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Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII; Impressions Then and Now

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Image courtesy of Imax As I was listening to the new release of the soundtrack to the 1972 film by Pink Floyd, Live at Pompeii , the thought occurred to me how much they improved the sound quality. This is knock your socks off stuff. Without going too deep into Floydian fandom, I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that this sounds like the Pink Floyd album that we all have dreamed of. Before we go too crazy, here's what we are dealing with.  The original concert film (and this new soundtrack) thoroughly documents a moment in time; a very fortuitous one at that. The concert at Pompeii took place in the time between Pink Floyd's albums Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon . I've long thought that the song "Echoes" on the Meddle album was a sort of precursor to Dark Side of the Moon . Never mind the latter's sound effect driven commercial success. My interest has always been the essence of the music and I think that the point at which Meddle ends and Dark Si...

The Best Christmas Music of 2024; Check Out Holiday Gems from Gabby Barrett, Band of Other Brothers, Rick Braun, Chapel Hart, Brett Eldredge, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Grant & Vince Gill, The Philly Specials, Tower Of Power and many more.

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Photo: Lineage Tree Care Seasons Greetings and thank you for reading about the new Christmas releases that are worth your time this season. The one thing we know is that if you wait 'till after Thanksgiving to play Christmas music, or even if you don't, one thing is true; there isn't hardly enough time to listen to all the good stuff before December 25th rolls around.  If you're anything like me, you don't want to hear Christmas music in the days immediately following the big day, with one exception: I have a playlist to run during the tree takedown day. And, believe me, that playlist is a real humdinger. Let's just say that one of the highlights of that list is an album called Merry Texas Christmas Y'all by Asleep at the Wheel, especially the track "Xmas in Jail." That album also has classics like "Pretty Paper" by Willie Nelson and it strikes just the right tone for such a day whether it be January 1st or 21st.  Back to my original poin...

Ten Years After - Woodstock 1969 (2024, Chrysalis Records Ltd.); What's Old Is New Again

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  Photo: Ten Years After This week's batch of new releases was interesting, to say the least, but aren't they all. Amongst what came out on Friday, August 16th, I pulled out a few albums to listen to. These included new albums by Devon Allman, Ray LaMontagne and Charly Bliss, among others. But, the album that rose to the top of my list to listen to first was a live album recorded almost exactly 55 years ago in August 1969 by Ten Years After at the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival. Full Disclosure: I have been all about all things Woodstock ever since missing the festival because (at the time) I was not quite old enough to drive.  However,  I was right there when the movie opened in 1970. Not only was the Woodstock documentary movie so well made that it was easy to feel like you'd been there, but two of the most amazing performances in the movie were those by The Who and Ten Years After. The arrangements for the festival have been well documented, but of all the things th...

The Police - Synchronicity (1983, A&M Records); A Great Album Deserves and Gets a Great Anniversary Box Set

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  Courtesy of The Police Listening to Synchronicity by The Police from their newly released 40th anniversary box set, I was immediately struck by how excellent this album was, and still is. The first CD in the box contains the original remastered album plus the B-side , " Murder By Numbers,"  that arguably should have been on the original LP.  The great songs come at you one after another and they're almost as familiar to fans as the Beatles catalog. For example, just look at the lineup of songs from Side 2:  "Every Breath You Take" is followed by " King Of Pain," "Wrapped Around Your Finger,"   and  "Tea In The Sahara." With all but two songs  on  Synchronicity  credited only to Sting , any consideration of Sting's best work should include this album alongside his solo work.  Synchronicity was the fifth and final album released by The Police before the three principle musicians went their separate ways. For the purpose of thi...