The Best Music Album

2010-08-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Product Description

Regarded as one of the greatest albums in rock 'n' roll history and one of the most defining of the Stones' catalogue. Upon its release more than three decades ago, 'Exile on Main Street' innovatively wove varying musical genres, instruments and even artists into a compelling rhythmic masterpiece. The original 18-track double-album was recorded in various stages at multiple locations, including Olympic Studios in London, Keith Richard's mansion Nellcote in France, and in Los Angeles where the literal "Main Street" influenced the album title. These atypical circumstances surrounding the recording process greatly affected the album's outcome which was highly reflective and influenced by the sociopolitical turbulence that marked the late `60s and early `70s. The Stones nixed the influences of a flower-child era and directed their creative process with the edgier, excessive, "more is more" approach of the `70s. Exile reveals a sprawling mix of genres with undertones of blues, country, R&B and gospel mixed with lyrics that fervently demand for release and liberation. The 2-CD version is a 3-panel digi-pak, 2xCDs with a 12 page booklet. The Digipak is printed in reverse board double white to keep an 'uncoated' feel like the original LP release. The 2nd disc features 10 tracks originally recorded during the Exile era including 'Plundered My Soul', 'Dancing in the Light', 'Following the River' and 'Pass The Wine' plus alternate versions of 'Soul Survivor' and 'Loving Cup'.

Customer Review
By John Stodder "a.k.a. Juan La Princi"

For decades, it has been a truism that Exile on Main Street is the greatest album the Stones ever made, and that after this album, their career has gone slowly but exorably downhill. Lately I've seen posts on this and other sites challenging "Exile," saying essentially that the album is wildly overrated, and doesn't have the songs that other Stones albums have--"Beggars Banquet," "Let it Bleed" "Sticky Fingers" "Some Girls" and even "Goats Head Soup" getting the nods from these revisionist thinkers.

They have half a point, these folks. There is nothing that hits the incredible highs of "Gimme Shelter," "Street Fighting Man," "Brown Sugar," "Angie," "Beast of Burden," "Wild Horse" or "Shattered" on this album. The two hits that this album generated, "Tumbling Dice" and "Happy" are much-loved, but didn't have the impact of the above singles. And against their earlier 60s hits like "Paint it Black" or "Satisfaction"--forget it.

All that's granted. If someone wanted to be very reductive, much of "Exiles..." just sounds like a boogie album typical of its era--in the early 70s there was sort of a roots revival going on, so lots of bands were doing a sort of combination of blues and gospel with lots of tambourines shaking, pianos rolling, and backup women singers. Stretches of "Exile..." certainly have that Delaney and Bonnie feel. Other songs sound like attempts to emulate early Little Feat, or Gram Parsons, who famously partied with Keith throughout the making of some of this album.

So what makes this album their greatest?

It's hard to describe, but here's my best shot: It's about "feel." Never before or since did the Stones manage to create such a consistent and compelling mood that lasts from the first song to the last. It is a very naked album, both musically and lyrically. I know it was worked and worked, but the result is an album that sounds like the Stones are playing not in some French basement, but in YOUR basement. And, on this album like no other, they are singing their lives. The songs are grooves over which Mick and Keith simply testify as to what's rattling around their heads--encounters with women, thoughts on life as a rock and roller, spiritual, moral and political questions, from the sublime to the obscene. In its own way, this is a "confessional" album like Joni Mitchell's "Blue" or Neil Young's "Harvest," except unlike those two artists who equate honesty with a quiet and stripped down musical approach, the Stones say what's in their hearts to a rocking beat. And, they don't glorify it. "I only get my rocks off when I'm sleeping." They are nostaglic, isolated, scared, bored, tired, loaded, wondering what will happen to them, recognizing that this life they are leading is artificial and perhaps even dangerous, but a mystery. So they lean on that backbeat and those fat chords, and seemingly just spill all of it, in an almost stream of consciousness way.

To me, "Exile on Main Street" is really just one long song that carries the album's title, a self-contradicting phrase (like "Hide in Plain Sight") that evokes a peculiar sense of paranoia that only a bunch of guys who became international superstars would feel, that sense that here you are in plain sight for everyone to see, but you're gone, you don't live in the same world as your fans anymore, the pleasures of ordinary life have been ripped away and replaced with something that may be much better in some ways, enviable, yes, but also frightening and hard to decipher.

Musically, when you compare "Exile..." with other Stones albums, the main difference I find is that most other Stones albums are highly eclectic. Take "Sticky Fingers." You get some great rock songs, but you also get a jazzy, Latin-tinged jam, some country songs, some orchestral numbers--the mood changes radically several times, and in the end, it's just a collection of great songs without any particular theme. Ditto with "Let it Bleed," "Beggars Banquet" or "Goats Head Soup"--Fantastic albums with lots of great songs, but somewhat randomly assembled musically. I go to those albums for songs that I want to hear, and don't always track them all the way through. But lovers of "Exile..." usually start at the beginning and just follow it all the way through, like a movie. And man, it delivers. And today, 30 years on, it still sounds very fresh.

