First Spin Impressions

[Geoff]

Fight: "A Small Deadly Space" - average boring heavy metal. Just not for me at all, personally.

 

Michael W. Smith: "The Big Picture" ; I'm not sure I could honestly call this a "rock" CD. 80's pop which is just not for me. I never got a chance to make a comment about the lyrics or christianity of the whole thing because the style/songs didn't interest me enough to care. Vocals seemed soft and back in the mix too.

 

Michael W. Smith: "I 2 (Eye)" ; again, it's unfair for me to comment too harshly on this guy as this music was just not for me and I had no interest in giving it a really thorough listen. His vocals were more clear on this, but the songs were still just not my thing.

Stone Sour: s/t ; honestly, I just thought this'd be nu-metal I hated. I didn't love it, but it was better than I thought. Not nu-metal really at all. Just straight modern hard rock / metal. Not great, but probably a keeper.

Stone Sour: "Come What(ever) May" ; and another step up. I guess they were gradually getting better each time, leading up to this year's admirable release. I actually thought this album was pretty good. Again, not off the charts awesome, but good stuff and a keeper for sure. A couple of nice ballads on here too.

 

Sworn Enemy: "The Beginning of the End" ; like Fight this just did absolutely nothing for me. Boring, standard heavy metal without a hook in sight.

 

Alliance - The Road To Heaven ; not bad at all. I kind of liked it. Nothing at all special, and now I know who Robert Berry is (lol), but this was good. Nice tunes, good vocals. Yeah, it won't set the collection alight but it's a nice enough slab of AOR / melodic rock.

 

Beggars Bride - Boulevard Of Broken Hearts ; when I saw this in the sale section I thought, "How'd I miss this one?" Now I know why. I may potentially have downloaded and deleted this back in the day, but I didn't think I had. It's not awful, but some of it is. I don't like that it's all the one tempo/style and the vibe from song to song is almost identical. The songs which the songwriter sings, this Begg fellow - well, they're just terrible. His voice is not an album voice. The Voss stuff is okay... I don't know. It's not all awful but it's a mood album and I can't see me ever being in a mood that would allow me to really enjoy it. Mellow, sombre... but just not that good at all to be honest. Great production, though. Oh, and who's genius decision was it to have the girl from Laos sing a song with a lyric similar to "We were lovers, I saw you later and I saw you had some babies and I wondered if they could be mine." WTF? Are we meant to believe she's had that many babies she's lost track of the ones she had? Seriously, could they not have got a guy to sing this song? lol.

Crown Of Thorns - Faith ; now, how the holy hell did I miss this one??? I have always got the new COT CD when it comes out, or close to the date, or at least downloaded it for later in previous years... but I totally missed this. And I love it. What a nice, solid hard rocking album. Only first spins, and maybe missing a few standouts that 'Lost Cathederal' had, but I think I'd almost say this is my 2nd favourite CD from them, after the debut. I just really enjoyed this one. Can't wait to hear it again.

[TIM (2)]

Crown Of Thorns - Faith ; now, how the holy hell did I miss this one??? I have always got the new COT CD when it comes out, or close to the date, or at least downloaded it for later in previous years... but I totally missed this. And I love it. What a nice, solid hard rocking album. Only first spins, and maybe missing a few standouts that 'Lost Cathederal' had, but I think I'd almost say this is my 2nd favourite CD from them, after the debut. I just really enjoyed this one. Can't wait to hear it again.

 

Surprised you like that one mate, pretty dull stuff IMO & poor vocals.

[JamesEagle]

Stranger - No More Dirty Deals

 

Another okay album, nothing special. Really didn't like the first track, there's a ballad at track 3 or 4 (I forget which) that I thought was awful. Only track that stood out for me was 'Runnin' in the Red', which rocked quite nicely.

[Metal T]

Fight: "A Small Deadly Space" - average boring heavy metal. Just not for me at all, personally.

 

Yeah,that one is a frisbee.

[heaven&hell]

Fight: "A Small Deadly Space" - average boring heavy metal. Just not for me at all, personally.

 

Yeah,that one is a frisbee.

 

Backed! A huge let down after the impressive "War of Words".

I'm not sure how the same band could create this turd after the awesomeness of the debut.

[heaven&hell]

Black Country Communion - S/T

 

Just three songs in but I like them so damn much I had to post how much I'm loving this disc so far. Glenn Hughes+Jason Bonham+Derek Sherinian+Joe Bonamassa=Awesome.

