Review by The Saint

I'd not heard of this band before until cdjapan released a few of their albums and this was the one I eventually selected for my collection as it has what the composer himself thinks are his best work and to my ear this is mostly correct. Fans of the ambient techno genre will appreciate this band as I have come to later than others I suppose. As far as this mini-lp release goes the packaging is about the standard release these days with nothing really to shout about for fans of mlps. Overall a decent and good release.

Upon the sad untimely death of this music icon I decided to revisit all his albums to select my favourite one to buy and I decided upon this album which to my ears is his overall consistently best solo album. I also liked the guest appearance of Iggy Pop on what I think to be the strongest track here. The mini-lp package is also well put together to reward collectors of this type of release. This also comes with a post card which is a nice touch. Highly recommended.

For many years only two Pink Floyd albums were great to me: "Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall"; the rest were a good ways behind and although I'd heard "Animals" before I didn't think that much of it until I finally got this Blu-Ray version and I was blown away! "Animals" is now my all-time favourite Floyd album followed by the two I mentioned earlier. The 5.1 PCM surround mix is simply sublime and is my favourite way to listen to this album on my soundsystem. The DTS for some reason is a little harsh and not as satisfying to my ear but both the stereo and surround PCM versions made me want to revisit this album over and over again. To me this is the ultimate and best version of "Animals" out there and if your system allows it I have no problem recommending what is clearly a substanstial upgrade from any previous verion. Very, very highly recommended!

After getting the excellent "Animals" blu ray I was expecting at least as good a release for this album however the sound quality I found to be very harsh and nowhere as good as the "Animals" release of even as good as previous DSOTM releases. I guess if I had to pick the best version the PCM stereo is the one however you could argue even the very old mofi gold discs sound better. I have to say I'm kinda disappointed here and regret getting this; hopefully "The Wall" will be a better release if not at least as good as the "Animals" one.

I never hesitate to stock up on this when I run low and I have done so many times as a very good protector of cds that sometimes come straight in the cardboard without any scratch protection. Also in hot climates I want to try to ensure cd rot does not set in having lost quite a few cds and dvds to this; my hope is that this extra protection helps my cds last longer in my hot climate. Definitely recommended.

In the 80s to early 90s Christian Pop had a heyday and many artists such as Amy Grant sold millions of records but over the years the genre has declined considerably however for those who recall those days Michael Gonzales' work will by especially appreciated for the complex arrangements almost jazz-like that reminds me of Steely Dan and the works of Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton or GRP releases of that time which I appreciate listening to even today. Of course the lyrics hold meaning for believers as well but the combination of relevant lyrics with high-quality musicianship and complex arrangements makes this a favourite of mine and I'm sure of many others who are interested in this genre. Recommended.

In the 80s to early 90s Christian Pop had a heyday and many artists such as Amy Grant sold millions of records but over the years the genre has declined considerably however for those who recall those days Michael Gonzales' work will by especially appreciated for the complex arrangements almost jazz-like that reminds me of Steely Dan and the works of Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton or GRP releases of that time which I appreciate listening to even today. Of course the lyrics hold meaning for believers as well but the combination of relevant lyrics with high-quality musicianship and complex arrangements makes this a favourite of mine and I'm sure of many others who are interested in this genre. Recommended.

I happened to stumble upon a list of mlps releases that long out of stock were now briefly available on cdjapan and I came upon this artist Pat Travers whom I'd never heard of before and so decided to listen to all his albums and I decided that this one: "Hot Shot" is his best and so picked this up. As a fan of 80s rock ala Foreigner, Journey etc I thought this album was at least as good as the albums of those bands and so I'm happy with this purchase. As an mlps collector I also thought this was decently put together. Fans of this genre of music will be happy to add this to their collecitons. Recommended.

I'm so glad cdjapan had this available again as I missed out on getting it when first released as a big Eagles fan I had to go back to the source and Gram Parsons' work here with The Flying Burrito Brothers is exceptional on what to me is their best album. For fans of the mini-lp replica sleeve this is also a treat as the mlps is well done as well. Great sound quality and classic tracks that will last. Recommended.

The fault is entirely mine as I didn't read the description closely enough to see that this is a 7" mlps release which I didn't want as it won't fit my shelf. I wish cdjapan would make it clearer that their releases are not the usual size so that I won't make this mistake again but for fans who don't care about this then there is nothing else to complain about. For me due to shelf space the size of the mlps does matter so I'm not so please about this purchase.

Finally this has come out on mini-lp sleeve cd and I couldn't wait to add this to my collection! I used to listen to the cassette many years ago when it was first released until the tape broke; as those who know cassettes don't last long especially if you play them as much as I did. This is not the best Van Halen album but it is certainly their last great album as future releases to me were simply not as good as what came before. The mlps is also well done for collectors who care about these things like I do. Definitely recommended.

I had never heard of this band before until I heard the final song in the movie "There's Something About Mary" called "Build Me Up Buttercup" and I decided I had to find this song on cd and after extensive research I found this album on cdjapan by this band called The Foundations. Thankfully this album has that track as a bonus on this cd and it also has the other track that I really like: "Baby, Now That I've Found You" which is really nice. I've very late in discovering this band but as they say better late than never and I have to say that the other albums tracks are also very good; no fillers here to my ear. Also for mlps collectors like me this package is well done and better than most of the mlps packaging that's released these days. Overall highly recommended especially if you like UK-style Northern Soul.

