This year sees the release of a double album - The Ultimate Bee Gees. There have been a number of Greatest Hits albums and alike, and if you own one already, you're not going to run out and buy this one for a few extra songs and live tracks (a great example of when SPOTIFY does a great job). However, if you don't have an alike album in your collection, I would advise picking this up, or asking for it in your stocking. Why?
Well, as well as the above reasons, I feel the Bee Gees are pretty accessible to everyone, some of the tracks are terrific fun to sing along too (even if most males would have to have pretty serious cosmetic surgery on sensitive parts of their body to even go close to making the required notes), and there are some great songs to listen to on here, perhaps on a long Christmas drive - this album has 40 tracks (almost 2 and a half hours of music), so plenty to go around!
However, if you were only to download three, I (personally) would go for:
Nights on Broadway - for harmonies, this is one of the most accomplished songs of the 20th Century, and will appear in my new TOP 100 later this year)
New York Mining Disaster 1941
Massachusetts
However, these are three very personal choices - a bit too purist, and not nearly disco and fun enough! If you want three great tracks for a party, go for:
You Should Be Dancing
Stayin' Alive
Tragedy
Menace2Music official soundtrack
Re-entry And Splashdown - James Horner
FILM: Apollo 13
Song for Bob - Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
FILM: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Bibo no Aozora/04 - Ryuichi Sakamoto
FILM: Babel
Well, firstly, you might spot that I'm working my way a little alphabetically now - I've got the iPod out, hit genre for soundtracks, and started at the top! As well as the ability to shuffle (a plus, when I have over 14,000 tracks on my current Pod), I find genre searching a huge plus - saves having to plough through lots of artists or albums, if you only want to listen to a specific type of music.
A first entry for James Horner (of Titanic fame) with a track from Apollo 13 - this album doesn't only have his score, but also some fantastic songs from the era, like Somebody to Love (Jefferson Airplane), Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix Experience) and Night Train (James Brown). I have singled out the above track for two reasons - one, because is so atmospheric and portrays the emotion this moment exhibits, but two, because I always cry at the end of this film (however many times I've seen it, knowing full well that they're going to survive?!)
Jesse James the film is worth watching for two main reasons - its cinematography and its music. The acting is non too shabby either, but it was its cinematic portrayal of the West, and Nick Cave/Warren Ellis's OST that stood out for me. This is the final track on the soundtrack, which is one of those that is worth listening to a few times, from beginning to end - it is a beautiful and moving soundtrack.
A certain amount is lost as this track concludes, with the violins and piano using a little too much of what I might call "scratchy artist warrant" towards the end, but otherwise, this is a phenomenal track at the end of a phenomenal movie. The soundtrack for Babel won an Oscar, and it is understandable why. As a whole entity/soundtrack, it is amazing - however, I would say that I have found listening to single tracks difficult. This one has always stood out above the crowd.
Here are the links for the Menace2Music OST:
http://open.spotify.com/user/menoir16/playlist/0QpCoaV6eGuZ7gQj5ChDFc
spotify:user:menoir16:playlist:0QpCoaV6eGuZ7gQj5ChDFc
Today's question on my Facebook page was about what your favourite album of the last few years was? I thought, as we'd had a band question, and a song question, we needed an album question! I chucked in a few:
Animal Kingdom (Signs and Wonders)
The Decemberists (Hazards of Love)
The Doves (Kingdom of Rust)
Joan As A Policewoman (To Survive)
The Maccabees (Wall of Arms)
Metric (Fantasies)
...and we've had some terrific suggestions:
Prince (not sure what the album was yet?)
The Foreign Exchange - Leave It All Behind
St Jude - The Courteeners
Goldfrapp - Supernature
Latest Wilco (Wilco [the album])
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions - I am having a good listen to all of the above (I already own St Jude), and will report back!
Right, it's Friday night - hope you've had a wonderful week, and you've an even more fabulous weekend ahead of you! I know I've said this before, but whatever you're doing - involve a little music - you know you want to!
All the very best, Menace2Music
menace2music@googlemail.com
http://twitter.com/menace2music
http://open.spotify.com/user/menoir16/playlist/1j3HXNYIHuGDfW7aLh5OlL
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