Firehouse Rock - Wailing Souls

Advantages: Great rock in the '70s live tradition.
Disadvantages: Derivative sound.

..."You wanted the best, and you got the best; the hottest band in the world - KISS!!!" So begins this '70s live double-LP, a 100% rock extravanganza in all senses of the word. Kiss were huge in America at this time and they had the stage show to prove it; smoke-bombs, drum-risers, huge towers of speakers, fire-breathing demons, and even ritual blood-splattering of the audience! But Kiss didn't forget the music either - the sixteen tracks on here are all gems; "Deuce" and "Strutter" begin the concert with energy and gusto, the heat is turned up with "Firehouse", before the obligatory audience participation of "100,000 Years" and finally ending with the exuberant "Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll"....... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: soulful
Disadvantages: sound quality

...For those tired of today's mainstream music scene, which seems to combine the worst of both worlds with its mix of the pointlessly offensive and the blandly sanitized, James Brown's Sex Machine is a rousing shot of pure energy, a reminder that music can have the ability to move its listeners in more ways than one. Sex Machine is a supreme distillation of decades worth of black music, compressing rock, soul, and R&B into a lean, frighteningly efficient sound that's had hips shaking since its release. Regardless of your age, race, or any other irrelevant superficial characteristic, this hour-plus-long live recording's raw, sweaty power effortlessly comes accross in every dizzyingly nimble horn inflection, every razor-sharp guitar line, and every intricate polyrhythm. And of course, towering over it all is the singular presence of James... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: The best Ozzy-Sabbath tracks around
Disadvantages: Cover?????

...I only ever buy compilation albums to get into a band. After that, I only buy original stuff. WSOSFRAR was my first ever Sabbath album, and it made Black Sabbath my favorite band overnight. When the rain and thunder of Black Sabbath's intro came blasting down my headphones, followed by Tony's heavy guitar, I almost fell off my chair. My parents aren't great rock fans, so I'd never heard anything like this before. I LOVED IT! Ozzy's traditional wailing voice really adds to the heavy feel of the music on this album. The compilations features all the band's early classics, such as Paranoid, Black Sabbath, Children of the Grave (my absolute hands-down fave) and Iron Man. All great fans of the good-old Ozzy days would love this album. Listen carefully to the lyrics on the album, and any half-sentient amoeba will realise that there... Read review

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