No Answer [Enhanced] [Import] [Limited Edition]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Remastered reissue of 1971 debut album includes two bonus audio tracks, 'The Battle Of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644)' (takes 1 & 2 - recorded 4/28/71), '10538 Overture' (take 1 - recorded 7/12/70), plus an enhanced section featuring the original promotional film for '10538 Overture', & a weblink. EMI. 2003.

The Electric Light Orchestra, Music, Electric Light Orchestra, Album Rock, Pop/Rock, Prog-Rock/Art Rock, Rock, Rock/Pop

Mendelssohn: Elijah
Average customer rating:

Wonderful, but not my first choice

THE BEST recording of the BEST oratorio ever...

Too bad there are so few recordings of Elijah

Mendelssohn: Elijah

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
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All Works by Mendelssohn | Mendelssohn, Felix | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Similar Items:

Franz Joseph Haydn: The Creation

Mendelssohn - Elijah / Terfel, Fleming, Bardon, Ainsley, Fulgoni, Paul Daniel

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) / Auger, Stilwell, Atlanta SO, Robert Shaw

Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem [A German Requiem]

ASIN: B0002XV31A
Release Date: 2005-02-15

Tracks:

Introduction: As God The Lord Of Israel Liveth
Overture
No.1 Help, Lord! Wilt Thou Quite Destroy Us?
No.2: Lord! Bow Thine Ear To Our Prayer!
No.3: Ye People, Rend Your Hearts
No.4: If With All Your Hearts
No.5: Yet Doth The Lord See It Not
No.6: Elijah! Get Thee Hence
No.7: For He Shall Give His Angels Charge Over Thee
Recitative: Now Cherith's Brook Is Dried Up
No.8: What Have I Do To Do With Thee?
No.9: Blessed Are The Men Who Fear Him
No.10: As God The Lord Of Sabaoth Liveth
No.11: Baal, We Cry To Thee: Hear And Answer Us!
No.12: Call Him Louder, For He Is A God!
No.13: Call Him Louder! He Heareth Not!
No.14: Lord God Of Abraham, Isaac And Israel!
No.15: Cast Thy Burden Upon The Lord
No.16: O Thou, Who Makest Thine Angels Spirits
No.17: Is Not His Word Like A Fire?
No.18: Woe Unto Them Who Forsake Him!
No.19: O Man Of God, Help Thy People!
No.20: Thanks Be To God!

Tracks:

No.21: Hear Ye, Israel; Hear What The Lord Speaketh
No.22: Be Not Afraid, Saith God The Lord
No.23: The Lord Hath Exalted Thee
No.24: Woe To Him, He Shall Perish
No.25: Man Of God, Now Let My Words Be Precious
No.26: It Is Enough; O Lord Now Take My Life
No.27: See, Now He Sleepeth
No.28: Lift Thine Eyes To The Mountains
No.29: He, Watching Over Israel, Slumbers Not
No.30: Arise, Elijah, For Thou Hast A Long Journey
No.31: O Rest In The Lord
No.32: He That Shall Endure To The End, Shall Be Saved
No.33: Night Falleth Round Me, O Lord!
No.34: Behold! God The Lord Passed By!
No.35: Above Him Stood The Seraphim
No.36: Go, Return Upon Thy Way
No.37: For The Mountains Shall Depart
No.38: Then Did Elijah The Prophet Break Forth
No.39: Then Shall The Righteous Shine Forth
No.40: Behold, God Hath Sent Elijah
No.41: But The Lord, From The North Hath Raised One
No.41a: O Come Everyone That Thirsteth
No.42: And Then Shall Your Light Break Forth

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful, but not my first choice.......2007-04-07

I believe this was the first recording of Elijah in English that used an "international" conductor and some international singers. Fruhbeck gives a good, dramatic sweep to the piece, with some wonderful dramatic moments. This is an old fashioned performance, with only a solo quartet, and if there is a semi-chorus, I can't tell the difference. This means that the soprano is the Widow, and an Angel, the mezzo the Angel and Queen Jezabel, etc. You really should have a libretto, but you don't get one at this price.
Fischer-Dieskau roughens up his voice for the role, and therein lies a problem. The voice spreads and his diction suffers because of it; that and his unidiomatic pronounciation, with far too many rolled "r"s. He does the drama well, but what works well in lieder works here less well on the large scale. Odd, given his success as on opera singer (check out his Iago), that here he frequently comes off blustery.
Dame Gwyneth Jones belies her reputation and gives a contolled, dramatic performance, using her "edge" to advantage in "Hear Ye, Israel". Gedda's diction is amazing, with exactly the right color for this literature, and projecting a little more blood than an English tenor.
Dame Janet Baker is my star in this performance. Dramatic, heart-rending when need be, and in wonderful voice. She'll chill your blood when she tells the people of Baal to "slaughter him, do what he hath done!".
And as for the people of Baal, the Philharmonia Chorus is wonderful. Incisive and dramatic, with beautiful tone. I could do without the trick of the boy choir for "Lift Thine Eyes", and I miss the small ensembles, but all in all a fine performance, and good recording, circa 1968.
First choice in English, Daniels/Terfel: better Elijah in Terfel, better recording, more authentic orchestra, small vocal ensembles (as per the score) but inferior women (including Fleming: beautiful tone, but where's her head?). In German, it's Sawallisch/Adam all the way.
But if you're singing Elijah, and have a score, this is a good choice.

THE BEST recording of the BEST oratorio ever..........2006-08-15

Okay, I'm gonna admit I'm biased- I first sung in the chorus of Elijah when I was 14 and it made a BIG impression on me!
This recording is in every way wonderful. Starting with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. He IS Elijah to me. His singing is perfection. He has amazing phrasing and his diction makes it possible to understand the lovely, inspired libretto to this heavenly music. There are so many pieces that are ephemeral, but a couple of my favorites are: #14, Lord God of Abraham and #37, For the Mountains shall Depart. Dieskau does a great job of what I think of as compassionate, heartfelt singing. His interpretation sounds like the voice of God himself. It has a quality of kindness and yet he sounds just as convincing reprimanding the people of Baal. He is the true highlight of this recording.

That said, the rest of the cast is wonderful as well. Gwyneth Jones has a lovely, silvery voice that has a clarion bell-like tone that rings over the large orchestra with ease. She has occasional "misfire" but is a consistent performer. Dame Janet Baker and Nicolai Gedda both perform at a consistently lovely level. The orchestra and chorus are both wonderful. #15, Cast thy Burden upon the Lord, #32 He that Shall Endure to the End, and #38 Then Did Elijah are all highlights.

