Billy Joel [2000] 2000 Years - The Millennium Concert

[01] Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
[02] Big Shot
[03] Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
[04] Summer Highland Falls
[05] Ballad Of Billy The Kid
[06] Don't Ask Me Why
[07] New York State Of Mind
[08] I've Loved These Days
[09] My Life
[10] Allentown
[11] Prelude - Angry Young Man
[12] Only The Good Die Young
[13] I Go To Extremes
[14] Goodnight Saigon
[15] We Didn't Start The Fire
[16] Big Man On Mulberry Street
[17] 2000 Years
[18] Auld Lang Syne
[19] River Of Dreams
[20] Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
[21] Dance To The Music
[22] Honky Tonk Women
[23] It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
[24] You May Be Right
[25] This Night
[26] This Is The Time



amg: Among the major artists celebrating the end of the 20th century with a New Year's Eve blowout was Billy Joel, who set up shop at Madison Square Garden and played a marathon show lasting nearly three hours. It was quite a feat for a man who claimed that he had retired from pop music, but the last New Year's Eve gig of the 20th century offers an artist a chance to sum up either the past century or their career. Joel decided to do both, throwing in a few classic rock covers at the end of a show that offered a whirlwind spin through his lengthy back catalog. Several songs from the concert are absent on 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert, the audio record of the event, but that's because it's impossible to squeeze three hours onto two discs. That means such staples as "Piano Man" are absent, but they're not particularly missed, since such early classics as "Summer Highland Falls," "The Ballad of Billy the Kid," and "I've Loved These Days" take their place. These moments are what make the record worthwhile for serious Joel fans, since that's where he sounds relaxed and emotionally vested. The rest of the album is pure spectacle, as it builds to a midnight crescendo of "Auld Lang Syne," which gives way to oldies covers and hits. There are certain lapses in pacing that slow the momentum, and Joel's voice does stretch mighty thin at some points. These are the sort of things that are easy to ignore in concert, when the experience is all-important, but on record, it does diminish the overall effect, even for hardcore Joel fans. It's often enjoyable, but the end result is a bit underwhelming, which means that 2000 Years is more like a souvenir of a passed moment than it was intended to be.
(amg 5/10)

Brian May [1998] Another World

[01] Space
[02] Business
[03] China Belle
[04] Why Don't We Try Again
[05] On My Way Up
[06] Cyborg
[07] The Guv'nor
[08] Wilderness
[09] Slow Down
[10] One Rainy Wish
[11] All The Way From Memphis
[12] Another World



amg: "Business," the second song on Brian May's third solo album, finds the guitarist recording the type of ferocious hard rock that he became known for with Queen in the early '70s. With a great pop hook and churning heavy guitars, it's arguably the best thing he's done as a solo artist. The rest of the album doesn't quite live up to its opening, but it shows May has grown more confident in his singing and in playing balls-to-the-wall hard rock than on 1992's Back to the Light. Songs like "China Belle" and "The Guv'nor" contain enough '70s-styled bombastic rock to satisfy May's many fans, while "On My Way Up," with its catchy groove and gospel-like backup singers, is irresistible in its optimism. Unfortunately, May does get lost at times. His ballads tend to come off as bland compared to the ones he wrote while in Queen, while the over-the-top metal exercise, "Cyborg," with its processed vocals, doesn't work at all. May is much better sticking to what he knows best, catchy but eccentric hard rock. The album draws near a close with three covers, and while two of them, including Jimi Hendrix's "One Rainy Wish," do come off as clunky, May's spirited live version of Mott the Hoople's "All the Way From Memphis" is absolutely riveting.
(amg 5/10)

BB King [1997] Deuces Wild

[01] If You Love Me
[02] The Thrill Is Gone
[03] Rock Me Baby
[04] Please Send Me Someone To Love
[05] Baby I Love You
[06] Ain't Nobody Home
[07] There Must Be A Better World Somewhere
[08] Confessin' The Blues
[09] Paying The Cost To Be The Boss
[10] Dangerous Mood
[11] Keep It Coming
[12] Cryin' Won't Help You
[13] Night Life

With [01] Van Morrison [02] Tracy Chapman [03] Eric Clapton [04] Mick Hucknall [05] Bonnie Raitt [06] D'Angelo [07] Dr. John [08] Marty Stuart [09] Rolling Stones [10] Joe Cocker [11] Heavy D [12] David Gilmour and Paul Carrack [13] Willie Nelson



amg: This is B.B.'s celebrity duet album, and a straight-ahead blues album this is not. But longtime fans who are aware of King's genre-stretching capabilities will find much to savor here. Kicking off with B.B. playing some beautiful fills and solo work behind Van Morrison on "If You Love Me," the superstars start lining up to jam with the King, with Tracy Chapman ("The Thrill Is Gone"), Eric Clapton (a funkified "Rock Me Baby"), the Rolling Stones ("Paying the Cost to Be the Boss," with a fine harp solo from Mick Jagger), Willie Nelson (his "Nightlife," long a standard in B.B.'s set list), Bonnie Raitt ("Baby I Love You"), and Marty Stuart ("Confessin' the Blues") all turning in fine efforts. The only clinker aboard here is an ill-advised attempt to make a rap record with Heavy D, the execrable "Keep It Coming."
(amg 5/10)

Bush [1996] Razorblade Suitcase

[01] Personal Holloway
[02] Greedy Fly
[03] Swallowed
[04] Insect Kin
[05] Cold Contagious
[06] A Tendency To Start Fires
[07] Mouth
[08] Straight No Chaser
[09] History
[10] Synapse
[11] Communicator
[12] Bonedriven
[13] Distant Voices



amg: Bush were criticized from most quarters of the music press for sounding too much like Nirvana on their debut album, Sixteen Stone, so in order to shed all of the comparisons, well, they hired producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey) and proceeded to record their own version of Nirvana's dark, difficult In Utero. Actually, Razorblade Suitcase, Bush's second album, cribs heavily from two of Albini's best productions, In Utero and Pixies' Surfer Rosa — they even hired Vaughan Oliver, the designer behind Surfer Rosa, to do the artwork. Of course, relying so much on their idols only brings out Bush's weakness. Granted, Albini has helped make the band sound tougher, simply by stripping away the layers of effects and concentrating on a hard, driving rhythm and stop-start dynamics. The problem is that Gavin Rossdale has not come up with any hooks, which means that while Razorblade Suitcase is more pleasing and visceral on the surface, it offers no hooks to make it memorable, unlike the hit singles from Sixteen Stone.
(amg 5/10)