Country Life
Customer Review: Why are people labelling it??
Steve and Phil (Show of Hands) have never labelled their music as ‘folk’, and have infact discouraged it. How can people say this album is bad purely on the basis that it isn’t ‘folk’ (as some people have).

The music is from the heart and packed with emotion. Strong political and personal lyrics mixed with haunting yet comforting melodies and harmonies make the record very special. So many different genres are introduced, and so many real life issues are sung about.

This CD is well worth buying, I seriously recommend it.

Customer Review: Sublime mix of Instrumental Virtuosity and Well Crafted Lyrics
Some of other reviewers have dismissed Show of Hands as what is bad in Folk. I would hazard a guess that their musical tastes are rather narrow as otherwise they would appreciate the brilliant musicianship inherent in all tracks in this but the standout for me is Phil Beer’s Spanish Guitar in Suntrap. But this is a personal choice only as both Phil Beer and Steve Knightley both play a multitude of instruments brilliantly on this album and as always.

My favourite tracks;

Country Life- angst and passion (bettered on Oysterband’s Big Session Vol 1)

Suntrap - moves you to Spain

Seven Days- beautiful longing Jenna Witts sings wonderfully.

Red Diesel - lovable rogue brought to life

That said all the tracks are enjoyable buy this if you do not have pre conceived ideas about folk music but instead favour performers who perform and do not need session musicians to paper over their inadequacies

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Country Music Lyrics

Sings Country

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Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub)
Following a tide of critical acclaim and numerous appearances on every other chill-out compilation since records began, Groove Armada’s Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub) has an awful lot to live up to. Vertigo released two years previously was a phenomenal success both critically and commercially spawning hits like “If Everybody Looked the Same” and the mighty “At the River”. Having found their niche of downbeat anthems that amble along smoothly, Groove Armada are exploring their style further. The opening track “Suntoucher” is a slow-burning dub plate featuring Jeru The Damaja which breaks into a supercool horn riff, a fantastic start to the album but at six and a half minutes does drag on a bit. Even the slightly more up-tempo numbers like first single “Superstylin” or “Fogma” don’t rush into anything too hectic, letting it build slowly before the bass hook and drums kick in with a lukewarm impact. Goodbye Country is another triumph for Groove Armada in musical terms with every track as good as the one before, but with so little of the quirky house for which they are equally accomplished it seems a shame that they chose to veer so strongly in the relaxed, downbeat direction. –David Trueman

Customer Review: Boring but true……
I appreciate there is a real tendency to have endless glowing reviews on amazon and that people rarely post negative feedback. Well, i’m afraid I am going down the glowing praise route. This album is absolutely supurb, without a doubt in the Top 5 of my entire collection and worthy of every star I have given it.

It has everything. The chilled out blissful tunes that made GA such a big hit with their first album Vertigo and the stomping floor fillers that get played out and about all the time. critics claim a good album must deliver from start to finish and take you on some sort of a journey. this album does exactly that, from the hip hop tinged Suntoucher via the upbeat Superstylin’ and Fogma (which is an immensely dirty fat tune!) which both raise the pulse somewhat, the haunting but beautiful Edgehill (try this LOUD on headphones!) to what is a real hidden gem, the dub mix of Tuning In. Now this tune features in GA’s later album ‘Lovebox’ in its vocal entirity and isn’t nearly as good as the dub. It is so melodic and deep and again slightly haunting but so so gorgeous. the vocals are so very sweet and just pull you along with a deep powerful slow bassline. It’s very basic and very simple but it really works.

this album is relatively old now but has not lost one speck of brilliance. It’s fair to say i love GA and have all their albums but the others do not come close to this. It is such a treat. My girlfriend had this album and dismissed it after a couple of listens so I made her try it again and needless to say she absolutely loves it now!!

An essential in any electronic music lovers library…….

Customer Review: Hello nightclub goodbye country indeed
This album may have recieved some chritisim over the past year or so yet what people fail to realise is that its a quality cd from a quality british duo. The tunes are all so different and unique. Like no other.

I mean superstillin is amazin, top notch. yes its not there best and no means there worst ( although they dont have a worst as of yet) but it is still well worth the asking price of two measly 5 pound notes. They still manage to produce quality tunes time after time and i listen to it every two weeks at least from a collection of 500cds. This really is true GROOVE armada!