[Jez]

Crown Of Thorns - Faith ; now, how the holy hell did I miss this one??? I have always got the new COT CD when it comes out, or close to the date, or at least downloaded it for later in previous years... but I totally missed this. And I love it. What a nice, solid hard rocking album. Only first spins, and maybe missing a few standouts that 'Lost Cathederal' had, but I think I'd almost say this is my 2nd favourite CD from them, after the debut. I just really enjoyed this one. Can't wait to hear it again.

 

Surprised you like that one mate, pretty dull stuff IMO & poor vocals.

 

Backed! One of, if not THE worst COT release. A couple of good tracks, but not much else for me.

[Jez]

 

 

Michael W. Smith: "The Big Picture" ; I'm not sure I could honestly call this a "rock" CD. 80's pop which is just not for me. I never got a chance to make a comment about the lyrics or christianity of the whole thing because the style/songs didn't interest me enough to care. Vocals seemed soft and back in the mix too.

 

Michael W. Smith: "I 2 (Eye)" ; again, it's unfair for me to comment too harshly on this guy as this music was just not for me and I had no interest in giving it a really thorough listen. His vocals were more clear on this, but the songs were still just not my thing.

 

 

Ha! I knew you wouldn't be get along with old Mr. Smith to well. Personally, I love most of his stuff and 'I 2 (Eye)' along with 'Go West Young Man' and 'Live The Life' are my faves. He is quite poppy/Contempory in places and does get a bit on the 'Twee' side at times, and the lyrics do have a strong message to them, but he gets into real AOR territory on those 2 releases and a few latter ones aswell and has done some very fine albums in my opinion.

[heaven&hell]

Black Country Communion - S/T

 

Just three songs in but I like them so damn much I had to post how much I'm loving this disc so far. Glenn Hughes+Jason Bonham+Derek Sherinian+Joe Bonamassa=Awesome.

 

"Song of Yesterday" has the best guitar solo of the year plus a duet from Hughes and Bonamassa. Zeppelin meets Mark III Deep Purple. Killer.

[TIM (2)]

 

 

Michael W. Smith: "The Big Picture" ; I'm not sure I could honestly call this a "rock" CD. 80's pop which is just not for me. I never got a chance to make a comment about the lyrics or christianity of the whole thing because the style/songs didn't interest me enough to care. Vocals seemed soft and back in the mix too.

 

Michael W. Smith: "I 2 (Eye)" ; again, it's unfair for me to comment too harshly on this guy as this music was just not for me and I had no interest in giving it a really thorough listen. His vocals were more clear on this, but the songs were still just not my thing.

 

 

Ha! I knew you wouldn't be get along with old Mr. Smith to well. Personally, I love most of his stuff and 'I 2 (Eye)' along with 'Go West Young Man' and 'Live The Life' are my faves. He is quite poppy/Contempory in places and does get a bit on the 'Twee' side at times, and the lyrics do have a strong message to them, but he gets into real AOR territory on those 2 releases and a few latter ones aswell and has done some very fine albums in my opinion.

 

I'm a big fan of his material too, but this would never have been Geoff's thing at all...

[Swazi]

 

 

Michael W. Smith: "The Big Picture" ; I'm not sure I could honestly call this a "rock" CD. 80's pop which is just not for me. I never got a chance to make a comment about the lyrics or christianity of the whole thing because the style/songs didn't interest me enough to care. Vocals seemed soft and back in the mix too.

 

Michael W. Smith: "I 2 (Eye)" ; again, it's unfair for me to comment too harshly on this guy as this music was just not for me and I had no interest in giving it a really thorough listen. His vocals were more clear on this, but the songs were still just not my thing.

 

 

Ha! I knew you wouldn't be get along with old Mr. Smith to well. Personally, I love most of his stuff and 'I 2 (Eye)' along with 'Go West Young Man' and 'Live The Life' are my faves. He is quite poppy/Contempory in places and does get a bit on the 'Twee' side at times, and the lyrics do have a strong message to them, but he gets into real AOR territory on those 2 releases and a few latter ones aswell and has done some very fine albums in my opinion.

 

I'm a big fan of his material too, but this would never have been Geoff's thing at all...

 

No, not at all !

