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Tommy (1969 Original Concept Album)
(more) »rank: 912by: The Who
:Album Description:Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) pressing of this classic rock album. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008. essential recording:Tommy had the dubious distinction of being the first-ever rock opera; however, it's none the worse for that, Ken Russell's adaptation notwithstanding. Due largely to Pete Townshend's skill as a songwriter and composer, Tommy tells a coherent story and includes quality rock and roll at the same time, an impressive feat by itself. While surprisingly more linear than the later Quadrophenia, Tommy boasts several songs that ...
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Physical Graffiti
(more) »rank: 935by: Led Zeppelin
:Album Description:Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this absolute classic album from the Rock legends, originally released in 1975. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008. essential recording:This 1975 release came smack in the middle of a long and nearly mythic career. Physical Graffiti is the last great Led Zeppelin title, recorded before the influences of the day (synthesizers, disco) ended Zeppelin's reign as the kings of loud and sexy blues-metal. Playfully experimenting with new sounds, the band blended Middle Eastern rhythms, folk-stylings, ...
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Led Zeppelin II
(more) »rank: 821by: Led Zeppelin
:Album Description:2005 Japanese standard jewel case pressing of Led Zeppelin's 1969 album. Features the same tracks and mastering as the US edition but includes an OBI and Japanese/English insert. Warner. 2005. essential recording:Riff rock had been what Jimmy Page's former band, the Yardbirds, were all about, and on Led Zeppelin's second album, released, like its predecessor, in 1969, the inventive guitarist demonstrated that he'd indeed learned his lessons well. Witness 'Whole Lotta Love,' a woozy epic based on one simple, head-banging-friendly guitar riff. Or the mock-dramatic 'Heartbreaker,' propelled by far more intricate but similarly effective note squashing. Between Page's sonic wizardry, John ...
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Meddle
(more) »rank: 808by: Pink Floyd
: essential recording:For all that menacing, hatchet-happy growl at the beginning of Meddle's opener, 'One of These Days,' Pink Floyd really weren't about to 'cut you into little pieces.' Meddle did, however, show that the reigning British monarchs of 1970s-era psychedelia could rip into galloping jams. It also showed what its predecessor, Atom Heart Mother, promised--that the band could excel in long, breathtaking suites that revealed strains of late-classical music, Sun Ra-inspired space explorations, and a patchwork approach to colliding sounds that together took on acid-drenched proportions. And if all that isn't enough, 'San Tropez' revealed a playful side of the band, playing ...
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Anthology 3
(more) »rank: 1445by: The Beatles
: :From the White Album to the end, the last days of the Beatles weren't smooth, which made the fact that they still produced some astonishing music all the more remarkable. In abbreviated form, 'What's the New Mary Jane' is finally issued here, and proves underwhelming. For the rest of the set, it's largely down to outtakes and demos, but this time there isn't the same insight of the previous two volumes. Anthology 3 comes dangerously close to the sound of barrels being scraped. That said, it's the Beatles, and in whatever form, the music still shines brilliantly. --Chris Nickson
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Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
(more) »rank: 1613by: Pink Floyd
: :No Description AvailableNo Track Information AvailableMedia Type: CDArtist: PINK FLOYDTitle: ECHOES-BEST OF PINK FLOYDStreet Release Date: 11/06/2001DomesticGenre: ROCK/POP :Echoes is a double-CD collection of some of Pink Floyd's best songs. It's also a fascinating document of the band's history. They began life as Syd Barrett's phantasmagoric plaything before clasping the wings of Icarus and ascending toward the sun on an epic space-rock odyssey, eventually turning left once they reached the dark side of the moon and burning up on reentry, crash-landing on every earthlings' home hi-fi. And it's all here--30 years of the Floyd's awesome back catalog trimmed down to two handsome ...
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Hell Freezes Over
(more) »rank: 1624by: Eagles
:Album Description:Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008. :Indeed, there were many who thought that it would take an event as cataclysmic as the one described in the album title to get these seminal '70s soft-rockers back together. But here they are, revisiting some of their most beloved tunes as well as four new ones, on this mostly live, largely acoustic disc. Frey, Henley, Walsh, Schmit, and Felder tackle iconic Eagles standards like 'Hotel California,' 'Tequila Sunrise,' 'Take It Easy,' 'Desperado,' and 'Life in the Fast Lane' and new tunes like 'Get Over It' ...
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Led Zeppelin 1
(more) »rank: 1399by: Led Zeppelin
:Album Description:2005 Japanese standard jewel case pressing of Led Zeppelin's 1969 album. Features the same tracks and mastering as the US edition but includes an OBI and Japanese/English insert. Warner. 2005. :As it turned out, Led Zeppelin's infamous 1969 debut album was indicative of the decade to come--one that, fittingly, this band helped define with its decadently exaggerated, bowdlerized blues-rock. In shrieker Robert Plant, ex-Yardbird Jimmy Page found a vocalist who could match his guitar pyrotechnics, and the band pounded out its music with swaggering ferocity and Richter-scale-worthy volume. Pumping up blues classics such as Otis Rush's 'I Can't Quit You Baby' and ...
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Quadrophenia
(more) »rank: 886by: The Who
:Album Description:Limited 2008 UK double 180gm vinyl pressing of this classic album, released to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the long-playing record. This is an exact replica of the original packaging and contains a voucher enabling the purchaser to download MP3 versions of the songs within. Happy Birthday, my dear vinyl LP! Universal. essential recording:An excellent and frequently astonishing album, Quadrophenia is both more ambitious and less accessible than Tommy, the first and most well known rock opera. At its simplest level, Quadrophenia is a coming-of-age story with an awesome soundtrack. The album features some of the Who's finest material, in ...
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Houses of the Holy
(more) »rank: 1773by: Led Zeppelin
:Album Description:Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this absolute classic album from the Rock legends, originally released in 1973. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008. essential recording:Buoyed by the runaway commercial success of Led Zeppelin IV, Jimmy Page used this 1973 follow-up to hone his already impressive production skills, and the result was a collection sporting an impressively expansive sound. Benefiting--especially on tracks such as 'Dancing Days Are Here Again,' 'The Crunge,' and 'Over the Hills and Far Away'--was Zeppelin's always underrated ...
