1. Suzanne 2. Sisters of Mercy 3. The Stranger Song 4. Hey, That s No Way to Say Goodbye 5. Master Song 6. Bird on a Wire 7. The Partisan 8. Famous Blue Raincoat 9. Chelsea Hotel No. 2 10. Take This Longing 11. Who by Fire 12. The Guests 13. Hallelujah 14. If It Be Your Will 15. Night Comes On 16. I m Your Man 17. Everybody Knows 18. Tower of Song

This two-disc retrospective traces the Canadian bard s musical maturity from poet and novelist who sang a little to multidimensional artist whose oracular vocals and increasingly rich arrangements are every bit as compelling as his verse. Even when Cohen came to prominence through the 1960s songcraft of Suzanne and Bird on a Wire, the folksinger tag never really fit. Later highlights ranging from the deadpan drollery of Tower of Song and Everybody Knows to the apocalyptic anthemry of First We Take Manhattan and Democracy suggest that other labels might be more appropriate: cabaret surrealist, spiritual gadfly, sensual prophet, agent provocateur. Cohen chose the selections, drawing more than half of the 31 tracks from three landmark albums--his 1967 debut Songs of Leonard Cohen, 1988 s I m Your Man, and 1992 s The Future--along with four from 2001 s Ten New Songs. The collection justifies its title as deep as it goes, though it s a shame that Cohen s commercial profile couldn t justify ...

#The Essential Leonard Cohen [LIMITED EDITION] [ORIGINAL RECO (2004-06-29) The Essential Leonard Cohen [LIMITED EDITION] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]~ Leonard Cohen is an amazing collection of cohens awesome tallent for lyric writing and his scrappy but loveable vocals. He is a serious man: yet it is never pretentious or boring. Which often happens with other vocalists of his God given tallent.

#cheatin and stuff (2004-05-08) Leonard Cohen is the one man I would cheat on my husband with. Yes, ma am.

#Potrait of An Artist As Both A Sage and Sinner (2004-05-03) The beauty of Leonard Cohen is he has always followed his own eccentric path and I see no duality between Cohen, the young romantic rake who ages into the embittered sensualist. It was always clear that Field Commander L. Cohen was going to dance us to the end of love, regardless of the consequences. Wheter it s the young revolutionary partisan, or the world weary cynic railing against the excesses of democracy, Cohen has never been satisfied with the political or moral status quo. His career is based on dissatisfaction wi...

#A Suitable Primer (2004-03-29) The name Leonard Cohen first came to my attention way back in the day when Suzanne was released. It was a fairly popular and much-covered song, but it never occurred to me to actually buy the album. I was into much musically heavier things at the time and so my awareness of Cohen gradually receded into distant memory. Nowadays, my musical interests are much wider and my pockets deeper, so I took a chance on Cohen s CD Ten New Songs when it was released several years ago. It took a while to get into, but I liked some of the songs immediately. My rule w...

#Thank God for Leonard Cohen (2004-01-04) This is a must for any Leonard Cohen complete-ist s collection! I have every CD he s ever put out and yet I find myself frequently choosing this set in order to conveniently listen to favorites from a variety of Leonard s previous CDs. A fabulous collection from an amazing artist!

1. In the Still of the Night 2. It s All Right With Me 3. Love for Sale 4. Just One of Those Things 5. I ve Got You Under My Skin 6. Ev ry Time We Say Goodbye 7. Night and Day 8. Easy to Love 9. Why Can t You Behave? 10. I Love Paris 11. I Concentrate on You 12. It s De-Lovely

#Oscar Peterson s Trio Performance:One of the Best. (2003-07-02) This re-release by Verve preserves, in my opinion, one of the best trio performances. In the Still of the Night , Peterson s subtle single melody nuances and left hand chords are complimented by Ray Brown s wonderful bass. Ed Thigpen maintains the tempo with his stylish brush technique. The rest of the CD is hampered only slightly by the volme inconsistencies from one number to the next, created by the studio. This is a great CD.

#BUY IT EYES CLOSED (2003-05-31) OSCAR PETERSON s 1959 piano tribute to COLE PORTER is a joy even if it s only 33 minutes long. We could have take an another half hour of this music. What makes it so enjoyable is the variety of moods it delivers. There was actually another PORTER songbook recorded in mono,but for a reason i ignore,they did not coupled it with this one to make it last longer. A message to VERVE:did they lost the masters of the RICHARD RODGERS songbook,and if not,what are they waiting for?

#Oscar Peterson is S wonderful (2003-01-26) How can one go wrong setting Cole Porter music down. . . How can the Great Oscar Peterson go wrong either? He didn t. Oscar is a shining example of what makes a truely wonderful, gifted musician. His dynamics, touch and feeling are really a joy to listen to. Well done! Enjoy!

