CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Free Life

by: Dan Wilson

Release Date October 16, 2007
I picked this up on a whim, but I'm quickly falling in love with it. My favorite is "Babydoll." The background music is complex, and the lyrics are sweet. Fans of the Dixie Chicks will recognize the last song on this CD, which Wilson apparently wrote for them.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

The Pirates of Penzance

from: Elektra / Wea

Release Date February 24, 1998
This is a wonderful DVD. I got this as a stop gap until the VHS came out on DVD, but now I may not. Yes, the technical aspects are not the best. But it is the filming of an actual performance at the Delacorte Theater. It's not as slick as the production with Angela Landsbury, but Patricia Routledge, later to be Hetty Wainthrop and Hyacinth Bucket, more than holds her own, and the production has those small details that usually are left out of a much-edited and rehearsed film. You really get the feeling you are there watching a live performance. If you are a G&S fan, this is a DVD you must have. It is a gem of a performance, with wonderful actors/singers.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Myths And Hymns (1998 Off-Broadway Cast, Originally Saturn Returns)

by: Adam Guettel, Todd Ellison, Audra McDonald, Darius de Haas

Release Date March 30, 1999
This is an amazing work of emotional, passionate, and very creative music. Its facinating melodies are very complex and its themes are powerful. This is a masterpiece of artful composition, but it is not a CD for those with frivolous tastes. It is very beautiful and involved music so if you dwell on the music of Hairspray or Grease, this is definately not an item for you, but if you really appriciate the true purpose of music then I am confident that you'll fall in love with Guettel's work!

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

War of the Worlds

by: John Williams

Release Date June 28, 2005
For War of the Worlds, John Williams reached for something not of this earth and composed a score that you feel on your skin, even before you become aware that you are actually hearing it. He has laid down a musical foundation of atmospherics and textural events, achieving a rhythmic propulsion that is so utterly primal it crawls up inside you and makes you wonder how one composer could make such a radical departure of style from such masterworks of melodic phrasing as the flying theme from E.T., to the enduring themes of the Star Wars series and come up with a new sound that gives War of the Worlds much of its ultra-realism. But that is the genuine genius of John Williams and the many characters he has played throughout a musical career that will never be ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

John Adams: Shaker Loops: Light Over Water

from: New Albion Records

Release Date April 05, 1994
When New Albion records brought out the LP Light Over Water by John Adams in 1983, I was flipped into a new sonic world. "Flipped"? Well, it is transcendant music, and I experienced a new emergent state of mind from which I still get a contact high (and there was no external substance involved!).

What's especially interesting about this early piece (Adams has called it, "My forgotten [master]piece") is that it beautifully establishes John Adams' unique musical vocabulary/sytax/style that can be discerned in nearly all of his subsequent work--all the way through the recent (2003/5) 2nd violin concerto, entitled Dharma At Big Sur.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Gloria - An Acoustic Guitar Christmas

from: GuitarSounds

Release Date October 01, 1995
I own several of Peter Pupping's CDs and enjoy them all. Gloria was the first one I purchased. If anyone appreciates the classical guitar, he or she will appreciate this CD. Peter's version of Canon in D Minor just blows me away, it was recorded in a mission in California and the acoustics are incredible. If you get the chance to see him and his band perform live in Southern California it will be worthwhile.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

DRG 25th Anniversary Show Stopping Performances

from: Drg

Release Date October 23, 2001
I don't actually own this particular compilation, however, since I own nearly every recording represented on these discs...I think I'm qualified to comment. This is a wonderful representation of the high quality of work that DRG Records does.
The previous review is way off the mark. This is definitely not a waste of time or money. This is 25 years of preserving Broadway shows, Off-Broadway shows, studio recordings (mostly from the city center concerts), etc. So what if they "aren't as good as the original", DRG is preserving many recordings and artists that other mainstream labels don't or won't. You have wonderful recordings from Brian Stokes Mitchell, Nathan Lane, Debbie Gravitte, Tyne Daly, Anthony Perkins, Joanna Gleason, Marin Mazzie, Carol ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Homeland

by: Spivey Hall Children's Choir

Release Date November 26, 2002
This CD is absolutely wonderful. It would be a great addition to anyones personal collection. When I think about a children's choir, this sound is definitly not what comes to mind. The Spivey Hall Children's Choir is by far the best choir I've ever heard, children or not. They can be heard live at Spivey Hall in May and December every year. The Spivey Hall website would give you exact dates.

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Organa Americana

from: Pro Organo

Release Date February 22, 2005
Tom Trenney is a brilliant young organist who doesn't just play the music on the page, he tells a story. This CD is recorded on a beautiful organ in a wonderfully reverberant room. The programming is great and includes many pieces that don't get recorded often, but should!

Highly recommended!

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Broadway: America's Music 1935-2005

from: Decca Broadway

Release Date October 18, 2005
Tom Trenney is a brilliant young organist who doesn't just play the music on the page, he tells a story. This CD is recorded on a beautiful organ in a wonderfully reverberant room. The programming is great and includes many pieces that don't get recorded often, but should!

Highly recommended!