great live album. and bebop tango too.
589976
This might well be Frank's greatest live album, and he has more live albums than most groups have albums.(I just counted them-about 20). It is very similar to that great album you can't do that on stage anymore vol2. The band features his funkiest line up. we have the funkmeister George Duke, we have Ruthie, the fowler bros.,jeff simmons,we have TWO  drummers Ralph Humphrey and Chester Thomson. Don Preston is on this album too. And of course Napolean Murphy Brock, i almost forgot him. With these guys, how could it NOT be a great album? It begins with a great twisted song penguin in bondage. zappa gives some funny intros to some of the songs, and he does so with this song, talking about 'deVICES!!' and the like. Great guitar solo here . Pygmy twilight is a nice short little song about drugs i think. It's good but you should really get your hands on ycdtosa vol2 version which will blow your socks off man! A nice version of 'village of the sun' leads into the funny 'dummy up' with Jeff Simmons showing that you can be a pothead and play in frank's band. Then the awesome echidnas arf/ don't you ever wash that thing instrumental. The first one is a beautiful tune, one of Frank's best (also very tricky!). The second is also lovely but there is more room for soloing. We get great music from bruce fowler on trombone, george on keyboards, and the drummers with an amazing drum duel. And Frank delivers a short funky helluvah solo. Cheepnis has a hilarious intro by Frank-'twisting her ankle, on behalf of the Ice Cream Cone'. A great song about the cheapie monster movies. Then we get some oldies, ie More trouble every day and son of orange county. And just in case we forgot, zappa reminds us why he's the greatest guitar player with his soloing. Then bebop tango, my personal highlight. It's a difficult enough tune to get into, but so are a lot of great pieces. I love it when Frank says ' And this is a hard one to play'. It's such an unpredictable piece of music to listen to. So i kept on listening and eventually it made sense. And Bruce Fowler Great Trombone Solo #2!! There is also an extended audience participation which is the complete opposite of the tenacious discipline of the instrumental. fz delivers his quote ' jazz isn't dead it just smells funny'. Frank gets some fans to dance to George Duke's singing and ridicules their pathetic efforts 'no, no, you're just too reserved!' and praises the good dancing 'now THAT'S more like it!'. I love it when he says to them ' go back to your seats, and we'll bring up the next batch'. Sort of like sheep shearing! George then gets funky and we say good night, sadly the gig is over but only until i press the play button again. If you liked this, get ycdtosa vol2. Thank you.
4774975
This is a great album and I enjoy listening to it. Even though it's a live album, you can still hear the songs clearly and you feel like you are right there watching them live.
4700264
This album was amazing, it showed Zeppelin at their finest unlike the scattershot project "The Song Remains The Same". After listening to this it made my jaw drop at how good Zeppelin is live. Songs like "Heartbreaker", "Stairway To Heaven" and "Dazed And Confused" really show how much of a guitar master Jimmy Page was, plus Robert Plant's vocals were amazing and Bonham and Jones kept the rythm alive. "Moby Dick" shows the greatness of John Bonham with his massive 17 minute drum solo. "Whole Lotta Love" is an awesome medley of old blues songs that should get anybody up and dancing. "The Ocean" is probably my favourite song,it rocks hard here, more then on its release on "Houses of the Holy". My favourite part on this album was the violin bowed section on "Dazed And Confused", there is an effect where Page makes an echoing sound from speaker to speaker, and sometimes his guitar sounds like it's roaring like some giant dragon leaving his lair. All and all I think anybody should like this album. My only problem is the lack of songs, there was about 25 songs from each show there could have been a lot more songs included. Buy it!
1639789
This is a "sit back and enjoy" live recording by Steve Gadd.  I suspect that the live performances add to the enjoyment and allow the solos to be extended (versus the more curtailed solos that tend to feature in studio recordings). It all results in a series of familiar compositions with plenty to enjoy from the likes of Ronnie Cuber (Baritone Saxophone), Joey De Francesco (Hammond Organ) and Paul Bollenbeck (Guitar). Within the solos from Ronnie Cuber and Joey De Francesco there are numerous references to other familiar tunes that will have you hearing everything from Michael Jackson to Benny Hill and more besides.

