Officially, I guess, the second studio album by Rodrigo y Gabriela (actually, it's their fourth). This 2006 album is a full on display of great musicianship. This instrumental duo is always a top notch listen, and this is probably their best album. This version includes a pretty cool DVD. It opens with a 23 minute documentary about the pair, including their early days playing together in thrash metal bands. Gabriela explains that the move to acoustic guitars was right, because there is much more freedom than with electric guitars, and that the move away from metal freed her from the massive levels of testosterone that existed in the bands. Awesome.
After the documentary, there are 3 live songs: "Stairway To Heaven" (yes, that one), "Tamacum", and "Diablo Rojo". Also included is a photo gallery. But the most impressive part of this is a tutorial. They break down a song and show their individual techniques, which is really cool. Rodrigo is a lightning fast lead player with a great sense of melody. But the real secret weapon with the duo is Gabriela's unbelievable use of her right hand, not just in strumming technique, but also in her ability to play percussion on the guitar while strumming at jaw dropping speed. Very cool stuff, indeed. A great addition to a terrific album. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
Ike Reilly will always be one of my favorites. He's a regional sensation: a big star in Chicago, and nowhere else. I know him because my ex used to work for his brother, who's an attorney, and he got Ike to play at one of the firm's private parties. Ike and I had a beer or four and talked music for a good chunk of time. I was the one weird guy who knew the words to all of his songs.
Anyway, Poison The Hit Parade is a compilation album that came out in 2008. It's a good enough disc, featuring awesome tracks like "Duty Free", "Hip Hop Thighs" and "Cash Is King". Included with the CD version is a DVD that contains just three music videos. "Garbage Day" (Live In Italy) is just that, and showcases Reilly's lyrical smarts well. "Whatever Happened To The Girl In Me" and "It's Alright To Die" (the last of which is also on the album) are fine songs, but the videos are really not much more than low quality footage of the band out in a field shooting rifles. If you buy a physical copy of the album, you'll get the DVD, because it's never been released any other way. You might want to play it because the first two songs are great, but the video content is poor. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
Crystal Visions is a Stevie Nicks 2007 best of that really does a nice job of capturing the artist. Everything is from her solo career, and even though the songs are not in chronological order (which bugs me to no end), it is a pretty thorough document of her hits and better songs.
The DVD, which does not come with most versions, is absolutely terrific. This is what you want a bonus DVD to be. There are two parts to this. The first is a collection of music videos that covers pretty much all of her solo career to date. It's a great collection, and it's interesting to see how she made it through a whole lot of really bad 80's hair, even worse blaring 80's synthesizers, and a lot of really cheesy dancing to still shine. Why do these videos filled with negatives work? Because, on full display on each one of these, Stevie Nicks writes really great songs. She has a unique and exceptional vocal ability. And, really important, she knows how to look into a camera better than any musician I have ever seen. Her dramatic abilities give her the power to not just look into the camera, but to also look into YOUR eyes. It's really wonderful to watch. The music video section is 60 minutes long!
The music videos featured here are:
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
Edge Of Seventeen (Live)
Stand Back (Scarlett Version)
Stand Back
If Anyone Falls In Love
Talk To Me
I Can't Wait
Rooms On Fire
Whole Lotta Trouble
Sometimes It's A Bitch
Blue Denim
Sorcerer (with Sheryl Crow)
The second part is titled The Making Of Bella Donna. But this is not a documentary filled with people talking about the album. This is all raw camera footage from 1980 and 81, grainy and flawed, showing Nicks working in the studio. There are photo shoots, her having conversations with producer Jimmy Iovine, even a brief dance from Nicks to "Edge Of Seventeen" But mostly, it's her standing at a microphone, doing her vocal magic. Some of the scenes are full takes.
This one is well worth getting. The version with the DVD is clearly marked on the front cover. An excellent companion to a really good compilation. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
Alien Ant Farm is best known for covering Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal", and for calling their debut album Greatest Hits. Their second album was called Anthology. Love it. (I almost called my debut album Greatest Hits Volume Two...I wish to this day I had.) TRUant is their third album, released in 2003. Most versions did not include this DVD, but I ended up with the US release that did. It's a 25 minute sort of documentary that serves as an interesting introduction to both the band and the album. Initially, you get the impression that the band aren't very smart. That's how they come across in the beginning. But the more they talk, especially about their music, the more interesting they become. Especially lead vocalist Dryden Vera Mitchell.
There are a handful of live performances that show how instrumentally proficient they are, and how varied their sound can be. It also talks about the bus crash they were involved in while touring Spain in 2002, in which the bus driver was killed and Michell suffered a fractured vertebra. In all, an interesting and entertaining DVD addition. It's not great by any means, but it does add to the experience of the album.
