=
×

Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Head To Head
Log In
Register
Unsung Forum »
YOUR Best of 2007
Log In to post a reply
78 messages
Topic View: Flat | Threaded
Fitter Stoke
Fitter Stoke
2608 posts

Re: YOUR Best of 2007
Dec 10, 2007, 00:27
Best album: Neil Young's 'Chrome Dreams II', containing ace examples of both his rocks-off Crazy Horse material and his thought-provoking, 'Needle and the Damage Done' laid back acoustic style: in short, the great man in his true pomp and circumstance. It don't get any better than this. Honourable mentions are also due to fellow old-guards Van Morrison (whose internet only 'Live At Austin City Limits' is astounding), Bruce Springsteen (delivering the goods big-time with 'Magic'), and Canterbury stalwarts Kevin Ayers ('The Unfairground' being half an hour of luxury Ayers at his long-awaited best) and Robert Wyatt ('Comicopera' - flawed genius).

Best reissue: it's been a good year of reactivated gems. The Moby Grape and Soft Machine remasters were excellent, and the three proper Joy Division albums have never sounded darker, and better, than in their new expanded format. Y&T's early metal epics finally got the blistereng remastering they deserved as well, and Napalm Death's 'Scum' obliterated anew in its dualdisc format. But pride of place goes to Salvo's superb reissues of the first two Move albums, especially 'Shazam' which sounds immaculate and drips power, emotion, humour and charm in equal measure: British progressive rock at its finest. Don't miss it.

Best box set: I'm torn between two very contrasted releases - The Wedding Present's quintessential 'Peel Sessions' box (so full of pleasures that I have to restrict my listening to a session at a time, and believe me, there ain't one clunker here) and Charlie Parker's 'Complete Carnegie Hall Performances' (which, despite duplicating some stuff already avalable in the massive Verve box, brings some superb live recordings onto the market.) If pushed, I'll go for the Weddoes as this is a rock and roll site.

Best classical album: Solti's Mahler 5 with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra - his last ever performance and a perfect blend of the intense and the emotional. Have to mention Music & Art's stunning remastering of Toscanini's overwhelming 1939 Beethoven cycle as well as the greatest 'Eroica' I've ever heard with the Symphony of the Air conducted by Bruno Walter in a 1957 memorial concert to that self-same Italian maestro. Beethoven never sounded greater than this.

A very good year for music, all told. Here's to the next one.
In reply to:
YOUR Best of 2007 (zphage)		 Replies:
Re: YOUR Best of 2007 (zphage)
Topic Outline:
Unsung Forum Index