All said, for me the main reason to get this recording is Dieskau's Elijah- after all, he's the main character. But don't forget the lovely music. This story is exciting and passionate and sacred all at the same time. For me, it's the best oratorio that has a moving story and great music too.

Too bad there are so few recordings of Elijah.......2006-07-03

This is a good recording of an oratorio that deserves more attention. The chorus and soloists are very good--I just wish Fischer-Diskau wouldn't slide around so much in singing the title part!

Average customer rating:

Sublime and ridiculous
Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww
Better than I thought it would be
Brava Renee
Art is always new.

Haunted Heart
Paul McCartney , Gustav Mahler , Joni Mitchell , Emile Paladilhe , Arthur Schwartz , James ("Jimmy") Van Heusen , Various Composers , Heitor Villa-Lobos , Jimmy Webb , Richard A. Whiting , Stevie Wonder , Guy Wood , Bill Frisell , Fred Hersch , and Renée Fleming
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
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Sacred Songs
Renee Fleming - The Beautiful Voice ~ Gounod, Lehaair, Orff, Puccini, Rachmaninov, Strauss
Renée Fleming
Handel
The Inner Voice : The Making of a Singer

ASIN: B0007Z9QUS
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Tracks:

Haunted Heart
River
When Did You Leave Heaven?
You've Changed
Answer Me
My Cherie Amour
In My Life
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Wozzeck/The Midnight Sun
Liebst du um Schit
My One And Only Love/This Is Always
Can do Amor
Psych
Hard Times Come Again No More

Amazon.com

While countless fans flock to see soprano Renee Fleming's performances of the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro because she's got the voice and the dramatic ability to handle such meaty roles, the versatile singer throws her fans a curveball on Haunted Heart, singing popular standards and ballads as well as a few altered classical pieces. In her liner notes, Fleming calls this album a "look back at the road not taken" -- she played a weekly gig in a jazz club while in school. Nonetheless, her feel for the material here is undeniable. Interestingly, she drops her voice a full octave from her usual tessitura, and the change reveals a robust gospel-oriented approach filled with dramatic breaths and moans. The lyrical Fred Hersch (piano) and the idiosyncratic Bill Frisell (guitar) provide support, and both are adventurous jazz players who create subtle and uniquely haunting backdrops. It adds up to an interesting cross-section of ideas well carried off by the generous talents of all involved. --Tad Hendrickson

Interview with Renee Fleming
Renee Fleming speaks about recent projects, including her memoir The Inner Voice and her recent Handel CD, in our interview.

Customer Reviews:

Sublime and ridiculous.......2007-06-13

The sublime: much of the artistry of this recording is about sound, and the subtle blending/responding of voice with guitar sounds and / or piano sounds. It is in the sensitive musical interplay between the artists where this effort shines. Definitely not recommended for road trips!

The ridiculous: Fleming ended the majority of most phrases in most of the songs with a guttural of some sort which for me becomes irritating to the point of distraction. These punctuations are mostly quite awful: really tasteless, clumsy, and overused big time and I'm amazed at how this ever got released. Without these ersatz testifyin' noises this CD would be stunning.

So, if you have the ability and inclination to edit out this garbage from your perception as you listen I think you'll be glad you experienced these artists at work together. (Unfortunately I'm not up to it).

Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww.......2007-06-06

Ugh. Like a manufactured home vs. a stick-built house, Fleming's manufactured (aka "training and technique") blues voice compares unfavorably to other jazz/blues singers/lounge acts. Would not, COULD not, listen to this recording straight through--one big long, breathy, minor key train wreck in the making. Took the CD on a road trip and had to pull over and remove from queue--either that or drive into a wall.

Better than I thought it would be.......2007-04-10

I have to admit, Haunted Heart was a lot better than I thought it would be,especially her recordings of "River", "The Moon's a Harsh Mistress, "My Cherie Amour" and "In my life".
I think this is the most artistically successful recording of Pop/Jazz by a classical singer. I enjoyed it even better than the Anna Sophie Von Otter'/ Elvis Costello CD.
The perspective I am coming from is that of a classical singer who started out as a pop singer/songwriter. I perform and teach cross-genre but love a world class instrument such as Flemming's
I wanted to get the perspective of a friend who used to sing jingles and is also a trained singer but is usually critical of any attempts that opera singers make at crossing -over.
My friend is very familiar with Flemming's voice, but did not recognise it in this context when I played the CD for her. Her reaction was very complimentary, although she did comment that the diction was a bit strange.
She then played it for her brother a well known jazz singer and arranger who had a somewhat negative reaction.He found the singing to be overly dark and round. He prefers a cleaner more 'spoken' approach to this style of singing. I understand this perspective and therefore personally prefer Ella to Sarah as well, but let's not get too picky. Obviously, Rene Flemming is of the Sarah Vaghan School of jazz singing, which is not too shabby.

I will continue to enjoy this CD and will wait for another opera diva to top this one. But, somehow I think the next really good CD of Pop/ jazz from an opera star will also come from Rene.

To those who have been unreasonably mean and negative towards her, I can only say you are not fit to polish her shoes!

Brava Renee.......2007-04-09

This talented woman can sing anything. I really enjoyed this cd with the lights turned down and a glass of wine to relax after a very stressful day at work. Renee could definitely have another singing career outside of opera should she choose. Hearing her drop that gorgeous voice down one octave rivals the best chanteuses in the business - Cassandra Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Regina Belle, Sarah Vaughan, etc. This cd of different musical styles reminds me of Nina Simone and Cassandra Wilson, two great singers whom could interpret any song genre and make their versions special. I loved all the songs and the standouts here are "Haunted Heart", "River", "My One and Only Love", "My Cherie Amour", "Cancao do Amor", and Beatles "In My Life", and "Hard Times Come Again No More".
I hope Renee keeps recording whatever catches her fancy because I'll certainly always listen.

Art is always new. .......2007-03-10

Renee Fleming is an artist bringing us something new, and beautiful. The poor will always be with us as manifest in those who resent other's movement from their established zones. Renee Fleming is a great female voice with accomplishments her detractors will never have, but in their dreams.

I welcome Renee's elan demonstrated with her recent recordings, Love sublime with Brad Mehldau, and Haunted Heart with Fred Hersch and Bill Frissell. Bravery, fun, and talent combined by artists and for people who are listening. Hearing long time favorites Mehldau, Hersch, and Frissell is all the more sublime.

