It was a dark and rainy night. The courthouse clock struck midnight; a stray dog howled. It was all too gorgeous when the staff of Gear Vault convened for their semi-annual mystery meeting with the confines of the beloved cinder block chamber they call their “office.” Their agenda? To determine the 20 most essential persons in guitar.

1. Jimi Hendrix

Widely recognized as one of the most originative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix initiated the explosive future prospects or potentials of the electric guitar. Hendrix’s progressed style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion invented a new musical form. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is not one thing short of noteworthy that Jimi Hendrix’s meteoric rise in the music took place in just four short years. His musical language proceeds to influence a host of modern musicians, from George Clinton to Miles Davis, and Steve Vai to Jonny Lang. Hendrix was the revolutionary guitar god, enuff said!

2. Edward Van Halen

Edward Van Halen once likened his guitar playing to “falling down the stairs and landing on my feet.” Eddie’s had thirteen albums’ worth of such happy accidents and in the procedure has changed the way humans play, listen and think when it comes to the electric guitar. With his unorthodox technique, dare-devil whammy bar jokes and fearless experimentation, Van Halen revitalized heavy guitar after it had run it is course in the Seventies. Espousing an I-just-play-that’s-all-I-do attitude and favoring basic gear like stock Marshalls. Peavey 5150s, homemade, slapped together guitars and simple, minimal stop box effects, Van Halen became guitar’s biggest hero by getting it is unassuming anti-hero.

From the jaw-dropping gymnastics of Van Halen’s “Eruption” to the eerie, tidal crescendos of “Catherdral” on Diver Down, through his 1984 chart-topping synth experiments and spirit of 5150 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Eddie has remained progressed allround his career. Never one to wait around for the electrician, Van Halen alternatively chooses building his own gear-and if it doesn’t always look pretty, well, beauty is in the ear of beholder. By “Frankensteining” his introductory striped guitar from $130 worth of parts, Van Halen launched his quest for the elusive “brown sound-”big, warm and majestic”-and gave rock guitarists a new holy grail of tone to seek in the post-Jim-my page era. His single-pick up and volume control innovation changed the way guitars looked and sounded, extrapolated the antecedently obscure Kramer Guitars, and inspired the do-it-yourself guitar gear industry. Eddie’s custom-designed Peavey amps and his with Sterling Ball on his Music Man guitars prove that Van Halen still believes the artisan will have to retain originative input on his equipment.

As a player, Van Halen single-handedly-well, dual-handedly-introduced millions of rock players such stimulating proficiencies as two-handed tapping and harmonics. Before 1978, guitar just had to be deafening and fast. Eddie’s playing is also tasteful and always in context, a fact that distinguishes him from his legions of imitators. While he’s unimpressed by the copycat syndrome, it can not be refused that a good deal of players primary picked up a guitar after Van Halen’s dazzling licks. But none of them may fall down the stairs with such brilliance.

3. Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton has with great success reinvented himself dozens of times: Rave-Up King with the Yardbirds; Holy Father of the Anglo-blues with the Bluesbreakers; free-form improvisational talent with Cream; chameleon rises to each musical occasion.

By 1965 the 20-year-old Clapton was already a legend. He’d introduced the blues to the masses, interpreting and updating what had been a largely unknown form for the rock generation. Simultaneously, his lush, Les Paul-driven tone marked the sheer turning point in the history of rock, transforming what had been a good-time twang instrument into a vehicle for unfathomed expression.

Ultimately, the most enduring effigy of the great guitarist will be of Clapton the bluesman, standing on a corner of a stage and exposing his psychic wounds to the masses. It is interesting, though, that, while “bluesy” in feel, his most unforgettable songs-”Layla,” “Tears In Heaven”-do not apply the blues structure.

While most of Clapton’s contemporaries talk reunion and revival, he never retreats behind memories of his “good old days.” His Unplugged album, which was enormously successful-both for him and acoustic guitar manufactures-included a radical remake of “Layla.” Clapton is one artisan who has learned how to grow up.

4. Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney has expended very little of his career playing six-string guitar. But as a bassist, he almost single-handedly made guitar players’ jobs a whole lot easier.

