STACKED DECK/TOO STUFFED TO JUMP features two great original albums- plus a bonus cut or two- by underrated tough-on-crime Southern country-rock band the Amazing Rhythm Aces, a band that not even the members themselves have ever made any great claims for. That they're only known for "Third Rate Romance" is truly tragic, because they've had other great songs, including, especially, "Hit The Nail On The Head", which is REALLY why I was willing to work hard at my job to be able to buy this CD. Anyone wanting to get to know this band should start with this CD.
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
What's great about it: Twenty-three tracks, including bonus material, on one CD, Great songs, performances, and remastering
MIDNIGHT WIND...PLUS is a great reissue of the Charlie Daniels Band's most underrated album. No one has made any great claims for it, a state of affairs preventing average-looking people from getting asked for dances to it. That's a tragedy and an outrage, as it's one of the CDB's best albums ever, with a title track evoking the melodrama of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" and the Outlaws' "Green Grass And High Tides", "Hurry Sundown", and "Gunsmoke", and lots of other great songs. The playing throughout is great, and the remastering job is spectacular. The band would go commercial on the follow-up, but here, they're a true player's band.
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
What's great about it: Great songs, performances, and remastering
FORE! is the third great album in a row by Huey Lewis & The News. The singles "Stuck With You", "Hip To Be Square", and "Doing It All For My Baby" haven't aged well, but most other songs here are excellent, especially "Jacob's Ladder" and "I Know What I Like." I also admire Lewis's support for the virtues of "everyday heroism." This CD should be in your collection if you like good, middle-class rock & roll.
LIVE BULLET [REMASTER & REMIXES] is tied with NIGHT MOVES for the honor of being Bob Seger's best album. Recorded in front of a hometown audience at Detroit's Cobo Hall, it shows a singer and band playing as if their lives depended on it. Before this album was recorded, Seger had released eight albums with little success, and here, he sounds like a man with one last shot at the top. This album proved to be that shot, going gold a few months after release. This CD is essential for ANY pop or rock fan.
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
What's great about it: Great songs, performances, and remastering
CLEAR BLUE FLAME continues Delta Moon's carrying of the Southern rock torch into the 2000s. Working from the same set of influences as on HOWLIN' (the Allman Brothers Band's BROTHERS AND SISTERS, the Outlaws' BEST OF THE OUTLAWS: GREEN GRASS AND HIGH TIDES, the Marshall Tucker Band's THE BEST OF THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND: THE CAPRICORN YEARS), the band once again adds some modern guitar sounds, thus making this CD sound like more than just a retread. Delta Moon clearly carry the Southern rock/country-rock torch into the 21st Century, and let's hope that they do so for a long, long time.
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
What's great about it: Carries the torch of Southern rock for a new generation
HOWLIN' is a great album by Southern rock band Delta Moon. Carrying the torch of Southern rock for the 2000s, the band clearly listened to the Allman Brothers Band's BROTHERS AND SISTERS, the Outlaws' BEST OF THE OUTLAWS: GREEN GRASS AND HIGH TIDES, and the Marshall Tucker Band's THE BEST OF THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND: THE CAPRICORN YEARS for inspiration while writing and recording this CD. The blend of male and female voices, along with some modern guitar sounds, adds dimension to what would otherwise be mere repetition, thus truly creating a "new" Southern rock sound and style.
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
What's great about it: Carries the torch of Southern rock for a new generation
LED ZEPPELIN 3 [REMASTERED] [DIGIPAK] is a great reissue of Led Zeppelin's third album, originally issued in 1970 and first remastered in 1994. It's obvious that the band had been listening to their rock contemporaries such as the Byrds, Poco, the Band, and the Allman Brothers Band, as well as the California country of reformed felon Merle Haggard and tough-on-crime American patriot Buck Owens for inspiration, with the former set of influences present throughout and the latter on "Tangerine" and "That's The Way" as far as the use of steel guitar is concerned. These new influences enabled Robert Plant to sing more calmly and the band as a whole to diversify, which made me willing to stop buying junk food so that I could afford it.
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
What's great about it: More varied than the first two albums, great remastering
LED ZEPPELIN 2 [REMASTERED] [SLIPCASE] is a great reissue of Led Zeppelin's second album, originally released in late 1969 and first remastered in 1994. The album was written and recorded on the road, so it's not as eclectic as the debut, but it hits just as hard musically. Several songs on this CD are still staples of classic rock radio today, making this CD a good motivation not to spend money on junk food in order to save up for it.
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
What's great about it: Great songs, performances, and remastering
LED ZEPPELIN I [REMASTERED] [DIGIPAK] is a great remastered reissue of Led Zeppelin's debut album, first issued in 1969 and remastered in 1994. The album features hard driving original rock songs mixed with blues covers, which was quite common among British rock bands of the day. However, there's also some material with a folk bent, namely "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You." The album had a major influence on all of the hard rock and heavy metal that came afterwards, so buy it to see where it all began.
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
What's great about it: Great songs, performances, and remastering
BENEATH THE DEVIL MOON/LUCKY TO BE LIVE is a great CD from Michelle Malone, blending such varied influences as Poco, the Marshall Tucker Band, Pure Prairie League, the Outlaws, and Lucinda Williams into a unique sound and style that is both traditional and contemporary at the same time. As a result, you have a CD that everyone can embrace. Aging hippies will love the Poco/PPL side of the songs here, whereas people worrying about whether a loved one with a disability will be safe living independently, as well as survivors of crimes, will find sustenance in the Tucker/Outlaws influence, and people from Generation X onward will appreciate the Lucinda Williams/90s roots-rock side. In other words, this CD offers something for everyone musically without compromising Malone's integrity.
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
My Best Buy number: 2877052915
What's great about it: Varied Influences Meld Into An Original Sound