The Band - The Band
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Free Music Notes for The Band
Free Music Review: The Man
Hit: 5 Stars
While this was one of the great albums of the greatest era, it was also an album that was so off from what was going on at the time. In an interview, Robbie Robertson once said that they didn't care about the hippie movement and what was going on around them. This was a very good thing as it led to completely original creativity through music and voice. There is no other album that could be compared to "The Band". I'd also like to point out that everyone in the band was Canadian except for Levon Helm. I pointed this out because in another review, someone said that they were genuine American. Sorry, but they are 'completely' Canadian.Free Music Review: This Music Grows On You....
Hit: 5 Stars
Levon Helm has one of the most honest,passionate voices in pop music and he delivers some of his best vocals on this classic LP. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "Across The Great Divide" and "Up On Cripple Creek" are the best known songs here and they remain popular for a number of reasons, the first of which is Robbie Robertsons vivid lyrics and the almost ramshackle delivery of the Band, on the surface it all sounds loose and unrehearsed, but listen closer and the intricate details and texture reveal themselves. The late Rick Danko delivers the impossibly pretty "Whispering Pines" in his rich, high tenor and provides gorgeous harmonies along with Helm on the Richard Manuel led "When You Awake". Garth Hudson's flawless organ work and piano on "....Divide" and the juke-joint attack of "Rag Mama Rag" adds just the right touch of creepy woodsy ambience. A lot of modern listeners won't understand this music because of it's homespun, unpolished feel and the unconventional arrangements, but patience and repeated listens to this seminal masterpiece will be time well spent.Free Music Review: Endlessly Fascinating
Hit: 5 Stars
I purchsed this album when it 1st came out -- and as I was first coming over to rock from symphonic and early folk music. Since that time, among the thousands of albums in my collection, this has always been my very favorite, most beloved music. It has amazed me that whenever this music comes on -- whatever the mood or setting -- I am *always* happy to hear it. I feel similarly about The Band's other 2 initial albums -- Music from Big Pink and Stage Fright -- but this one's even finer. Each voice is powerful, resonant and evocative. Each composition is strong. Each line, each instrument played is "just right" harmonically and rhythmically, and the ensemble is as tight as any music I know. At the same time, each player's work -- especially the bewilderingly wonderful Garth Hudson keboards -- is so complex and well conceived that new discoveries within each song still reveal themsleves to me, even after thousands of listenings. How can that be true?! It can be so only with the very finest of all music.
The bonus tracks here include rehearsals which show the arrangements in mid-form, some steps leading to the synthesis as ultimately recorded.
Best known of this classic ensemble, Robbie Robertson with his guitar contrasts some with the rest. His playing is spare, tighter than anything I've heard, and always incisive. Yet for me, the other instruments and vocals are more central to the full presentations. This said, it is clear Roberston's role in it all was crucial, and not only as guitarist. After he left The Band, some of the fire dropped away. Robertson had contributed beyond anything tangible he brought. Their later albums, recorded after a very long hiatus, are excellent but nowhere near the level of the 1st 3.
When I've seen these folks in person, I have been astonished to see that they switch instruments with each other during the set, and each player is excellent playing any instrument!
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is the best known in this colletion, having been covered by many other artists -- notably Joan Baez, in a 'nice' track, but completely outshone by the original. Yet this Band track -- wonderful as it is -- must for me bow to the even more stunning yet varied tracks: King Harvest, When You Awake, Look Out Cleveland, Rockin Chair...and, yes, Rag Mama Rag and Up on Cripple Creek. The great Little Feat cover Rag Mama Rag on their Down Upon the Suwannee River, and do it well. But any cover of this music is simply superfluous.
Free Music Review: RICHARD IS GOD
Hit: 5 Stars
RICHARD MANUEL NEVER GETS ENOUGH CREDIT AMONGST SINGERS !!!!HIS VOICE ON WHISPERING PINES SOUNDS AUTHENTIC AND FROM THE DEPTHS OF HIS HEART.....I AM A HUGE FAN OF THE BAND BUT JUST HONE IN ON RICHARDS VOCALS AND GOOFY DRUMMING STYLE ON SOME SONGS AND YOU WILL HAVE THIS IN YOUR CD PLAYER FOR WEEKS ON END....NOT TO MENTION GARTH LEVON ROBBIE AND RICK ARE ALSO GENIUSES AT THEIR MUSICAL TRADES AND YOU HAVE ONE KICK ASS DISC...BUY THIS STEAL THIS DO SIDE JOBS TO PAY FOR IT ...JUST GET ITFree Music Review: great 2nd album
Hit: 4 Stars
not quite as good as Big Pink but pretty good anyway. the main complaint i have is that Robbie Robertson is not a good guitar player. everyone on these reviews keep saying that the guitar solo in King Harvest is so great, honestly it sounds like a 10 year old could have played that solo better. obviously hes talented since he writes most of the songs, but the thing with The Band is that it always sounds like a group effort. I especially like the songs that sound like the vocals are coming from the other side of the room (jawbone) and most of the songs sound like live takes. most of their biggest songs are on here and most are enjoyable. I still have a problem distinguishing between Danko and Manuel on alot of the vocals, they sound kinda similar.