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All Time Classic Country Tearjerkers
Customer Review: A great sentimental collection
Although not a major country fan, I bought this as a gift and ended up enjoying most of the tracks on the collection. A lot of the music is immediately recognisable even to someone like me that doesn’t know the artists too well.

All in all a very good value collection, although listening to all 3 CDs in one go may be a little too much…

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The Greatest Hits Of Big Country And The Skids
Customer Review: Pure, visceral music from an under-rated master songwriter
The fact that the late Stuart Adamson could make his guitar sound like bagpipes means it’s easy to dismiss the man as one among many tub-thumping Celtic rockers. In fact, he was one of the most prolific and creative songwriters of his generation, beginning his career barely out of school with punk outfit The Skids and finishing it with the unexpected alt-country collaboration that was The Raphaels, crossing continents and all shades of moods in between. For those who happen to like the tub-thumping Celtic rock of “Fields of Fire”, this double CD is an excellent introduction to the full range of Stuart Adamson’s songwriting craft; for those not so familiar with the repertoire of Big Country, this is as near as anything to a perfect distillation of more than 20 years of one of Britain’s finest musicians.

The double CD package divides up approximately into “Hits” and “Misses”. CD1 contains most of the familiar material from the Skids and early Big Country; there are a few omissions, as is inevitable in such a large compilation, and no doubt most diehard fans will be miffed that SOMETHING they love hasn’t been included (my personal most missed track being the hugely under-rated “Hold the Heart”), but this CD stands up well alongside earlier Greatest Hits compilations and even surpasses them by including a few of the lesser-known, minor hits from the later albums, including “Fragile Thing” (with Eddi Reader) which in my opinion was Big Country’s finest song. CD2 is the real gem. The early Skids material on side 1 quite frankly isn’t their most interesting material, but the lesser-known tracks on CD2 (particularly “Circus Games”) more than make up for this and show the creative promise of things to come. CD2 also benefits from Big Country’s best attempt at a folk-song, “Thirteen Valleys” (why this was never a hit is beyond me), and a selection of stand-out tracks from later albums “No Place Like Home”, “Why the Long Face” and (especially) “Driving to Damascus”. In the latter album especially, Adamson reached a creative pinnacle, but the relative failure of these later works in terms of album sales and publicity have meant that even a lot of die-hard Big Country fans haven’t had the chance of a proper exposure to this material. I can speak from personal experience that after a few listens, tracks like “You Dreamer” and “Heart of the World” are every bit as likely to get you singing along as the likes of “King of Emotion” or “Look Away”.

The hidden gem of this compilation, for me, is the closing set of three songs from Adamson’s alt-country-fusion collaboration, The Raphaels. The pairing of musicians and songwriters here is an unlikely one at first, but the complementarity in the writing and the musical styles are quite remarkable: this is like a lo-fi, more mature, intimate Big Country with acoustic instrumentation in place of the bagpipey guitars. The arrangement of “Too Many Ghosts” here is simply exquisite, suggesting that this song could become a classic on the quiet.

There are a few flaws with this compilation: the occasional missed track, and the fact that the record company’s attempts to produce a vaguely chronological arrangement on each disc deprives us of one of Stuart Adamson’s trademarks, the ability to write the ultimate album-openers (having both “Look Away” and “Save Me” in the middle of their respective discs doesn’t sound quite right somehow). The lack of sleeve-notes, as another reviewer highlighted, is also a missed opportunity. Apart from that though, it’s hard to fault it. Stuart Adamson wears his heart on his sleeve whether writing anthems of Celtic pride, or mournful ballads possibly based on his own ultimately tragic life; for instantly singable rock music that grabs you right in the guts and never lets go, he is simply unsurpassed. Honour his legacy and buy this album!

Customer Review: Missing Star
There’s no denying that this is an excellent compilation of The Skids and B.C. — it’s very good and commendably broad in its inclusions. My problem with it is that there’s no sleevenotes. It’s like the record company wanted to put the music out there, but kinda couldn’t get it together to make this a cd for fans and first timers alike. Even just a few words.
Music 5 stars.
cheers

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Country Music Stop

Start Your Own Country
Customer Review: Money well spent
Excellent compilation, which introduced me to a range of new artists which i wasn't previously familiar with.
'Straight to Hell' and 'Nothing to you' 'Too sober to sleep' and 'Country song, are probably the highlights of the album for me, but there isn't really a duff track on the whole CD. Covers all types of Americana, with a decent country feel throughout. Recommended.

