Various Artists [Over The Rainbow 'The Songbird Collection']

And another double compilation album, this one's dedicated to female Artists, basically getting out of the poppy / dancy end of the genre, and into the more jazzy / folky end of the spectrum, there's a great mix here, shame they didn't round things out to forty tracks, there's some stuff here i've never heard before, as this is the first outing of these discs.

This compilation came out in 2005, i really like the front cover picture, an almost silhouette by the sea, sun on the horizon, and a rainbow in the sky, lovely glowing warm tones on deep blue sky / sea.

On this listen i liked tracks 1, 6 & 18 the most, here's a synopsis of each,
1 Eva Cassidy Over The Rainbow - Ok, whatever you feel about this song, however kitsch you might feel the original is, or maybe that the song is now overexposed, i was touched by this today, it's a land of make belief, of dreams and desires 'the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true', there's a truth there that rings so true, Cassidy slowly builds it up to a real vocal blast.
6 Texas Say What You Want - A real lovely beat to this song, there's a complexity to it which makes it work, just a good Rock song really, the lyrics aren't particularly deep, just a soppy love song really, but i really liked it today.
18 Roisin O'Reilly Down By The Sally Gardens - Sounds like the theme music for the movie Titanic, very atmospheric, with an angelic Enya like voice, the story is touching, one of regret of a romance that never was, really touched me today.

Various Artists [Electric Dreams '38 Classic Electric Hits]

Seems like there's a higher level of non Classical music in my Blog lately, plus compilation albums are getting a fair crack of the whip in my disc player, this is good news, i'm purposely trying to branch out into a more varied range of music, this is a great double disc compilation of British New Wave / Electric chart hits, some very famous, others surprisingly this is the first i've heard them, plus i'm really surprised that some of the best songs didn't do well in the charts, i must admit that some of the tracks are a little misplaced, listened to this over a couple of days.

This double disc set came out in 1995, the front cover isn't great, but it's nice i guess, but the back inlay is great, a black background, with white lettering for the Artists, and red lettering for the songs, what could be more clearer?.

Well i liked loads of tracks while listening to this, tracks 4, 6, 8, 11, 13-14, 20-21, 23-26, 31 & 38, that's nearly half of them, shows how much i really enjoyed this, the highlights were the four tracks below,
11 Blancmange Living On The Ceiling - It was only after the event of the eighties that i discovered this track, took some time to love it, i love it's disjointed beat, sounds like a xylophone in the chorus, and i just love that eastern vibe throughout [0:54-1:27 / 2:00-2:33 / 3:07-3:58], in the third verse he sings 'why im up the tree you say, why you down there i say!', i just love his logic!, and his operatic voice too!, it has an incredible jive to it.
20 Giorgio Moroder & Phil Oakley Together In Electric Dreams - Surprisingly never got to number one, an almost perfect chart hit, and epitomises the electric / synth sound of the time, highly lyrical, the slow swirling synth introduction is a masterstroke, and so when the chugging synth comes in [0:30+], it's a fantastic moment, there's an extended guitar solo near the end [2:46-3:16].
31 Classix Nouveaux Is It A Dream - I didn't know this track when it came into the charts, and it never got into the top ten, it was only later that i heard it on compilations like this, and i instantly fell in love with it, the lead singer takes it in turn with the rest of the band to sing the lyrics, it's great to hear the loud synths between at the end of the chorus.
38 Ultravox Vienna - A really atmospheric hit, painting visions of cold grey skies, the opening is just beats and peals of thunder, the chorus brings in a keyboard like a church organist [0:54+], and then in the second verse the mix takes it up a notch [1:20+], the whole song builds up and up throughout, and then an extended instrumental [3:10+], sounding like the strings of a cello, a marvellous creation.

Various Artists [The Female Touch]

Really enjoyed playing this two disc set today, unlike other 'poppy' female discs, this has some real clever tracks, it's a great introduction to a number of Artists that you may have overlooked, makes you want to explore some more, i played / reviewed this disc just over 4 years ago [13th July 2010], every time i play these discs i seem to come away with a new favourite track.

Now visually this is a great presentation, love the front booklet cover, half a face, lots of out of focus, except for that eye, also the back inlay is a lesson in how to present a track listing, so easy to read, Artists in pink, tracks in black, why do other release make things harder?.