Average customer rating:

The debut of ELO or the next "Move" ment
Move morphs into orchestral vision
No Answer, the way it ought to be heard
EQ this! (A big "up yours" to the 1-star boyos)
Balance of EQ

No Answer
Electric Light Orchestra
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

ELO II
On the Third Day
A New World Record
Face the Music
Eldorado

ASIN: B000EHQ7VK
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Tracks:

10538 Overture
Look At Me Now
Nellie Takes Her Bow
The Battle Of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644)
First Movement (Jumping Biz)
Mr. Radio
Manhattan Rumble (49th Street Massacre)
Queen Of The Hours
Whisper In The Night
Battle Of Marston Moor (Take 1 Alternate Mix)
Nellie Takes Her Bow (Alternate Mix)
Mr. Radio (Take 9)
10538 Overture (Take 1 Alternate Mix)

Customer Reviews:

The debut of ELO or the next "Move" ment .......2006-09-23

First let's deal with the issue that seems to be bugging people (at least one person). Peter Mew's done a fine job of remastering this. Yes, "No Noise" (a system that eliminates tape hiss but also clips a bit of the high end of recordings)can make a record sound "sterile", flat or "dry". I personally feel it benefits the album here because of all the overdubs done when this was recorded.

The first ELO album (recored at roughly the same time that Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood recorded the last Move album "Message from the Country"), this is a terrific mix of prog rock that pushes the boundaries. From the marvelous opening track "10538 Overture" (originally intended to be a B-side for a Move single)to the Mason Williams influenced "First Movement" by Wood "No Answer" proved that both Wood and Lynne had found a unique sound for their "new" band. The odd "The Battle of Marstop Moor" by Wood is unique, tuneful and challenging. It's answered by Lynne's tuneful accessible but just as unique "Mr. Radio" .

I should warn fans whose first purchase might have been "On the Third Day", "Face the Music" or "A New World Record" that the first ELO album is a bit different; although all the basic pieces were in place the band's sound changed signficantly after Wood's departure (he appeared on the second album as well before leaving to form Wizzard).

In a perfect world the high end of the sound wouldn't be clipped and the tape hiss eliminated or, at the very least, reduced. We don't live in that world quite yet. This reissue sounds exceptional given the technology of yesterday and today. It certainly improves on the previous CD issue with a lot more detail evident in the recordings and better overall clarity.

Move morphs into orchestral vision.......2006-09-15

HERE IS THE NEWS

Thanks to Epic/Legacy, we now have the continuation of the long-awaited, much-needed re-mastering of The Electric Light Orchestra's historic, vital catalog. This, ELO's very first album, is presented in this release with a much richer and cleaner sound, improved graphics, and eye-opening alternate mixes included as bonus tracks.

Thus spake ELO founders Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, and Bev Bevan in 1971: "We want to pick up where the Beatles left off on 'Strawberry Fields' and 'I Am the Walrus.'" Roy was the leader of the amazingly popular band, The Move, while Jeff was the leader of an up-and-coming group called Idle Race. When personnel problems created an opening in The Move, Roy invited Jeff to join he and drummer Bev Bevan. Jeff consented, provided that he and Roy could work on their side "orchestra rock" project...an experimental and daring melding of classic rock with classical orchestral instrumentation and arranging.

In 1971, the Electric Light Orchestra was birthed out of The Move with a lumbering single called "10538 Overture," which quickly ascended the charts in England. Little did they know then that this accompanying album, NO ANSWER, would be the herald of one of rock and roll's most enduring success stories.

THE SONGS

"10538" is essentially a Move single, and as such is wonderfully quirky, melodic, and mysterious...it's edgy, and punched along by the sound of sawing strings and rumbling guitars. At points, it sounds like a herd of elephants tromping through the jungle, and it even threatens to fall apart rhythmically, before grudgingly swinging back into a cohesive march. It definitely resembles the aforementioned Beatles tunes, and definitely takes them a step further.

"Look At Me Now" is a very nice-yet-urgent Roy Wood ballad, with an interesting arrangement and instrumental curios. Wood's voice can be high, keening, and plaintive, and conveys a tremendous amount of emotion. The accompanying strings and woodwinds are fairly spare and unadorned--this is like a more rustic version of "Eleanor Rigby."

Up next, "Nellie Takes Her Bow" sounds like Jeff Lynne gone vaudeville, and is very effective, though perhaps overly long. It's a fairly gentle track, suddenly interrupted by a jarring martial instrumental break, which actually might have fit better in the following cut...

..."The Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644)." This is primarily an instrumental, preceeded by a stirring battle speech. It's very cinematic, albeit rough and tumble...but it ain't what some would call "rock and roll." Do check out Bev Bevan's snazzy, tricky percussion work here--it's brilliant. Overall, this song earns ELO points for trying, but it is not, at the end of the day, extraordinarily listenable.

Wood's "1st Movement" on the other hand, is a wonderful pastiche of guitar and string quartet, not unlike "Classical Gas." It swings along very nicely for approximately three minutes with a memorable and cohesive melody, sparked by some very fine picking.

Jeff Lynne takes his turn next with the beautiful "Mr. Radio," a sad, nostalgic, evocative tune that highlights Jeff's great talent for pathos, even at an early age. It's perhaps the closest thing to the later ELO sound on this album, as piano and strings blend sweetly together, wrapping Jeff's soulful vocal in a warm cocoon of comfort.

ELO goes instrumental again with "Manhattan Rumble (49th St. Massacre)," a jaunty-yet-ominous Jeff Lynne piano workout that chugs along like some eerie 1930s mob film. I love the little whimsical break in the middle...one can picture Edward G. Robinson, cool hats, tommy guns, and dancing girls all hanging out at some swanky Chicago speakeasy.

Picking up with the Beatles sound again, the band gives us "Queen of the Hours," which would have sat comfortably on "The White Album," perhaps. The gentle melody is offset by a jumping, jarring string counterpoint during the choruses and instrumental breaks, which adds a lot of drama before cooling down again during the verses.

One of the best ELO ballads ever is the sweet and stirring "Whisper in the Night," featuring Roy, a guitar, a few strings, and a prayer. It's a nice benediction for this album. Again, Roy's voice is so simple and unadorned--when he launches into a pure falsetto, it's genuinely moving.

BONUS SONGS

The alternate tracks offered here are interesting from a historical viewpoint, although they are not essential to anyone but the hardcore collector. Still, they provide interesting insight as to how these songs evolved and were constructed.

Perhaps the most intriguing tracks for me are "Mr. Radio" and "Nellie Takes Her Bow," simply to see a slightly different vision from what the band ultimately released. With "10538 Overture," we are reminded once more of The Move and their own stirring legacy.

