CD-Charts Position 151
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The Very Best of the Byrds

CD-Charts > Music > Country Rock
by: The Byrds

Release Date June 23, 1997
As an encapsulation of "the best of The Byrds" this is a pretty unbeatable CD... just about every track from what must be one of the most under-rated groups from the whole of the 60s features folk-rock, psychedelic-rock and country-rock at it's highest levels and, if all you know about them is a couple of their hit records, there's no better place to discover what's made them a key reference point for a huge number of groups over the past 40 years.

And then? Well the good news is that, for not a great deal more, there's so much more on offer. Ignore the boxed sets and zero in on their five key, recently expanded, mid 60s albums - "Mr Tambourine Man", "Turn, Turn, Turn", Fifth Dimension", "Younger Than Yesterday" & "The Notorious ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 152
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Greatest Hits Vol.1 1971-1975

CD-Charts > Music > Country Rock
by: Eagles

Release Date January 22, 2001
The Eagles' "Greatest Hits 1971-1975" may be the single greatest compliation ever made. It is by far the most famous and biggest-selling 'Best Of' ever released, and contains most of the influential American band's greatest songs. It is one of the biggest selling albums of all time, alongside with Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon". It was an essential part of any music collection, and still really is.

"The Very Best Of The Eagles", the most recently-released Eagles compliation, features pretty much all these singles with more added ("Hotel California" for instance), but I didn't get the same feel to it as I did with this one. This one is to much of a legend to be replaced. It really is.

"Take It ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 153
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Complete Greatest Hits (2CD)

CD-Charts > Music > Country Rock
by: Eagles

Release Date October 20, 2003
Well, yes, it's fantastic of course. How could it not be with so many great songs, which still get played every day on radio stations the world over? I do have reservations, though. The Eagles have released more compilation albums than studio albums, and I don't think any other band has a greater ratio... it's quite bizarre if you tot up their collections and count them against the 6 full studio albums.

My main problem here is that there are such a high proportion of songs from their last albums: Hotel California, and The Long Run. One could argue that this is because those two albums were the biggest sellers at the time of release (well, Hotel California obviously was, perhaps One Of These Nights sold as well as The Long Run, I'm not sure). ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 154
Average Rating:

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The Best of Linda Ronstadt: The Capitol Years

CD-Charts > Music > Country Rock
by: Linda Ronstadt

Release Date January 30, 2006
This compilation contains all the tracks (plus a few extras) from the following albums: 'Heart Like A Wheel' from 1974, 'Silk Purse' from 1970, 'Hand Sown...Home Grown' from 1969, and 'Linda Ronstadt' from 1972.
The Heart Like A Wheel album is where Ronstadt and producer Peter Asher first used the formula of great song selection (from such writers as JD Souther, George Lowell, James Taylor,) and tasteful singing and playing, with arrangements by Andrew Gold. I still think Heart Like A Wheel and the following three albums (Prisoner In Disguise, Hasten Down The Wind, Simple Dreams) are some of the seventies' best song interpretations. The other three albums contained here are not as polished and are more countryish. However, they are enjoyable and a good example of ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 155
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Workingman's Dead

CD-Charts > Music > Country Rock
by: Grateful Dead

Release Date October 01, 1999
First off, Workingman's Dead is a brilliant album. Disregarding all the other factors that make it such a masterpiece, that it was the beginning of a whole new direction for the Dead, or even that it affirmed the Dead's place in rock-music history, by proving to the world what the Dead were capable of. Even ignoring all those factors which make it such a significant piece of work, purely on the music alone is one of the finest records ever made. But despite it's beautiful, laid-back, country-rock atmosphere, and Robert Hunter's lyrical wizardry, Workingman's Dead is not only a good album, but an extremely important one, in the development of the Grateful Dead, and the development of music as a whole. What makes the album all the more amazing, is what an incredible change ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 156
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Into the Purple Valley

CD-Charts > Music > Country Rock
by: Ry Cooder

Release Date January 25, 1988
This was Ry Cooder's third solo record and while the first two contain a number of great tracks, demonstrating his great skill on guitar and mandolin, with "Into the purple valley" he really got into his stride, turning out a well-balanced record with a great variety of styles and sounds but a unifying aesthetic.

