Come let's write reviews too and compile the list/links in the first post.

Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
Genre : Rock/Electronica?
Review : I never really liked the Sisters then, but because of the cover of Comfortably Numb (I hated it, but it's addictive. Weird right?), I got the album in a, well... let's just say in a wrong way . Now that I've heard the album, I really should've bought it because it's BLOODY GOOD! Fusing rock & pop with electronica & disco, their songs are as catchy as you could ask for as you would find yourself grooving to the catchy beats. Forget their 'disco' image & listen to the album, you would've fooled into thinking that SS are a typical tongue-in-cheek pop rock band just wanna have fun (read : lots of fun ).
Verdict : Why bother about Saturday Night Fever when you can rock and disco out every night?! This is a fun album and best played in parties or just to lift up your mood.
Recommended to : To pop/rock fans (Especially fans of Darkness & maybe Bee Gees) & catchy party song lovers. Basically everybody lar!

Outstanding Tracks : Laura, Take Your Mama, Mary.

9/10

Highly recommended



This post has been edited by led_zep_freak: Aug 4 2005, 02:03 PM

lol yeah very very disco image too, haha.

Btw, no need post my review in the first post lar, just link it to my post.

Rory Gallagher - Live In Europe
Genre : Blues Rock
Review : Again, another album I regretted getting in the wrong way. It's ok cause I swear that no matter what, I will not download/listen/borrow his Irish tour CD until I get a copy.
Here's an intro of the late-Rory, he's a 70s Irish blues guitarist. The problem with him is that he isn't ranked among legends like SRV and dare I say, Hendrix. That's probably because he doesn't dress up like a rock star and like Led Zep, doesn't release singles. Rory always loved the blues & his passion's shown through his album. On a live setting, Rory's very energetic & he never had a setlist. He just play whatever he feels like to and the band would follow suit(Try being his bandmate!).
Anyway Live in Europe are live tracks taken from his Europe tour circa early 70s? This is when he tours as a trio. Rory on vocals, electric/acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmonica.
Well let's cut to the chase, on this album Rory's a perfectionist in every sense of the word. The band's as tight as hell and the musicianship's just amazing. Rory's acoustic playing has always been fans' favourite and tracks like "Pistol Slapper Blues" (Acoustic) & "Going to My Home Town" (Mandolin) are highlights of the album. (If you have the time, check out his fingerpicking wonder Unmilitary Two Step.)
Verdict : Great live album, full of energy from Rory, the band and the audience. If you want to show your friends what live 70s rock music is all about, slip this record(Along with Led Zep's How The West Was Won and Deep Purple's Made in Japan), they'ill be impressed.
Recommended to : Blues rock (Particularly SRV and Hendrix.) & live rock fans. If you wanna get into Rory, this is the album.

Outstanding Tracks : Messin' With the Kid, Laundromat, Pistol Slapper Blues.

10/10 (If only I could give an 11)

Highly recommended



This post has been edited by led_zep_freak: Aug 4 2005, 02:04 PM

It's more tragic considering he's so underrated when he has done so much, really! He was a humble & honest guitarist, he wasn't like the rest of the 70s, who all dressed up with funny looking props to look good (Funny by today's standards but it was work of art then ). With Rory it's just him, his strat and his fingers (Pick, too).

That's the Best of album, not sure if it's worth it (Somehow studio albums don't capture the vibe.). I would say either the Live In Europe or Irish Tour (Where he added a keyboardist to the power trio) as the better starter album. Hope you like Rory as much as I do!

This post has been edited by led_zep_freak: Aug 5 2005, 01:07 AM

Led Zeppelin - (Untitled Forth Album)
Genre : Hard Rock (Basically)
Review : Tracklist :
1) Black Dog - The album starts with drone-ish noise, followed by the silly yet sexy lyrics, "Hey Hey Mama Say the way you move, gotta make you sweat, gotta make you groove," & the whole band launches into the blues rock number. Something fresh from Led Zep & reminds one of the Fleedwood Mac song (What's it called again?)
2) Rock And Roll - Cliche rock 'n' roll tune, very loose and heavy at the same time. Page's sloppy solo fits the loose feel of the track perfectly too Great feel-good track.
3) Battle of Evermore - The band take a backseat from the heavier tunes and plays a Lord of The Rings-inspired folk tune. This time, Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones play mandolin, very very folky! This track shows the band's versatility at best!
4) Stairway To Heaven - Self-explainatory.
5) Misty Mountain Hop - A constrast to the previous track, this cheeky tune starts off with a cool JPJ organ riff. There's some weird story tellign in this track but no matter how many times I listen to this, I couldn't figure out what Plant's trying to sing. Well it doesn't matter does it?
6) Four Sticks - Bonzo playing with 4 drumsticks, hence the name (He recorded the track after he saw Ginger Baker live. He said, "Well Ginger Baker? I show you something," and plays the drums with 5 sticks) Not my favourite, quite different from the typical Zep tracks.
7) Going To Califonia - Acoustic folk tune which features Page's awesome acoustic playing.
8) When The Levee Breaks - Great closer for such an great album. The drum sound on this's revolutionary. The track has the hard rock feel, but some how Zep injects it with a very bluesy and loose yet tight feel. I guess that's the great thing about Led Zep.
Verdict : The 4th Best selling album of all time. A lot less riffs but it shows Led Zep's songwriting at best!
Recommended to : Classic Rock & other rock fans too.

Outstanding Tracks : Black Dog, Battle Of Evermore, Going To Califonia.

10/10

Oh, did I forget Stairway? Nah... I hope I didn't write too much. This is as brief as it gets.

Anyway check out Kenny Sia's blog for some live vids of Shal Sagan. She looks pretty hot on that Ibanez guitar, only a few females could look that good on an Ibanez guitar.

http://www.kennysia.com/archives/2005/08/shal_sagan.php



Keep the albums coming btw!

I'm a big fan of Norah Jones.

Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
Genre : Jazz
Review : I can't really give a full review on this as I'm not that familiar with other jazz singers and I rarely listen past the 7th song. Why??? Because the first few tracks are my fav!!! These days if I can't sleep, I would keep repeating the track "Come Away With Me" (At most 4 times?).
Verdict : Very jazzy and relaxing album to listen to (Best listened to at night when you're winding down.). Perfectly produced, Norah's seducive voice is the sole reason you should buy this album, it's no wonder why she had won so many Grammys.
Recommended to : Pop-jazz fans & basically anybody!

Outstanding Tracks : Come Away With Me, Turn Me On, Feeling The Same Way, Seven Years.

Norah Jones - Feels Like Home
Genre : Jazz/Country Blues
Review : I bought this album when it was released and at the time I didn't fancy much of Norah Jones (Bought it on instict). And what surprised me is that this album is very different from what I initially thought of her & I fell in love with it the first time I heard it. This album's very different from her debut in the sense that this is more loosely produced & shows a different side of Norah Jones, a more country blues side if you ask me. The albums begins with a lovely country tune "Sunrise", followed by a bluesy tune "What am I to you" and poppy number "Those Sweet Words". If the first 3 songs do not capture your heart, you should be returning this album already cause it's obviously not your thing. As I've said, it's loosely produced with minimal overdubs, hence great space for all instruments to breathe, giving it a live feel! This time, there're more instruments involved, ranging from banjos to box. Anyway, my favs are In The Morning, Toes, Humble Me, Prettiest Thing (Beautiful song! One of my all-time favs too!). The album ends with a jazzy Duke Ellington tune which Norah Jones's only accompanied by her piano.
Verdict : A 'happier' country blues/jazz album.
Recommended to : Anyone really.

Outstanding Tracks : Prettiest Thing, Humble Me, Those Sweet Words.

10/10

Both albums are great in their own rights imho, get both if you can. If you want jazzier songs, get her debut. If you prefer country and want a happier album, get Feels Like Home.

Not sure about the Peter Malick Group's album tho, is it any good? I think I'm gonna get it some time soon.

Anyway, at one point I was pretty tired of Feel Like Home (After repetitive listens btw, it took some time mind you!). I took this album out as I'm writing the post & I'm hooked again.



This post has been edited by led_zep_freak: Aug 8 2005, 11:27 PM

Hehe, too bad bro I don't intend to stuff my kid into a coffin case while berjalan-jalan lah haha. *Runs away into the galaxy far, far away...*

Wanted to get that album too actually, but didn't have much cash!

