Editorial Review

The Dixie Chicks aren't old enough to remember when radio programmed pop records next to country, rock, folk, and beyond, but their Texas DNA tells them that's the way music was meant to be heard. On Read more

Reviews (280)

Good American Album
To the roots of the matter I would say and very good too. I never thought I would be saying this about a Dixie Chicks album but I liked this one. It's the real thing. It's what America is all about. It touched my heart I would have to say.

Brilliant bluegrass takes Chicks back home
Home is a good title for this album, as it finds the Dixie Chicks making the most of their bluegrass roots. This outstanding album begins with Long time gone, a great song about family memories. Next comes an incredible cover of Landslide, a song written by Stevie Nicks, best remembered as a member of Fleetwood Mac. Travelin' soldier is a sad song about a woman receiving letters from a soldier who gets killed in Vietnam. Those three songs set the standard for the album but there are many other fine songs here including the title track (a reflective ballad), More love (another excellent ballad) and Top of the world (not a cover of the Carpenters' classic - this is a Patty Griffin song). The other songs are also excellent.
The "Home" of the brave, the sound of the free
[...]"Home" is a glossier effort than "Fly" or "Wide Open Spaces," yet at the same time, probably their most earthy. Only a very few artists have been able to walk this kind of fine line, and they would number the kind of musicians and songwriters that appear on "Home" with the Dixie Chicks or as artists in their own right. I'm thinking of people like Marty Stuart, Patty Griffin, Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash, Ricky Scaggs or Emmylou Harris. That's the kind of vibe that "Home" gives off.Read more

Subjects:  1. Country    2. Country & Western    3. Pop   

Reviews (42)

Definitely a must buy
I really think John Denver's songshas more to it then amazing melody and lyrics and ofcourse not to forget his voice.Its actually hard to compare him with other artists but I can definitely say that I feel the best listening to his songs. Although some of my other fav songs like love again are not included in this cd but still the cd has most of his best songs. The highlights of the cd are the unrealeased version of calypso and leaving on a jet plane. so, If you have heard his songs before or not, this cd is a must buy for all.

Sunshine Music Lives On
John Denver has melted hearts for generations with what can be described as "sunshine music".A mix of country, bluegrass, folk, and great pop sensibilities, Denver has always been the lucky peoples' choice (even if he is the critics' underdog as a singer songwriter).His voice is excellent. As though he would really need a defense, anyway, his collaboration with Pacido Domingo, one of the three tenors, is certain testimony to his vocal credibility.Cynics need not apply, for if some of his more sentimental songs are "sap," then at least we know he got his ingredients fresh from the best trees in Vermont.He created great soaring songs for lady and land.Some are orchestrated to perfection; others are homegrown prizes."Sunshine on My Shoulders," "Rocky Mountain High," and "Take Me Home, Country Roads" all resonate with articulate sweetness.He perfected ruggedness with "Thank God, I'm a Country Boy" and "Wild Montana Skies," but his serenades are also expert, including "Andromeda, (Welcome to My Morning)" and "Annie's Song".Subjectively, "Calypso" is no hokey homage, but a heartfelt classic that demonstrates a fine vocal range.Besides covering all of the classics, this C.D. collects some great, unfamiliar terrain."Fly Away" and "Sweet Surrender" are excellent songs that add to the scope of the album and his legacy. For those of us willing to stand our ground, his 'Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits' gives us all his famous songs and all the unfamiliar territory we might have missed.John may have left us early, but his portfolio of "sunshine music" has yet to be imitated much and never completely dismissed.
Appreciation later in life.....
I was never a 'fan' of John Denver in my growing up years.His music was a part of those years, but I took it for granted just hearing it on the radio. Now, some 20 years later, I can appreciate it more than ever. His beautiful mind, his thoughts, his feelings all come out in his music. My husband and I now own property in West Virginia and when I play 'Country Roads' it makes me cry.Because now I feel the love for that place just like he did when he wrote that heartfelt song.Take me home, country roads...to the place I belong - West Virginia! It makes my heart long for our beautiful mountain! All those songs of yesteryear now mean something to me. I love his style, his words, the arrangements. Just a must play cd long rides in the country or just listening to while cooking supper in the kitchen! Thanks John Denver for making songs that touch the heart! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Country-Folk    2. Country-Pop    3. Folk-Rock    4. Pop    5. Pop/Rock    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop    8. Singer/Songwriter    9. Soft Rock    10. United States of America   

