compilations | Stegzy's Music Project

Decade – Duran Duran [#352]

by stegzy

The problem with being a successful band is that no sooner have you released a “Best of” compilation, you run the risk of releasing other hit records that fans feel cheated out of until your next “Best of” compilation.

Decade is Duran Duran’s “Best of” compilation from the CD rush of the early nineties and features all their fabulous songs: Girls on Film, Rio, View to a Kill etc. I managed to get this album from a bargain “5 for £30” offer at the Virgin Megastore in Liverpool, which, when you think of the price of music today, was a bit of a bargain. You don’t tend to see iTunes selling selections of albums in “x for £x” offers. Nor do you see Amazon doing the same with their physical and digital sections.

Still, who pays for music these days?

1989 best of compilations Duran Duran

Comments Off

Death to the Pixies – The Pixies [#351]

by stegzy

Sometime in the 1990s I must have been living under a rock or something. It seems that, to everyone else, the greatest band that ever performed were around and releasing records. Of course, living under a rock meant that I was unaware of this. Probably in the same way as I was unaware of many other musical things. See, that’s what it was like in the pre-internet nineties; if you wanted to find out about the latest music you either had to know someone who worked at Our Price or read NME.

I didn’t know anyone that worked at Our Price. I knew someone that had a music shop, but they sold instruments and rented videos on the side. I also didn’t read NME. Paul Sanderson read NME. Mike Reagan read NME. Most other people I knew thought NME was something to do with miners or something.

Then the late nineties came and I was more musically astute. There I am listening to Uncut magazines 4AD compilation upon which is a track called Debaser. Only to me they’re singing about a steam basin. Lyrics have never been my strong point. My then pre-first-wife says to me that this song is by the Pixies and that I should like them.

At some other point in that time, there I am in work, whistling absent mindedly along to Debaser while doing a stock take in the stationery cupboard. Along comes my chum Nick. “I didn’t know you liked the Pixies” he says to me from under his beret and soul patched face. “I don’t” I replied. “Well you should like them“.

It seemed that if I wanted to be accepted in the world, I had to relinquish my grasp of seventies prog and, at that stage, eighties goth and embrace the modern musical age welcomingly by liking The Pixies. So I went to the Virgin Megastore (HMV was and is shit for music like this) and picked myself a copy of the Pixies’ greatest hits.

And this is said album. I know I should like them. But I don’t. I like two songs on their greatest hits, Debaser and Monkey Gone to Heaven. I should like more of their work. I don’t. I am a failure when it comes to being a hipster it seems.

4AD best of compilations Pixies (The)

Comments Off

De Afrekening Vols 4 & 5 – Various Artists [#346]

by stegzy

During the height of the download free for all, I was taken by the idea that my musical tastes were fairly limited. I was also struck by the idea that the majority of introductions to new music used to come from cassette compilations made by friends or those cassette compilations found discarded on the road, possibly by car thieves.

So I took the initiative to download compilations created professionally or by fans. De Afrekening is one such professionally produced compilation founded from a Belgian radio and record chart broadcasting program featured on Studio Brussel. There were many De Afrekening compilations available at the time and I recall downloading many. However, it now appears that I only have the two remaining ones.

Volume 4 contains the following:

Liberty Song – Levellers
Nearly Lost You – Screaming Trees
Rockin’ the Res – John Trudell
Rosie – Claw Boys Claw
In Liverpool – Suzanne Vega
Changes – Sugar
Stockholm – New Fast Automatic Daffodils
Suspicious Minds – Dwight Yoakam
A Letter to Elise – The Cure
Cold by the Sea – Betty Goes Green
Sting Me – The Black Crowes
This Is Not a Song – The Frank & Walters
Dit is mijn huis – De Mens
Goodbye – The Sundays
Soap Bubble Box – Nits
I Had a Dream, Joe – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Generations – Inspiral Carpets
Als de rook om je hoofd is verdwenen – Tröckener Kecks

No songs that really grab me on this selection, lots of indie Madchester rubbish and it’s nice to see Susanne Vega there but I’m not all that enamoured with this compilation.