RECOMMENDATION

I would love to start a campaign for Roy, Jeff, and Bev to do more work together. Until then, I'll give this CD and all of my Move stuff some more spins. If you're expecting the polished power pop of A NEW WORLD RECORD or OUT OF THE BLUE, you'll be surprised and maybe disappointed. But, if you approach this CD with an open mind, and a little patience, you'll find it to be ultimately a richly rewarding experience.

No Answer, the way it ought to be heard.......2006-09-07

I've listened to ELO since before I could speak. My dad was into them from the start so I've grown up listening to his CDs and LPs. I always thought "No Answer" had some funky sounding stuff on it, but it's unbelieveable how much better (and it's already an amazing album to begin with) it is on the newly remastered edition. And the extra takes on 10538 Overture, Mr. Radio, Nelle Takes Her Bow, and Battle of Marston Moor (always thought that one was kind of freaky actually) are absolutely amazing. What is this whining about noise reduction? Discounting the live DVD of the "Zoom" concert in LA, I've never heard ELO sound better than in the new remastered series, especially "No Answer" and "ELO II." I highly recommend the entire remastered series, including "No Answer" and "ELO II."

EQ this! (A big "up yours" to the 1-star boyos).......2006-05-30

You know, I always find it amazing the number of people who still--in 2006--complain about the sound quality of CDs, especially remasters, when digital sound technology has significantly improved over the last 20 years (cf. Fleetwood Mac's album Then Play On, originally released in 1969 and remastered for CD by Warners in the mid '80s but still loaded with tape hiss so bad it sounds as though someone was frying bacon in the studio--and still not remastered even now). Sony, to give credit where credit is due, has made a genuine effort at rectifying the mistakes they made in 1985 in rush-releasing a whole series of classic albums on CD just to get their share of the market. (Witness the Dylan remasters, redone in hybrid SACD 3 years ago, then also reissued as standard CDs the year after that--they sound a thousand times better than the original CDs did.) Yet these bozos refuse to give them any credit; a bunch of armchair quarterbacks if ever such existed. To them, I offer this advice--if you think you can do a better job, then I recommend investing the capital to set up a digital remastering studio, buy the rights to the tapes, and redo these CDs yourselves. Otherwise, do us all a favour and SHUT UP!!

That said, I don't feel that it's a big deal that Sony used the EMI-UK remaster as the basis for this reissue. That they even bothered with a remastered reissue of ELO's first 6 albums forgives a multitude of sins, chief among them being that they took this long to do it. I have played No Answer back on my $150 (at the time) Pioneer DV-563A, and I think it sounds fine. There is plenty of presence in the mix, and if it's a bit forward (i.e. loud), it's certainly not as bad as the original CD mix of Rush's Vapor Trails (which knocks you out of your shoes when the first track, "One Little Victory," comes in). And it's lovely to have these tracks available once again in what I feel is a significantly improved mix. My favourite features of No Answer include Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's liner notes (although I do wish Roy would say "Jeff and I" rather than "Jeff and myself"--admittedly, I'm something of a grammar Nazi, and context does matter).

This great band's early (pre-disco) material is finally getting the treatment it deserves. Kudos to EMI and to Sony, and a great load of thanks to Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne for approving these remasters. You lads have been missed. And to the 1-star people--stick with your original vinyl if you hate the way the CDs sound so much. Let the rest of us enjoy this.

Balance of EQ.......2006-04-23

I would imagine it's difficult for some one to decide about buying this CD based on some of the other reviews. I can sum up my opinion this way: if you are a sound expert (for real or just self-proclaimed) you may have some difficulty with No Answer or ELO II. Clearly, in eliminating tape hiss, some of the high end sound is gone. But I'm not a sound expert so that's where my EQ analysis ends.

The fact is that both ELO remasters sound better than the US originals. There's really no comparison even if it's just the fact that CD mastering techniques have improved with time. It's worth updating your collection with these excellent new versions.

If I have any complaint it's that Sony had chosen to market these CDs as US remasters. They aren't. They are just re-reissues of the UK remasters of a few years back. Sony couldn't even be bothered to use the US cover of ELO II and from the looks of things to come the same goes for the reissue of On the Third Day.

The other complaint I have is the touting of these reissues as "Jeff Lynne approved" as if that really means anything. The fact that JL is involved at all probably hurts the reissues more than it helps... just look at the lack of fully unreleased songs. So, yes, these reissue are "Jeff Lynne approved" but... so what.

The bottom line is that No Answer (as it was named in the US) is a wonderfully strange album and this remaster is very good. It's not perfect but given that most of the CD buying public could care less about ELO we're never going to get perfect reissues. This CD is definitely worth buying.

Average customer rating:

A Comic-Opera Treasure!
an obscure delight!

Dittersdorf: Arcifanfano, King of Fools

Manufacturer: Video Artists Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Anna Russell Takes On... Nabucco & The Magic Flute
The Anna Russell Album
Anna Russell Again?
Encore?
Anna Russell - Crown Princess of Musical Parody: Her Television Appearances 1964, 1976, 1977

ASIN: B000003LIK
Release Date: 1994-12-12

Tracks:

Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Overture
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Chorus - We've Traveled Far (Semplicina, Gloriosa, Garbata, Sordidone, Malgoverno, Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - Approach! What Is Your Name, Sir? (Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - With A Sword That Is Sterner Than Moses (Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - Unhappy Oddling (Gloriosa)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - My Fair Skin, My Bare Chin (Gloriosa)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - Was Ever There Insanity (Sordidone)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - Snugly Hidden Safe From Prying (Sordidone)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - Madness Beyond All Measure (Malgoverno)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - When The Purse Is Clinking (Malgoverno)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - There, Like A Vapor (Semplicina)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - O Look So Woeful (Semplicina)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - Such As She Seems To Be Frigid (Garbata)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - Let's Sing, Let's All Be Jolly (Garbata)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Recitative - For All Types Of Confusion
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act I: Aria - The Fierce One Lives Only For The Slaughter
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - I Beg You To Stop (Malgoverna, Gloriosa, Garbata)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Aria - We Praise The Sun For Beauty (Malgoverna)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - Bumpkin, Coarse-grained (Gloriosa, Garbata)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Aria - If You Will Love Me, I Will Love You (Garbata)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - No, They Cannot Persuade Me! (Gloriosa)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Aria - Lovely Ladies, You Enjoying (Gloriosa)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - Where's My Lover, Sweetheart (Sordidone)

Tracks:

Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Aria - Sordidone, Be A Bunny
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - Are You Hiding? (Sordidone, Garbata)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Duet - See Comely Phyllis Wander (Garbata, Sordidone)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - Don't Come Near Me (Semplicina, Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Aria - The High And Mighty Lion (Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - Quiet At Last (Semplicina)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Duet - Semplicina, Do You Hear Me? (Semplicina)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Quartet - Ever More Bitter Shall Be My Raging (Gloriosa, Garbata, Malgoverno, Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Recitative - What Now? What New Forms Of Madness? (Gloriosa, Sordidone, Malgoverno, Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act II: Chorus - Long Live King Arcifanfano (Semplicina, Gloriosa, Garbata, Sordidone, Malgoverno, Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - Earth, Our Dearest, Good And Nearest (Sordidone)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - That His Sowing Yield A Growing (Malgoverno)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - What Has The Fool Committed (Malgoverna, Gloriosa)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - Ask Of Beauty, She Will Answer (Gloriosa)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - Hop And Stop It! (Furibondo, Gloriosa)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - All Of This Planet, I Cry To Each Man (Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - What's Unleashed These Dreadful Roars? (Garbata, Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - I'm Simple And I'm Candid (Garbata)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - What Mischief And Load This Purse Is!
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - Goddess Bright As Morning
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - Mother Always Used To Tell Me (Sordidone, Semplicina)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - What A Lot I Need What I Need Lot's Of! (Sordidone)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - May He Not Come To Harm (Semplicina)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Aria - There's A Devil In A Ducat (Semplicina)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - Gather, O Subjects, About Us (Gloriosa, Garbata, Semplicina)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Duet - If You Marry Me (Semplicina)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Chorus - With Curiosity All Aflame (Semplicina, Gloriosa, Garbata, Sordidone, Malgoverno, Furibondo)
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Recitative - Quiet, Please, We Implore You!
Arcifanfano, King Of Fools: Act III: Chorus - The Wise And The Mad Have Got One Word For Their Dwelling

Customer Reviews:

A Comic-Opera Treasure!.......2007-01-28

Dittersdorf is a sort of working-man's Mozart; in fact, this opera sounds similar to some of Mozart's early operas. But Mozart sought to break the rules and to explore new musical ideas; Dittersdorf is not an innovator...yet he is no less a master! This performance, too, is a materpiece of refined (not always!) comedy; the arias include some extremely difficult vocal leaps and trills, yet the primary joy is the witty verse. W.H. Auden (no less!) ramrodded this translation to English. And Anna Russell, famed for her "Analysis of Wagner's Ring Cycle" steals every scene she's in! Ad-libbing shamelessly, her introductory aria, all by itself, is worth more than the purchase price!

an obscure delight!.......2002-07-31

Eleanor Steber's image on the cover of this set caught my eye while rummaging through the cut-out bins of San Francisco on a recent opera whirlwind. What a lost treasure this performance is - recorded "LIVE" in NYC 1965! All the principles shine, their energy ebullient. Don't hesitate, buy it and smile before it disappears.

Henry Cowell: Instrumental, Chamber and Vocal Music, Vol. 1

Average customer rating:

An overview of Cowell's various compositional styles - but not always his most innovative and interesting music
About Time

Henry Cowell: Instrumental, Chamber and Vocal Music, Vol. 1

Manufacturer: Naxos American
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Henry Cowell: Instrumental, Chamber and Vocal Music, Vol. 2
Nancarrow: Pieces Nos. 1 & 2; ¿Tango?; String Quartet No. 1
Charles Ives: Three Quarter-Tone Pieces; Five Take-offs; Hallowe'en; Sunrise
Henry Cowell: Persian Set
Henry Cowell: Works for Orchestra

ASIN: B00076SHHA
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Tracks:

Deep Color
The Fairy Answer
Fabric
Tiger
Con Moto-Allegro
Lento
Allegro Moderato
Molto Vivace
'A Sharp Where You'd Expect A Natural'
'Hark! From The Pit A Fearsome Sound'
'Who Wrote This Fiendish 'Rite Of Spring'?'
Largo
Allegretto
Andante Tranquillo
Allegro Marcato
Andante Calmato
Presto
Polyphonica, For Small Orchestra
The Banshee
The Leprechaun
The Fairy Bells

Customer Reviews:

An overview of Cowell's various compositional styles - but not always his most innovative and interesting music.......2007-03-25

This disc - a Naxos re-release of a recording made in 1990 and first published by Musical Heritage Society - provides a good overview of Cowell's various compositional styles - but not always his most innovative and interesting music.

The sunny Quartet for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord (1954) would make a fine companion piece to Manuel de Fallas's Concerto for Harpsichord. Its neo-classical style (including a Bach-derived melody erupting at 1:40 in the 1st movement and a kind of medieval court dance at 0:50 in the finale) and somewhat rarefied textures are close to Falla's, but without the Spaniard's unique compositional voice. It is the kind of music that Poulenc, Milhaud, Sauguet or Françaix at their lightest could have written. "Polyphonica" (1930) is a short (3:45) study in dissonant counterpoint, again sounding quite neo-classical in its perky sonorities and rhythmic sprightliness.

The 6-movement Suite for Violin and Piano from 1925 again is modeled after the baroque suite. While the piano part (especially in the 1st and 5th movements) has some of the traits so characteristic of Cowell's compositions for the instrument, like deep sounding tone clusters, the violin melodies are mostly Bach-derived, making it all sound like the kind of Bach transcription so much in favor in the fifties. The suite's concept reminds me of George Antheil's 2nd violin and piano sonata (see my review of George Antheil: Violin Sonatas 1, 2 & 4), in which the violin part is supposed to represent the trite music of past and present and the piano, the pounding, dissonant music of the future - but Antheil's composition is much more original, provocative and fun than Cowell's. In the same style, Stravinsky's Suite Italienne (an arrangement of his Ballet Pulcinella after music attributed - at the time of the composition - to Pergolesi) is also a more endearing composition. Violinist Mia Wu's pitch is not always perfect and her tone verges on the sour.

The three "Anti-Modernist" (e.g. anti modern music) Newspaper poems that Cowell set to music in 1938 are hilarious - and there is obviously a personal message in their selection by the composer: the first, written in 1884, castigates the "clang, clash, clatter, clatter, clang and clash" of... Wagner's music, the second, from 1909, denounces the "Symphonic cyclones", the unchained "dogs of war", "the wild sarrusophones", the heckelphone suggesting "the crack of doom", the earthquake-producing "tonitruone" in... Richard Strauss' operas, and the last, in 1924, berates the "crash, clash, cling, clang, bing, bang, bing" - "what right had he to write the thing?" - of... Stravinsky's "fiendish" Rite of Spring! So Cowell makes it clear that new and innovative music like his own is always first decried and accused of being mere noise, before gaining universal acceptance (which sadly is not yet really the case with his). That said, the three songs are somewhat disappointing, in that they are couched in a musical idiom that is far removed from Cowell's customary "crashes, clashes and bangs", but quite traditional, full of grand Romantic gestures. Mezzo Ellen Lang acquits herself serviceably but with a voice of no particular bloom.

Ultimately, the most interesting pieces on this disc are those in which Cowell the experimenter and innovator is more in evidence: the four piano pieces (but the 1963 composer-performed selection of 19 of them on a Smithsonian/Folkways CD of Piano Music is a better choice for this essential part of Cowell's output, despite the disc's sonic insufficiencies) and the Irish Suite for "String piano" (as Cowell called it) and Small Orchestra - actually an arrangement in form of a concerto of three of the solo string piano pieces, and a fascinating etude in mysterious sonorities.

About Time.......2006-01-09

It is indeed about time that we get recordings of this American Master's work. His centennial passed in 1997 with all too little fanfare and many of his works unavailable to the listening public.
But leave it to the wonderful folks at NAXOS to bring such essential music from unjust obscurity and make it available at such friendly prices.
The venerable new music ensemble "Continuum" has recorded much obscure, difficult (at least to perform) and essential American music. Past recordings have included the works of Ives, Babbitt, Kirchner, Seeger, Wolpe, etc. And NAXOS is planning to re-release their recording of music by the expatriate genius Conlon Nancarrow as well.
This disc and its companion volume 2 (both apparently re-releases)contain great performances of this listenable repertoire by a composer whose work inspired the likes of John Cage, Lou Harrison, Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions and a host of significant composers. His experimental work gave rise to new musical techniques he later outlined in his seminal book "New Musical Resources".
These chamber works come from a range of times in Cowell's career and are representative of his talents in the chamber and solo repertoire.
Joel Sachs and Cheryl Seltzer along with their colleagues have given us great musicianship and fine recordings. Anyone interested in American classical music of the early and mid-twentieth century will not be disappointed. These discs belong in your collection.

No For An Answer: An American Opera (1941 Original Cast)

Average customer rating:

A treasure

No For An Answer: An American Opera (1941 Original Cast)
Marc Blitzstein
Manufacturer: Aei
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Contemporary Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

Broadway & Vocalists | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | Soundtracks | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

A Family Affair
Inside U.S.A./The Band Wagon
Curtains (2007 Original Broadway Cast)
Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1968 (1968 Original Broadway Cast) [CAST RECORDING]
Grey Gardens - A New Musical (2006 Original Broadway Cast)

ASIN: B000000N5Z
Release Date: 2005-08-23

Tracks:

The Song Of The Bat
Take The Book
Gina
Secret Singing
Dimples
Fraught
Francie
No For An Answer
Penny Candy
Mike
The Purest Kind Of Guy
Nick
Make The Heart Be Stone
No For An Answer

Customer Reviews:

A treasure.......2000-08-26

Following the tracks of Anna Sokolow the choreographer and Her collaborations with musicians in the theater I discover Marc Blitzstein, I didn't find yet "Regina" but I have found "No for an Answer".

Puccini - Madam Butterfly / Cheryl Barker, PO, Yves Abel [in English]

Average customer rating:

A touching English Butterfly

Puccini - Madam Butterfly / Cheryl Barker, PO, Yves Abel [in English]
Giacomo Puccini , Yves Abel , Cheryl Barker , Paul Charles Clarke , and Simon Birchall
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Turandot (Chandos Opera in English)
Puccini - La bohème / Haymon · O'Neill · Opie · McLaughlin · A. Miles · Dazeley · Shore · PO · Parry
Verdi: La Traviata
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Te Kanawa · Hampson · Rosenshein · Gedda · Sir Charles Mackerras [in English]

ASIN: B00005QF3K
Release Date: 2001-11-20

Tracks:

Act I: Introduction - Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'So The Walls And The Ceiling...' - Ann Taylor/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'I Think Your Honour's Smiling' - Jean Rigby/Ann Taylor/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'It Can't Be Much Further Now!' - Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale/Ann Taylor
Act I: The Whole World Over - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'Fate Can't Crush Him' - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'Is The Bride Very Pretty?' - Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale/Ann Taylor
Act I: 'True Love Or Fancy' - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'See Them! They're Climbing The Summit Of The Hill!' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'We Are Honoured' - Cheryl Barker/Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'The Imperial Commissioner' - Stuart Kale/Ann Taylor/Cheryl Barker/Simon Birchall
Act I: 'Oh, Indeed, My Friend, You're Lucky!' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Come, My Beloved' - Ann Taylor/Cheryl Barker/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'My Fate I Have To Follow' - Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Silence! Silence!' - Stuart Kale/Roland Wood/Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Congratulations' - Roland Wood/Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich/Frances Brett/Clive Bayley/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'Dearest, My Dearest, Weep No More' - Roland Wood/Ann Taylor/Jean Rigby
Act I: 'Evening Is Falling...' - Roland Wood/Ann Taylor/Jean Rigby
Act I: 'Child, From Whose Eyes The Witchery Is Shining' - Ann Taylor/Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Ah, Love Me A Little' - Cheryl Barker/Ann Taylor
Act II Part I: 'Izaghi Izanami' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'One Fine Day' - Cheryl Barker

Tracks:

Act II Part I: 'Come, Let's Enter' - Stuart Kale/Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'Yamadori, And Has your Unrequited Love Not Yet Released You? - Cheryl Barker/D'Arcy Bleiker/Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale
Act II Part I: 'Now, At Last!' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'Just Two Things I Could Do' - Cheryl Barker/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part I: 'This Child! This Child, Then!' - Cheryl Barker/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part I: 'Do You Know, My Darling' - Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'I Must Be Going' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part I: 'Ah! Ah!' - Stuart Kale/Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'Look, It's A Man-of-war!' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: Flower Duet: 'Shake The Cherry Tree' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part I: Humming Chorus - Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Act II Part 2: Prelude - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: Daybreak Over Nagasaki - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: 'It's Morning' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: 'Who Is It?...' - Jean Rigby/Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part 2: 'I Know For Such Misfortune There Is No Consolation' - Gregory Yurisich/Jean Rigby/Ann Taylor
Act II Part 2: 'Farewell, Oh Happy Home!' - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part 2: 'Then Will You Tell Her?' - Ann Taylor/Jean Rigby
Act II Part 2: 'Suzuki, Where Are You?' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part 2: 'You, Suzuki, You're Always So Faithful' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part 2: 'Viper! I Want You To Answer' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby/Gregory Yurisich/Ann Taylor
Act II Part 2: 'Your Little Fluttering Heart Is Beating' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: 'Death With Honour Is Better Than Life With Dishonour' - Cheryl Barker

Amazon.com

This performance, the only one available in English, is problematic. Best is Yves Abel's leadership of the orchestra, which sounds wonderful, imbuing Puccini's lush score with just the right exoticism and emphasis. But aside from Gregory Yurisch's fine Sharpless, the singers don't please. Paul Charles Clarke as Pinkerton is lacking stylistically and vocally, and as Butterfly, Cheryl Barker sounds under strain and never pretty. While she has the power and feeling for the big second-act climax (the sighting of the ship), she never for a moment sounds fragile or girlish, not even in the all-important early scenes. English or not, this set isn't in the running. Stick with Callas or Scotto in Italian, and follow the libretto. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

A touching English Butterfly.......2002-03-27

Anyone familiar with Cheryl Barker's Butterfly will be interested in hearing this recording. I have heard her in the role twice - in Auckland and London - and her voice has filled out as the years have gone on. She hasn't a large italianate soprano; the sound is too slender somehow. Yet there is the paradox - it has great carrying power and a decent cutting edge to make itself heard above the orchestral climaxes. What really impresses is the sense of vulnerability and moral strength she imparts, making sense of the big moments of the secong act. The sound in Act one is gorgeous (and a super D flat in theentrance aria) and she differentiates impressively between the child-bride and the embittered woman of the two acts.

She is surrounded by a mixed supporting cast. Jean Rigby is maternal, warm and affecting as Suzuki. Gregory Yurisich makes Sharpless' dilemma more understandable than usual, rather than being completely ineffectual. Paul Charles Clarke perhaps illustrates Pinkerton's arrogance with a degree of vocal swagger, but the sound is rough-hewn and unlovely save for some moments in the love duet. Stuart Kale's Goro is suitable ingratiating and oily.

Abel's conducting is the other chief draw of this set. That he has experience of the score in the theatre means that his pacing is really superb, and the lush orchestration is given its due, the potent intermezzo during the overnight vigil sounding suitably ominous.

Tracks:

Wouldn't It Be Nice
You Still Believe In Me
That's Not Me
Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
I'm Waiting For The Day
Let's Go Away For Awhile
Sloop John B
God Only Knows
I Know There's An Answer
Here Today
I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
Pet Sounds
Caroline No
Hang On To Your Ego

Product Description

1. Wouldn't It Be Nice
2. You Still Believe In Me
3. That's Not Me
4. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
5. I'm Waiting For The Day
6. Let's Go Away For Awhile
7. Sloop John B
8. God Only Knows
9. I Know There's An Answer
10. Here Today
11. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
12. Pet Sounds
13. Caroline No
14. Hang On To Your Ego

Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

Great sounding accompaniment piece to Pet Sounds.......2005-07-17

This album is great to listen to if you, like me, have listened to Pet Sounds millions of times and want a new variation on it. The Angry String Quartet does a great job recreating this amazing work of art, and brings to light the orchestral genius of Brian Wilson's musical and vocal arrangements. The Quartet extend most of the songs, and it is a bit awkward getting used to at first ( having listened to the original songs so many times), but in the end, it is a pleasant change.

"The String Quartet Tribute to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds" is an interesting, and ultimately, satisfying listen. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to hear Pet Sounds in a different light or would like to understand why so many people have found Brian Wilson's music to be utter genius...and just about anyone else.

Average customer rating:

good but not ass good as the last ones
Shine Bright
These guys are so cool!!!!
Best album of the year

Glow
Unjust
Manufacturer: Koolarrow Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0001FGBG6
Release Date: 2004-03-23

Tracks:

Paper Planets
Throwin' Pennies
Way Out
Fired
Facepaint
Falling
Meantime
Closure
Knuckles
Naming The Monster
Notes From A Sunday Morning
Capital
Myron
Room 5

Customer Reviews:

good but not ass good as the last ones.......2006-04-07

this is a good album, personally i listen to this a lot but dont enjoy as much as makeshift grey. this band has gone from dark nu-metal to emo core. i guess it has to do with them changing guitar players. i enjoy this album but if you are into their old stuff dont buy it unless you like bands like team sleep or incubus. if you like heavier stuff or mike patton stuff check out makeshift grey and you wont regret it.

Shine Bright.......2006-03-02

I've had this album for over 3 years now (Before they signed to Koolarrow Records). Not once has it gotten old or worn thin. Each track is memorable and brilliant, even the segues. It is one of the best hard rock CD's out there and is definatley worth a purchase. When they signed over to Koolarrow, I bought it again. If you like the Deftones, Strata, 10 Years, Muse, or Faith No More then you will appreciate this band. Also be sure to check out their past releases titled Makeshift Grey and Thin Line Emotions.

These guys are so cool!!!!.......2004-11-25

Very smooth and hip sounding. A little on the light side(I was expecting something hard). But awesome catchy stuff. Are you a fan of Faith No More or Incubus or 5.0 YOU WILL LOVE THESE GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best album of the year.......2004-03-13

This album has been out for about a year. It is being re-released by Kool Arrow in 03/04. This Album is super good. Paul Mendoza is a brilliant vocalist and he shines bright on this 3rd Unjust album. Also, Mikey Merino, is the new guitar guy. He's really good as is the whole band.

Musically, the songs are tight and well written. It fills the gaps between bay area metal, emo-alternative, and progressive rock. Think of it like this. Take a little bit of Muse, throw in some Faith no More, a pinch of Bjork, and add something you never heard before.

