Pink Floyd - Reflections & Echoes (2006) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Pink Floyd - Reflections & Echoes (2006)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Pink Floyd - Reflections & Echoes (2006). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Pink Floyd - Reflections & Echoes (2006) ReviewWith so many Pink Floyd reviews on the market it may be difficult to choose. It is a review and does not contain full length songs or interviews. Although promised on the box, the songs mentioned on the back are without exeption, just clips from the songs...
As an audiophile the most anoying lie on the box is the DTS and 5.1 DD logo's, it is just a 2 channel audiotrack which through Dolby Pro Logic II can produce surround sound, but only analogue. Logically, this is not acceptable and an insult to potential buyers.
I haven't read through the whole booklet yet, it is 138 pages of background information, some nice photo's, it seems a rather complete discography. Basically the story told on the discs is the story in the booklet.
The biggest plus is that the whole era of Pink Floyd from start until Live8 is covered. But then again, Pink Floyd is not yet finished, Gilmour and Waters are out on their seperate solotours and today, July 14th, could have been a reunion of the 4 most important Pink Floyd members at the Magny Cours Festival in France where Roger Waters Dark Side of the Moon Solo concert. David Gilmours own solo tour cluttered up the agenda. Possibly some other personal reasons for all 4 members may have had influence as well.
Anyhow, it may mean that a complete review can only be presented if after Syd Barret's passing last friday, july 7th, also David or Roger passes on. Let's hope that doesn't happen anytime soon, but until then Pink Floyd isn't over yet.
My verdict, a rip-off 1 star for soundquality, an ok 3 stars for content and a good 4 stars for the packaging. All together it doesn't add up to more than 3 stars...Pink Floyd - Reflections & Echoes (2006) Overview

Want to learn more information about Pink Floyd - Reflections & Echoes (2006)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Hullaballo Soundtrack (Bonus CD) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Hullaballo Soundtrack (Bonus CD)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Hullaballo Soundtrack (Bonus CD). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Hullaballo Soundtrack (Bonus CD) ReviewThe quest for world domination continues. Here is Muse's third instalment of progressive, heavy rock. This time it's a double CD of B-sides and live songs. First, the B-sides. It must be said that Muse have a fairly set sound, and a lot of their songs sound fairly similar. Upon closer inspection, you will notice that it is mainly Matt Bellamy's voice that causes this effect. This is more evident that ever on the B-sides album. Many of these songs experiment further away from their album tracks. Opener Forced In is spaced out and eerie rather than in-your-face, and Map of Your Head is a sprightly, major-chord formed ditty, complete with medieval acoustic guitar, yet Matt Bellamy's voice causes them to sound like trademark Muse all the same.
There's no denying it, Muse's B-sides are not as strong as their album tracks, generally. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Whilst it does mean that this B-side album is nowhere near as good as last year's Origin of Symmetry, it at least means that they are selecting the right tracks for their albums. In this way B-sides albums are a bit of a no-win situation: if they are only average, they are criticised as substandard and if they are excellent the band are criticised for not making them album tracks.
Not that there aren't good efforts here. The aforementioned Map of Your Head is very enjoyable, whilst Shrinking Universe is classic Muse and standout Nature_1 has the strongest tune on the CD. Generally though, this collection doesn't bear the killer hooklines that Origin of Symmetry, or, indeed, Showbiz did, whilst being enjoyable and worth owning, so CD1 gets 3 stars.
The live CD is a different matter. Muse are an intense band. Everything about their music is intense. And intense bands are excellent live. Muse are no exception. Live CDs tend to either be interesting variations on the recorded versions with added intensity but played comparatively poorly, with the singer missing notes, or well played, but no different to the studio recordings. Here Muse manage to avoid either trap, managing to sound live and intense while playing very professionally.
Here you can hear how well the trio work together, with bass more audible than on studio recordings, as they sometimes hit little periods of improvisation. Variations are added to the songs: the guitar riff on Muscle Museum is made more complex, while Micro Cuts is taken at a faster and more natural pace, and epics Citizen Erased and Megalomania hit their peaks and valleys with even more passion than on Origin of Symmetry: one of the finest moments of Hullabaloo being as Citizen Erased quietens down after its loudest sections, with Matt Bellamy beautifully handling the vocals, in a wonderfully exhausted sort of way.
It is credit to Bellamy's fantastic singing that he can manage the incredibly high notes and difficult techniques just as easily live as in the studio. The only time he seems slightly pressed is on recent non-album single Dead Star, though this is fully explainable by the fact that they had not actually recorded it at the time, and so had not benefited from the producer's input over how the song should sound, and they are evidently not quite done working on it at the time of the recording. Still, even this track is fantastic. Therefore, CD2 is nothing short of brilliant, and it gets 4 1/2 stars.Hullaballo Soundtrack (Bonus CD) Overview