Anyway, I highly recommend Joss Stone to everyone here too. She's only a few months older than me, btw.

This post has been edited by led_zep_freak: Aug 9 2005, 12:40 AM

Him?? You mean the 'love' metal band?

Recently I've been listening a lot to Eric Johnson's Bloom. It's an amazing album with lots of varied tracks. With everything from Rock, pop to jazz & country, the songs are all amazing and pretty addictive. Eric's definitely one of the best kept secrets in the guitar world. Highly recommended!

I'm a fan of live albums, so here some of my favs:

Eric Clapton - Rainbow Concert
In the early 70s, Clapton suffered from a huge drug addiction and was missing from the music scene for awhile. Hence in 1973, his friends including Pete Townshend got Clapton to play in a concert as a comeback & what a great comeback it is! The all-star band isn't as tight as one hoped but there're no signs of overplay. Clapton shines here.

Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won
A collection of live songs taken from 2 LA shows in 1972/3. This was the time where they were transforming into glam rock stars but still, they were very tight even with the improvisations they pulled. Pagey had a LP tone to die for while Bonzo provided a solid backbone with his drums 'poundings' & Plant showed that he could hit the 'ahh' notes on Immigrant Song without sounding rubbish.

John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola & Paco De Lucia - Friday Night In San Francisco
Any guitar or shred fans should own this! It contains only 4 live songs (& 1 studio) but the musicianship displayed could floor anyone!

John Mayer Trio - Try!

Ozzy Osbourne - Tribute
Imo, it shows why Randy Rhoads' considered one of the most influencial metal guitarists of all time.

A new album from Satch? So fast?

Funk? Jackson 5, Wild Cherry, Stevie Wonder, or even RHCP!

Just got the 'digital' copy 2 days ago.

I would like to add another album by Tommy Emmanuel... Only. The whole album was recorded live and only with his guitar. The songs are amazing and beautiful, definitely a must for guitarists.

I'm still getting the Live One... so if we are having the same file, please seed.

Came across that vid but haven't seen it yet. Will check it out soon.

The Beatles medleys are CRAZY! Especially the Day Tripper one, how the f does he play the bassline, chords and melody at the same time? Love the Imagine cover too...

BLACKTRIX AND SRV??? hahah....

Texas Flood is amazing considering it was recorded in... about 3 days?? However the studio environment doesn't really capture Stevie's energy, his live vids are 10 times better! The El Mocambo DVD is a must for Stevie fans, if you haven't seen it, be prepared to be blown away. The true Guitar God of the 80s.

Haha it's good to be diverse... my Zen Micro has everything from Norah Jones to Dragonforce to Avril Lavigne. And I love them all.

The Allman Brothers... Duane Allman, his slide playing is always jawdropping.

I only have their Greatest Hits actually hah...

As for Allman Brothers Band, their live albums are a must.

Some good 2006 albums I've heard...

John Mayer - Continuum
- His best studio album to date and has more than enough bluesy licks to satisfy Hendrix & SRV fans. A very bluesy & r&b-ish album. Highly Recommended.

Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
- Politic-charged, fresh arrangements & great guitar riffs to boot on. There are quite a number of synthesizer parts in this album compared to the previous one but they complement the songs very well. And that track Knights of Cydonia... one word - EPIC.

My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade
- Very dark album, in fact the first track reminds me of Pink Floyd's The Wall. However this is NOT your typical emo band, the guitars are huge, the solos are directly from Brian May's book and lyrics are about death and depression. If that's your thing, you'ill like this album.

Yes... I won't apologize for that, it's my honest opinion. Just listen to the first track. You could say that the lead singer's influenced by Roger Waters, one way or another.

Everdying, if I told you Nick Drake's music is dark, what would you think? It's the lyrical content that's dark, not the surface.

This post has been edited by led_zep_freak: Nov 2 2006, 11:48 PM

Opps, I just realize I sounded a bit pissed on the last post... After a whole day in library and night jam session, I guess I'm really exhausted now. But if you thought that I was any way pissed or anything, I didn't mean it.

I'm not a fan of the album actually, but some of the tracks took me by surprise, espcially the first one. Nonetheless, if you're not a fan of My Chemical Romance, it might not suit you. The guitarist isn't too bad, surprisingly!