There is a real Woody Guthrie feel to "How Can You Keep On Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)" and "Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Us All", as well as Guthrie's own "Vigilante Man", which Ry would often revisit in the future. He also applies the same kind of dustbowl sound to Leadbelly's "On a monday" and Johnny Cash's "Hey porter". The Drifter's "Money Honey" has a similar feel but more electric and this electric R&B feel carries on into "Teardrops Will Fall", ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 157
Average Rating:

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New Songs of Freedom

CD-Charts > Music > Country Rock
by: Chip Taylor

Release Date June 16, 2008
This was Ry Cooder's third solo record and while the first two contain a number of great tracks, demonstrating his great skill on guitar and mandolin, with "Into the purple valley" he really got into his stride, turning out a well-balanced record with a great variety of styles and sounds but a unifying aesthetic.

There is a real Woody Guthrie feel to "How Can You Keep On Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)" and "Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Us All", as well as Guthrie's own "Vigilante Man", which Ry would often revisit in the future. He also applies the same kind of dustbowl sound to Leadbelly's "On a monday" and Johnny Cash's "Hey porter". The Drifter's "Money Honey" has a similar feel but more electric and this electric R&B feel carries on into "Teardrops Will Fall", ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 158
Average Rating:

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Neil Young

CD-Charts > Music > Country Rock
by: Neil Young

Release Date June 01, 1989
Young kicked off his solo career with a very low key affair. The whole pace of the album is dictated to by the opening jaunty instrumental The Emperor of Wyoming which has a definite country feel to it. The key to the success of a first album is a positive answer to the question "will this artist improve?" With Young it was definitely a yes as you could hear the beginnings of the golden career that was to follow.

So this is a decent stab at things, but there was much better to follow. It includes some pseudo classical twiddly bits and, like on so many Young albums, the sum of the whole is slightly fractured, varying from the prettiness of "Here We Are in the Years," which for me is the outstanding track, to the rambling "The Last Trip to Tulsa" which at nine minutes ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 159
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Willy and the Poor Boys

CD-Charts > Music > Country Rock
by: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Release Date April 03, 2006
A lot of revisionist thinking lately has seen people claiming this to be CCR's most overrated record. After several listens, it's safe to say there is nothing further from the truth. The release of 'Chronicle' has been both a blessing and a curse to CCR's studio output, with many believing that albums such as Willy are primarily filler. Again though, I just can't see it. One of their best single cuts, Down on the Corner, is followed by the classic rocker Up In the Sky and then the superb cover Cotton Fields. I was expecting a lot of filler following a strong beginning, but it just didn't come. The songs that seem to have come in for the most stick- Feeling Blue and Effigy- have become two of my personal favourites, the latter in particular I can see providing a great alternative soundtrack ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 160
Average Rating:

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Rattlin Bones [Us Import]

CD-Charts > Music > Country Rock
by: Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson

Release Date September 16, 2008
Kasey Chambers is a wonderful singer/songwriter - her debut (The Captain) is a 5 star delight and while her other albums fail to reach the heights of her debut they are all still good, solid albums adding folk, blues and rock to the country mix.

This album, however is very different, it's a good (bad) old fashioned run-of-the-mill country album.

Now this will appeal to many as the songs aren't bad, the production and musicianship is, as always, excellent - I'm just not a big fan of country music.

So beware, this album is not the Kasey Chambers you may know and love - it's a country album - which is a shame, especially as the title track sounds like Kasey of old and hints at what could have been achieved with it's driving rhythms, fine harmonies and jingly/jangly ... Read More: