in it, since I remember attending a number of rehearsals after my elementary school got out, but I don't recall what part she played. So I know basically all the songs from the album. This particular recording is pretty good.
Ultimate Mancini, songs written/directed by Henry Mancini - 7/10. Very nice/high quality recording, heavily weighted towards classic movie songs and themes. Among the highlights are the Pink Panther, Moon River, and the Peter Gunn Theme (made famous by the classic "Spy Hunter" computer game).
The way it works is you purchase music by the song (in mp3 format). You can listen to the tracks with an mp3 player, or you can burn your own CDs assuming you have a CD burner on your computer. It's about $0.25 per song or less, which translates into $3 - $4 for a typical album. I tend to just download all the songs in an album, instead of cherry-picking the best songs. It's certainly much cheaper than buying the actual CD, although this way you don't get the liner notes. They make you pay a monthly fee--$10 for 40 songs, in my case--rather than having you pay as you go. Actually, I signed up for a one-year committement, which comes with a discount, so I think I'm paying only $0.20 a song.
They don't have all albums ever made, but they do have an interesting assortment. Here's a list of the albums I've downloaded since I signed up, with my reviews/ratings.
3 albums of Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts music:
A Boy Named Charlie Brown - 10/10
A Charlie Brown Christmas - 10/10
Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits - 10/10
These albums are what got me originally interested in emusic--a local friend (Patrick) mentioned that he picked up several albums from Vince Guaraldi as part of a free trial. Since we're a fan of the Peanuts TV specials and George Winston's "Linus and Lucy: the Music of Vince Guaraldi" album, my interest here was natural. Plus they had been highly recommended by other friends back in Berkeley (Matt & Suzette), and these albums are hard to find. That is, you may be able to get them from amazon.com, but I've never seen them in an actual CD store.
Smilin', by Rockapella - 7/10
Up-beat acapella music by Rockapella, a group made famous by the TV show Carmen Sandiego. Pauline and I saw them in a concert in La Crosse last year that was very entertaining. Their style might not be for everyone, though. "Off My Mind" and "Lazy River" are two on this album that they performed in their La Crosse concert--I know, because I jotted them down at the time as being ones that I especially liked. The album has many strong songs if you like this type of thing, such as "Shambala" and interesting arrangements of "Here Comes the Sun" and "Surfin' Safari".
Happy Together, by the Turtles - 6/10
This albums contains songs that I've known since I bought a "Turtles' Greatest Hits" tape in high school: "Happy Together", "She'd Rather Be With Me", "She's My Girl", and "You Know What I Mean". A couple of other nice songs were "Me About You", and "Too Young To Be One" (to the tune of Simple Gifts).
Earth Songs, by John Denver - 6/10. Pretty mellow. Some nice songs, but nothing in particular stands out. I had 4 of the tracks already on a Greatest Hits album, so I didn't download them--otherwise it would have gotten a higher rating (probably 7.5/10). Those tracks were "Rocky Mountain High", "Sunshine on My Shoulders", "The Eagle and the Hawk", and "Wind Song".
Be Thou My Vision, by John Rutter directing the Cambridge Singers - 10/10. Simply fabulous. These are all Rutter-composed pieces, directed by Rutter himself. If you have any interest in religious choral music at all, you must get this album! One of the highlights of my musical life was attending a concert of a University of Maryland choir in which my mom sang, that featured Rutter as a guest conductor. Listening to this album is almost as good! ;-) There are too many good pieces to start naming all of my favorites, but these are likely to be the ones most well-known to Mormons, having been recorded by the Tabernacle Choir on recent albums: "Open Thou Mine Eyes", "A Gaelic Blessing", "All Things Bright and Beautiful", "As the Bridegroom to His Chosen", "For the Beauty of the Earth", and "The Lord Bless You and Keep You".
Chronicle Volume 1, by Credence Clearwater Revival - 10/10. Great classic rock! Classic songs on this album include "Susie Q", "Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising", "Down on the Corner", "Travelin' Band", "Who'll Stop the Rain", "Lookin' Out My Back Door", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (11 minute long version! much of which is the instrumentalists just jamming together), and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?". Guaranteed to make your feet start tapping!
Hits! Hits! Hits! by Roy Orbison - 8/10. Contains classics that almost everyone will recognize: "Crying", "Only the Lonely", and "Pretty Woman". There are also a lot of other really good songs, such as "Ooby Dooby", "Working for the Man", and "Blue Bayou".
They Might Be Giants, by They Might Be Giants - 7.5/10. A lot like their very good and very well-known album Flood, but less polished--I think this was their first album. Interesting music, and bizarre lyrics. Here's the one I just happen to be listening to right now, the song called "Boat of Car":
(Daddy sang bass) [repeated]
I took my boat for a car.
I took that car for a ride.
I was trying to get somewhere but now I'm following the chases
of your fingernails that run along the windshield of the boat of car.
(Daddy sang bass)
Chases of your fingernails that run along the windshield on the
boat of car, on the boat of car, on the boat of car, on the boat of car.
Bells are Ringing, soundtrack from the musical - A cute musical that I know fairly well, because AIS (American International School, where I went to grades 1-5) put on the show when we lived in Vienna. The high school part of AIS, that is, not the elementary school part. I guess Nancy must have been in it, since I remember attending a number of rehearsals after my elementary school got out, but I don't recall what part she played. So I know basically all the songs from the album. This particular recording is pretty good.
Ultimate Mancini, songs written/directed by Henry Mancini - 7/10. Very nice/high quality recording, heavily weighted towards classic movie songs and themes. Among the highlights are the Pink Panther, Moon River, and the Peter Gunn Theme (made famous by the classic "Spy Hunter" computer game).
# posted by John Colton @ 8:35 AM 
Comments:
<< Home
Peter Gunn Theme made famous by Spy Hunter?! That's it, you'll never be allowed in Mothers again! Check out the PI series, it was terrific in its day.
Post a Comment
<< Home