A particular favourite of mine from the set is "Bye Bye Blackbird".  I say this because, despite its frequent interpretations, I don't especially like the song.  I tend to find it sad.  But on this occasion it comes to life and brings a smile to my face. It opens with just drums and trumpet (Joey De Francesco). At certain points, there's a bass line and trumpet suggesting that Joey must be playing trumpet and bass foot pedals simultaneously (if I'm hearing the live performance)!!  The song also features (great) saxophone and guitar solos.

Needless to say we are treated to a tour de force on drums by Steve Gadd and plenty of solos.  My favourite is saved for the last of the live tracks ("Sister Sadie").

There are a couple of additional (bonus) tracks by Edie Brickell as a foretaste of the subsequent Gaddabouts album.  Actually, while these songs have nothing to do with the live performances described above, they are ambitious in their own right.  On the first track ("Here I Am"), it's just Steve's drumming and Edie's voice.  On the second track ("Down") a rhythm guitar (and bass?) is added.  From these two, "Here I Am" is interesting (with drums and vocal only);  "Down" is a really nice song (in my opinion).  It ends with Steve effectively counting down the whole album with his (solo) bass drum pedal (just perfect).

Overall, this is a fun CD;  and if you like Steve Gadd it's well worth having.
3280859
This is a post-humously released collection of studio and live tracks of the Sextet (2 Bandoneon's, Piano, Electric guitair, Cello and Acoustic Bass) that toured in 1989. The album was assembled and produced according to Piazzolla's instructions by producer Kip Hanrahan (Zero Hour, La Camorra, and Rough Dancer). Despite this being an unfinished "sketch" of the album that was to be recorded by the sextet, the performances are fantastic and recording/mixing quality very good, considering the source material.  There are some re-arrangements of previous compositions (including Milonga para tres, Hora Cero, Imagines) a revisit of favorites (Mumuki, Adios Nonino), a polished rediscovery of "Tres minutos con realidad", performed by the guitarist from the original Octet (Horacio Malvicino).  The real treat is the new piece (Sexteto) composed specifically for this group.  There are visceral moments in the performances and the sound is lush - it ranks in my top 3 of the 30 Piazzolla albums I have.  While the live performances are available in complete form in "Live at the BBC" and can be viewed on the DVD "Piazzolla in Portrait" the first three studio tracks, to my knowledge, are not available on other disks.  Besides, this album of the Sextet was assembled as Piazzolla wanted you to hear it.
3057914
This is a fantastic live album, almost on par with the Allman Brother's Live at Filmore East.  The music is similar Southern Blues, which would be expected since Haynes and Woody were formerly part of the Allman Brothers  Band.  Gov't Mule is a trio, but a lot of depth is added to this CD by a  number of guest stars, including Derek Trucks (Butch's nephew), Chuch Leavell  (formerly of the Allman Brothers), Bernie Worell (from  Parliament/Funkadelic) and Randall Bramlett on sax.  The 30 minute version  of John Coltrane's Afro Blue is worth the price of the CD.

If you are  considering buying this CD, you might want to look at the 4 CD Limited  Edition.  It comes in a little cardboard case with a spiral notebook,  slightly bigger than a jewel box.  There are a lot of color pictures (but  the packaging is the reason to buy this).  The Limited Edition has about  100 more minutes of music.  I would be hard pressed to decide what to  remove from the 4 CD version to get down to 2 CD's (except maybe the  Chipmunk solo during Spanish Moon).  I certainly would have kept in Mule  and Jimi Hendrix's Third Stone From the Sun in favor of some of the other  songs that were left on the 2 CD version.  The last CD is an enhanced with  video that can be played on a PC.  The liner notes say that a newer  operating system may be required to run it.