#cole porter and rythm (2001-02-25) well, i can play Cole in 1. 000 ways . All the ways are wonderful.

#Yes, oh yes, indeed, yes, yes, yes! (2000-05-20) Every time I play this CD people ask about it. I have never seen something so universally loved. It creates and sustains a lazy summer afternoon mood like no other.

1. Better Together 2. Never Know 3. Banana Pancakes 4. Good People 5. No Other Way 6. Sitting, Waiting, Wishing 7. Staple It Together 8. Situations 9. Crying Shame 10. If I Could 11. Breakdown 12. Belle 13. Do You Remember 14. Constellations

For a man who gets his biggest kicks surfing the waves and strumming his guitar on a lonely beach in native Hawaii, singer-songwriter Jack Johnson has carved out quite a remarkable career on the mainland. His 2003 album, On and On, debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 and subsequently went platinum on the back of hit single The Horizon Has Been Defeated. The follow-up, meanwhile, seems destined to shine even brighter. The drifting chords and soft voice are still in place, only now Johnson s instinct for melody has sharpened alongside his ability to self-edit. These small concessions make third album, In Between Dreams, his most conspicuous, particularly on tracks like the three-minute relationship drama, Sitting, Waiting, Wishing, and Breakdown, a song he originally recorded for Handsome Boy Modeling School s White People album remade here to reveal its full stripped-down loveliness. Imagine all the coconuts it will buy. -- Aidin Vaziri

#Good CD (2006-05-03) I find this CD is excellent. All songs are so nicely performed by JJ. It is a very relaxing and laid- back CD. Once you start listening to it, you will go all the way to the last song.

#Average (2006-03-11) Jack Johnson s third album In Between Dreams is average compared to his first album Brushfire Fairytales. Compared to all the other music that is circulating now, In Between Dreams is good, but if you have listened to BF you know that is the best thing that ever came out of Jack Johnson. NO COMPARISON!! Go out and buy BRUSHFIRE FAIRYTALES

#It',s so nice and mellow (2006-01-20) This is the first Jack Johnson CD I bought, and I am HOOKED! His music is great! So, nice and mellow, you won',t get tired of it. The beat is catchy and the sound is refreshing! My picks are the Banana Pancakes song and Belle

#Marvellous (2006-01-06) Jack Johnson knows now how to make an album. He has no need to change styles or rework ideas. He knows what sounds good and what doesen t. He has found his rhythem and he has learnt how to write great songs. It is the most chilled out album you will find. Jack sounds like he is very chilled and happy on the album. For anyone stressed out there this album is for you.

#wow (2005-12-02) It s the first Jack Johnson cd I brought and I love it. The songs are making me happy. My favourite is Banana Pancakes.

1. Blowin in the Wind 2. Don t Think Twice, It s All Right 3. Times They Are A-Changin 4. It Ain t Me Babe 5. Maggie s Farm 6. It s All over Now, Baby Blue 7. Mr. Tambourine Man 8. Subterranean Homesick Blues 9. Like a Rolling Stone 10. Positively 4th Street 11. Just Like a Woman 12. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 13. All Along the Watchtower 14. Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo) 15. I ll Be Your Baby Tonight

Two discs of music don t exactly provide for a thorough overview of four decades of recording, particularly if the subject of the retrospective is one of the most important and prolific performers of his time. So The Essential Bob Dylan definitely skates over the leagues-deep oeuvre of Dylan, summarizing his monumental first half-dozen years in disc one and skirting over the following 34 years in disc two. Delving into Columbia s three Dylan greatest-hits packages (though curiously purging I Want You, a genuine hit single in its day), Essential offers only a few surprises, opting for The Basement Tapes version of Quinn the Eskimo over the Self Portrait remake that made it onto Greatest Hits Volume II and tossing in Things Have Changed from the Wonder Boys soundtrack for completists. But this 30-track overview is designed with newcomers, not Dylanologists, in mind. --Steven Stolder

#An essential cd... (2007-01-08) I was introduced to Bob Dylan not long ago, when I bought one of his cds on a whim. Truth to be told, I liked it so much that I wanted to buy another one, if possible a cd that would allow me to listen to some of his best songs without having to buy too many cds at the same time. I am happy to say that with this cd, Essential Bob Dylan, I managed to do just that. Among the wonderful songs included in this cd you will find jewels such as Like a rolling stone, Blowin in the wind, Subterranean homesick blues, Positively 4th Street and The times they re a-...

#bob dylan is great (2004-07-18) this is one of the most beatiful box sets of one of the most talented singers of all times and most of his gems find a place here like times there are a changing,mr tambourine man and blowin in the wind. this is highly recommended for the first time listener who wants an overview into dylan

#Aw for chrissake people!! (2004-06-28) Aw for chrissake people!! Just spent 10 or 11 bucks a pop on the newly released and remastered original albums. ITS BOB DYLAN!! There are plenty of superior album tracks on the original albums that these cuts are culled from. For example, you can t have appreciated Bob without ever having heard ",Visions of Johana. ",

#Essential (2004-04-25) The key word is essential in many ways. It was a smart move no to call it The best of or any of those hokey catch phrases for someone s idea of sample mix. There is enough Dylan to satisfy just about anyone. The first hand full of songs were also made famous by other singers and you have to get over trying to compare, unless like me it has always been Dylan first. Later you get to the good songs, He may not have personally thought so, but many of the songs struck a cord with me such as Subterranean Homesick Blues. To understand most of theses songs it would be...

#",Essential", Is Right (2004-04-23) I m very pleased with this album because I much prefer Dylan s early folksy songs to the later blues stuff, and this album has much of the older stuff of his that I love. Songs like Blowin In The Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin etc etc--songs like that are Dylan to me. Bob Dylan was this gloomy guy who looked like a classical composer with the big messy hair, who then wrote some of the classics of modern folk rock. A real legend. His lyrics are very good too. David Rehakauthor of ",A Young Girl s Crimes",

1. I Can t Be Satisfied 2. I Feel Like Going Home 3. Train Fare Blues 4. Rollin and Tumblin , Pt. 1 5. Rollin Stone 6. Louisiana Blues 7. Long Distance Call 8. Honey Bee 9. She Moves Me 10. Still a Fool 11. Standing Around Crying 12. Baby Please Don t Go 13. I Want You to Love Me 14. (I m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man 15. I Just Want to Make Love to You 16. I m Ready 17. Young Fashioned Ways 18. Mannish Boy 19. Sugar Sweet 20. Trouble No More

One of the best recordings in Chess Records 50th Anniverary series is the first of two bookend Muddy Waters collections, His Best 1947-55. Documenting Waters s most creatively and commercially successful years at Aristocrat/Chess, this collection begins with his formative years and ends with Waters at his peak. So you re in for a lot of terrific bottleneck slide guitar work as well as electric Chicago blues, what s to criticize? Superb remasterings of I Can t Be Satisfied, Rollin and Tumblin , I m Ready, and Mannish Boy are simply beyond reproach. With simple bass accompaniment from Ernest Big Crawford, Waters s bottleneck tracks are spare, haunting and, quite frankly, perfect country blues. And listening to Waters, Little Walter, Willie Dixon, and Jimmy Rogers piece together (and perfect very quickly) the classic Chicago sound is pure blues epiphany. At the very least, this collection shows you why Waters s rollicking stop-time classics like Mannish Boy and I m Your H...

#Blues from heaven (2004-04-27) This album blew my mind and is essential listening for any lover of blues, rock or any form of music(interested listeners are requested to also check out Howlin Wolf His Best CD issued simultaneously by Chess Records). Nearly 50 odd years later the music sounds as fresh as yesterday. If this isn t where all the rock maestros of later years got their sonic ideas, it should have been.

#Great Classic Music (2004-01-03) These are the seminal years of the second, the electric wave of Chicago Blues. Muddy Water s collaborations, especially with Willie Dixon here, created the modern Chicago blues which replaced the older acoustic style represented best by Tampa Red and Big Maceo, and by Lil Hardin Armstrong and Lonnie Johnson collaboration. The older smaller tighter, more person (and it is hard to talk about anything more personal than even the least well prepared Muddy sides),blues. The performances are breathtaking in their strength. You know this man, and you k...

#Excellent compilation (2003-12-08) Excellent compilation, eh? So why only four stars?Well, the track selection is really good, bringing together almost all the best of Muddy Waters rough, muscular blues. Or rather, the best of 1947-55, which is why this is only a four star-compilation: It s not a career spanning retrospective, and it doesn t work all that well on its own. But get this CD along with its companion volume, His Best: 1956-1964, which also features 20 tracks, and you ll have a really fine career overview, second only to the three-disc Chess Box set (and perhaps the 50-tr...

#There is not a finer collection... (2003-08-06) . . . of Muddy s earlier works out there to my knowledge. It features such essentials as Can t Be Satisfied, Hoochie Coochie Man, and Mannish Boy, showing Muddy s transition from the raw Delta blues to Chicago blues style. An excellent album. Highly recommended.

#5-stars ...OBVIOUSLY (2003-06-20) B. B. King called Muddy Waters the greatest of the great and this CD demonstrates why. Rough. Raw. Filled with emotion. Performed by the greatest blues band ever assembled: Muddy, Jimmy Rogers, Otis Spann, Little Walter, Fred Below and on many cuts, Willie Dixon on bass. And some people thought that Cream was a supergroup! This is the Book of Revelation when it comes to the blues, but check out Muddy s ",Folksinger", as well to get another side to this giant of American music, right up there with the Duke, Satchmo, Hank Williams, etc. A...