P - R

Musically Queen use lots of background vocals with great success to complement Mercury’s lead vocals, both simply, and in more complex ways such as in “The Prophets Song,” and of course, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” 

Brian May has some tasty electric guitar leads such as perfectly phrased solos on “Death on Two Legs” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” He also plays some softer acoustic material such as “ ‘39” among other places.

A Night at the Opera is a sensational album.

Classic Albums - Queen: The Making of A Night at the Opera

If ever there was an album worthy of inclusion in Eagle Vision’s Classic Albums series it is Queen’s breakout release A Night At The Opera. Released in 1975, this was not only the band’s first platinum album, but also the one that catapulted them into the spotlight as one of the biggest rock acts in the world.

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
• BRAND NEW INTERVIEWS with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor.
• COMMENTARY by original producer Roy Thomas Baker.
• ARCHIVAL PERFORMANCE and INTERVIEW FOOTAGE with late lead singer Freddie Mercury.
• INTERVIEWS and GUEST COMMENTARY by guitarists Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople) and many more.
• NEW ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCES of ’39 and Love Of My Life by Brian May.
• DRUM and ACOUSTIC DEMONSTRATIONS of I ’m In Love With My Car from Roger Taylor.
• ANALYSIS OF THE RECORDING PROCESS of all 12 tracks on the album.

Lee Roy Parnell - Official Site - Lots of information: news, music, gallery...

Lee Roy Parnell's online media player

Rolling Stone magazine famously called Phish "America's Greatest Jam Band," and while Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, and Page McConnell called it quits as a group last year, their legend lives on. Formed at University of Vermont in 1983, Phish quickly became heirs to the jam band tradition, taking the roots of musical improvisation to a new level and beyond. Of all their now-legendary shows, their 1995 New Year's Eve concert at Madison Square Garden-a masterful blend of composition, theater and improvision-is revered as one of their finest, even by the band themselves. Marking this stellar concert's 10th anniversary, Rhino's deluxe 3-CD release presents the Phenomenal Phish at the peak of their powers. Track Listings: Punch You In the Eye, Sloth, Reba, Squirming Coil, Maze, Colonel Forbin's Ascent, Fly Famous Mockingbird, Shine, Fly Famous Mockingbird, Sparkle, Chalk Dust Torture, Audience Chess Move, Drowned, Lizards, Axilla (Part II), Runaway Jim, Strange Design, Hello My Baby, Mike's Song, Gamehendge Time Factory, Auld Lang Syne, Weekapaug Groove, Sea and Sand, You Enjoy Myself, Sanity, Frankenstein, Johnny B. Goode. 

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Phishnet - A comprehensive site.

Pink Floyd released an excellent two disc Anthology of their career entitled Echoes. That albums spans the early Syd Barret period through the post Waters material. If you truly want a compilation Echoes is great.

Personally we think Pink Floyd's material works best within the context of the original album, especially for their classics, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Animals. 

Therefore, our strongest recommendation is to pick up the individual albums, but Echoes is an acceptable alternative for the casual Floyd fan. 

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If you are seeking solo albums, we'd suggest the first two, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Rising.

Django Reinhardt guitar playing is among one of our favorites, here's why.

Django's music spanned across different facets of jazz through his many years of recording, and we recommend exploring beyond his Hot Club material. We have a list of all his sessions and a summarization of his CD's to help sort through the numerous releases.

His work with violinist Stephane Grappelli with the Quintet of the Hot Club of France is truly incredible. There is a box set that is broken down into two pieces that offers exceptional value and does not overlap material. Yes songs are repeated, but they are different versions. 

The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order Vol. 1 is a five-disc package that covers 1934 - 1939 with a heavy emphasis on

Paris and London: 1937-1948, Vol. 2 is a four- disc package.  This edition has plenty of material with Grappelli, but also offers other back-up line-ups, most notably with Hubert Rostaing on clarinet.

The two recommendations to the right are very reasonably priced and offer the best value in acquiring a Django collection, from

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Guitar greats
Jazz: Guitar and Piano
Instrumental

The Rolling Stones were called the world's greatest rock band back in the mid 1970's.  We would not go that far, but year after year they did churn out a number of excellent albums.

The Rolling Stones released a solid compilation called Forty Licks, and is the perfect choice if you are seeking a greatest hits approach to the Stones. Though, with the Stones vast catalogue this just scratches the surface. 

Forty Licks does include four unreleased tracks. Their inclusion would have been better served on a more expansive box set, here they take up real estate that could have been used for some of their omitted classics. But, if they did that how can they entice fans that have most of their material to buy this release.  Oh, I get it!  

There is nothing to complain about regarding the music selected for the release, because it rocks. Though, the sequencing would have been better if it took a chronological approach. We would also have like an acoustic blues track included such as "Love In Vain" to showcase that important aspect of the Stones music. 

Personally, we think this should be longer to span their career. Our preference would be four discs, one with Brian Jones, two with Mick Taylor, and one with Ron Wood, with some live tracks to fill up the cd's to the rim. Or at a minimum three discs, one for each era.

Actually, Forty Licks has its fan appeal as two-discs, but so would a longer set. This is really an expansion upon their previous collection Hot Rocks (1969 - '71), only it includes much more music, forty tracks versus 21.  The two disc approaches can serve to anchor a foundation of Stones music to be supplemented with one's favorite era. 

The Rolling Stones did release a box set called Singles Collection: The London Years, but  that does not cover their latter years with Mick Taylor or any material with Ron Wood. 

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Rush's fourth live album, Different Stages is an excellent overview of the bands career and offers exceptional value.

Different Stages is basically three discs that sell like a two-disc package, the third is a bonus. The first two-disc's are mostly from their 1997 Test For Echo tour with the exception of three tracks from 1994's Counterparts tour.

The bonus disc is a separate item inserted into the digipak and is awesome. Its material is from 2/20/78, from the A Farewell To Kings Tour. Killer! It is missing three songs from that show; "Lakeside Park," "Closer To The Heart," and "2112." Though, two are including on the featured show.

Rush released an EP 6/2004 called Feedback that is a collection cover versions of songs that influenced them.

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Other Rush web-sites
2112.net - An excellent site with tour tracks, lyrics, and much more.