For Volume 5:

Two Princes – Spin Doctors
You Suck – Consolidated
Creep – Radiohead
Would? – Alice in Chains
Courage – The Tragically Hip
Feed the Tree – Belly
Cats in the Cradle – Ugly Kid Joe
Killing in the Name – Rage Against the Machine
If I Can’t Change Your Mind – Sugar
Why Should We Wait? – Soapstone Mountain
I Feel You – Depeche Mode
Sugar Kane – Sonic Youth
The Ballad of Lea and Paul – K’s Choice
Your Town – Deacon Blue
Somebody to Shove – Soul Asylum
Can’t Call Me Yours – The Scabs
Little Baby Nothing – Manic Street Preachers
Underwhelmed – Sloan

This volume contains a few good tracks, notably including Belly and Depeche Mode. Some other classics including Ugly Kid Joe, which always reminds me of 1993 and Spin Doctors, who feature later in the music project, also feature on the compilation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd_LDw671M0

While the idea of discovering new music through compilations was good, using the De Afrekening compilations as a method to achieve this was probably not a good idea.

Belly compilations Depeche Mode Various Artists

Comments Off

Contraband: The Best of – Men at Work [#308]

by stegzy

If you ever thought Men at Work were one hit wonders with Down Under, you’ll be very much mistaken. Men at Work were Australia’s answer to the likes of Huey Lewis & the News and such.

Contraband is a “best of” compilation for the antipodean musicians and provides the listener with a broad spectra of their work. If you’ve only ever heard Down Under then I suggest you get this on the old iTunes player and remind yourself that they have actually done a lot more than songs about travelling the world in a worn out combi.

I really like this best of. It’s a good example of how best ofs should work. You’ve heard of one of the artist’s songs but you’re not sure if you’ll like the rest of their work. So buy a best of, discover you like a few of their songs but not enough to warrant buying their entire catalogue.

I should listen to my own advice.

best of compilations Men at Work

Comments Off

Concerts in China – Jean Michel Jarre [#301]

by stegzy

Jarre spreads European culture and music technology to the exotic Far East by playing gigs in Beijing and Shanghai then brings back a little bit of Chinese culture and musical influence to the West.

This album is a live, yes a live, compilation best of thing. Just like all the other live best of compilations in this project only this time, to make it different, you know it’s recorded in China. Wow! Actually in CHINA!

Sure there are a few “Concerts in China” specific tracks on the album but the bulk is just live versions of tracks from previous albums recorded in China. It also sees Jarre whip out his laser harp. I even remember my brother telling me to watch Jarre play the laser harp on TV because it was a groundbreaking, never to be seen again, instrument. Earth shattering never happened, Jarre went on to do more albums and laser harps will never beat seeing the Gamelan play live in Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

1982 best of compilations Jean Michel Jarre Live

Comments Off

Complete Mike Oldfield – Mike Oldfield [#298]

by stegzy

More compilations. I’d like to say that you can tell the popularity of an artist by the number of compilation and “best ofs” they have. Sadly a great deal of musicians use “Best ofs”, Live concerts (as we will see soon with Bryan Ferry and others) and compilations (Box, Collection, Complete and otherwise) to fill the gaps in their “busy” schedules between drug taking, lying about in hotels with three or more women and playing golf, usually to keep the fans interested or aware that they’re still out there….recording…being inspired….living the rock star life. You’d never see Geoff Love releasing a best of.

Today on Stegzy’s Music Project it’s Mike Oldfield and his 1985 compilation showcasing the wide range of musical talent he has. Featuring his memorable pop songs (Moonlight Shadow, Shadow on the Wall, etc), excerpts from his studio works (Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge, etc) and his film and television work (Blue Peter, Killing Fields).

This album was the first album I ever had on CD and I must have listened to it a thousand times over the years considering its age. I bought it from Boots in Liverpool in 1986 using gift vouchers received at Christmas to play on my shiny new CD player (also a Christmas gift bought from Boots). On the same visit I bought the Best of Donna Summer and probably a couple of computer games for my Commodore 64 from Bits and Bytes in Central Station. Bits and Bytes no longer trade, the Donna Summer CD cracked, flaked and went the way of the old dust bin along with the CD player and the stereo it was attached to. Boots no longer sell CDs or Hi-Fis but Mike Oldfield’s Complete Mike Oldfield triple CD compilation still exists and it sits. In a box. In the attic.

1985 compilations Mike Oldfield Progressive Rock

Comments Off

Complete Madness – Madness [#297]

by stegzy

If you were about in the 1980s you’re more than likely familiar with Madness. If you weren’t then you might be aware of Madness.

