http://www.fileserve.com/file/k4nC268
April 23, 2011
JEFF WAYNE'S - SPARTACUS -1992
Jeff Wayne - Spartacus (1992) (@256)
(Review from progarchives.com)
For the follow up to “War of the Worlds”, Jeff Wayne brought together once again many of the same ingredients. Talented performers, orchestration, and a strong storyline (in this case the story of Spartacus from the epic film of the same name) all indicated that this would be another fine album.
It is then, all the more surprising that this such a disappointing album. The main problem here is in the quality of the compositions. There is a real dearth of strong melodies, and the performances themselves can be best described as average. Perhaps it was the fact that unlike “War of the Worlds”, the performers here, while highly competent, were not “stars”. It’s only speculation, but perhaps Wayne did not get the expert feedback from the performers this time which he enjoyed previously, and thus the quality control was compromised.
A quick examination of the list of performers reveals that the rock orientated musicians who dominated War of the Worlds are largely missing, to be replaced by generally lesser know performers with dance music backgrounds. Ladysmith Black Mambazo play the part of the "crowd" giving the album a significant "world music" feel. Only Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s Chris Thompson remains from the War of the Worlds guest singers. If that’s not concerning enough(!), the lead female role is sung (yes sung) and narrated by Catherine Zeta Jones! At the time, she was not nearly as well known as she is these days. To be fair, Jones is actually a pretty good singer in a stage show context, and the album does have the feel of a Lloyd-Webber/Rice musical, rather than a rock extravaganza. On the plus side, Fish (ex-Marillion) also appears, albeit briefly.
The tracks are lengthy but rather drawn out, with too little variety, and some sections become downright boring. The peculiar mixture of dance, world music, orchestration, story telling, stage show and a small amount of rock do not sit particularly well together resulting in a disjointed and unsatisfying mix.
The narration is shared by Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta Jones, and while the album tells the story well, it can become a bit tedious. It has to be said too, that while the film was undoubtedly a classic, the story has not transferred well to the audio only medium.
“Spartacus” may appeal to someone who enjoys all the diverse influences include in it. Unfortunately, for me those influences have not been put together in a coherent and enjoyable format, and when seen as a whole, the album fails to inspire. Indeed, inspiration appears to largely lacking from the project as a whole.
Line-up :
- Anthony Hopkins / Marcus Crassus (spoken part)
- Catherine Zeta Jones / Palene (spoken and sung part)
- Ladysmith Black Mambazo / The "voices of Spartacus army"
- Incantation / multi-instrumentalists
- Jimmy Helms / Isoricus the Cicilian pirate
- Fish / Crixus the Gaul Alan King & Spartacus
- Chris Thompson / Oeomanus
- Bill Fredericks & Jo Partridge / guitar
- Danny Campbell & Marwenna Haver / backing vocalists on "For All Time"
- Lorna Bannon & Carol Kenyon / Slave Girls on "Trust Me"
- Gaetan Schurrer / programming
- Steve McLaughlin / programming
- James Cassidy / keyboards
- Jeff Wayne / keyboards
- Jo Partridge / guitars and guitar synths
- David Sinclair / bass guitar, stick
- John Cann / live drums
- "The Parting of the Ways" & "Trust Me" Kick Horns / brass section
Track List :
CD1:
01. Destiny
02. Animal & Man (Part One)
03. Animal & Man (Part Two)
04. For All Time
05. Whispers
06. The Eagle & the Hawk
CD2:
01. Going Home
02. The Parting of the Ways
03. We Carry On
04. Trust Me
05. Two Souls With a Single Dream
06. The Last Battle (leading into)
07. The Eagle & the Hawk
08. The Appian Way
09. Epilogue (Part One)
10. Epilogue (Part Two)
http://www.fileserve.com/file/RtGrMqY
JEFF WAYNE'S - WAR OF THE WORLDS - 1985
Jeff Wayne - War of the Worlds (1977) (@256)
(Review from progarchives.com)
Jeff Wayne is not so much the performer as such; his role here is to bring together many highly talented musicians to perform his masterpiece. To be fair, he does contribute keyboards and backing vocals. While Wayne is indeed the main composer and producer, credit is due Garry Osbourne who writes virtually all the lyrics. ‘The War of the worlds’ could perhaps be seen as a follow up to Lou Reizner’s excellent symphonic version of ‘Tommy’, with which it has more than passing similarities (although admittedly Reizner was not involved in the composition in that case).
The album is of course based on the HG Wells novel of the same name, with narration by the late Richard Burton. Burton’s distinguished voice is ideal for the music. While his interjections playing the part of a journalist tell the story perfectly, there is never any danger of this becoming a talking book. The music at times has an almost dance like beat as on the opening track (’The eve of the war’), but it is diverse with strong orchestration, and some first class instrumental work (especially from Chris Spedding on guitar). There are also moody, ambient phases (’Dead London’), and Rice/Lloyd-Webber like stage show pieces (’The spirit of man’).
The most familiar tracks will be the two that feature Justin Hayward (Moody Blues). While ‘Eve of the war’ is largely an instrumental, it opens with a brief introductory narration from Burton, before the now so familiar orchestral theme crashes in. It is almost like the theme to a documentary or newsreel, where you just know what?s coming is not going to be good news. Hayward is the first singer to appear on the album as he reminds us, ‘The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, but still they come’.