Editorial Review

Like the Beatles' Read more

Reviews (61)

The Best Single Disc Collection of Stevie Wonder's Hits
It needs to be stated at the outset that Stevie Wonder has more than just 21 hits. But this cd brings together the best hits from the 1960s through the 1980s. They are also remastered with the best possible sound. You get "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)," "Superstition," "Living for the City," "Higher Ground, the anti Nixon "You Haven't Done Nothing," "I Wish," "Do I Do," "My Cherie Amor," and many more on one disc. Completists will wish the cd had room for "Isn't She Lovely, Frontline, Ribbon in the Sky, and a few others, but no one can quibble with what IS contained on this disc. You can always download the ones that are missing.
Soulful
Hits from early in Stevie Wonder career to the middle of his
A great mix if you only have 1 or 2 Stevie CD's
Stevie Wonder is a must -- his music defined a segment of my life.His sound is distinctive, clear, and penetrating. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Pop    2. R&B    3. R&B/Soul    4. Soul/R & B    5. Soul/Reggae/Rhythm & Blues   

Editorial Review

The movie is a 1970s take on 1950s musicals, providing all the kitsch anyone could hope for. It's John Travolta as Danny Zuko as Olivia Newton-John's pompadoured main squeeze, and the kids go crazy. Fresh from his astronomical success with Travolta in Read more

Features

• Enhanced
• Soundtrack

Reviews (115)

wtf!!
Best movie soundtrack ever!!! the movie was a unforgettable, john travolta and olivia newton-john were remarkable. Long live Sandy and Danny!!

Great Soundtrack
Most movie soundtracks are full of songs that aren't that good. Grease on the other hand is full of songs by a steller cast. Each one is a glimpse either into the era that is the birth of rock and roll or into the viscuous life of the American teenager.
Excellent!
This is an excellent CD! I couldn't help but listen to it over and over and OVER! The sound quality is wonderful and it sounds like it came straight from the movie itself! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. Musical    3. Pop    4. Soft Rock    5. Soundtrack    6. Soundtracks    7. Soundtracks & Film Scores   

Editorial Review

The revisionist take on the Rat Pack's razor-witted King of Cool reveals a Dean Martin who was considerably more complex than the Titan of Tipplers legend; a man who would just as soon retire to his room with a tumbler of milk to watch a TV Western than prowl the Strip with his famous cohorts. That sublime, preternatural indifference is both underscored and belied with dizzying regularity on this good 30-track overview of Martin's singing career. The breezy hits "That's Amore" and "Volare" underscored his public staying power when many counted him out in the face of a surging 1950s youth market. He repeated the feat again with trademark effortlessness a decade later to knock no less than the Beatles off the top of the charts with the unlikely, if inviting schmaltz of "Everybody Loves Somebody."Ever informed by his warm, deceptive vocal ease, Martin's rich signature tunes are well-represented here. But the collection also spans enough lovable kitsch ("Mambo Italiano," "Little Old Wine Drinker Me") and unabashed romantic yearning ("Innamorata," "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On") to deepen the compelling mystery of one of pop music's most enduring ciphers. Read more

Reviews (25)

HOW LUCKY CAN ONE GUY BE?
Capitol Records, the house built by Johnny Mercer and Nat Cole, allowed singers such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin to soar to new heights in their careers, thanks in no small way to the brilliant arrangements by Nelson Riddle and great players sitting in during the recording sessions. Of the three singers mentioned, I would place Cole at the very top for his supreme musicality and popularity with the record-buying public, a 600 hit wonder. Next comes Martin, who had an unstudied nonchalance with any song he sang and a wonderful sounding rich voice. Last is Sinatra, which in no way is meant to imply least. It's Dean surprisingly, not Frank, with which to sample the best sound ever from Capitol. Dean's voice is always in the foreground and the arrangements are keptbehind. Frank's voice is usually forward but all too often overpowered by Riddle's elaborate arrangements, which is surprising for a band singer. Dean makes it seem so easy, that's all there is to that. He just takes everything in stride. So where to start with this marvellous collection? Oh, just jump in anyplace. This is the cream of Dino's career--decades worth--all delicious.

The Incomparable Dino
If you are a Dean Martin fan, you'll find no better album.If you don't know if you're a Dean Martin fan, listen to this album and you'll become a fan.It's Dean at his best -- all the classics.I'd recommend it for anyone.

Dino: The Essential Dean Martin
This album has several of Martin's hits which I like.
Read more

Subjects:  1. American Popular Song    2. Pop    3. Pop Vocals    4. Traditional Pop    5. Vocal    6. Vocal Pop   

Editorial Review

How John Lennon's confessional song became the title for a silly JamesBond spoof I really don't know.The funny thing is, it works both ways--as ayoung man's personal statement about learning to open up to others, and as thefrantic theme for an exotic espionage chase comedy starring those lovable mop-tops (this time in Read more

Features

• Soundtrack

Reviews (220)

Love it till you burn your laser out..and beyond
What's not to love about these 4 guys from Liverpool????Their whole history is like a movie in itself...
movie-songs and the rest
The first seven songs on this CD featured in 'Help!', the Beatles' second movie (1965). Sounding great & coherent, they fully show the fab four's progress in making increasingly complex arrangements.
Last one star reviewer can go S*CK IT, Beatles rock!
Triple H: Fed Up, Help came out in 1965 and Yoko didn't enter The Beatles camp until 1968 and John Lennon was married to Cynthia in 1965! Shawn Michaels: You are right Triple H! Triple H: Now we did history lesson, this album features classics like the title cut, Ticket to Ride, I Need You, Another Girl and Act Naturally. Shawn Michaels: Don't forget You've Got to Hide Your Love Away. Triple H: This was the second of EIGHT BEATLES ALBUMS IN A ROW TO TOP THE US CHARTS(a streak that has not been broken). Shawn Michaels: You ain't whistling in Frankfurt! If you are not down with The Beatles or DX, WE GOT TWO WORDS FOR YA(crowd yells "S*CK IT!") ... Read more

Subjects:  1. British Invasion    2. Drums    3. England    4. Folk-Rock    5. Pop    6. Pop/Rock    7. Popular Music    8. Rock    9. Rock & Roll    10. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

This is not the typical example of an artist from another genre jumping on the crowded standards-and-ballads bandwagon. Read more

Reviews (73)

Get in the Zone
I had this CD for a while and couldn't make up my mind wether I like it or not.I listened to it a couple of times and there's a lot to like about this CD even though you feel like this CD was manufactured for nothing but success, success with the average audience. Chris Botti's trumpet is lush and right on as far as pleasing the New Wave jazz crowd.It's very romantic and makes a real nice backdrop to a much anticipated Valentine's Day Dinner.And there's some real nice vocals by Paula Cole and Sting.The songs are old standards and familiar but done with such aromatic flavor that it might sound new to some.I like this CD very much for what it is and people who are hard core jazz fans shouldn't be too snooty and dismiss it as easy listening pop stuff.Chris Botti has some real talent and with the abundance of sax out there, his trumpet is refreshing, but don't be in a hurry to compare him to Miles Davis yet, let alone Lee Morgan, nice music though, gets you in the romantic zone.