Tracks:

The Tides Of Manaunaun
Exultation
Harp Of Life
Lilt Of The Reel
Advertisment (Third Encore To Dynamic Motion)
Antimony (Fourth Encore To Dynamic Motion)
Aeolian Harp And Sinister Resonance
Anger Dance
The Banshee
Fabric
What's This (First Encore To Dynamic Motion)
Amiable Conversation (Second Encore To Dynamic Motion)
Fairy Answer
Jig
Snows Of Fujiyama
Voice Of Lir
Dynamic Motion
The Trumpet Of Angus Og
Tiger
Henry Cowell's Comments

Amazon.com

Henry Cowell, a few years before his death in 1965, chose and recorded 20 of his own piano pieces, going from his first composition (1912), spreading out over 20 more years, and, more importantly, over the width, breadth, and depth of the piano itself. The pioneer in prepared piano techniques, Cowell's approach, at times, is really an attack--he strikes with elbows, climbs inside and plucks strings, uses his entire fist on the keys as a way of changing harmonic direction. Amidst this modern mayhem lands strong marching melodies and charging, bright clusters of chords. The piano, as a response, grumbles, rolls, and purrs, and even Cowell's gentle stroking of the keys can sound like thunder. His techniques were so groundbreaking and unidentifiable that even Bartok wrote to ask Cowell's permission in order to experiment with clusters himself. --Robin Edgerton

Album Description

Cowell (1897-1965) invented ways to play the piano that no one had ever considered. Taking the whole world of music as his inheritance, Cowell created music which covered a wider range of expression and technique than that of any other American composer. Reissue of Folkways 3349. "A revealing reissue...You'd be thoroughly pleased you asked him into your house."-Classical Pulse

Customer Reviews:

Crumb, Ustvolskaya? No: Cowell was there before. Piano music of stupendous imagination and invention, way ahead of its time.......2007-03-25

I had come across the music of Henry Cowell through various collections including some of his orchestral and chamber works (some of his Hymn and Fuguing Tunes and symphonies, recently his Violin and Piano Sonata), but these are mostly conservative pieces (by the 1940s, after four years of incarceration at the Saint Quentin State Prison on a "morals" charge - he was bisexual - Cowell had completely changed his compositional outlook, as the pastoral, "prairie"-style 1946 Violin and Piano Sonata bears witness). I had read in the textbooks about "Cowell the cutting edge experimenter and innovator" from the 10s to 30s, but this is my first encounter with his early piano music. I wish I hadn't waited so long.

It is simply stupendous.

Many of these pieces are based on fairly simple modal folk or folk-inspired melodies, most of the times of Irish origin (the disc also contains a Japanese "Snows of Fujiyama"). Sometimes, in the music's chorale-like writing, you could be hearing a Busoni Bach-transcription ("Harp of Life"), Mussorgky's "The Great Gates of Kiev" ("Voices of Lir") or Albeniz' Iberia ("The Trumpet of Angus Og"). But then what you get as "accompaniment" (I am not sure it is the proper word) is breathtaking: deep tone clusters sometimes reaching two-octaves, as in "The Tides of Manaunaun", "Harp of Life" and "Voice of Lir", sounding like the deep rumbling or moaning of some mythological Celt God. Likewise, the tone-clusters of "Snows of Fujiyama" conjure a mysterious sound-world where the voices of nature intermingle with evocations of oriental bells with their complex and non-tempered overtones (there is also some of that in "Antinomy", where at one point the right hand apparently arpeggiates the keys so to produce the sound of a strummed harp.)

At its most exuberantly pounding Cowell's writing sounds like the early piano music of George Antheil, as in the dazzling "Advertisement" - but that was written some years before Antheil's piano sonatas - "Antinomy", "Amiable Conversation", "Jig" - but there is more to Cowell than pounding.

It is music of incredible evocative power and poetic invention. Cowell's appetite for bringing the inside of the piano out (quite literally, some times) results in uniquely eerie sonorities. I had thought George Crumb had invented the various techniques of string strumming and of altering the tone quality of the piano strings being struck by the hammers by placing the fingers at various points directly on the strings, as with guitar or violin. Not so: it is all there in Cowell, as early as the late 10s (try "Aeolian Harp", "Fairy Answer", "Sinister Resonance" and the mesmerizing "Banshee", of which it is difficult to think that it has NOT been composed by Crumb in the early '70s). I had thought that obsessive and angrily violent cluster pounding was a trademark of Shostakovich's maverick protégée Galina Ustvolskaya - no, it is all there in Cowell's "Antinomy" from 1914 (revised in 1959), in his 1916 "Dynamic motion" and his "Tiger" (c. 1928).

Though apparently Cowell "backdated" some of his early compositions, in an attempt to make them seem even more precociously innovative than they already were, to think that a 19 year-old youth was capable of such unbridled invention as marks the 1916 "Dynamic Motion" simply defies the imagination. There is something deeply moving about the sad fate of the early American modernists. The early 20th century United States harbored a string of great innovators - to Cowell one can add Ornstein, Antheil, Ives, to name but a few - that should have been greeted and hailed as beacons of a new era. Instead, they had to fight against an unwelcoming musical environment which ultimately succeeded in stifling or silencing their unique creative personalities. They were, of course, "rediscovered" from the 50s onwards (though, judging from this disc, Cowell's piano music doesn't nearly get the exposure it deserves). They were ahead of their times.

After about 48 minutes of music, the disc is topped off my an invaluable 13-minutes of commentaries by Cowell himself on the compositions featured therein, delivered with his inimitable accent. There can be no end to the praise that Folkways deserves for recording the composer playing his own works in 1963 (and the Smithsonian for reissuing it on CD), about two and ½ years before his death. He plays with awe-inspiring virtuosity. The 1963 tapes haven't aged so well, with some tape hiss that I don't find obtrusive but also numerous dropouts that are more annoying. But this drawback is of no weight in comparison to the musical and historical importance of the this recording, which belong to any collection of 20th century music. Don't wait as long as I did!

definintely not suitable for children, one song inparticular.......2003-03-16

I bought this CD, and I ended up throwing it in the bin the very next day. I bought it and I'm a bit of a ghost freak and I saw the song "Banshee," I put the record in and skimmed over to listen to it. I couldn't move I was white with terror. Henry Cowell is a good composer and all, but his songs are petrifying. I went over to my friends house and told him about the CD. He told me to bring it over. As I put the CD in the player. My friends 5-year-old sister came in and Screech went the song and as if the song were a magical spell, Alakazam! The sister went screaming with terror crying all the way up the stairs and daren't come back down until it was established that I had left the house, which I did immediately. I don't think anyone should waste their money on this. It is an unsuitable collection of screech, screech, ooo, I hate that sound.

........2000-01-22

Put a kid in front of a piano and the first thing they do is slam their fists onto the keys, creating an awful racket. That's what Henry Cowell as a mature composer earlier this century; he named the technique "tone clusters" and subsequently got famous for it. But that's not all: he reached inside the piano, plucked and strummed the strings creating eerie and gorgeous siren-like and harp-like noises. He often twisted the instrument into sounding like a full gamelan orchestra. Cage, Stockhausen, Zappa, Cecil Taylor and others took Cowell's cue and brought these techniques to radical extremes later in the century. This disc, recorded in 1963 shortly before his death, features Cowell at the piano banging out 19 short selections. The disc finishes with a fascinating blow-by-blow commentary where he described each selection on the disc and how he came to compose these revolutionary works

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