Want to learn more information about Hullaballo Soundtrack (Bonus CD)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Live at Montreux (2004) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Emerson Lake & Palmer - Live at Montreux (2004)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Emerson Lake & Palmer - Live at Montreux (2004). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Live at Montreux (2004) ReviewI'll give this a token one star because Carl Palmer can still play like hell and Greg Lake plays the most beautiful bass guitar I've ever seen (not heard, mind you, seen.) Otherwise this disc is literally going in my trashcan. I can only assume that my fellow reviewers who've looked upon this DVD kindly are so young that they never saw ELP in their prime, when they were an amazing band and their concerts a thrilling, spine tingling experience. I HAVE NEVER SEEN THREE MUSICIANS WHO HATE PLAYING TOGETHER SO OBVIOUSLY as I do on this DVD. The bad vibe between Emerson and Lake is palpable, they won't even look at each other. Emerson's chops are all but gone, he's content to substitute speed for accuracy, he's all over the place, sloppy BEYOND belief, the Alvin Lee of keyboards. Greg Lake plays some nice acoustic guitar but plays bass like he hasn't picked it up for a decade and isn't all that sure where the right notes are. His voice is....well, it's gone. He sounds like me doing a really, really good imitation of Greg Lake in the shower, with the flu. Technically, as others have noted, the sound is dreadful, as is the stage lighting which never surpasses that which you saw at your high school prom. On the positive side, even at half effort, playing with two guys who clearly don't give a damn, Carl Palmer shows why he was one of the greatest drummers of his era, if not the greatest. If you're a young fan, please know that ELP were honestly one of the most important, groundbreaking, genuinely awe-inspiring bands of the 70's... though you'd never know it from this travesty of a performance. If you're an ELP fans who remembers their greatness, avoid this at all costs. It's a quick cash desecration of their past brilliance, a trashing of their own art and their own heritage. It's just too sad.Emerson Lake & Palmer - Live at Montreux (2004) Overview

Want to learn more information about Emerson Lake & Palmer - Live at Montreux (2004)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

H.A.A.R.P.: Live from Wembley (Region 2 DVD) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy H.A.A.R.P.: Live from Wembley (Region 2 DVD)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on H.A.A.R.P.: Live from Wembley (Region 2 DVD). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

H.A.A.R.P.: Live from Wembley (Region 2 DVD) ReviewHAARP is the answer to the question of why Muse scoops just about every single "best live act" award that they are nominated for. We're talking about a band that has been able to master every single aspect of live entertainment on a career that has spanned over the past 10 years.
Being lucky enough to witness Muse on stage 6 times, I have to say that their performance never gets boring, and it's never short of fascinating. Matt Bellamy's voice, guitar riffs and distortions bring all that on-stage magic, backed of course by the stunning drum performance of Dom Howard, and the brilliant bass lines and backing vocals of Chris Wolstenholme.
Anyone who's been lucky enough to witness the Muse live experience knows that it's powerful, over the top, and enchanting.
In other words, Muse makes U2 look like Hannah Montana.
I truly wanted to give this DVD a 5 star review, but the only thing that stops me from doing so is the lack of extra features. Certain songs from the performance on the night of June 17th are missing, as well as songs from the 16th that weren't played on the 17th, including:
- Sing For Absolution
- Bliss
- City of Delusion
- Citizen Erased
- Sunburn
- Man of Mystery
- Microcuts
Let's just hope that we will be able to witness these performance, on a Blu-Ray release of HAARP.
Nevertheless HAARP could easily be considered among the best concert DVD releases ever.H.A.A.R.P.: Live from Wembley (Region 2 DVD) OverviewThe fan base for Muse grows with every release. 2006 s Black Holes And Revelations broke into the U.S. Top 10 while hitting #1 in the U.K. and much of Europe, where it sold 1 million copies and was #3 on NME's Albums Of The Year list. A multiple BRIT Award winner for Best Live Act,Muse then staged two massive sold-out performances at 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium in London last June, which increasingly are recognised as amongst the definitive live moments of the year. The best performances from those concerts, as well as bonus backstage footage, are presented on the CD/DVD set HAARP. The concerts once again demonstrated the raw power and unquenchable ambition of one of the UK's most successful long-term bands and one of, if not the, greatest, most ambitious live act in the world at the present time.

Want to learn more information about H.A.A.R.P.: Live from Wembley (Region 2 DVD)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...