The tracks that really touched me were 5, 7, 20, 29 & 37, and surprisingly it was the last track on disc 1 that really got me going, 'Silent All These Years' by Tori Amos, i've never been a Tori Amos fan, i've tried some of her music, but i just can't get into her, this is the first time i've really listened to this song, and i love the lyrics, they're so cryptic at times, take this little gem in the middle,

Years go by

If i'm stripped of my beauty

And the orange clouds

Raining in my head

I take it she's singing about her ginger hair, and as she ages she will go grey [grey clouds?], a nice imagery, i love the intro, very Classical, i think she's lifted it from some composition, but i just can't put my finger on which one, a sort of generally discordant prelude that clashes in a nice way, when the lyrics come in, there's these beautiful treble chimes, now that's just delicious, there's an overall cleverness in little touches, tempo and volume to great effect, think i'll look out for more of her individual songs on Various Artists albums.

Here's Tori Amos singing 'Silent All These Years' on YouTube.

Madonna [The Immaculate Collection] 

Well first off, about the cover, it's obviously not 'The Immaculate Collection', but i hate that cover, so i used this superb 'visual' album of hers to use as her Greatest Hits, and i'll talk about that below, this is a great album, one of the best i own, whatever anyone says, Madonna is a genius, her songs transcend time, these are 'old' now, and yet they're still fresh and lively, it's amazing how many times she really hit the spot, and i'm marvelling at her ability to play a number of different styles, and still be so consistent, i do play this regular, but with nearly 1600 disc in my collection, this gets in my player not as often as i would like, last time it was in my Blog was in 2010 [22nd June 2010].

Madonna, or Madonna Ciccone, is American, she's now 54, this album came out in 1990, and yes i admit it's getting old hat for a Greatest Hits collection, as there's another 20 years more material since then, but somehow i still feel it represents her at her best, she would delve into more electronic type music later, and i feel she's lost her sparkle of what she's very best at, plus the two disc 'Celebration' that came out in 2009 has a slight feel of 'filler' to it, yes even Madonna has a hard time filling two discs, i love this more, as i said above, the disc inside is 'The Immaculate Collection', but the booklet / back insert is from her album 'Ray Of Light', its visuals are superb, a stunning shot of Madonna on the front, golden haired, blowing around her face, and a blue PVC dress!, the booklet doesn't show the opposite side of the back insert, where more of her hair shows on the spine on the left, a great visual idea, i rubbed on transfers on the front cover for the title, and on the back i made a self adhesive sticker with lettering on, i think it looks fantastic, so much for the original visual issue.

Billy Joel [The Ultimate Collection] 

Again i'm surprised in listening to these two discs, how Joel can create an even bunch of hits over a long period of time, and fill up two discs without resorting to the dreaded 'filler', even the lesser known songs have a tendency to be gems, Joel has a knack of knowing what musical devices in the composing stage, create musical satisfaction in the hearing stage, plus Joel sings about some off the beaten track themes, Russian Clowns, Vietnam, Fishing Boats etc, of course there's lots of love songs, but his lyrics still touch a nerve, plus the tunes really are smart and memorable, and Artist full of satisfaction, this got into my Blog in 2010 also [13th October 2010].

Billy Joel is American, he's now 63, and this compilation came out in 2000, the front cover image shows Joel as somewhat of a blur, a black & white shot that's more full of greys, not the greatest pic they could have used, but the lettering is actually quite smart, the inner booklet has all the lyrics to all the songs, one of the surprising things is that all of the tracks were written by Joel, no covers, no collaborations, and amazing feat.

Well, of all the tracks it was 2-3, 5, 12-15, 19, 23-24 & 32-34 that i liked the best, and the real cream of the crop was two songs, one on each disc, tracks 14 & 34, and here's a synopsis of both,
14 She's Always A Woman - 
34 The Downeaster Alexa - 

Kathryn Williams [Old Low Light] 

This is the third listen to this album, and the second appearance in my Blog [26th July 2011], sometimes i actually read what i wrote the last time i played the disc, but most of the time i don't want to plagiarise my own previous thoughts!, but yes i remember now the park bench, a mid summer's day, and felt myself fallen in love with a new album, i also mentioned that 'the third listen should be phenomenal', well... it's not!, but it was still a wonderful disc to listen to, and i still felt an advancement in my love for it, albeit it's slower to develop that love than i thought, and again as the Q Magazine mentioned, 'it's a sly fox of an album' sums it up very nicely, on this listen i noticed its acoustic warm double bass of Jonny Bridgwood, superbly played, Williams is the master [mistress?!] of understatement, some Singer-Songwriters know the art of 'grabbing' you, Williams does the opposite, purposely leaves you alone to come to your own conclusions, also it should be noted, that this time i was slightly annoyed by the lack of track numbers, so i rubbed on some white transfers to correct this, a nice little addition.

Kathryn Williams is English, from her accent i can tell she's from up North [Liverpool], she's now 38, and she made this album in 2002, the front cover photograph, i take it is a family snap at the seaside, and it's of Kathryn on her Mother's lap, it's actually a nice snap taken by her Dad maybe?, of the two of them watching the world go by, a candid shot, nicely backlit, i love the colours, and i would guess it's on the east coast of England [considering the direction of light, and the coastline], and in doing a bit of detective work, i can now see it's possibly her Father's lap she's sitting on!, and her Mother took the snap, er... wait a minute, this is meant to be a music Blog not a photography Blog!.

Well what can i say?, it was tracks 3 & 5 again that i really liked, but this time a lot of the other tracks impressed me more than last time, and here's a synopsis of both of these tracks,
3 Mirrorball - Love the way this one starts, great rhythmic percussion, like some card slapping against the spokes of a spinning bicycle wheel, and the simple piano melody, Williams sings in a high soprano, nice and lyrical and happy, the twang of the guitar mirrors the opening piano melody, there's minor key changes which bring some nice variety, the beginning of each of the new verses are both superb moments, the piano intermittently comes back to play its simple melody, at the end the whole thing rather than fade out, each of the instruments one by one comes to an end, leaving the piano melody to play its lonesome melody, best lyric 'And ended up making the mundane into my shrine'.
5 Daydream And Saunter - Yes it's that upright bass!, a superb opening gambit [0:00-0:08], and the way it twangs against the wood, and i love the way the instruments open out after this intro, the high ping of the guitar, and the muted background trumpet [Graham Hardy], towards the end there's a chamber string arrangement [probably a String Quartet], and the constant bump of a foot pedal drum, best lyric 'I know there's no more in you than you'. 

Here's Kathryn Williams Old Low Light album on the AllMusic Website, you can listen to 30 second samples of the tracks.

Judy Collins [Fires Of Eden] 

A disc i picked up second hand cheap, a real shot in the dark this one, i had never heard of Judy Collins before, some of these things can be a major miss, not a great album, but early in my listening of it [1993], i was very impressed with the long opening track 'The Blizzard', plus Collins isn't merely some cover Artist, she really can write songs too, and a good half of the tracks here come from her own pen, i must admit there's a simplicity here, she doesn't write what i would call Adult Rock, she can border on the edge of Easy Listening, and yet her music is certainly more sophisticated than that, at the same time she doesn't want me to go out and explore all her other albums, she's quite an anomaly, but this is how my music collection / library is made up, of single discs of numerous Artists, rather than a 'buy everything they ever issued' type of guy, her song 'Send In The Clouds' [not on here] is a tremendous piece of music [though composed by Sondheim], it was good to revisit this disc today.

Judy Collins is American, and wow she's now 73, i thought she was in her sixties, she recorded this disc in 1990, the photography is by Kip Meyers, and i just love the front cover photo, a nice portrait caught on the wing, almost a monotone black & white shot, and the black lettering in the corners is nicely placed, a good visual product.

The two tracks i love are 1 & 5, and it's the fifth which is tremendous, called 'Home Before Dark', the lyrics are meaningful, the intro suggests a piano driven ballad, but it soon turns into a gently strumming acoustic number, Collins's voice is a high soprano, lovely and sweet, the tune is so superb, and the verses have that gorgeous eternal nature about them, the second verse brings in what sounds like a mandolin, but it's really a synthesiser [1:09+], it adds a delicious layer to the verse, just loved this today.

Here's Judy Collins singing 'Home Before Dark' live on YouTube.

Elton John [The Very Best Of Elton John] 

One of the best two disc Best Of / Greatest Hits i own, only a few duds , but most Artists have a fair number of duds even with one disc compilations!, i got to know Elton John in the mid Seventies, buying some of his singles [vinyl 45's!], he's very varied, and Artists of course change over the years, a lot of times they change for the worse, they're so famous they can put any old music out and it would sell well enough, and even though Elton has had his commercial moments, he's been pretty consistent, the two discs follow a vague chronological order, songs like 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', and 'Candle In The Wind' were Seventies favourites, but then he had great hits a decade later with 'Nikita' and 'Sacrifice', i have to admit he's probably now considered 'easy listening', but his songs of the Seventies / Eighties are timeless Pop / Rock, i played this set just over a year ago [13th August 2011].