Sail up to the stars
Ah, that perennial conundrum. Is it a smooth jazz performance or is it just instrumental pop? For years I've railed against artistes like Kenny G, George Howard, Najee and even Norman Brown (for a minute); artistes who not only think it's clever to play their instruments along the vocal melodies of pop songs and claim they're playing jazz but actually go on to have massive commercial success at it. They play just enough improvisation to substantiate their claims but not too much, so as not to scare the horses. Not that I've got anything against jazz artistes doing pop tunes. Even the heavyweight Pat Metheny did a cover on his last solo album, "One Quiet Night" but it was a Norah Jones song and it was almost a one-off. He certainly doesn't do entire albums of covers. I just think it's lazy and boring.
When I fall in Love
Another one i recommed highly for your collection. Even to give to someone special, she/he would love this one! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Contemporary Jazz    2. Crossover Jazz    3. Instrumental Pop    4. Jazz    5. Mainstream Jazz    6. Orchestral Jazz    7. Pop    8. Smooth Jazz    9. Standards   

Editorial Review

It's no secret that life's darkest moments often place us face-to-face with whatever, or wherever, we've placed our faith. That is the emotional climate listeners will find themselves in with Third Day's Read more

Reviews (35)

Greatest Third Day CD yet!!! Period.
Third Day really did a good job with their new CD "Wherever You Are." This album truly brings worship to a new level. With smash hits like "Carry My Cross" and "Wherever You Are" Third Day truly deserves 5 stars. Anybody looking for a great worship CD should buy this one.

Good, but not great
I've been a Third Day fan ever since seeing them on the Time tour back in 2000.Wherever You Are is good sonically, but it's not on par with Time or Conspiracy #5.Mark Lee, Tai Anderson, and Brad Avery are as tight as they ever have been, and it's nice to hear them crank it up to 11 occasionally on this cd.
Solid Effort from a Solid Band
After critically acclaimed releases "Wire" and "Live Wire" (which I personally thought were lyrically weak), Third Day returns to what makes them great with "Wherever You Are." Their first release was "Cry Out to Jesus," which they made available for free to all fans on their website. While the song was not written with Hurricane Katrina in mind, it was released as a tribute and an outreach to all who had suffered its devastation. Lyrically this song showed me that Third Day was back doing what they did best - boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Read more

Subjects:  1. CCM    2. Christian Rock    3. Pop    4. Religious / Contemp. Christian    5. United States of America   

Editorial Review

Contrary to what Garth Brooks once sang, it never hurts to have friends in high places. Though Joshua Radin is sure to have found his way without them, it can't have done much harm to have gone to college with actor/director Zach Braff and singer/songwriter Cary Brothers, two of his more supportive schoolmates. The connections led to several appearances on Read more

Reviews (11)

unreal
this is the best record of 2006. maybe the best full length i have bought in the last five years. the thing is, this is a classic record. much like nick drake's "pink moon" i think this will stand the test of time. the lyrics are so moving and i can relate to so many of radin's notions. and besides that, the melodies are timeless - i swear, when i think of the world 50 years from now, i absolutely know that people will take classes on this artist and this record. they will remember dylan, simon, drake, stevens and radin. trust me.

I'd give it 2 and a half if I could
Joshua Radin's We Were Here is a pleasant but not flawless major label debut. The album gained a large following as an iTunes exclusive quickly becoming the number one selling folk album on the download service, last month it was released to stores by Columbia Records and its popularity continues to grow.
Really touches you...
Josh Radin was introduced to me by "Scrubs", in the unforgetable 314 episode (I will not elaborate, if someone didn't see it) and I was deeply moved by his tunes.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Pop    3. Rock    4. Rock/Pop    5. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

While they took their name from blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council when they started out as an R&B combo in the mid-60s, Pink Floyd's leader, guitarist Syd Barrett, soon began piloting the band through unprecedented sonic excursions typified by the title of their 1967 debut album's most celebrated track--the outsized instrumental "Interstellar Overdrive." Equally adept at composing catchy-sounding, Gothic-themed pop songs such as "See Emily Play," "The Scarecrow" and "The Gnome," Barrett seemed destined for greatness--that is, until psychedelic drugs got the best of him, and he abandoned the band to bassist Roger Waters and new guitarist David Gilmour. The rest, as they say, is history. Read more

Reviews (371)

