Record Reviews

MARIANNE FAITHFULL ~ BROKEN ENGLISH (DELUXE EDITION) ISLAND 602537117321 (Barcode: 602537117321) ~ UK ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1979 Released: 2013 Although this is the fifth album by British singer / songwriter Marianne FaithfullFind albums by this artist, in many respects it is also her debut album opening the second stage of her career. The four earlier albums, recorded all between 1965 and 1967, and her entire life between the mid sixties and late seventies is an epic story full of tragedies, misfortunes, drug addiction and disappointments of Pop stardom. The fact that Faithfull managed to survive those years and emerge injured, but not broken is nothing short of a miracle. The hardships changed her in many ways, but as far as her career is concerned the most dramatic change was her "new" voice, cracked, deep and coarse and yet incredibly expressive and honest. Musically Faithfull made an almost complete about face, leaving the sweet Pop image of her early days behind and moved full force into Alternative Rock, partly Punk and partly Hard Rock influenced. The subject matter of her songs also changed into a highly aware social / political / moral critique and anti-populist statements. This was a completely new Marianne Faithfull, no question about it. This deluxe edition includes in addition to the remastered original album also a previously unreleased original mix of the album, which is nothing short of a revelation. The well known version of the album is drenched with synthesizer sounds, which is often quite difficult to bear. The alternate mix gets rid of the awful synthesizer (the plague of the late 1970s and 1980s) and the resulting album, cleaned up is a 100 % Rock masterpiece. Anybody who does not know that mix is simply totally in the dark about how good this classic album really should sound. This addition also includes a short film made at the time of the original album´s release as well as some later remixes of the title song as well as her new version of the song "Sister Morphine" made famous by the Rolling StonesFind albums by this artist on their "Sticky FingersFind albums with this title" album. Overall this is one of the classic albums of the era, right at the dusk of Classic Rock, still biting with its honesty, directness and intrinsic beauty, which survived the tides of time seamlessly. This definitely should be a part of the basic diet of every Rock addict on this planet.

CD 2 Mini-Sleeve Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

ROLLING STONES ~ ROCK AND ROLL CIRCUS (EXPANDED EDITION) ABKCO 824899 (Barcode: 602498248997) ~ UK ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1968 This one brings on waves of acute nostalgia! Filmed in late 1968 and intended for TV broadcast during Christmas of that year, the project was allegedly shelved and screened only years later. The entire concept looks pretty weird at first glance, but fits perfectly in the Psychedelic swinging London milieu of the time. A series of top UK rock acts perform in a circus tent, with typical circus acts filling the space between songs. It is all enormous fan and the rare opportunity to see live artists like Jethro TullFind albums by this artist, The WhoFind albums by this artist, John LennonFind albums by this artist, Eric ClaptonFind albums by this artist, Taj MahalFind albums by this artist, Marianne FaithfullFind albums by this artist and of course the Rolling StonesFind albums by this artist is something no one should miss. To make matters perfectly clear – although the entire show if full of silly little (typical British) jokes, there is more than plenty superb music here, especially the performance by The Who and the Lennon / Clapton group, as well as the Stones of course. This is a rare and exquisite document of the era and a must for all lovers of late 1960’s music. This version of the DVD includes bonus material never previously available. 5.1 Surround Sound, 63 minutes.

DVD 1 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend