The Band - The Band
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Free Music Notes for The Band
Free Music Review: A great introduction to the world's greatest group
Hit: 5 Stars
Greil Marcus of Rolling Stone Magazine called this "a 12-sided jewel" in 1969. Not to disrespect Mr. Marcus, but that is a complete understatement. While I am partial to Music From Big Pink, this is quite possibly the greatest music of any genre ever produced. Listen to Garth Hudson's sheer brilliance on "Up On Cripple Creek" or Robbie Robertson's guitar solo at the end of "King Harvest", or Rick Danko's (R.I.P.) crisp, tenor voice on "Unfaithful Servant". Richard Manuel (R.I.P.) and Levon Helm bring tears to one's eyes in their duet on "Whispering Pines". Anyone who has not heard this album and calls himself/herself a music fan, must purchase this album soon to retain that claim. The Band was by far the most innovative and talented rock group in history and for anyone to have not heard their second album will not have a large gap in their musical experience. There has not been and will never be another group like them, so this is a can't miss, timeless album. Rick and Richard, we sorely miss you guys and will keep you in our hearts and minds forever.Free Music Review: Up there with the best
Hit: 5 Stars
I've said elsewhere that the Stones' 'Let It Bleed' was the album of 1969, but I forgot about this. I can't decide whether or not it's better than The Band's remarkable debut, 'Music From Big Pink', but in any case it's probably best to follow Levon Helm's lead and treat them as the one work and forget about rating them. The 'brown album' is full of tremendous cuts, notably Robertson's magnificent 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,' sounding starker and drier here than the live versions I've heard, 'The Unfaithful Servant,' with its stupendous Danko vocal and weepy horn outro from Hudson and John Simon, and 'King Harvest (Has Surely Come),' graced with perhaps Robbie's best solo as well as a very funky rhythm section.
While the album owes its greatness to top-shelf songs more than anything else, The Band's ensemble playing is enough to make a person cry (Garth's piano on 'Rag Mama Rag' is, well, indescribable). More than that, you can't help but marvel at the fact that one band could have so many great singers. Put all that together and you have one of the very best albums anyone is likely to make.
Free Music Review: Still unsurpassed after all these years
Hit: 5 Stars
I doubt that any single album has so many great songs played so well. I've come back to this album time and again over the last XX years and it's never disappointed me.At a time when most popular music was permutating the basic guitar-bass-drums line-up, The Band were blending those instruments with reeds, horns and keyboards. Using a tuba as the bass on Rag Mama Rag, no less The sound is simultaneously rough yet sophisticated. The singing blends sweetness and hard edge. Rural but definitely not country.
For music lovers born in the 50s and 60s (and maybe earlier) this album is an absolute sure-fire must-have. For those born later, I wonder whether it sounds as compelling - years of multi-track recording and studio wizardry have raised the taste for smoothness so this one might be a tad too grainy for them.
The version I have is the unremastered CD. I wonder about the additional tracks on this one - more can sometimes diminish the perfect integrity of a great album. If record companies want to give the fans a little extra, bless them, then I personally would prefer them on a 2nd CD.
Free Music Review: I Can't Help But Agree With You All...
Hit: 5 Stars
I was looking for something else but ended up at this album by The Band. The first reviewer pretty much covered it. This is my favorite album of all time, too. I bought it when it came out, at a Sears of all places but this was before the megastores. There is just nothing missing from it, and it was timeless then and remains that way today. It was almost spooky how they had tapped into something so close to the soul of America and with love, pride, and faith. I swore I'd not fall behind as music evolved but there is just something about what is happening in music when young that is a natural connection. Rock and Roll got to the point it started to repeat itself and it's cool, but been there, you know. Something like this album simply transends any pretense and I hope people hearing it today make the same connection with the music and get that crazy feeling they have been there before. Best heard as a vinyl 33rpm record on any player at hand, it is in it's natural form.
There is so much great music in the world I am rather astonished I can name one album as my favorite.
Free Music Review: the greatest American prog album ever!
Hit: 5 Stars
Everyone knows this is a masterpiece. But I have never read that this music is actually PROGRESSIVE ROCK, American style. Forget Happy the Man or Kansas or whatever. They were imitations of European styles. But The Band is, indeed, very progressive. It is to America what Genesis was to England. (Do I hear a guffaw?) First, just like Genesis incorporated traditions from Britain's culture (church hymns, folk music, and a very English humour), The Band drank deeply from all things Americana. They speak with the voices of bluegrass, and soul, and the blues. Sure! The songs aren't that long, but many an Italian prog lp presented the listener with short tunes. Not only that, but Garth Hudson beats Rick Wakeman to the keyboard punch with every chord. And is this music complex? Listen To "Rockin' Chair." Listen to "Whispering Pines." So...my diatribe is over. But think about it when mentioning the great prog bands of North America (four of the band members were Canadian!). In my humble opinion, The Band is the prog masterwork from this side of the ocean. It is our Foxtrot.