In my personal little list of the greatest rock albums, this is one of the top 10, along with "Revolver," "John Wesley Harding," "London Calling," "St. Dominic's Preview," "Pet Sounds," "Songs in the Key of Life," "Blood on the Tracks," and the aforementioned "Blue." And like all of them, "Exiles..." comes from the heart, and that's what makes it great.

Laws of Illusion

2010-06-20T03:09:00.000-07:00

Reviewed by Mike Steeves

Finally, after another long seven year wait between albums we're treated to a surprise by Sarah McLachlan!

I've been a huge Sarah fan most of my life, and honestly thought everything since Fumbling Towards Ecstasy has been a little bit of a let down. I'll never understand why Surfacing was Sarah's Opus as I regard it as perhaps her least inspired disc (perhaps due to the fact that it was overplayed TO DEATH by everyone and their dog). Afterglow was a nice solid progression, with excellent lyrics, but I always felt it was too 'one flavour', though it was tasty.

With Laws of Illusion, Sarah gives us a few surprises! The horrible break-up from her husband obviously gave her excellent emotional fodder to carve out the gems on this disc. Great art comes from pain and it's evident here.

However, if you're to pick apart the lyrics of a few songs line by line they do sound quite cliche. For example how many times have lines almost exactly like this appeared in some banal song: 'I've been down a long road / I shout it from the rooftops / You light me up you take me higher / Now every time I see you I can't help but look away / I don't care what people say I'm ready now to face this day . . .' ?

Regardless of this these lyrics still work and for most of the rest of the songs are great at delving up imagery and emotion. Awakenings, Love Come and Heartbreak are stand-outs tracks for me. Her cover of Bring On the Wonder, while not written by her, is another favourite.

The big surprises come with the actual Music! It's a breakup record for sure, but it's upbeat and positive. The overall tempo of this album is much quicker than I was expecting! There's a cadence to this disc that was lacking on Afterglow. The positively happy, if corny, lead single "Loving You is Easy" doesn't sound like anything the Sarah McLachlan of yore would have ever done. It sounds like a Randy Newman tribute, but it works (I feel like I shouldn't like it, but I do)!

This is a feel-good CD that showcases both Sarah's innocence and maturity.

I will probably always think Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is her best album, and Solace will always be my personal favourite, but Laws of Illusion is right up there as another great Sarah CD. Finally. :)

Soldier of Love

2010-05-18T00:48:00.000-07:00

Product Description

Known for their one of a kind timeless sound, Sade has enjoyed phenomenal success both internationally and stateside throughout the span of their twenty-five year career. The highly anticipated new body of work SOLDIER OF LOVE features 10 new songs including the latest single, "Soldier Of Love".

Product Review
By fritto misto cum jazz

This review is from: Soldier of Love (Audio CD)

After almost a decade of absence - 25 years into her career - the elegant soul /jazz siren is back with "Soldier Of Love".

The new album sees Sade reunited with the same musicians (Stuart Matthewman, Paul Denman and Andrew Hale) who performed on her 1984 debut "Diamond Life", which became the classic yuppie dinner party soundtrack. It catapulted her to the forefront of the 1980s soul jazz scene and spawned the singles "Smooth Operator" and "Your Love is King".

But despite the success of "Diamond Life" and her follow-up albums - selling a total of 50m records worldwide - Sade has shunned the limelight and has lived in "self-exile", including stints in Spain and Jamaica.

Now 50, she remains one of the most iconic female vocalists alive - partly because of the stylish image she fostered in the fashion-conscious Eighties.

The title song is the least Sade-like track here - with its metallic, shiny, marching band-style drum beats not far from trip hop/Tricky territory, it's the toughest-sounding thing she's ever done, though the lyric posits the idea of the relationship as battleground.

The track is a bit of a revelation - a rich, atmospheric pop symphony with, as the title suggests, a military theme. What's impressive is how fully-realised that theme is, from the marching band percussion to the cadence call-style hooks, the guitar riffs that ape the sound of gunfire to Sade crooning lines like "I've lost the use of my heart".

The remaining nine tracks can't quite match it for shock value.

They glide by elegantly, registering subtle variations.

My highligts: "Baby Father", a gentle reggae-tinged confection apparently extolling the constancy of paternal love. It's in marked contrast to the wounded bittersweetness and the overall melancholy of the remainder of the tracklist: the feel-good beat will have you shaking your booty.

It all gets a little too cosy on "In Another Time", a waltz-time slog where a saxophone and string quartet provide an orchestral extravaganza. Pure magic.

"Be That Easy": Sade's soaring hypnotic voice leaves listeners in a zombie-like trance.

As usual, the album is immaculately produced, and Sade oozes class and sophistication, although seemingly offering variations on a single theme. Recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World studio, this album "illustrates the dilemma of the long-term artist: whether to alienate fans with a radical departure or risk the charge of repetition". - Paul Lester

All in all, it's a pleasant and sonic balm, which will make her fans immensely happy, even if there's nothing quite adventurous, rare, powerful and intelligently written as the title track may imply and suggest.

Enjoy!

The album debuts at # 1 of the Billboard Top 200 Albums and at # 1 of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at # 1 of the Billboard Top Canadian Albums.