Customer Review: Best Alt Country Compolation yet
Really great americana, alt country CD just issued. Some great stand out tracks especially 'Angel in the Morning' but the great tunes just keep coming. Good mixture with 20 tracks at a lower price tag.
You will not be dissappointed and the whole CD has a real country feel.
Recommended.

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RCA Country Legends

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Country Music Awards

RCA Country Legends
Customer Review: An exciting compilation of Lorrie’s peak years
Lorrie’s taste in music is very eclectic, and this is reflected in her recorded output. She records old pop songs, old country songs, contemporary country songs - and is equally capable of handling the uptempo stuff as the soft, romantic songs. You will find examples of all these on this compilation.

There have been several compilations of Lorrie’s music, and this is one of the best, although a truly definitive collection has yet to appear. Only three of the tracks here (We both walk, Half enough and Something in red) were included on To get to you, her last Greatest Hits collection, so if that’s all you’ve got of Lorrie’s music, this is a great companion.

This set includes some big hits which didn’t make that collection - Five minutes, What part of no (both #1 hits), Out of your shoes, Except for Monday and Dear me (all top ten hits). Of course, these have appeared on other compilations, but if you have this and To get to you, you’ll have most (but not all) of Lorrie’s big solo hits. Her cover of A picture of me (without you) didn’t make either compilation, despite being a top ten hit.

This collection also includes fine covers of Tears on my pillow (Little Anthony), Eight days a week (Beatles) and Don’t touch me (Jeannie Seely). Some of these originally appeared on albums which are now out of print, so if you missed out, you’ve got another chance. Of these, Eight days a week is sensational - one of my all-time favorite top three Beatles covers. Another outstanding cover, Crying time, appears on a Lorrie CD for the first time, having originally been available only on a soundtrack.

There are four other brilliant songs on this CD which is an excellent collection to have, whether you are new to Lorrie’s music or whether (like me) you have most of these tracks already.

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Country Weekly Magazine

Country music - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Country Collection

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Country Girl
Customer Review: Mostly covers but worth hearing
Billie Jo recorded most of these tracks for a TV-advertised vinyl LP, at a time when she was enormously popular in Britain. Her own hits had already been extensively marketed so what to do next - a covers album, of course.

Blanket on the ground is included in this collection although it doesn’t really belong here, but I can understand why it was put in. Crystal chandeliers is Charley Pride’s signature song outside America, though never released as an American single. Silver threads and golden needles was first recorded by Wanda Jackson but has since recorded by many country singers - and a few pop singers. Queen of the silver dollar was originally recorded by Dr Hook, then by Emmylou Harris (on Pieces of the sky) before becoming a country hit for Dave and Sugar. Emmylou’s version, despite not being released as a single, is the best-known version of the song.

Misty blue began as a country song but is most famous via Dorothy Moore’s international soul-pop hit. Bonnie Tyler had an international pop hit with It’s a heartache. Her version was a surprise top ten country hit, while Dave and Sugar covered the song and also had a country hit with it. Crying time, first written and recorded by Buck Owens, became a pop hit for Ray Charles. Tennessee waltz, written and first recorded by Pee Wee King but most commonly associated with Patti Page, is apparently the most-covered country song of all time.

This ole house began life as a country song but was popularised by Rosemary Clooney, who had a huge international pop hit with it. For the good times, written by Kris Kristofferson, provided Ray Price with a country hit and Perry Como with a pop hit. Blue bayou, a major international hit for Roy Orbison in the sixties, also became a major American hit for Linda Ronstadt in the seventies.

Elsewhere, this set includes covers of I’m gonna be a country girl again (Buffy Sainte-Marie), Fire and rain (James Taylor), Fever (Peggy Lee), Rocky top (Lynn Anderson), Blue blue day (Don Gibson), Here you come again (Dolly Parton), Just the way you are (Billy Joel), I know I’ll never love this way again (Dionne Warwick) and All I have to do is dream (Everly Brothers).

Billie Jo does fine covers of all these songs and it makes for an interesting collection. If you enjoy Billie Jo’s own hits, you might also enjoy this collection. If you buy it, you might even be inspired to buy one or two of the original versions of these songs, most of which are easy to find. Of course, it would be expensive to buy them all and that’s the appeal of a covers collection - plenty of classic songs at a bargain price.

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