[heaven&hell]

Black Country Communion - S/T

 

Just three songs in but I like them so damn much I had to post how much I'm loving this disc so far. Glenn Hughes+Jason Bonham+Derek Sherinian+Joe Bonamassa=Awesome.

 

"Song of Yesterday" has the best guitar solo of the year plus a duet from Hughes and Bonamassa. Zeppelin meets Mark III Deep Purple. Killer.

 

The cover of "Medusa" is awesome as is the DVD.

[Geoff]

Crown Of Thorns - Faith ; now, how the holy hell did I miss this one??? I have always got the new COT CD when it comes out, or close to the date, or at least downloaded it for later in previous years... but I totally missed this. And I love it. What a nice, solid hard rocking album. Only first spins, and maybe missing a few standouts that 'Lost Cathederal' had, but I think I'd almost say this is my 2nd favourite CD from them, after the debut. I just really enjoyed this one. Can't wait to hear it again.

 

Surprised you like that one mate, pretty dull stuff IMO & poor vocals.

 

Backed! One of, if not THE worst COT release. A couple of good tracks, but not much else for me.

I'm not surprised to see such comments due to the fact I picked it up for about eu$5.00 and then only a day later I saw Sam selling it for even cheaper, I think. So I assumed if it was already a bargain bin frequenter it must have been poorly received, but I honestly can't understand why. To me it just sounded like a harder rocking version of 'Karma' (which I liked too) and there didn't really appear to be any bad songs on it. As I said above, it is potentially missing a real standout track, but I just enjoyed the overall feel of the disc indeed. Will be interested to see what I think after a few more spins... see if I am missing something obvious. One thing I can say with conviction is that, imo, it destroys 'Breakthrough' and 'Destiny', imo, of course.

[Glen]

Crown Of Thorns - Faith ; now, how the holy hell did I miss this one??? I have always got the new COT CD when it comes out, or close to the date, or at least downloaded it for later in previous years... but I totally missed this. And I love it. What a nice, solid hard rocking album. Only first spins, and maybe missing a few standouts that 'Lost Cathederal' had, but I think I'd almost say this is my 2nd favourite CD from them, after the debut. I just really enjoyed this one. Can't wait to hear it again.

 

Surprised you like that one mate, pretty dull stuff IMO & poor vocals.

 

Backed! One of, if not THE worst COT release. A couple of good tracks, but not much else for me.

I'm not surprised to see such comments due to the fact I picked it up for about eu$5.00 and then only a day later I saw Sam selling it for even cheaper, I think. So I assumed if it was already a bargain bin frequenter it must have been poorly received, but I honestly can't understand why. To me it just sounded like a harder rocking version of 'Karma' (which I liked too) and there didn't really appear to be any bad songs on it. As I said above, it is potentially missing a real standout track, but I just enjoyed the overall feel of the disc indeed. Will be interested to see what I think after a few more spins... see if I am missing something obvious. One thing I can say with conviction is that, imo, it destroys 'Breakthrough' and 'Destiny', imo, of course.

 

Im with the other guys....easily their weakest cd for me. Only really the title track is good. Bland.

[Geoff]

Crown Of Thorns - Faith ; now, how the holy hell did I miss this one??? I have always got the new COT CD when it comes out, or close to the date, or at least downloaded it for later in previous years... but I totally missed this. And I love it. What a nice, solid hard rocking album. Only first spins, and maybe missing a few standouts that 'Lost Cathederal' had, but I think I'd almost say this is my 2nd favourite CD from them, after the debut. I just really enjoyed this one. Can't wait to hear it again.

 

Surprised you like that one mate, pretty dull stuff IMO & poor vocals.

 

Backed! One of, if not THE worst COT release. A couple of good tracks, but not much else for me.

I'm not surprised to see such comments due to the fact I picked it up for about eu$5.00 and then only a day later I saw Sam selling it for even cheaper, I think. So I assumed if it was already a bargain bin frequenter it must have been poorly received, but I honestly can't understand why. To me it just sounded like a harder rocking version of 'Karma' (which I liked too) and there didn't really appear to be any bad songs on it. As I said above, it is potentially missing a real standout track, but I just enjoyed the overall feel of the disc indeed. Will be interested to see what I think after a few more spins... see if I am missing something obvious. One thing I can say with conviction is that, imo, it destroys 'Breakthrough' and 'Destiny', imo, of course.

 

Im with the other guys....easily their weakest cd for me. Only really the title track is good. Bland.

You guys honestly prefer 'Breakthrough' and 'Destiny'? Wowser. I just liked that it was a good hard rocking CD with some nice ballads thrown in too. As noted, it didn't have the killer tracks of the debut but I actually thought the more rocking vibe was the most reminiscent of their debut since that disc.

[Geoff]

Dare - 'Beneath The Shining Water' ; I'm sure I have heard some or all of this in the past, but I'm not sure. All I know is that if I had I surely would have bought it earlier. Surely? I loved it. Seriously. A little more mellow than previous, but just a great CD. Nice emotive melodic rock from start to end. Proud to finally have it in the collection.

 

Asteria - 'Momentum' ; add this one to the good but not great modern rock discs of the year. Compared to Just Surrender in some blogs... but not, they're not even close. Good enough stuff, but just average in the end.

 

I See Stars - '3D' ; not bad at all. I checked these guys out after looking at the entire line-up for Soundwave and selecting any band that sounded like it might be my thing. I don't rush to see these guys if they play at the same time as a band I'm keen to see, but I'd see them happily. They go from an almost pop-rock kind of vibe to Tim-styled heaviness. It's actually a pretty cool CD. Except for the dance track. Again, not great but it's not a bad listen.

 

Last Winter - 'Neptune eyes' and 'Night launch' (2 new tracks) ; new vocalist, but I still love this band and these songs. Hope they get a new album out there soon 'cause I dig it.

[JamesEagle]

M Pire - Chapter One

 

I really hated the first 3 songs on this, so thought it was going to be terrible, but after those tracks it got much better. Pretty decent Hard Rock with some really nice guitar. Just seems strange that those first three tracks sounded so different and so weak to me.

[TIM (2)]

Crown Of Thorns - Faith ; now, how the holy hell did I miss this one??? I have always got the new COT CD when it comes out, or close to the date, or at least downloaded it for later in previous years... but I totally missed this. And I love it. What a nice, solid hard rocking album. Only first spins, and maybe missing a few standouts that 'Lost Cathederal' had, but I think I'd almost say this is my 2nd favourite CD from them, after the debut. I just really enjoyed this one. Can't wait to hear it again.

 

Surprised you like that one mate, pretty dull stuff IMO & poor vocals.

 

Backed! One of, if not THE worst COT release. A couple of good tracks, but not much else for me.

I'm not surprised to see such comments due to the fact I picked it up for about eu$5.00 and then only a day later I saw Sam selling it for even cheaper, I think. So I assumed if it was already a bargain bin frequenter it must have been poorly received, but I honestly can't understand why. To me it just sounded like a harder rocking version of 'Karma' (which I liked too) and there didn't really appear to be any bad songs on it. As I said above, it is potentially missing a real standout track, but I just enjoyed the overall feel of the disc indeed. Will be interested to see what I think after a few more spins... see if I am missing something obvious. One thing I can say with conviction is that, imo, it destroys 'Breakthrough' and 'Destiny', imo, of course.

 

Im with the other guys....easily their weakest cd for me. Only really the title track is good. Bland.

You guys honestly prefer 'Breakthrough' and 'Destiny'? Wowser. I just liked that it was a good hard rocking CD with some nice ballads thrown in too. As noted, it didn't have the killer tracks of the debut but I actually thought the more rocking vibe was the most reminiscent of their debut since that disc.

 

Sorry mate I thought it was their weakest too, and I certainly didn't think it was one of their more rocking discs. The "Destiny Unknown" disc does run it close for their weakest, but that album is saved by "Heaven Tonight" which is worth owning it for alone...

[Doksdad]

Black Country Communion - S/T

 

Just three songs in but I like them so damn much I had to post how much I'm loving this disc so far. Glenn Hughes+Jason Bonham+Derek Sherinian+Joe Bonamassa=Awesome.

Sounds like "watered down" Zeppelin to me. And I am not a huge Zeppy fan

[Geoff]

Crown Of Thorns - Faith ; now, how the holy hell did I miss this one??? I have always got the new COT CD when it comes out, or close to the date, or at least downloaded it for later in previous years... but I totally missed this. And I love it. What a nice, solid hard rocking album. Only first spins, and maybe missing a few standouts that 'Lost Cathederal' had, but I think I'd almost say this is my 2nd favourite CD from them, after the debut. I just really enjoyed this one. Can't wait to hear it again.