Alien Ant Farm has had a rough go of it throughout their history. Their label shut down two months after this was released, causing sales to all but vanish, and the reason why it's never been reissued. Their guitarist and bass player quit the band and rejoined. Their next album was denied release by Geffen for almost a year. Since TRUant, they've released just three albums. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
This is a really great live album. But the DVD...man. One of the best.
So, this is Drive-By Truckers live at Austin City Limits in 2008. The album was originally released on CD / DVD only in 2009. All of the copies came with the DVD of the show, and in surround sound. The later releases are all on vinyl, and you don't get the video. GET THE CD VERSION. They all include the DVD.
The DVD is simply a great video of a single set by the Truckers, having the time of their lives. I have seen this band MANY times live, and I am telling you that this completely captures the entire vibe and great feel of their live shows. The DVD makes it 10 times as much fun, and makes you feel like part of the audience. This one is simply not to be missed. A great live band at a great venue with a great crowd, and the band is at the top of their game.
Win. Win. Win. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
Cave In is not a band I know a whole lot about. The version of Antenna I have happened to come with a DVD called Antennavised, so why not try to get to know more about them this way? First of all...these guys from Massachusetts are not the most interesting guys. They play very upbeat and exciting music, but they're pretty dull offstage. Which makes this DVD a bit of a chore. There were actually times during this that I would get up and start doing other things.
The music on here is good, but there's more of the band talking than there is playing. Nearly all of the live footage is from a single show in England, and most of the documentary footage is camcorder low quality. This unfortunately doesn't add much to the album, which is far better than the DVD. Not really worth seeking out. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
The Legacy edition of Grace came out in 2004, ten years after the original album. If Jeff Buckley is your thing, then this is for you. It contains not only the Grace remastered (which is phenomenal and worthwhile for his vocal ability alone), but also a second disc of extra tracks, remixes, live tracks, and a bunch more (which would be better, but it suffers from a massive Alex Chilton cover of "Kanga-Roo", which at 14 minutes is about 10 minutes too long).
And there's a third disc. The DVD is in three sections. The first part is a pretty great documentary, "The Making Of Grace", which features a lot of Buckley himself, along with his band and producer Andy Wallace. Great performance shots, audio and video, make it special. You then get five music videos from Grace:
Grace
Last Goodbye
So Real
Eternal Life
Forget Her
The last video was remade with some rare footage of Buckley.
Lastly, a full discography of Buckley...which is bigger than one might think.
In all, a pretty sweet deal. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
Dylan's 2006 album Modern Times is pretty great. Early versions came with a bonus DVD that's a nice addition. It contains just four music videos. None of the songs are on Modern Times. One is a live performance from the 1998 Grammy Awards, the other three are promo videos. The songs are:
Blood In My Eyes
Love Sick (Live)
Things Have Changed
Cold Irons Bound
Dylan as a video actor is surprisingly good, being as not animated as he is. The four songs and videos add to the album nicely. It's short, but worthwhile. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
Thank You is a 2003 compilation album by Stone Temple Pilots. It contains 15 of their hits.
Enough of that.
Let's get to the DVD that came with it. This is an absolute must have. Thank You is incomplete without it. Why? It's about as great as a band DVD can be. First of all...you get the complete story of what a freak Scott Weiland really was. He looks different in almost every track on the DVD. He moves and looks like he might just be an alien who is deeply uncomfortable doing what he's doing...but also couldn't function doing anything else. And that might just be true. He looks and moves like no other singer. You also get the understanding that despite all of the stupid stories about how STP was a grunge band, and that they were basically Pearl Jam copycats are pure garbage. STP had a sound that was rooted in bands like Aerosmith and The Rolling Stones. They also have maybe the lowest amount of instrumental time without vocals of any rock band...Scott Weiland was the real lead instrument of Stone Temple Pilots.
Anyway...what makes this DVD great? Content, baby. There are 4 sections. It starts with 16 live tracks, recorded in different settings and venues. Then you have a bootleg section, which features more performances that were not officially filmed. Twelve of them, including their playing "Sweet Emotion" with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, and STP backing up Glen Campbell on "Wichita Lineman". An THEN...! fourteen STP music videos, followed by a 5 minute photo gallery. That's 43 DVD tracks.
It doesn't get much better than that. And THAT's a real Thank You! _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
"Hey! I have a great idea. Let's have that guy who hangs out in the basement on his computer all day make a video for every song on our album. We don't care what order he puts them in. We can pay him like 20 bucks. Doesn't matter if the videos have anything to do with the songs...but we can raise the price of our album because it has an extra disc. Then we'll put a DVD with all of these crappy videos that look like we never checked them to see if they were good in with copies of our album and sell them to our fans. They'll think it's because we love them. Hell...they might even think they're good! Wouldn't that be hilarious?"
This may be the worst set of 11 music videos I have ever seen. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
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Romanelli
