CD-Charts Position 1
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The Essential Leonard Cohen

CD-Charts > Music > Bestsellers
by: Leonard Cohen

Release Date April 25, 2005
The voice is the first thing you notice. The early poetic renditions on such classics as "Suzanne", "Sisters of Mercy" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" are presented in a voice that is deadpan but not as gruff as in later years. This was at a period when he was a well kept secret and with a style and presentation that not everyone took to. Move onto disc 2 and you notice how the voice deepens and the songs become bigger. One thing that Cohen has never failed to deliver is quality songs with curious stories to tell. He has an almost hymn-like or gospel touch on a lot of his work, usually enhanced by superb backing singers and wondrous musicians and arrangements.

I move between both of his periods with equal ease, but I find the latter ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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The Platinum Collection: Greatest Hits I, II & III

CD-Charts > Music > Bestsellers
by: Queen

Release Date November 13, 2000
I have just got the box set recently, and have been enjoying it greatly. Not just that, my three daughters aged 9, 6 and 2 are great fans, and want to listen to it all the time in the car. And the two-year-old even says 'Rock' once she hears the first few bars of 'We will rock you'. Just goes on to show that Queen truly made ageless music, which still scores far above most contemporary music.

CD-Charts Position 3
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I'm Your Man

CD-Charts > Music > Bestsellers
by: Leonard Cohen

Release Date July 02, 1990
As an album that you hear when your parents play it and come back to later to realise it's simply amazing, you can't get much better than this. Leonard Cohen is an amazing man, who has created an amazing number of amazing songs over the year. For me, though, this is his essential album. Partly it's because my parents played it over and over when it first came out, and when I was too young to understand music like this for all its depth. I came back to it about five years ago to find that not only does it contain breathtaking songs, but I didn't have to wait a while to gain familiarity with them.

There isn't really time or space to go into detail about why each song is great, but suffice it to say that from the brooding Everybody Knows, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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Various Positions

CD-Charts > Music > Bestsellers
by: Leonard Cohen

Release Date November 01, 1989
Cohen made three classic albums with John Lissaeur at the helm: 1974's New Skin For The Old Ceremony, 1979's Recent Songs, but at the apex of these achievements stands 1984's Various Positions, in that it paved the way for a new audience to discover Leonard Cohen afresh. This wasn't done by just adding the odd synthesised drone here and there, for there is the same continuity of themes and musical genres threaded consistently through the works (compare New Skin's 'Why Don't You Try?' or 'I Tried To Leave You' alongside Recent Songs' 'Came So Far For Beauty' or 'The Smokey Life', i.e., and you'll find they sit naturally next to tracks like 'Hallelujah' or 'Coming Back To You', whereas 'Night Comes On' and 'If It Be Your Will' would not have sounded out ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
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Blues Breakers

CD-Charts > Music > Bestsellers
by: John Mayall, Eric Clapton

Release Date December 15, 2000
I was going to mention Clapton's christening of the Les Paul, Marshall setup, but others have beaten me to it. I liken it's impact to what happened to harp playing when Little Walter and other's deciding to blow through the PA or an early guitar amp. They REDEFINED the sound of the instrument.

So all I'll add is the rhetorical question...can you imagine being a teenage Brit, having been reared on the sounds of the Beatles, Jerry and the Pacemakers, or even the Dave Clark Five, wandering into a London club because someone had recommended the Bluesbreakers, and hearing THIS STUFF? Probably as epiphanic as being a white guy in mid 50's Chicago and having the nerve to wander into the Dew Drop Inn and hearing Muddy, Wolf, or later, Otis Rush and Buddy ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
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Live Santa Monica '72

CD-Charts > Music > Bestsellers
by: David Bowie

Release Date June 30, 2008
Suprise I only have one Bowie album ( its true) Hunky Dory and to be honest I cant even say when the last time was that I played it, yea I have records and CD`s. so an old friend lent this to me to see if he could fire up my interest ,He being a Bowie follower the the last 30 ish years . stoke up the fire he did, I knew most of the tracks through him and radio etc but this recording is the Bowie band that I always wanted but never knew existed!! a bloody great rock and roll band why didnt I know, well I guess its my then mid seventies narrow mindedness exploring all these vertigo releases and almost anything my weekly music mag raved about `sounds` The last thing I think I would nt of been able to handle is be pointed over to the top 40 hits of Bowie, This is a revelation ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
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Revolver

CD-Charts > Music > Bestsellers
by: The Beatles

Release Date November 01, 1998
Though not as immediately accessible as the folk rock of Rubber Soul, 1966's Revolver is an album that had aged with consumate grace. Having largely shaken off the mop-top image of songs such as 'She Loves You' and 'Please Please Me', the hugely successful Beatles were now in a position where they could afford to spend months in the studio perfecting their music and craft. The dicision to quit touring also allowed for greater experimentation as none of the new tracks had to be recreated in a live environment.
Revolver has, for over 40 years, lived in the shadow of Sgt Pepper but, in all honesty, it is a far better record. Paul supplies the quota of ballads with the lovely 'For No One' and his career besting 'Here There And Everywhere' - one of John Lennon's favourite ever ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
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The Beatles: the White Album

CD-Charts > Music > Bestsellers
by: The Beatles

Release Date August 24, 1987
Imagine how lucky you would feel if you were invited into Abbey Road studio to hear the master tape of the White Album. Well, what this CD version is is the next best thing, a flat transfer of the Abbey Road master tape on CD... no EQ, no noise reduction, no compression or any other Modern mastering techniques that destroy the dynamic range of classic recordings. Is it quieter than a modern CD? Yes, but that's why we have volume knobs.
If the rumours are correct then the Beatles recordings will be re-mastered and re-released, whether good or bad the White album will not sound like this does. We can only hope when they are re-released that the Mono Mix finally gets it's CD debut. It's absolutley scandalous that this has not been available for over 20 years. But for the stereo ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
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Rumours

CD-Charts > Music > Bestsellers
by: Fleetwood Mac

Release Date April 24, 1984
A friend of mine called 'Mike the Bike' put me on to 'Rumours' an age ago. As his name suggests, Mike was a wretched 'macho' biker, (a contradiction to start with - a man who wears leather and goes out to meet...other men!) who used to shoot razorbacks when he lived in Australia. That sounds impressive, til' you consider your average razorback is about the size of a cairn terrier, but Mike apparently loved every blood-spilling minute of it.
Anyway, in normal life I'd rather sleep with a razorback than take a musical recommendation from Mike. He's firmly in the 'metal' enclave, he and his road-tearing associates live in a jelly outside time and listen to Queens of the Stone Age and Kings of Leon when they're not burning rubber on the (real) Queens highways and byways.
While ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
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Greatest Hits

CD-Charts > Music > Bestsellers
by: Queen

Release Date May 01, 1994
Music introduced to me by my daughter. It is excellent and a worthy addition to any collection.