This album is a compilation of the best of Suggs and his chums and their unique ska sound from the very beginning of their career. Music like this acts as a kind of temporal benchmark were you can usually relate one or two of their songs to some sort of event or activity in your life.

For me the songs Baggy Trousers and Cardiac Arrest have me at eight years old, listening to a cassette mix tape my dad made me for my old mono cassette player. House of Fun was rereleased in the 90s around about the time I was rejecting “popular” music so there’s nothing particular attached to that song.

It should be noted though, that this compilation is from 1982 so later songs such as Our House and Driving in my Car are absent. Therefore, if it is a complete compilation of Madness hits you’re looking for, you’ll want the later Ultimate Madness

best of compilations Madness

Comments Off

Coming of Age – Camel [#292]

by stegzy

A live compilation of songs by prog maestros Camel showcasing work from Snowgoose, Moonmadness and later albums.

Sadly, during transfer from computer to computer over the years, my only copy of this album has now become corrupted; the majority of the songs now shortened by up to half of their original length.

Of course I’m too tight to buy it.

The tantalising audible glimpses of Camel’s genius make this album an excellent introduction to the band for those unfamiliar with their work but the lack of production, with it being a live album, doesn’t show the band in its best light.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIEXlFi3lP8

1998 best of Camel compilations Live

Comments Off

The Collection – Ultravox [#288]

by stegzy

Midge Ure et al, dance with tears in their eyes to all their greatest hits and there are quite a few. This “Best of” compilation is in my top ten of “Favourite best of compilations” especially as it has lots of songs I’m familiar with as well as a few that, until I heard it, were unfamiliar with.

Ultravox synthed their way through the music scene of the 1980s with epic songs people still remember today. Songs such as the evocative Vienna, the eye pricking Dancing with Tears in My Eyes and the rousing Love’s Great Adventure feature heavily on the 1980s soundscape and they also feature on this compilation.

If you want to recapture the 1980s with a single band and Duran Duran are not available, then Ultravox will happily fill that gap for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiM_SD66_LQ

best of compilations Ultravox

Comments Off

Club for Heroes – Various Artists [#283]

by stegzy

Club for Heroes – Various Artists

Back in the early nineties, CD’s started to rise to prominence and with them came an increase in compilations. This is possibly the first compilation I bought rather than made myself using recordings from vinyl or cassette.

Read the rest of this entry »

1992 compilations Duran Duran Spandau Ballet Ultravox Various Artists

Comments Off

Classical Chillout – Various Artists [#278]

by stegzy

Classical Chillout – Various Artists

And so I am now near the end of the week of compilations. Sometimes you get a week with a nice mix of artists, other times you get a week of crap. Sorry. That’s just the way it goes.

Today we have Classical Chillout. It seems that in the late nineties/early noughties there was a massive demand for Chillout. No idea why. It wasn’t exactly a stressful time. I guess it was just people liked to chillout. Possibly with drugs. Maybe with a bath. Whatever floats your boat.

Baths usually.

Anyway, today is Classical Chillout. A nice mix of classical music and modern chillout, which, if anything, I approve of, purely for the inclusion of Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus and Fauré’s In Paradisum and Cantique de Jean Racine. Which is why it is in my collection; I was looking for songs I used to sing when I was in Bishop Eton church choir.

– Barber*	Adagio For Strings	9:31
–Satie*	Gymnopédie No. 1	3:12
–Jenkins*	Adiemus	3:57
–Sakamoto*	Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence	4:46
–Puccini*	O Mio Babbino Caro	2:03
–Albinoni*	Adagio	5:48
–Beethoven*	Figlio Perduto	4:37
–Pärt*	Spiegel Im Spiegel	4:00
–Delibes*	Flower Duet (Lakmé)	3:26
–Nyman*	The Heart Asks Pleasure First / The Promise	3:11
–Fauré*	Cantique De Jean Racine	5:44
–Ungar* & Mason*	The Ashokan Farewell	5:06
–Debussy*	Clair De Lune	4:54
–Allegri*	Misere Mei, Deus (vv 1-4, 17-20)	5:44
–Horner*	My Heart Will Go On	4:19
–Jeffes*	Perpetuum Mobile	4:28
–J. S. Bach*	Concerto For Violin & Oboe In D Minor (BWV 1060 – II: Adagio)	5:52
–Górecki*	Symphony No. 3 ‘Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs’ (II: Lento E Largo – Tanquillissimo) (extract)	4:27
–Vaughan Williams*	The Lark Ascending (Opening)	6:21
–Satie*	Gnossienne No. 1	3:23
–Reich*	Nagoya Marimbas	4:51
–Bruch*	Violin Concerto No. 1 In G Minor (Op. 26 II: Adagio) (Opening)	4:21
–Tavener*	Song For Athene	6:08
–Morricone*	Gabriel’s Oboe	2:11
–Armstrong* / Del Naja* / Vowles* / Marshall*	Weather Storm	6:02
–Morricone*	Chi Mai	5:04
–Fauré*	In Paradisum	3:25
–Catalani*	Ebben? Ne Andrò Lontana (La Wally)	4:49
–Vivaldi*	Winter (The Four Seasons – II: Largo)	2:29
–J. S. Bach*	Piano Concerto No. 5 In F Minor (BWV 1056 – II: Largo)	3:24
–Mozart*	Ave Verum Corpus	3:22

Chill out Classical compilations Various Artists

Comments Off

Classic rock: 1986 – Various Artists [#277]

by stegzy

Classic rock: 1986 – Various Artists

The last in the Time Life trilogy. 1986, that year renown for hair, rock, drugs, more hair, more stadia and yet more hair. With a bit of rock.

But lo! See the track list. Yet again our compiler has been at the stig bin in the bargain section of Woolworths once more and has managed to surpass the previous compilations with another atrocious selection.

1-1	–Georgia Satellites, The	Battleship Chains
1-2	–Meat Loaf And John Parr	Rock ‘N’ Roll Mercenaries
1-3	–ZZ Top	Velcro Fly
1-4	–Big Country	Look Away
1-5	–Europe (2)	Rock The Night
1-6	–Cinderella (3)	Night Songs
1-7	–Billy Idol	To Be A Lover
1-8	–Pretenders, The	Don’t Get Me Wrong
1-9	–Robert Palmer	I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On
1-10	–Ultravox	All Fall Down
1-11	–Kate Bush	Hounds Of Love
1-12	–Mr. Mister	Broken Wings
1-13	–Talking Heads	And She Was
1-14	–Steve Winwood	Higher Love
1-15	–Eurythmics	When Tomorrow Comes
2-1	–Daryl Hall	Dreamtime
2-2	–Psychedelic Furs, The	Pretty In Pink (Film Version)
2-3	–Tina Turner	Typical Male
2-4	–Peter Cetera	Glory Of Love
2-5	–David Lee Roth	Yankee Rose
2-6	–Fabulous Thunderbirds, The	Tuff Enuff
2-7	–Robert Cray Band, The	Smoking Gun
2-8	–Stevie Ray Vaughan	Superstition – Live
2-9	–Alice Cooper (2)	He’s Back (The Man Behind The Mask)
2-10	–Great White	Shot In The Dark
2-11	–Poison (3)	Talk Dirty To Me
2-12	–W.A.S.P.	Wild Child
2-13	–Y&T*	All American Boy
2-14	–Status Quo	In The Army Now
2-15	–Julian Cope	World Shut Your Mouth

1986 compilations Various Artists

Comments Off

Classic rock: 1985 – 1989 – Various Artists [#277]

by stegzy

Classic rock: 1985 – 1989 – Various Artists

Oh dear. It seems yesterday’s album featured some memorable songs. Today’s contains a similar selection of non-hits by bands you’ve heard of occasionally. Again, during the period 1985-1989 there were some really good songs and yet, once again, the compiler has managed to forage completely dull, non-entity tracks from their record collection. It kind of makes me think that the compiler worked in an all night garage.

_{With Talk Radio on.}

CD1

01. Georgia Satellites – Open All Night
02. Gregg Allman – I’m No Angel
03. David Lee Roth – Tobacco Road
04. Jethro Tull – Farm On The Freeway
05. Robert Cray – Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark
06. Status Quo – Burning Bridges
07. Bad Company – No Smoke Without Fire
08. Little Feat – Hate To Lose Your Lovin’
09. George Thorogood – You Talk Too Much
10. Doobie Brothers – Need A Little Taste Of Love
11. Hooters – Johnny B.
12. Steve Winwood – Split Decision
13. Fabulous Thunderbirds – Wrap It Up
14. ZZ Top – Sleeping Bag
15. Great White – Rock Me

CD2

01. Poison – Nothing But A Good Time
02. Billy Idol – Don’t Need A Gun
03. Pat Benatar – Sex As A Weapon
04. Foreigner – Say You Will
05. White Lion – When The Children Cry
06. Marillion – Incommunicado
07. Electric Light Orchestra – Calling America
08. The Stranglers – Always The Sun
09. Big Country – The Teacher
10. Europe – Superstitious
11. Pretenders – My Baby12. Lou Gramm – Just Between You And Me
13. Huey Lewis & The News – Hip To Be Square
14. Deacon Blue – Fergus Sings The Blues
15. Cinderella – Don’t Know What You’ve Got (’til It’s Gone)

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 compilations ELO Jethro Tull Various Artists

Comments Off

Classic rock: 1984-1985 – Various Artists [#277]

by stegzy

Classic rock: 1984-1985 – Various Artists

The next three entries follow a similar pattern. That’s because the next three entries are very similar compilations. I could spare you the time but I’m cruel like that and I put the effort in to listen to these albums so it’s only fair.

The first in our trilogy of Classic Rock:198x – Time Life compilations is for the range 1984-1985, a glorious period in music, rich in a variety of hair, guitars and stadia. So it’s curious as to why the compiler chose the songs they did. I suspect that the compiler for Classic Rock: Symphonic Rock, which is also a Time Life compilation, worked on the same project.

Seriously that guy needs to broaden his music tastes.

1-1	–Billy Idol	Rebel Yell
1-2	–ZZ Top	Legs
1-3	–David Lee Roth	California Girls
1-4	–Huey Lewis & The News	The Power Of Love
1-5	–Pat Benatar	Love Is A Battlefield
1-6	–Eurythmics	Here Comes The Rain Again
1-7	–Waterboys	Whole Of The Moon
1-8	–Kate Bush	Running Up The Hill
1-9	–Jon & Vangelis	State Of Independence
1-10	–Marillion	Kayleigh
1-11	–John Waite	Missing You
1-12	–Rick Springfield	Jessie’s Girl
1-13	–Glenn Frey	The Heat Is On
1-14	–Starship	We Built This City
1-15	–Tears For Fears	Shout
2-1	–Meat Loaf	Modern Girl
2-2	–Bonnie Tyler	Holding Out For A Hero
2-3	–Talking Heads	Road To Nowhere
2-4	–Talk Talk	It’s My Life
2-5	–Dio (2)	Rock ‘N’ Roll Children
2-6	–Deep Purple	Perfect Strangers
2-7	–George Thorogood & The Destroyers	Willie & The Hand Jive
2-8	–Los Lobos	Don’t Worry Baby
2-9	–Bette Midler	Beast Of Burden
2-10	–Nils Lofgren	Secrets In The Street
2-11	–Cars*	Drive
2-12	–Foreigner	I Want To Know What Love Is
2-13	–REO Speedwagon	Can’t Fight This Feeling
2-14	–Chris Rea	Stainsby Girls
2-15	–Far Corporation	Stairway To Heaven

1984 1985 compilations Various Artists

Comments Off

Classic Rock: Symphonic Rock – Various Artists [#276]

by stegzy

Classic Rock: Symphonic Rock – Various Artists

This is another compilation where the core idea works but the choices of tracks don’t.

Curiously, it appears that 70% of the artists featured on the album have previously featured on this project, so if you’ve missed those entries you’ll find that the links take you to those articles.

Anyway, Classic Rock: Symphonic Rock has a relatively good mix of tunes really but not ones I’d have chosen to highlight how rock can be symphonic. It’s a little too…. “twee”…for my liking. There are far better bands that could have featured on this compilation. There’s no Queensryche. No Meatloaf. The Yes option is pretty much mundane and the inclusion of Clannad, of all bands, confuses me no end. Clannad are not what I’d call rock for a start.

Tracklist

1-01	–Vangelis	Pulsar
1-02	–Sky	Toccata
1-03	–Hawkwind	Urban Guerilla
1-04	–Focus	P’s March
1-05	–Electra	Scheidungstag
1-06	–Gentle Giant	The Advent Of Panurge
1-07	–Triumvirat	A Day In The Life
1-08	–Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe	Brother Of Mine
1-09	–Roger Waters	The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range
1-10	–Procol Harum	A Salty Dog
1-11	–Mike Batt	Losing Your Way In The Rain
1-12	–Clannad	Sirius
1-13	–Jon Lord	Aria
1-14	–Barclay James Harvest	Child Of The Universe
1-15	–Jon & Vangelis	So Long Ago, So Clear
2-01	–Mike Oldfield	Sentinel
2-02	–Moody Blues*	The Story In Your Eyes
2-03	–Rick Wakeman	Catherine Howard
2-04	–Electric Light Orchestra	Standin’ In The Rain
2-05	–Alan Parsons Project, The	Damned If I Do
2-06	–Herd	From The Underworld
2-07	–Jethro Tull	Aqualung
2-08	–Gong	Ard Na Greine
2-09	–Vanilla Fudge	You Keep Me Hanging On
2-10	–Ekseption	5th Of Beethoven
2-11	–Aphrodite’s Child	It’s Five O’Clock
2-12	–Strawbs	Autumn
2-13	–Camel	Tell Me
2-14	–Genesis	The Silent Sun
2-15	–Yes	Heart Of The Sunrise

2001 Aphrodite's Child Barclay James Harvest Camel compilations ELO Focus Gong Hawkwind Jethro Tull Mike Oldfield Moody Blues Progressive Rock Rick Wakeman Roger Waters Triumvirat Vangelis Vanilla Fudge Various Artists Yes

Comments Off

Cigarettes and Alcohol: Volume 2 – Various Artists (#274)

by stegzy

Cigarettes and Alcohol: Volume 2 – Various Artists

Compilations like this give compilations like this a bad name.

Think of a barrel. Imagine the bottom of the barrel. Scrape the barrel. Mentally dig right through the wood at the bottom of the barrel with your bare hands. Imagine the sound of your nails splintering through the wood. Read the rest of this entry »

compilations Various Artists

Comments Off

The Chillout Room Volume 2 – Various Artists (#265)

by stegzy

The Chillout Room Volume 2 – Various Artists

Enough people must have bought The Chillout Room to warrant a second volume of chill out choons and chonging. Perhaps it’s the way that chill-out is synonymous, to me, with mental images of my contemporaries jetting off to Ibiza to get wasted in horrific nightclubs and catching some sort of STD from I think her name might have been Sharon.

Of course that is not to say I don’t like the genre. I do, it’s just that it’s tainted by the reminder that there were more confident people who were my age that went on holiday abroad in their early twenties while I ended up going camping in Wales if I was lucky.

This compilation has artists like Smoke City, Groove Armada, Talvin Singh and Moby. The usual “missed the Chillout boat” artists are there but most of the songs are forgettable. But then maybe that’s the idea…..

Chill out compilations remixes Various Artists

Comments Off

Chestnut Mare – The Byrds (#262)

by stegzy

Chestnut Mare – The Byrds (#260)

I used to like The Byrds. Well, I liked a couple of their songs at least. That was until I discovered that they went a bit Goddy towards the end of the 1960s. After that, it was all bollocks really.

Chestnut Mare appears to be an unofficial fan compilation of some of the more popular Byrds songs. I have no idea how it came to be in my collection other than it possibly came from Jamie. Still, there are a number of hits on it, even though, it appears, the Byrds were just a glorified covers band.

best of Byrds (The) compilations

Comments Off

Changesbowie – David Bowie (#260)

by elizabethblacktreacle

Changesbowie, released in 1990, is an attempt to cram a twenty-something year career onto one eighteen-track CD. To give you an idea of the challenge, in that time Bowie released seventeen studio solo albums. For some of them he (or his record label) employed competent people to do the cover art; for this one, they apparently got the intern to knock out something on a Friday afternoon.

Let’s assume that, if you live in the Western world and don’t hate music, you’ll be at least passingly familiar with David Bowie. If you’re buying this album then you probably want a little bit of Bowie in your life, but really can’t be faffed with all those seventeen (now up to twenty-five) albums. You want a nice slice of curated pop, showcasing the weird and the genius while skipping all the bits that were just a little too weird.

And to some extent, I’d say this delivers. It starts, of course, with 1969’s Space Oddity, takes in the biggies of the early 70s, skips pretty lightly over the Berlin years, catches up with the pop hedonism of the beginning of the 80s, and then is (wisely) silent on the end of the decade.

Of course, with any compilation like this the question rapidly becomes not “what’s on it?” but “what got left off?” leaving us to wonder exactly who thought that rather turgid Fame was more worthy of inclusion that the excellent Life on Mars or Starman. To be fair, both of those made it onto the slightly-longer LP/cassette versions. Why didn’t they miss off the rather soupy Golden Years in favour of Ziggy Stardust’s overblown Rock and Roll Suicide? But at the point you’re asking those questions, maybe it’s time to move on and buy a couple of albums. This is certainly a decent snapshot, and covers Bowie’s development through musical styles over a couple of decades. It also gives the impression of being a carefully-compiled list (and not, in fact, a rushed-out record-label cash-in brought on by Bowie’s decision to go off and produce completely different music with Tin Machine at the time). If you’re an absolute beginner, it’s not a bad place to start.

best of compilations David Bowie

1 Comment »

Castlefest 2011 – Various Artists [#252]

by stegzy

Castlefest 2011 – Various Artists

If you didn’t already know, Castlefest is a mediaeval fantasy festival held annually in the Netherlands. I’ve wanted to go for years. We don’t have stuff like Castlefest in the UK., though I suppose the closest thing to Castlefest in the UK is Fellfoot Woods which I’d also like to go to one day. However, I’m now getting old and festivals equate to the darkest recesses of horror. It’s also in the Netherlands and that’s miles away. So it’s very unlikely that it will become a reality.

A number of artists appearing in this music project have also appeared at Castlefest; Sieben, Faun, Omnia to name but a few. This album is a selection of songs from the line up at the 2011 Castlefest including:

Song title:	Artist:
Free	Omnia
Fjarilar	Leaf
We Wait For Them	Sieben
Oberon Und Titania	Omdulo
Jan Mijne Man	Nuraghi
Los Ojos de la Mora	Irfan
Linaun Dance	Iliana
Jigtime	Kelten Zonder Grenzen
De Mundi Statu	Corvus Corax
Judged By	Euzen
Hymn to Pan	Faun
Roots	Aero Fragment
Grone Lunden	Omnia Poetree
Sjon	Valravn
Horizon	Vic Anselmo
Berliner Pflanze	Berlinskibeat

2011 compilations Various Artists

Comments Off

Cassette – Fields of the Nephilim [#251]

by stegzy

Cassette – Fields of the Nephilim

No. This isn’t some long forgotten album or boot leg. This is a special compilation made for me by Chris Herbert in the 1990s after I expressed an interest in goth music. Chris was happy to oblige and provided me with a cassette, which I still have, with some Nephilim songs on.

At first, I thought it was a bit too dark, but over the years it grew on me. To such an extent that it’s possibly one of my most favourite compilations and one of my most cherished cassette tapes. Even though, now, I still have most of the songs on it in much better and clearer format.

It’s possibly the nice line up of FoN’s Celebrate, Love Under Will and Last Exit for the Lost that has had the most effect. I still remember sitting in parks on cold wet days in February, sulking and listening to this on my crumby Walkman while waiting for youthful opportunity to knock. It also used to accompany me on my long daily commute from my flat on Patterdale Road to Bootle New Strand. Much respect to Chris. Cheers mate, you’ve truly made your mark on my life with this compilation.

Last Exit for The Lost

1995 compilations Fields of the Nephilim Memories

3 Comments »

Bursting Out – Jethro Tull (#235)

by stegzy

Bursting Out – Jethro Tull

My first and last time with you yeah? We had some fun. Went scrolling through the blogs yeah and they told you stuff. Oh I want to read some soon, but I wonder how, it was a new day yesterday, but it’s an old day now.

Read the rest of this entry »

best of compilations Jethro Tull Live Progressive Rock

Comments Off

A commentary on Stegzy's album collection

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Club for Heroes – Various Artists

Share this:

Classical Chillout – Various Artists

Share this:

Classic rock: 1986 – Various Artists

Share this:

Classic rock: 1985 – 1989 – Various Artists

Share this:

Classic rock: 1984-1985 – Various Artists

Share this:

Classic Rock: Symphonic Rock – Various Artists

Tracklist

Share this:

Cigarettes and Alcohol: Volume 2 – Various Artists

Share this:

The Chillout Room Volume 2 – Various Artists

Share this:

Chestnut Mare – The Byrds (#260)

Share this:

Share this:

Castlefest 2011 – Various Artists

Song title:

Artist:

Share this:

Cassette – Fields of the Nephilim

Share this:

Bursting Out – Jethro Tull

Share this:

Other Artists Featured

Log in to comment!

RSS