I got the first album on mini-lp sleeve from cdjapan because I wanted the hits: "Build Me Up Buttercup" and "Baby, Now That I've Found You" which was a very satisfying purchase so I decided to try out this other album of theirs and while it doesn't have a strong hits like those two the album overall is also satisfying with very strong examples of the Northern Soul genre with no filler that I can hear. In fact as an overall consistently good album this one is it and I'm happy with my purchase. For mlps collectors like myself the packaging is also very good just like the other album I bought from here. Highly recommended for fans of this genre.

Beware! This is not from the 1996 masters but from 2002 which means Lee and Bob's work have been overdubbed by Ozzy's current band members. The result may not be what you expect. Just know exactly what you are buying here which is not the original band members.

Unless you're an audiomaniac, you're not really gonna notice any "drop-outs" and overall, the sound quality of this HDCD version of "Fragile" is very good. The mini-lp sleeve packaging is a work of art and it even includes an 8-page booklet of colour pictures of the band members. Everybody knows "Roundabout" but what struck me most about this album was the various genres that are represented here. We have an adapted version of a movement from a Brahms' symphony, great classical solo guitar work by Steve Howe on "Mood For a Day" (my favourite piece), great hard rock on "Heart of the Sunrise", great pop on "Long Distance Runaround" and the rest are excellent tracks as well. This is essential listening for any progressive rock fans and especially for aspiring guitarists as Steve Howe does simply brilliant work on this album. Whichever version you decide to get, make sure you get this. Highly recommended!

Love 'em or hate 'em at least for a brief moment in the mid-90s this was the band on everybody's lips. Musicians and those who have some understanding of music would probably agree that the band's ego is probably a lot bigger than its talent but one cannot deny the quality of some of the tracks here and indeed, many of the tracks here most probably represent the best work that Oasis have ever done anyway. "Wonderwall" is a deceptively simple and yet musically interesting piece to play as a guitarist and will probably go down as a classic single over the years. Other not so brilliant but still interesting tracks include: "Champagne Supernova", the album's opus, "Hello", "Roll With It", "Don't Look Back in Anger", "Hey Now!" and "She's Electric" which is practically the whole album anyway. This is why this album could very well be a greatest hits compilation of the band and this is also why anyone looking for Oasis' best album need look no further. The sleeve design and the remastered sound make this a treat for fans as well. Recommended.

Hard to believe but we've had 30 years of "More Than A Feeling" already! And to commemorate this occasion, we now have a "remastered" mini-lp sleeve replica version of Boston's best album which should also rank among the best ever debut albums of the 70s as well. The packaging is a work of art as it very faithfully follows the original vinyl packaging down to the last detail but that's not where the fun stops; in addition to the insert with the lyrics in both English and Japanese, we also get 12-page colour booklet with very amusing liner notes written by none other than Tom Scholz himself! And now the not-so-good points: the album has been remastered but the sound quality is still not that great. Many of the tracks sound pretty muddy and way below what you'd expect from remastered cds given today's technology. Still, I've heard worse and I guess if you don't already have this and if you are a fan of mid-70s classic rock, this is probably the best version of the album that's out there right now.

This album will always hold a special place in my heart and was the reason why I decided to pick up the guitar and to learn to love and adopt music as a hobby. Now, this album comes remastered for a better, cleaned up although not the best sound I've heard on other remastered albums and the mini-lp replica sleeve very faithfully recreates the original vinyl sleeve design. In addition, we get all the lyrics in English and Japanese, a tiny sticker, a 12-page full colour booklet and 4 bonus tracks. The best tracks here are "Don't Stop Believing", "Who's Crying Now", "Stone in Love", "Still They Ride" and "Open Arms." That's half the album already and the other tracks are decent as well except perhaps for the 2 weakest tracks, "Dead or Alive" and "Lay it Down." The 4 bonus tracks consist of the B-side of the "Still They Ride" single and 3 live tracks from a Houston concert in 1981. The Journey sound is a thing of beauty; the Steve Perry vocals and Neil Schon guitar sound are so unique that you just know you're listening to a Journey tune after the first few measures. One of the greatest albums of the 80s and very highly recommended.

After the wildly successful commercial breakthrough of "Escape", Journey followed up and attempted to consolidate this success with the release of "Frontiers". This album is more of a mixed bag in that it contains some of the better tracks that Journey have ever done but combined with some obviously poor fillers. Still, on the strength of the good singles though, this album managed to sell loads of copies as fans found tracks like "Faithfully", "Send Her My Love", "Separate Ways" and "After the Fall" too hard to resist and hence were forgiving of duds like "Rubicon" and "Edge of the Blade". This version of the album though is a very good replica of the original vinyl sleeve version and the sound quality is well remastered. It also includes a sticker, all the lyrics in English and Japanese, a 12-page all-colour booklet, a 1983 all-colour calendar and 4 bonus tracks: "Only the Young", "Ask the Lonely", "Liberty" and "Only Solutions". Overall, this is a good version of the album to get if you don't already have it and as there are bonus tracks as well with some digital remastering done, you may also want to decide to upgrade should you have an older version.

Compilation albums by their very nature usually mean disjointed sounding albums which lack a proper flow to the tracks and this album is no exception. Although we get 17 tracks here, this album lacks a coherent flow and worse still, the allegedly remastered sound quality is quite poor. It sounds like yet another proper remastering job needs to be done as only the last two bonus tracks sound any where near decent sound quality wise. The mini-lp cardboard sleeve replica is actually one of the better ones that I've seen and so it's quite disappointing the sound quality is poor. Still, if you get this album and "Big Ones", you'd have a pretty good representation of the best work Aerosmith have ever done.