 

Surprised you like that one mate, pretty dull stuff IMO & poor vocals.

 

Backed! One of, if not THE worst COT release. A couple of good tracks, but not much else for me.

I'm not surprised to see such comments due to the fact I picked it up for about eu$5.00 and then only a day later I saw Sam selling it for even cheaper, I think. So I assumed if it was already a bargain bin frequenter it must have been poorly received, but I honestly can't understand why. To me it just sounded like a harder rocking version of 'Karma' (which I liked too) and there didn't really appear to be any bad songs on it. As I said above, it is potentially missing a real standout track, but I just enjoyed the overall feel of the disc indeed. Will be interested to see what I think after a few more spins... see if I am missing something obvious. One thing I can say with conviction is that, imo, it destroys 'Breakthrough' and 'Destiny', imo, of course.

 

Im with the other guys....easily their weakest cd for me. Only really the title track is good. Bland.

You guys honestly prefer 'Breakthrough' and 'Destiny'? Wowser. I just liked that it was a good hard rocking CD with some nice ballads thrown in too. As noted, it didn't have the killer tracks of the debut but I actually thought the more rocking vibe was the most reminiscent of their debut since that disc.

 

Sorry mate I thought it was their weakest too, and I certainly didn't think it was one of their more rocking discs. The "Destiny Unknown" disc does run it close for their weakest, but that album is saved by "Heaven Tonight" which is worth owning it for alone...

Yeah, that's a brilliant track. Shame I actually literally cannot play the rest of the CD because I hate it that much. In fact I think I sold it ages ago because it was so bad. Yeah, that and 'Breakthrough' departed my collection. This one will not.

[Jez]

Black Country Communion - S/T

 

Just three songs in but I like them so damn much I had to post how much I'm loving this disc so far. Glenn Hughes+Jason Bonham+Derek Sherinian+Joe Bonamassa=Awesome.

Sounds like "watered down" Zeppelin to me. And I am not a huge Zeppy fan

 

Certainly alot more to their sound than Led Zepp to be honest. Loads of influences in their especially classic Purple, Bad Company, Cream and a host of others. Great album

[heaven&hell]

Black Country Communion - S/T

 

Just three songs in but I like them so damn much I had to post how much I'm loving this disc so far. Glenn Hughes+Jason Bonham+Derek Sherinian+Joe Bonamassa=Awesome.

Sounds like "watered down" Zeppelin to me. And I am not a huge Zeppy fan

 

Certainly alot more to their sound than Led Zepp to be honest. Loads of influences in their especially classic Purple, Bad Company, Cream and a host of others. Great album

 

Yup I hear some Bad Company in there as well especially when Joe sings.

[Geoff]

Liberty N' Justice - Independence Day ; I must admit I don't really "get" this one. I don't mind these albums - usually a good place to check out a cool new tune from an old favourite artist from the 80's. This one is more stripped back and mostly acoustic, which is fine, as long as the songs are good. And the thing is, there are good songs here. So why does this album take dog balls, place them on it's tongue and juggle them around for the duration of it's playing time? The production job is a f*cking joke. It is so terrible you'd think someone's pulling a prank on you. The truly criminal thing about this CD is that with all the great vocalists on display (well, great for an 80's rock fan anyway), it's actually hard to distinguish the voices. It's actually a struggle to hear who is singing what without looking at the back cover. The production is that dreadful that they've killed the star appeal this album should have carried. The first song with Corabi is butchering at it's most painful. Good song, but you'd never pick it was John Corabi if the back cover didn't tell you because it is so dreadfully produced. Songs like this should have a perfect crisp acoustic sound, clear drums and vocals that steal the show. Instead they just made a f*cking mess of an otherwise decent collection of songs.

 

Grand Illusion - Ordinary Just Won't Do ; What a fence I am on when it comes to these guys. Sometimes I think I need to desperately seek out the rest of their discography, other times I think I'll just leave it. And the latter's where I'm at at the moment. The new album has some excellent moments, but also some not so great tunes. And having just bought this one it's kind of the same. Only the highlights aren't quite as monumental. Good tunes here, with some help from prolific writers like Steve Newman and Steve Overland. It's a good CD with some good songs, but also some that just don't do it for me at all. I like them and will slowly get to all their albums, but I won't rush to do it asap. And who is this vocalist is a dead ringer for?

 

Joshua Kadison - Delilah Blue ; Can't believe I finally added a Elton John... whoops I mean this guy CD to my collection. Seriously, I have always loved 'Jessie', 'Beautiful in My Eyes' and 'Picture Postcards from L.A.' but before I owned this album if you asked me who song those songs I'd have said Elton John any day of the week. Beautiful tracks - I really dig them. And the rest of the album's not half bad at all either. The problem I have with the disc? If I'm honest with myself I do wonder how often I'll pull it out for a listen. Good stuff, though.

 

Joshua Kadison - Painted Desert Serenade ; and the 2nd one is good too. The tracks clocking in at 9mins and such had me scared from the get-go. I thought I'd just skip through most of them, but here's someone who doesn't write a long song for the sake of writing a long song. Like it should be, the longer songs are long songs because he needs the time to tell his story. I actually found myself enjoying most of this again, even the gospel-tinged opening full track (after the intro). Great song-writer, engrossing lyrics and nice hooks too. Funnily enough, this stuff actually reminds me of Butch Walker's more sentimental side. Nice stuff.

[Jez]

 

 

Joshua Kadison - Delilah Blue ; Can't believe I finally added a Elton John... whoops I mean this guy CD to my collection. Seriously, I have always loved 'Jessie', 'Beautiful in My Eyes' and 'Picture Postcards from L.A.' but before I owned this album if you asked me who song those songs I'd have said Elton John any day of the week. Beautiful tracks - I really dig them. And the rest of the album's not half bad at all either. The problem I have with the disc? If I'm honest with myself I do wonder how often I'll pull it out for a listen. Good stuff, though.

 

Joshua Kadison - Painted Desert Serenade ; and the 2nd one is good too. The tracks clocking in at 9mins and such had me scared from the get-go. I thought I'd just skip through most of them, but here's someone who doesn't write a long song for the sake of writing a long song. Like it should be, the longer songs are long songs because he needs the time to tell his story. I actually found myself enjoying most of this again, even the gospel-tinged opening full track (after the intro). Great song-writer, engrossing lyrics and nice hooks too. Funnily enough, this stuff actually reminds me of Butch Walker's more sentimental side. Nice stuff.

 

 

2 great albums Geoff, although I must say that I much prefer the debut over 'Delilah Blue'. If you get the chance try to get the track 'All I Ever Ask' which was a B'Side on the 'Jessie' CD single and a brilliant track that definitely should have been added to the album proper. 'Vanishing America' (2001) is worth tracking down aswell.

[Geoff]

 

 

Joshua Kadison - Delilah Blue ; Can't believe I finally added a Elton John... whoops I mean this guy CD to my collection. Seriously, I have always loved 'Jessie', 'Beautiful in My Eyes' and 'Picture Postcards from L.A.' but before I owned this album if you asked me who song those songs I'd have said Elton John any day of the week. Beautiful tracks - I really dig them. And the rest of the album's not half bad at all either. The problem I have with the disc? If I'm honest with myself I do wonder how often I'll pull it out for a listen. Good stuff, though.

 

Joshua Kadison - Painted Desert Serenade ; and the 2nd one is good too. The tracks clocking in at 9mins and such had me scared from the get-go. I thought I'd just skip through most of them, but here's someone who doesn't write a long song for the sake of writing a long song. Like it should be, the longer songs are long songs because he needs the time to tell his story. I actually found myself enjoying most of this again, even the gospel-tinged opening full track (after the intro). Great song-writer, engrossing lyrics and nice hooks too. Funnily enough, this stuff actually reminds me of Butch Walker's more sentimental side. Nice stuff.

 

 

2 great albums Geoff, although I must say that I much prefer the debut over 'Delilah Blue'. If you get the chance try to get the track 'All I Ever Ask' which was a B'Side on the 'Jessie' CD single and a brilliant track that definitely should have been added to the album proper. 'Vanishing America' (2001) is worth tracking down aswell.

Yeah, reading through my post I don't know if that came through, but I definitely prefer the debut too. If only for those 3 songs I noted. Some truly great songs on there. I'll see if I can find that track on the net and I'll add 'Vanishing America' to my want list. I got these 2 for about 20c each so I expect that one should be pretty similar. Thanks for the tips.