CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Abbey Road [Vinyl]

CD-Charts > Music > Vinyl Records
by: The Beatles

Release Date December 05, 1995
A thousand reviews? I only can echo the majority. This is simply another masterpiece from the greatest band that ever cut a record. These four were in a class by themselves. The Beatles and then there were all the others. Abbey Road blew everyone away when it came out and still is an experience and not just a set of songs put together for listening to while you run the vacumn cleaner. I always think of some of the assertions that have been made about Shakespeare when I take in the entire catlog of the Beatles. It seems impossible that one small rock combo could come together and create art the way they did the same way that so many people can't imagine one person writing as many classics as Shakespeare did. During the time of the Beatles, it ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Pet Sounds (VINYL)

CD-Charts > Music > Vinyl Records
by: The Beach Boys

Release Date September 02, 2008
A caveat - the 5 stars are for the music. 4 stars for pressing!

Re: Pet Sounds and OK Computer Capitol vinyl reissues:

These are better than the abysmal (imo based on disraeli gears and tea for the tillerman) "back to black" reissues.

both the capitol reissue of ok computer and of pet sounds that i bought today are dead quiet and neither suffer from obvious digitalis. they do not sound as if they were recorded using the cd as the source, which many people have felt about the b to b pressings.

the lead vocal on pet sounds is a tiny bit on the bright side (though it may simply be more revealing of whats there - and my system is extremely revealing and cuts no slack in this direction), but it's not brittle like ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Rubber Soul

CD-Charts > Music > Vinyl Records
by: The Beatles

Release Date December 05, 1995
Though they continued to tour through 1966, by late 1965 the Fab Four considered themselves primarily studio musicians, and the two great mid-period albums "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver", even in their abbreviated Capitol versions, reflect this. Gone are the simpler, crowd-pleasing rave-ups that had driven teenaged girls crazy just a short time earlier, replaced by meticulous studio craftsmanship. In its original Parlophone form (the CD reviewed here), "Rubber Soul", from December, 1965, contains fourteen originals, ranging from Paul McCartney's cheery "Drive My Car", to John Lennon's much more complex "Norwegian Wood" (about a brief tryst, a landmark song in the Beatle canon, as it deals with much more adult subject matter than the group had ever addressed before), ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

CD-Charts > Music > Vinyl Records
by: The Beatles

Release Date July 15, 2008
this is the very first beatles album i bought. i like most every song on it and i didnt live through the 60s. a must have for rock'n'rollers everywhere!

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Revolver

CD-Charts > Music > Vinyl Records
by: The Beatles

Release Date July 15, 2008
Released in August, 1966, at roughly the same time the Beatles stopped touring for good, "Revolver" remains amazing in its sheer variety. The songs are all over the map: Paul McCartney pays tribute to Motown with the horn-driven "Got To Get You Into My Life"; Ringo sings about the joys of living in a "Yellow Submarine" (later the basis for their delightful third motion picture); George Harrison expresses his Indian interests in "Love You To" (and delivers a jab to the Inland Revenue with "Taxman"); and John Lennon explores his own head with "She Said She Said" and the astonishing "Tomorrow Never Knows", in which his voice, filtered through a revolving Leslie speaker, is combined with backward-masking to create an eerie masterpiece, unlike anything heard from a pop group before, even ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Just a Little Lovin' [Vinyl]

CD-Charts > Music > Vinyl Records
by: Shelby Lynne

Release Date January 29, 2008
I find it curious that the most of these songs that we are all so familiar with seem to have only the vaguest familiarity to Shelby Lynne. Her "interpretations" I think would only appeal to those who have a fondness for those who sing disjointedly to themselves along about the time the tavern is closing. As far as being a tribute to Dusty Springfield, it certainly isn't in my opinion.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Beatles for Sale

CD-Charts > Music > Vinyl Records
by: The Beatles

Release Date December 05, 1995
This album is often regarded as a step down after the classic A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. It is a bit unfair comparison though. First of all, on AHDN the singles ("Can't buy me love" and the title track with their respective B-sides) were included on the album. Second of all, AHDN only has 13 tracks while FOR SALE has 14. If you remove the 2 or 3 weakest tracks on FOR SALE and instead include "I feel fine" and "She's a woman" you would have a more even album for sure.
And when judging Beatles' albums one often misses the obvious fact that the fab 4 more or less rushed out their music during their whole career. They released 1 or 2 albums every year PLUS a lot of hit-singles that never were included on an album. Who could compete with that today?

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

The Studio Albums 1967-1968

CD-Charts > Music > Vinyl Records
by: The Bee Gees

Release Date November 07, 2006
Though the Bee Gees' superstardom in the mid-to-late-70s has obliterated many listeners' memories of the group's earlier work, their brilliant beginnings is here for all to hear. Lavishly packaged as three double-CD digipacks in a custom-made slip, each of the group's first three albums is presented in both mono and stereo, accompanied by a disc of related bonus tracks and a lavish 20-page booklet. That's six discs, three booklets, a wealth of terrific music and intimate background detail. As the box set left print, each of the individual albums was reissued in their two-CD form, with the same fold-out four-panel digipack, bonuses and booklet originally included in the box.

The Bee Gees stardom began with the Gibb brothers' 1966 return from Australia to their native Britain. With years of performing and recording ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

The Songs of Leonard Cohen

CD-Charts > Music > Vinyl Records
by: Leonard Cohen

Release Date October 08, 2007
The lilting poetry of Suzanne lures the listener into Cohen's world of romantic despair while introducing the essence of his sound: a deep monotone framed by sublime female backing vocals over simple but engaging melodies. Master Song, Winter Lady and Stranger Song reinforce the desolate landscape although the melodies are less immediate. Cohen's genius shines brightly on the immortal Sisters Of Mercy, a strange mixture of the spiritual and the sensual that must be one of the most beautiful musical poems in the English language.

This delicate gem is followed by the powerful and evocative So Long Marianne and the understated Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye, both masterpieces of words, melody and arrangement - the female vocals on Goodbye is especially impressive. Stories of the Street appears as a poem in one of Cohen's 1960s ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Please Please Me

CD-Charts > Music > Vinyl Records
by: The Beatles

Release Date December 05, 1995
Their first time out with the rawness and powerfully,explosive sound unmatched by any other artist,with the exception of Elvis,Please Please Me,consist of hard rockers and ballads showcasing each member of the band,McCartney's,I Saw Her Standing There,and,A Taste Of honey,Lennon's,Twist And Shout,and,Anna,Harrison's,Do You Want To Know A Secret,and Chains,Ringo takes the cue and wails on the potent rocker,Boys,featuring one of the better Harrison leads and of course there's,Please Please Me,the Beatles were probably not the best musicians in the world,gradually improving through the years,but there was a certain chemistry within themselves that combined a unit of one,with their tight harmonies and the brilliant songwriting,8 of 14 tracks are Lennon/McCartney compositions on here,the rest being covers,of course after this album they went a ... Read More: