... of Annie Lennox or just a fan of some good American tunes
594878
Whether you're a fan of Annie Lennox or just a fan of some good American tunes, her interpretations are excellent. "September in the Rain" has never sounded better.
1690871
It seems that Annie has written a lighter album with Songs....when you compare it to Bare.  I am a very late Annie lennox fan, but I LOVE THIS GAL!!  I really enjoy the new younger girls..Duffy, Coco, Trista Prettyman, BUT I am aging and I can't relate so much with their world experiences so much.  I love Annie because I get what she is experiencing.  I wish more women writers and singers were as honest as her.  I love her writing more than the actual music.  I have really enjoyed recently getting all her albums recently and raging with her in the car, in house, and all over.  Finally my husband came up to me while I was loudly playing "Sing"...and said..okay not every wants to hear the sisters singing!!!LOL!! Can't wait for her next album!! I am a fan!!!
3580934
This is a compilation of Irish music - suggesting the profound influence on American music-  they could have made better selections
1056853
This 21-track European compilation contains 17 of the tracks available on the equivalent American compilation&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Definitive-Collection/dp/B0010YPTFG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Definitive Collection</a>. The missing song (One of the guys) is replaced by Just the same, Unsung hero, Getting there and Damn right. The first three of these were minor country hits, stalling in the forties, with the last-named song apparently not released as a single. The other 17 tracks all made the top forty in the country charts at the very least, with ten of them making the country top ten and two others nearly doing so.

Terri Clark's breakthrough came after several years paying her dues, when she signed a recording deal with Mercury in 1994 although it was 1995 by the time that her first recorded music was released. The first single, Better things to do, is a feisty song that appeals particularly to women. Terri recorded other feisty songs, some included here, but there is plenty more to Terri's music besides those.

Terri co-wrote many of her songs, especially in the early part of her career, but she was quite content to record original songs written by others. Only one of the songs here, Poor poor pitiful me, is a cover. When released as a single, it made the top five in the American country charts and went all the way to number one in the Canadian country charts.
There are three other Canadian number one country hits here, these being If I were you, Emotional girl and You're easy on the eyes. The last of these also made number one in the American country charts. Since then, Terri has had another American country number one (Girls lie too, which is included here) and another Canadian country number one (In my next life, which is the title track of Terri's new 2008 album).

Other major country hits featured here include When boy meets girl, Now that I found you, I just wanna be mad, I wanna do it all, but the whole collection is excellent. Terri's fourth album (Fearless) was less successful than its predecessors, perhaps because Terri experimented somewhat with her music. Nevertheless, the thre songs that represent the album on this compilation (A little gasoline, No fear, Getting there)? are well worth a listen.

When Terri burst on the scene in 1995, she was clearly very different from her contemporaries and this compilation clearly proves that. As to the differences in the track listing between&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Definitive-Collection/dp/B0010YPTFG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Definitive Collection</a>&nbsp;and Ultimate collection, they aren't as big as the differences in prices quoted on the different Amazon websites. Just buy your local compilation - it's far cheaper than importing the one from the other side of the Atlantic. Either way, you'll have a magnificent sampling of some of Terri's finest music.
2807541
I have enjoyed Al Stewart's music since his first album, and saw him perform most of these songs live in my younger years.  These were among the albums we played at 4am in my student days, along with "Songs of Leonard Cohen" and others, while we talked the world to rights.

So it's great to have Al's first three albums (including "Love Chronicles" which was infamous at the time for one of the earliest appearances on record of the F-word, used entirely appropriately) all together on a double CD.  It's also good to have all the songs from both versions of "Bedsitter Images", which at some point was reisssued with a few tracks changed.

BUT...  I have now owned two copies of this set, purchased a couple of years apart, with different cover art, and both have suffered from CD rot.  I don't know the quality of current pressings, but I am reluctant to spend my money a third time to check this out.
3026515
I am particularly fond of these artists recordings, and was happy to revisit some of these songs--some I hadn't heard before, but I enjoy it a lot.
4105732
I'm a fan of American composers like Robert Rich, Steve Roach, and Michael Stearns.  All of their music is well made, but even though they were influenced and got their start from European synthesists, their music is distinctly American in style.  The ambient music of the U.S. is great but after listening to Centrozoon, a duo presumably from Germany, I am reminded of why I enjoy this music in the first place.  The music is fresh yet has an underscore of warped and mutating sounds made from vintage synthesizers.  It's more than just a novelty sound.  For it to be interesting, the sounds must go somewhere, and the here the music really conjures up a truly otherworldly feel.  Having said this, the music is not of the exciting roller coaster variety.  It lingers like some of the darker music by Harold Budd; in fact, one piece sounds like it could have been an outtake from Lovely Thunder.  Take that lingering, icy drift and combine the slow alien machine bubblings of the modular synths and something quite fresh takes form.
3019896
I thought that this album was better that Alison KRauss' last CD Forget about it. As some reviewers have noted it does go back an forth between Krauss and Union Station but overall the songs have a more pleasing effect for me. I think that this time I found something likeable in most of them. #1 Let me touch you for a while, #3 The Lucky One,#4 Choctaw Hayride (instrumental), and #12 Take me for longing I thought were especially good.
4044716
There's about 13 songs here that were big hits in America and still can be heard on the oldies and classic rock formats if you can find such stations. And there's about 50 songs here that haven't been heard on American radio in over 30 years if ever. But they all sound like hits so they must have done well on British charts. You'd think any glitter rock compilation would include Slade and Bowie but that music isn't hard to find elsewhere. The two Adam Ant songs from 81 are good but don't really fit in with the rest of the set. The sound quality is very good considering the low cost.
2151835
The Scottish dialect baffles most English people, so the idea of an American singer (who was likely to find the dialect even less comprehensible) singing an album of old Scottish songs may seem positively ludicrous. The reality is that this album works brilliantly, because the words have been Anglicized where it was felt necessary to do so. (Was it really necessary to change Mally to Molly?) Scottish purists may object, but I suspect that this album drew the attention of some people to the work of Robert Burns who hitherto had not known about it. The purists might also object to the music composed by Alton Rinker to back some of the poems. True, he didn't mess with two famous songs (Comin' through the rye, Auld lang syne) but some of the other poems also had music associated with them so it wasn't actually necessary to compose music for as many tracks as he actually did. /having indicated what some people might object to, I'll say that I don't have any objections whatsoever. The end result is superb, showing Jo's love of traditional folk songs from wherever they come.

Jo's album of American folk songs included four banjo-led up-tempo songs and eight ballads. There are no banjos here; all the songs are ballads although the tempo picks up a little here and there. Eight of the tracks were recorded in 1953 with the other four dating from 1956. One of the latter tracks is Annie Laurie, the only song here not featuring lyrics by Robert Burns. Did Jo and her team run out of suitable Burns songs (I doubt it) or did they think Annie Laurie was so good that they simply had to do it? I don't know, but it works well and doesn't seem out of place here. Of the songs not already mentioned, the most famous is My love is like a red red rose. The liner notes state that My Jean (which I think is more correctly titled I love my Jean) was the first poem that Alton Rinker set to music and that he was so pleased with the result that he got the idea for the album. Clearly, Jo was enthusiastic about the idea otherwise the album would never have worked as well as it does.

However strange the idea of an American singer doing an album of old Scottish songs with Anglicized lyrics may appear, this is an outstanding album recorded by a singer who was then at the peak of her considerable powers and who obviously loved the songs.
1532597
The 22 song collection "<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/America-The-Complete-Greatest-Hits/dp/B00005MLVA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">America - The Complete Greatest Hits</a>" supplants the old "History" by updating the America output from the both the Warners and Capitol years (but leaving out "Silent Letter" and "Alibi" or any of the post Capitol albums, especially the fine "Hourglass").

The surprising thing is just how many of these light-weight acoustically based ditties made the top ten in the band's heyday. Even more so is just how well many of them have held up. The CSN&Y sound alike of their first hit, "Horse With No Name," brought them their first attention. A lot of folks were shocked that this trio was actually a couple of American Army brats (Dan Peek and Gerry Beckley) who had teamed up with Londoner Dewey Bunnel and made songs out of homesickness. They began to include some jazzy flavors to the songs (like the banjo in "Don't Cross The River") and a willingness to explore other songwriters, like "Muskrat Love." It was the harmonies that were what made some of the finest songs by America such standouts, like "Sister Golden Hair." The lyrics were frequently poetic and imagistic ("alligator lizards in the air," "spinning round smoke glass, stain bright colors," etc), adding a somewhat psychedelic flair to several of the earlier songs.

If you're searching for a collection of America hits, the one to own is Rhino's "Complete Greatest Hits." It will sit next to your Eagles, Cat Stevens and Seals & Crofts CDs from the seventies quite nicely.
630284
I popped this in my car stereo hoping to hear a few tracks on the way to work, and because of a super rainstorm induced traffic jam, was able to hear each track in its entirety before I pulled up to the old parking lot. It was good enough to make me want to drive home and hear it all again. A rainy day with Nellie McKay is my idea of heaven. "Normal as Blueberry Pie" is a sultry and fun record that would have fit in perfectly with the '50s, yet is a welcome and gorgeous modern sunbeam in the otherwise murky fog of autotuned garbage that's poured into our ears. On one hand, it's a shame to not enjoy the original songwriting skills of McKay as she's one of the best young scribes out there, but in her hands, the work of Doris Day is simply sublime. There's a love for the source material that's clearly apparent, yet they aren't straight covers, either. Prior McKay collaborator Bob Dorough and other jazz greats provide occasional backup to hold it all together. The cover art is bright and wonderful, as are the interior art surrounding the liner notes featuring a bunch of great vintage outfits she picked up from lord knows where. I recommend picking up the physical CD instead of an iTunes download for that very reason. A must for any fan of Nellie, Doris Day, or good songs in general. Might be a great present for your kid, to show them some music that isn't crappy, too!
2920571
This is a tune that should be listened to periodically by Americans who may have forgotten...
4466239
This is a rare kind of music in America. If i am not mistaken. I think some of the songs sounds like Afro beat. Afro beat does it for me..Also like the Reggae track and Ballad. Check out other tracks.<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Greenish-Bird/dp/B00DPX7ADE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Greenish Bird</a>&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Super-Eagles-Forever/dp/B00DPX7A7A/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Super Eagles Forever</a>&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/We-Are-the-Champions/dp/B00DPX7B06/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">We Are the Champions</a>
4228420
I do not generally post reviews of MP3s on Amazon but, Im making this one exception because the CD version of this album by this Australian-based trio is not on Amazon in the US.

I recently discovered duo (who are aided on the album by a female fiddle player and another woman on vocals)  with a name crafted punningly from that of the famous American realist painter who rose to fame during the Great Depression. It was at the Americana Music Conference in Nashville and they were part of the Aussie contingent doing showcases. I was impressed and brought home the CD. Actually, its only an EP as it contains just six tracks and runs just over 21 minutes. But whats there is fine with me. No filler. The banjo, guitar and fiddle blend nicely as do the voices. Theres no hint here that the group comes from down under.

You aren't missing much with just the MP3s because the physical package has a 4-page booklet but the inside has no text and back names the musicians and has a photo the bands namesake artist. For the record (pun intended) Michael David is on guitar and vocals and Lee James is on banjo and vocals.)

You can check out the samples and see for yourself but, if you like Americana, I think youll like this group. I did. Now to wait for their first full-length album.

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.

Steve Ramm
Anything Phonographic
35509
I bought this to try and ended up liking it.  I normally like oldies music, but after listening to this a few times, I ended up liking it.  I have to admit, it took awhile for this CD to grow on me.  She has a few more albums out by now, and they're all pretty good.  Nice CD.
3958195
A couple of songs not my taste That said best thing I have heard in a while. A truly unique treatment of some of the really great old birth of the blues tunes. Respectfully handled giftedly produced.

If anyone figures out the magic word to get Amazon's Alexa to play the autoripped version, please post. (3 echos and two Alexa's lives depend on it)