The tracks on the album are all lengthy, each side of the double LP only holding two or three songs. Side one is completed by ‘Horsell Common and the Heat Ray’. The sound effects can be a bit too literal in this section, with what appears to be a tin can being slowly unscrewed, then the lid dropping to the ground, to simulate the Martian heat ray being unveiled. It’s all a bit too BBC sound effects department!
The track distinctions and names are largely irrelevant, as the album flows as a continuous and complete piece. There are many excellent performances throughout the album. Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) as the manic and delusional preacher, Julie Covington as his devoted wife, and David Essex as the naive young artillery man who is going to build a whole new world from scratch, underground. The distinctive voiced Chris Thompson (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band) tells the tale of the ‘Thunder child’ warship, on which all hope for the future is resting, with his customary excellence.
Above all these however comes Justin Hayward’s performance on ‘Forever autumn’. If you have only ever heard the single version of this song, the full-length version included here will be a pleasant surprise. The lush orchestration, instrumental breaks, and narration interludes by Burton all go towards making this an absolute epic of a track. Lyrically (other than the narration), it doesn’t really add anything to the story, apart from painting a picture of the emotional devastation felt by the “journalist” with both his personal, and indeed the world’s predicament. Musically however, it is the highlight of the album, and one of the best pieces of music Hayward has contributed to (and he has been involved in many fine pieces).
Of course, there is the happy ending to the story to conclude, with a final sting in the tail added by Wayne(!).
‘War of the worlds’ is a quite stunning album, full of strong melodies, inspired song-writing, and excellent performances.
Line-up :
- Jeff Wayne / synthesizer, keyboards, voices, director, conductor, executive producer, performer, orchestration
- David Essex / vocals, performer
- Justin Hayward / vocals, performer
- Chris Spedding / guitar
- Julie Covington / vocals, performer
- Herbie Flowers / guitar (bass)
- Billy Lawrie / vocals (background)
- Phil Lynott / vocals, performer
- Chris Thompson / vocals, performer
- Richard Burton / vocals, performer
- Ray Cooper / percussion
- George Fenton / zither, taragat, santur
- Ken Freeman / synthesizer, keyboards
- Barry Morgan / drums
- Gary Osborne / vocals (background)
- Jo Partridge / guitar, vocals, performer
- Paul Vigrass / vocals (background)
- Roy Jones / percussion
- Barry Da Souza / percussion
Track List:
CD1:
01. The Eve of the War (9:06)
02. Horsell Common and the Heat Ray (11:36)
03. The Artilleryman and the Fighting Machine (10:36)
04. Forever Autumn (7:43)
05. Thunder Child (6:10)
CD2:
01. The Red Weed (5:55)
02. The Spirit of Man (11:41)
03. The Red Weed (part 2) (6:51)
04. Brave New World (12:13)
05. Dead London (8:37)
06. Epilogue (Part 1) (2:42)
07. Epilogue (Part 2) (NASA) (2:02)
JIM CROCE - Home Recordings - Americana (2003)
When Jim Croce died tragically in a plane crash on Sept. 20, 1973, he was just thirty years old and had recently been recognized as one of the most promising artists of his era. From only three original studio releases he earned two #1 singles, six more Top 40 singles and a #1 album. Home Recordings: Americana features the best of America’s roots songs, from country to blues, written by Merle Haggard, Lefty Frizzell, Jimmie Rodgers, Brownie McGhee and others, and recorded by Jim in his Pennsylvania home on a Wollensak recorder. Shared by his family for the first time, these are intimate, revealing songs made all the more emotional as a result of Jim’s life cut short. Home Recordings: Americana is the first album of unreleased material in 30 years and features liner notes written by wife Ingrid and son A.J. Croce.
01. Living With The Blues
02. Things 'Bout Goin' My Way
03. Nobody Loves A Fat Girl
04. You Oughta See Pickles Now
05. Cigarettes, Whiskey, & Wild Wild Women
06. In The Jailhouse Now
07. If The Backdoor Could Talk
08. Who Will Buy The Wine
09. Mom & Dad's Waltz
10. The Wall
11. Sadie Green (The Vamp Of New Orleans)
12. I've Got Mine
13. Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate
14. Six Days On The Road
15. Mama Tried
http://www.fileserve.com/file/kRd8Vsm fixed
GREAT AMERICAN TAXI - Marlies Springfield, IL - 4/09/2010
Great American Taxi
Marlies
Springfield, IL
April 9, 2010
SBD + AUD Matrix Mix (60%-SBD/40%-AUD)
Disc 1
01 - Are You Ready For The Country?
02 - New Millennium Blues
03 - Lumpy Beanpole & Dirt
04 - For Twenty Long Years
05 - Well I Drink ->
06 - 4:20 Special
07 - Down South In New Orleans ->
08 - Women Are Smarter ->
09 - Brother John ->
10 - Iko Iko ->
11 - Splinters ->
12 - Junco Partner ->
13 - Sailin' Shoes ->
14 - Down South In New Orleans
15 - Reckless Habits
16 - Tough Job
17 - Fuzzy Little Hippy Girl
18 - The Unpromised Land ->
19 - Whiskey Before Breakfast ->
20 - The Unpromised Land
Disc 2
01 - Swamp Song
02 - Maggies Farm
03 - Voodoo Queen Marie
04 - L.E. Minet
05 - American Beauty
06 - Appalachain Soul
07 - Big Sandy River
08 - One Of These Days
09 - Runaway Train
10 - **** Nation
11 - Euphoria
12 - Get No Better
13 - Brown Eyed Women
14 - Wake & Bake
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