Elton John is now 65, he was born in England, this compilation came out in 1990, yes more than 20 years ago!, and yet apart from a few songs, it still represents Elton John's very best stuff nicely, i don't feel that i need to buy some updated package to replace this, the front cover photo [by Greg Gorman], is a great portrait, lovely lighting indeed, all couched in blue, with lighting from above, the jacket literally glows in the dark!.

Well on this listen, the songs that i really enjoyed were tracks 6, 8, 24, 26 & 28, which are the four i mentioned above, plus 'Sad Songs', these five are his great handful, and they were the five i really loved last time i listened to these discs, so i thought i would concentrate on this fifth song, and give my feelings about it,

24 Sad Songs - It's a song that i didn't get to know when it came out in the charts, i stopped listening to the charts in the very late Seventies, probably 1979, and this came out in 1984, not a song i knew until i bought this compilation, and it's slowly worked on me, it has a great rhythm and forward momentum to it, i guess it's keyboard driven, even though the keyboard isn't a piano, the chorus is a nice powerhouse, and Elton sings so strongly, halfway through there's a very special 'sad songs they say' repetition [2:40-2:58], nicely sung in a different key, and right after Elton really explodes 'so turn them on, oh turn them on', with a great emphasis on 'oh' [3:01], and at the outro 'when every little bit of hope is gone' [3:43+] is an extra little bit of bite, the whole thing is really terrific.

Paul Simon [Graceland] 

Another dose of Paul Simon from his African inspired album [25th March 2010], one of the greatest albums of all time, it's so full of lots of different ideas, and some truly great songs, and Simon perfects some of the greatest rhythms he has ever done, gone are the folky Simon & Garfunkel acoustic guitars and voices, and in comes World Music, it was a great idea, and Simon literally re-invented himself, back in 1993 when i first bought this album, i really played it a lot, and it became my 'record of the month' for February, but Paul Simon ended up having a hard time sustaining his new image, and subsequent albums were a poor shadow on this one, i don't play this as much as i used to, but when i do i still love it.

Paul Simon is American, he's now 71, he recorded this disc in 1986 in his mid-Forties, and it's his best solo album by far, the front cover is an Icon of some warrior i guess, looks like something out of the Robin Hood era, but i like the icon, it really works well.

The best tracks were 2, 5-7, 9 & 11, with the very top track of course 'Graceland' itselgfs ia charming companion.

Here's on YouTube.

Various Artists [Millennium 1970-1979] 

I like compilation albums, they really fill a need, and this one is a really inventive double disc set, featuring certain Artists / songs that are hard to come by, nicely kept around the theme of one decade of British hits, there's lots of number one hits on these discs, though it's not a compilation of number one's, in this series there's a Fifties and Sixties set also, maybe even an Eighties set, they're well worth collecting. 

I like the way the booklet is laid out, with black & white news stories of the decade, this booklet is yellow and blue in it's colours, it's a lovely visual marvel, the track listing on the back is also pleasing to read.

Well the tracks i liked the best were 9, 12, 19 & 26, and here's a synopsis of each,
9 Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street, The song that put the saxophone on the map, a stroke of genius in letting the saxophone take over the intro instead of the electric guitar, and a double stroke of genius to have the intro return before the start of the second verse also, and of course the outro as well, everyone loves the saxophone contribution [by Raphael Ravenscroft], the mix of instruments is delicious, a soft click clack on the percussion, nice warblings on the accordion, in the 'chorus' there's glockenspiel, and the travelogue meanderings of Rafferty [supposedly singing about himself], a real classic.
12 Hot Chocolate - So You Win Again, I remember when this first hit the charts, straight in at number 22, and the following week it shot right up to 3, before sitting on the top of the charts, Hot Chocolate's stroke of genius [as well as 'You Sexy Thing'], it's such a powerful song, there's elements of Reggae and Soul in there, and the xylophone is quite prominent in the background, the lead singer Errol Brown is from Jamaica. 
19 Wizzard - Angel Fingers, In the Seventies they were one of my favourite bands, Wizzard / Roy Wood were a throwback to old time Rock & Roll, with saxophones very prominent, 'As i was lying in my bedroom fast asleep...', always thought it was a great opening line, one of the songs that really benefit from a third verse, it descends into doo wop at the end. 
26 Real Thing - You To Me Are Everything, A real Disco masterpiece, got to number one, there's a certain flow to the whole thing, and the chorus is so strong, it really takes off, with three backing singers to make it more powerful, and the orchestral strings that come in also, reminds me of those endless summers as a teenager, hmmmn!.