A swirling mass of psychedelia, experimental sounds, and instrumental freak outs
Released on August 5, 1967 (about two months after the June 1 UK release of the Beatle's Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band) this excellent debut featured a heady mixture of experimental and avant-garde tendencies, psychedelia, and lengthy instrumental passages that placed Pink Floyd alongside instrumental bands active at the time such as the Soft Machine (debut album 1968).This album, as many people know, featured the late Syd Barrett, who was the primary driver behind the Piper at the Gates of Dawn.Although quite different than the later material that made the band famous, I actually prefer the rawer, more experimental side of Pink Floyd and find it to be a very satisfying example of the proto-progressive rock style.
the only Floyd for me
The stuff with Syd Barrett is the only Pink Floyd that interests me.After him it was a different band.This is absolutely one of my all-time favorite albums.Yes, it's very psychedelic, but I think it is totally unique and defies any attempt to categorize.There simply isn't another album like it.
fits right in
this album fits right in with all those other psych rock bands of the late sixties. it is magneficent. i listen to it between love forever changes and the doors ... Read more

Subjects:  1. British Invasion    2. British Psychedelia    3. England    4. Pop    5. Popular Music    6. Prog-Rock/Art Rock    7. Psychedelic    8. Rock    9. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Despite the photographic presence of an acoustic guitar (the rock & roll equivalent of a rubber bullet), the enviably lovely hair and the unassuming knitwear, Sheryl Crow is staring back at us from the cover of Read more

Reviews (161)

Not a Sheryl Crow fan
Well, I like the song "I shall believe" and that's why I purchased this Album, but it would have been better to buy just the single.

I love this Sheryl Crow CD
I love her hit songs, so I just had to have this CD.

A Best Of that really IS best of
Finally, a Best Of album that actually consists of an artist's best material and most known songs!Unlike some performers' hits compilations, singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow more than gets it right on The Very Best of Sheryl Crow; don't let the name fool you, because every song here, for some time on the charts, was a significant hit single for the beautiful rocker.From the Kid Rock duet "Pictures" to the great cover of "The First Cut Is The Deepest," Crow's Very Best only shows us a slice of a good reason this singer has become one of music's most compelling and accomplished. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. American Trad Rock    3. Pop    4. Pop/Rock    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop    7. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

Experimental singer-songwriter Vienna Teng arrives at her ambitious third album at the peak of her considerable powers, with renowned producer/bassist Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Madeleine Peyroux) providing a more textured and atmospheric landscape. Contributions from musicians Jay Bellerose (Paula Cole, Duncan Sheik), Carla Kihlstedt (Tom Waits), and Marc Orton (Bill Frisell) make Teng's piano-based, jazzy chamber-folk shiver with new intimacy. But at the core, she remains as seductive and transcendent as ever, even as lyrically she takes more of a storytelling approach. Marrying complex melodies and moody tones to captivating lyrics about fevered longings, unspoken truths, and uncharted suffering, the former software engineer pulls listeners into a secret, subterranean world that is often as murky and disturbing as it is wondrous. On "Whatever You Want," a dutiful "company man" and his perfect wife pull back the curtain to reveal a disquieting darkness. In "I Don't Feel So Well," an unbalanced woman issues a provocative warning to a potential lover ("I thought you should know before you fall"). And on "Now Three," delicate cello lines play off a nearly mystical lyric about prenatal knowing. Teng delivers all 11 offerings in a chillingly pure soprano, multitracking her own voice 32 times on the Hurricane Katrina-inspired (if also overlong and ponderous) "Pontchartrain" to achieve something reminiscent of a Latin liturgical piece. Not yet 28 and frighteningly gifted ("Lake Pontchartrain is haunted: Bones without names, photographs framed in reeds"), Teng seems to know your own soul better than you do--the exquisitely beautiful "Recessional," which inspires the album title, may make you rethink your whole life. The album's most uplifting and hopeful cut:"City Hall," inspired by San Francisco's decision in 2004 to recognize gay marriage. ("Ten years waiting for this moment of fate / When we say the words and sign our names / If they take it away someday / This beautiful thing won't change.") Count Read more