There are two downsides to  the 4 CD set, and they may also exist on the is 2 CD set.  There is a lot  of talking in between songs.  And, the sound quality isn't perfect.  In  some places, it has that echoey concert hall sound that is common on  inferior live recordings.
583193
I really love this album.  It is very acoustic and has a lot of heart.  I am not an authority, but I believe that it is of a traditional, folkloric Argentine tango variety.  Classical style guitar is here, similar to flamenco but not quite so...big.  The inclusion of a bit of percussion and some guitarron makes it feel like a family affair.  I couldn't recommend a CD more highly than this one, it makes me feel good every time I hear it.
335682
Good sound quality on the remaster and a great live album.
2474070
Great album. Songs range from great to pretty good. Everyone I played this for loved it. The Fratellis are one of the best bands around and are great if you can see them live.
911303
This is definitely a fantastic live album.  It pretty well showcases the tour of '69, and captures the energy, musicianship, and showmanship of the Rolling Stones in that time period.
 I listen to whatever strikes me as good, and alot is in that category.  but I'm not one of those people who expects a band to play a song EXACTLY the same as the record.  In fact, I don't see the point in making a live album that sounds just like the record.  It would just be the same, but with crowd noise, right?
 i guess i could see how that really would sound great, but you can't reproduce an intimate sound from a studio record.  An example of a good attempt to scrutinize every detail like that, is The Wall Live, and Alchemy.
Here are the points I look for in a live album:
1-The chemistry is both obvious and strong and the playing is at least good
2-The tempos are good
3-The versions of the compositions are either different and magical or close to the album and powerful
4-The album portrays a sense of excitement
5-The artistes are having fun
IN MY VIEW, this album portrays each of these at an outstanding level.  The only problem with this album is that the crowd noise buries the songs at some points, and even for a live album, the sound, not the playing, isn't very subtle or intimate.  Charlie's drums sound tinny, and Mick's voice isn't very loud.  Although the the guitars' (including the bass) sound great.
What makes this my favorite is the playing quality.  They make it sound easy and smooth on nearly all the tracks, except for maybe "Live With Me."  Which sounds slightly forced.  But in my opinion, this album evokes perfectly why the Stones kick ass.
(even now, they do. I caught the concert in Houston in Jan. 2003, and it was the best thing I'd ever seen)
Peace,
Aaron
444030
It met every expectation of mine and more. This album has always been one of my favorite live albums. To see it with as close as you can get replication of the original vinyl art was awesome. The remastering was very clean and clear.
1652965
This entire album is great.  The best jazz on the green type music available.  Great background music for gatherings.  Perfect with appitizers and conversation.  The lyrics are simple and repeating.  You don't have to listen close to understand.  Warm vibes of synthesized orchestral jazz tamed for the general public.  The ubiquity sound is still as good as it ever was.
2467715
This concert has never been released previously. Not even on vinyl, which makes it even more mind-boggling that this great concert has been able to escape release for so long. This is Bird and Diz at the top of their game, just when bebop was starting to get big. It's funny how Bird was late showing up for this gig and in the middle of the first song you can hear the crowd cheer as he walks on stage. This album leaves me some hope that there's some more great Bird out there still to be discovered.
4635842
Simply one of the best live albums ever. The song selection covers a wide range of King Crimson's discography, going all the way back to Court of the Crimson King, and including such greats as Red, Starless, and Larks' Tongues in Aspic. The performance is tight, and the sound quality is superb.
3541172
The album sounds great on Vinyl, and is a great album in general. I highly recommend it if you don't already have it in your collection.
4754934
How can you not like this. One of the best live albums of the time just like PFramtons comes alive, Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsys, Wishbone Ash lives dates and The Tubes Live just to name a few.
2686705
This is the kind of live album that shows that Earth, Wind & Fire was a strong combo on stage, featuring a dynamic set with lots of improvisation and hot playing. Just listen to Sun Goddess, Africano or Reasons. Unbelievable! isn't it? Definitively of one the best live albums ever.