Reviews (17)

Amazing lyrics, beautiful voice
I was wandering around Borders a couple of weeks ago in a really bad mood, searching for an album that I could just curl up in bed and listen to. Dreaming Through the Noise was set up at one of the listening stations, so I thought I'd give it a try. I listened to a couple of verses from every track and liked what I was hearing. Everything was mid-tempo, she sings with a kind of quiet intensity. And I adored the lyrics...
Branching out...
Vienna Teng has often expressed a desire not to get into a rut, to produce the same old stuff over and over again.This is disappointing for those of us who actually like her old music, her lovely voice with gorgeous piano accompaniment.But if she wants her music to mature along with her career, I respect that, and I'll happily go along for the ride.
Dreaming Through the Noise
As an avid fan of Vienna Teng's previous releases, I was certainly looking forward to her third album. Dreaming Through the Noise has in no way disappointed me, though it did present a different side of Teng's music.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Pop    3. Rock    4. Rock/Pop    5. Singer/Songwriter   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (41)

"You're Sooo Vain... You Probably Think This Song Is About You... Don't You? Don't You?"
"... And all the girls dreamed
The BEST music!
It's ALIVE, FUN, GEORGEOUS, BEAUTIFUL, MUSIC!!!
in great shape, fast delivery, good price
i'm very pleased. would order again from this seller. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. Pop    3. Pop/Rock    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop    6. Singer/Songwriter    7. Soft Rock   

Editorial Review

Read more

Reviews (52)

Just great!
Chock full of enjoyable songs. You'll probably love it as much as your baby! Really, there's only one song we don't like very much.

Fun kids' music
The first time I heard Baby Beluga, I thought it was a sweet song, and one that I could listen to repeatedly without wanting to throw myself off a cliff. Both thoughts have turned out to continue to be true, and I know because my 2 yr old has insisted on listening to "Bee-looga!" over and over and over again. My husband and I happily sing along with Raffi on this and all the songs on the CD, and I have never once regretted introducing it to my family.

One of the greatest albums of all time
Time and again, Raffi proves and reproves his songwriting prowess as well as his ability to reinvent himself with each record. Let me tell you, this record is no different. Naysayers would have you believe this album is a pretentious, even masturbatory, mesh of children's music cliches, but one needs to look no further than the opening track to see this is simply not true. The song, Baby Beluga, opens to the sound of whales communicating amongst each other. This ambiance is broken almost too soon by Raffi's commanding voice, as he belts out the oh-so-familiar lyrics to a song we all know and love. Other tracks worthy of noting include "Kumbaya" and first single "This Old Man", which features Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) on drums. All in all, this is a VERY solid record and one of the greatest children's albums of all time. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's    2. Children's Folk    3. Childrens    4. Pop    5. Sing-Along   

Editorial Review

Fans of Willy Porter, Ben Harper, and G. Love will all want to check out Jack Johnson's engaging folk- and blues-inflected pop. Born in Oahu, Hawaii, Johnson, a former surfer and film-school graduate, has a knack for acoustic ballads whose calm surfaces hide a subtle but strong lyrical undertow. "It seems to me that 'maybe' pretty much always means 'no,'" sings Johnson on "Flake," which features crony Harper on slide guitar. Production by J.P. Plunier (who also handles Harper's recordings) is simple and uncluttered: acoustic guitar and drum tracks share the foreground with Johnson's easygoing vocals, which evoke everyone from G. Love (who recorded Johnson's "Rodeo Clowns" on his Read more

Reviews (481)

Terrific, as the other reviews say
How can such a seemingly simple, barely instrumented album sound so convincing, so riveting?Great lyrics, sung with perfect (nearly telepathic) intonation by Jack Johnson and great communitative playing come together to grab your attention.You can sense something transcendent, something spiritual while listening to Brushfire.Very special and highly recommended.

Pleasant and light but not a keeper
I'm a big fan of acoustic-based singer/songwriter stuff, so I thought I might like Jack Johnson too. And at first I did. His music is laid back, quite catchy, softly sung, undemanding. Anybody would like it, I guess. But after a while I started to find this CD a bit annoying. When you listen over and over to something really good, it reveals things you didn't see the first few times you played it. But all that's revealed here is a rather `lite' and one-dimensional approach to songwriting and arranging. Lyrics that sound cute at first soon sound empty. It's okay on whimsical songs like `Sexy Plexi', but when he tries to be more serious it doesn't hit the mark. And you may soon tire, as I did, of the crack of the drum that accompanies every song, not to mention that one guitar lick Jack can manage and always does. The band's instrumentation is admittedly fairly minimal, but somebody like Josh Ritter or Garrin Benfield gets more variety with just a guitar and fewer notes.
Another Jack Johnson plus
Love the music - always relaxing and upbeat. Even my 12 year old son thinks the music is great. He really appreciates the fact that most of Jack Johnson's songs have an actual message that is common sense - something we all think and/or understand. Overall Good buy! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Bass    4. Drums    5. Drums (Steel)    6. Guitar (Acoustic)    7. Guitar (Electric)    8. Percussion    9. Piano    10. Pop    11. Rock    12. Rock/Pop    13. Singer/Songwriter    14. Slide Guitar    15. Vocals   

Editorial Review

With stunning album-length explorations of jazz and 1950s acoustic skiffle and a country-rockabilly collaboration with Linda Gail Lewis behind him, Van Morrison continues exploring classic country with compelling reinterpretations of standards from the 1950s to the 1970s. He reaches back over half a century for Hank Williams Sr.'s "Half As Much," "Your Cheatin' Heart," and "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" and Webb Pierce's landmark honky-tonk hits "Back Street Affair," "There Stands the Glass," and "More and More." Moving to the mid-'60s, he capably explores George Jones's "Things Have Gone to Pieces" and Connie Smith's "Once a Day." The 1970s are his limit, however, as he probes Rodney Crowell's "'Til I Gain Control Again." Three Morrison originals blend nicely into this mix, as do two non-country favorites: Chuck Willis's "What Am I Living For" and a gleeful spin on Blue Lu Barker's 1938 jazzy, single-entendre favorite "Don't You Make Me High." Recorded in Ireland with uncluttered hard-country backing, Read more

Reviews (69)

Cross-genre master
Morrison has produced credible albums in Rock, Blues, and Jazz genres. Pay the Devil has the Irish soulster performing classic American country music and some originals that sound entirely appropriate between Hank Williams and Clarence Williams.
Sweet and Sharp - Deceptively Well Crafted
This album is deceptive - on first hearing in a setting with lots of distractions, it actually sounded unremarkeable, as if the songs were done almost casually, one or 2 takes each.But as I listened again, I was stopped when I heared that familiar sharp, plangent, emphatic and superbly modulated voice reaching for real feeling in "What Am I Living For?" - "hey, he cares about this stuff!" I said to myself.At the end of that song someone (Van?) says "hey, that was worth it."Indeed it was! - great country soul singing of a not-normally-country tune.The next tune, a Van original, "This Has Got To Stop," knocked me out - uncompromising deeply felt lyrics, rolling beat, syncopated shouts - a real Van Morrison song, country style.Then the rest of the record came clear to me.There are some great renditions of songs that should sound completely hackneyed, a la Ray Charles' "Modern Sounds," which may well have been the starting place for this record.And - the crucial test - his Hank songs add to the vocabulary.Van doesn't give anything away to any country singer, or even Ray.He channels that feisty, angry, hurt, caring persona into some great country music - this said by a guy (me) who owns 20+ each of Hank Williams and George Jones records, 30+ Ralph Stanley/Stanley Bros. records, and everything Merle Haggard, ever did, etc.

marking time
When Van Morrison is on his game-Astral Weeks, Moondance, Into the Music, Tupelo Honey etc. he's as good as it gets.When he misses, (A Period of