When the Beatles firstborn arrived on the scene, seldom was the bass even heard on most pop records; players seldom attempted anything more adventurous than a root-fifth accompaniment. But McCartney, who not only played bass, but sang, enlivened the Beatles’ material with dynamic, moving basslines on his widely known and esteemed Hofner and, later, a Rickenbacker 4001. By the time the Beatles started out work on Sergeant Pepper’s, McCartney as pumping out bass melodies that carried entire songs, with the result that the Beatles’ guitar constituents oftentimes became sparser, more subtle. Within months-and to this day-bass players the world over were unshackled.

5. Pete Townshend

Before Pete Townshend came along, feedback was something guitarists shunned like halitosis. Pete turned it into one of rock guitar’s most powerful sonic resources.

Soon after The Who debuted in 1964, Townshend became legendary for violently slamming his guitar into his Marshall stack (a form of amplification he was the firstborn to use) and smashing his instrument to splinters at the end of each show. All of this had a unfathomed influence on Jimi Hendrix (aka The Guitar God #1) and just in regards to each other rocker who ever picked up a guitar. Pete’s trademark “windmill” strum was in truth swiped from Keith Richards. But Townshend made it even larger and more dramatic-which is what he and The Who did with just regarding everything they touched. Having mastered the art of the three-minute pop song, Townshend turned his attention to 15-minute mini-operas and, with Tommy in 1969, the worlds primary double album rock opera. Townshend’s songwriting talent and theatrical flair tend to obscure the fact that he is likewise a fine guitarist, as capable of supple lyricism as he is of angry mayhem.

6. George Harrison

When George Harrison strummed his primary chord for the duration of the Beatles’ historic aspect on the Ed Sullivan show 44 years ago, he became the catalyst for the electric guitar’s metamorphosis from stringed instruments to tool of teenage liberation. And, as the folks at Gretsch and Rickenbacker will readily attest, it didn’t precisely hurt sales, either.

While Harrison has never been a virtuoso guitarist, he was an innovator-constantly pushing the limits of studio sounds and stylistic boundaries. In a lot of ways, he likewise was the primary progressed session musician, his chops as diverse and far-reaching as Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting. He could dish up brilliant Scotty Moore-style rockabilly (“All My Loving”), heart-rendering gut-string lines (“And I lover”) and sheer fuzz and fury (“Revolution”)-always adding something unforgettable to the material. Later in his career, he formulated an introductory slide style that is more melodic than bluesy. Like the Beatles as a whole, Harrison never settled into a comfortable groove. He glided throughout the musical spectrum-from country and western to spaced-out psychedelia to smooth and sweet slide-shattering conventions and then moving on.

7. Angus Young

Two decades after Angus Young introductory emerged AC/DC’s axe-wielding dervish at age 14, the we Scottish Aussie remains one of the sturdiest bridges among young metal-ists and rock’s blues roots. Although he did great work before and since, Young will always be best known for 1980′s Back In Black, a blue-collar masterwork which, with killer classics like “You Shook Me All Night Long,” remains an all-purpose primer for riff writing and tight, scalar lead playing. Never mind the fact that the man does it all while spinning around like chinchilla on speed. Though he may be dwarfed by his signature oxblood SG, Angus Young is a giant amidst men.

8. Jimmy Page

Arguably the most emulated guitarist in rock history, Jimmy Page is in addition assured a place in the music’s pantheon of greats for his roles as a musical director, invent and all-around guru of Led Zeppelin.

His Rampaging, blues-based work on anthems like “Whole Lotta Love,” “Communication Breakdown” and “Rock And Roll” defines heavy metal. His real genius, however, was his capacity to exaggerate the parameters of the genre to include parts of established English folk, reggae, funk, rockabilly and Arabic classical music.

Page the guitarist has never been a facile as Edward Van Halen or Steve Via, but few players in rock history have been capable to match his restless imagination or visionary approach to guitar orchestration. Whether he was exploring the exotic joys of open tuning on tracks like “Kashmir” and “Black Mountain Side,” pioneering the use if backwards echo on “You Shook Me,” or coaxing other worldly sounds from his ’58 Les Paul with a cello bow on “Dazed And Confused,” Page systematically transcended the limitations of his instrument and the recording studio.

More than 30 years have passed since Page recorded the seminal Led Zepplin IV, but the album’s gigantic imprint may still be detected in the work of such cutting edge bands as Jane’s Addiction, Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden, to name a few. Page, of course, remains active. His dense, mutli-layered work on the Coverdale/Page record demonstrated his refusal to rest his laurels.

9. Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain was the intense and unkempt grunge lord who brought Nirvana from obscurity to the top of the charts, was all the rage-literally. The king of the guitar anti-hero, he didn’t play his Fender Jaguars but he mauled them in a chord-crunching fury. Inevitably, he smashed his guitars, littered stages around the world with his splintered victims.

Cobain was a guitar pioneer because he managed to fuse into one dynamic style the aggression of Seventies punk rock, the speed and simplicity of Eighties hardcore and the bottom-heavy crunch of Nineties metal-and done so without a trace of absurdity or bombast to which all three genres are prone.

There’s little doubt that scores of new players have been inspired to plug in by the chugging chords of Cobain’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Segovia he wasn’t. But Segovia never captured the angst of an entire generation with one burst of ungodly feedback.

10. David Gilmour

What makes David Gilmour veritably noteworthy is his uncanny capacity to marry two seemingly contradictory genres-progressive rock and blues. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this strange union may be heard on one of Pink Floyd’s biggest hits, “Money” (Dark Side Of The Moon). As the song begins, Gilmour tardily builds a delicate network of spacious, effected guitars, only to topple them with a series of with regard to emotions charged, vibrato-drenched solos, whose rich, shimmering tone and impeccable phrasing recall B.B. King, rather than King Crimson.

Gilmour is the rarest of rockers. Like Jimi Hendrix, he ahs the natural capacity to remainder the cerebral with the emotional, the technical with instinctual, while keeping an eye on both the past and the future. It is this awful juggling act that is the mystery to Pink Floyd’s lasting appeal.

11. Keith Richards

Keith Richards is the archetypal rock outlaw, the quintessential skinny English rock guitarist in a tight black suit. He’s filled that role since the Rolling Stones basi established themselves as the dark, dangerous substitute to the Beatles in 1963. With his deep love of the blues, Keef initiated a generation of white, middle-class kids into the wonders of Muddy Waters, howling’ Wolf and Chuck Berry. His distinguishable five-string, open-G tuning lies at the heart of such all-time power chord classics as “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Street Fighting Man.” As a soloist, Keef has worked a few miracles; witness the icy, amphetamine mesmerism of his licks on “Sympathy For The Devil” and his buoyant bending on “Happy.” And he is the author of the most-played riff in all rock: the tritone mating call of “Satisfaction.” Much has been made of Richards’ fondness of controlled substances, but his uttermost drug is music; his cognition of rock, blues and reggae is encyclopedic, his passion for them boundless. They have sustained him through imprisonment, addiction, tempestuous lines of his leathery face, the history of rock and roll is etched.

12. Eric Johnson

In a realm often overshadowed by ham-fisted machoismo, Eric Johnson stands apart as rock guitar’s graceful poetical laureate. He has managed to give rise to an firstborn style from such radically dissimilar roots as country chicken picking, Jimi Hendrix and jazzman Wes Montgomery. A legend long before he became famous, Johnson’s seemingly endless, melodious lines and distinctive “violin” tone made it an sheer requisite for guitarists stopping near the Texan’s hometown of Austin to attend his show there in the early/mid 1980s.

After turning down a heap of offers to tour as a sideman, he rose to prominence in 1986 with his severely acclaimed, Grammy-nominated album, Tones. His follow-up, Ah Via Musicom, thrust the self-effacing innovator further into the spotlight, yielding one Grammy-winning cut (“Cliffs Of Dover”) and at long last going gold. Combining passion and lyricism with what may only be described as an overwhelmingly positive vibe, Johnson’s music is progressive without being academic, uplifting without stooping to sentimentality.

13. Buddy Guy

“Part of my reason for forming Cream was I abruptly had this crazy idea with regards to being English Buddy Guy; my goal was to be Buddy Guy with a composing bass player… And to this day, when he’s on I don’t think any individual may touch him. He takes you away to someplace totally different.” -Eric Clapton

“Buddy Guy is as close as you may come to the listen of the blues.” -Jeff Beck

“He plays one note and you forget with regards to the rent.” -Carlos Santana

“Nobody may get out of tune as cool as Buddy Guy.” Stevie Ray Vaughan

14. Yngwie Malmsteen

Two schools of thought have sprung over the years in regards to Yngwie J. Malmsteen. On the one hand, the Swedish native’s fabulously precise, rapid-fire playing has earned him as a unfathomed and brilliant artist, the founder and most indispensable exponent of neo-classical guitar. From the point of view of this school, the effortless blend of raw spead, finesse and passion that has characterized Malmsteen’s style since his 1984 solo debut, Rising Force, represents the pinnacle of fretboard achievement. Yngwie is likewise credited with popularizing the scalloped guitar neck.

But Yngwie is likewise scorned by galore in the guitar community, who loathe him with an intensity that matches the fervor of his most consecrated boosters. To group, Malmsteen was the architect of cold, empty guitar style, which emphasized technique over art, speed over feel. They rejoice over the evident demise of neo-classicism. And how do you plead-for Yngwie or against?

15. Dimebag Darrell

This authentic, crimson-bearded lone star madman had rewritten the book on heavy metal riffing in the short space by some major-label releases. By combining the virtuosity of Edward Van Halen with the rhythmic drive of a glue-sniffing punk rocker, the legend Pantera guitarist had developed a highly person sound that that appeals to classic rockers, fans of death metal and industrial headbangers. On Pantera’s March 15, 1994 release, Far Beyond Driven, Darrell solidified his reputation as one of metal’s true originals on tracks like “Good Friends And A Bottle Of Pills,” which combines hell-and-damnation riffing with the kind of abrasive avant-garde noodling that put Sonic Youth on the map.

16. John Petrucci

Known with Dream Theater, John Petrucci is proud to be progressive. “Our style is wholly dissimilar from grunge and substitute music,” says the 41-year-old Berklee-trained musician. “But I think our music has as much attitude as any of those bands.”

Dream Theater is known for a complicated, textured style of hard rock that embraces flawless musicianship, lengthy improve sections, daring arrangements and other flashy parts made standard by Yes, Kansas, Rush and other old-school rockers. Leading the progressive charge is the technically masterful Petrucci, whose playing encompasses angular melodic phrases, liquid chromatics and manic dispays of speed-picking into an exciting, consistent style.

Despite his reputation, the Ibanez-wielding shredder remains modest; “Being looked at as a guitar hero is very flattering, but being singled out away from the rest of the band doesn’t appeal to me,” says Petrucci. “I’d prefer to have humans view me as a gifted musician in a good band-not as a lot of flashy soloist.” Not a chance.

17. B.B. King

As the universally hailed ambassador of the blues, B.B. King has introduced his bestloved music to more people the world over than all other artists combined. In fact, he’s so highly visible-popping up everyplace from ads for Northwestern Airlines and McDonald’s to episode of “Sanford And Son” and “Married With Children”-that it’s easy to take for granted and forget why he became so revered in the initial place.

B.B. King has an fabulously expressive, vocal vibrato and an unmistakable, ringing tone, both of which have been imitated by legions of admirers. He is also the master of the perfectly placed bent note, stretching his strings with eloquence, brilliant timing and systematically perfective intonation. But what is perhaps most impressive in regards to B.B. King is that in spite of hanging over 300 nights a year for decades, and in spite of having attained cultural icon status long ago, he has averted slipping into complacency. He never plays the same solo twice and to this day stretchings himself, demonstrating night after night precisely why he is the King Of The Blues.

18. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai — Both rockers are equivalent careers and talent.

Starting with Joe Satriani, a walking warehouse of almost each rock guitar style and technique ever developed. From delicate, classical-style finger-picking to the most profane vibrato-bar molestation, Joe knows it all. He elevates the level of whatsoever he’s playing with his passion for sonic adventure and dead-eye sense of song and orchestration.

Like a humane melting pot, Satriani has managed to integrate such disparate influences as surf guitar, world beat and Jimi Hendrix into his playing. His much-lauded 1987 breakthrough album, Surfing With The Alien, closely single-handedly rehabilitated instrumental rock as a mainstream genre and aid inter the myth that a thoughtful, educated player couldn’t rock. In the manner of the Blow By Blow-era Jeff Beck. Satriani employs his superior technique and seemingly limitless vocabulary of licks, riffs and styles in the service of unforgettable songs (rather than the other way around). And he proceeds to do this exhibitionism, traps that have foiled too a lot of of his peers.

Steve Vai’s unparalleled technique and effortless flash made him rock’s paramount pair of hired hands in the 1980′s. He rendered PIL more accessible, empowered David Lee Roth, gave Whitesnake artistic believability and even shredded for the Devil in a sensational performance in the film Crossroads.

But it was with 1990′s Passion And Warfare-perhaps the most envisioned guitar release of all time-that Vai crystallized his technical skills, unbelievable drive and explosive imagination into a sensitive, acutely personal guitar statement. He shifts gears with the greatest of ease, gliding from delicate lyricism to the back. Like a demented circus master, Vai has the power to amuse and frighten with his most dangerous menagerie of sound.

19. Joe Perry

For 35 years, through not one or two, but assorted climbs to the top, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry has been a living testimony to the power of a Bad-Ass Attitude. Perry’s perpetual sneer is indicated not merely on his chiseled face, but likewise through his guitars and overdriven amps. Of course, he’s also written galore gorgeous decent riffs, the best of which completely defines their song; it’s totally unlikely for even non-guitarists to think of “Walk This Way” or “Sweet Emotion” without humming Perry’s etched-in-stone guitar lines.

20. Zakk Wylde

Zakk Wylde’s hellacious guitar playing and charismatic stage presence made him a keeper of the heavy metal flame with Ozzy Osbourne for galore years. But you ain’t heard nothin’ yet. Zakk stared a few bands of his own, Pride & Glory and his most recent, Black Label Society (BLS), frenzied, high octane slab of guitar mayhem. It’s a molten mix of Zakk’s two selves: his heavy, energetic Ozzyfield side and the hell-bent Southern rocker and remorseless side. Step out of the way and make peace with yo’ maker, son.

Review
A forceful, often times infuriating story in regards to Big Oil and little people. –Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

A noteworthy documentary… Gripping… Intrinsically cinematic…The most urgent film I’ve seen at Sundance this year. –Scott Foundas, LA Weekly

A arousing and attention holding and essential story. Crude does an extraordinary occupation of merging journalism and art. –Christiane Amanpour, CNN Chief International Correspondent

Crude Blu Ray Joe Berlinger Image

Crude Blu Ray Joe Berlinger Photo

Crude Blu Ray Joe Berlinger Picture

Crude Blu Ray Joe Berlinger Image

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful.
Chevron has the same mess here in Texas!
By Elizabeth Todd Burns
This movie is so well done! The film lets the people involved speak for themselves. I just love watching the Chevron attorneys with their, “That’s our story, we are sticking to it. You have no proof.” defense. I live on a 38,000 acre ranch in South Texas where Texaco has operated since 1935 and Chevron Texaco continues to operate here. They are the only operators on their lease. We have the same pits that Ecuador has. There are sick people across Railroad Commission District #4. The municipal water supplies are full of volatile organics and other chemicals common in oilfield produced water. Texaco and ExxonMobil and a few other majors did the exact same practices in South Texas as they did in Ecuador. We deal with the stone faced arrogant oil company lawyers on a daily basis. They just lie endlessly. I hope that other people around the world see this movie and see how the companies behave. They didn’t clean anything up in South Texas. People are sick here, too. I’m so glad that this movie was made and made well. People will realize that Chevron has a bigger mess than Ecuador. They need to clean up their mess and be truthful to their stockholders. Great work!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent job on this documentary!
By S. Wilson
It’s hard for me to know what to say about what I saw in this film. I’m deeply ashamed that our lifestyle could cause such suffering and destruction in other countries but the concept is not new to me because I know about what Shell has done in Nigeria. There is a great deal of heartbreak and much that causes shame in this movie. At the same time, It’s uplifting to see Pablo Fajardo, a humble man from a fiscally poor but morally wealthy family, take on one of the most complicated cases in history in true David versus Goliath style.

The Ecuadorian people tell their own story in their own words from their homes and their forest. At first glimpse, you might think that these people are poor but before Texaco contaminated their world, they had everything they needed to live a simple life abundant with gifts from nature.

Texaco was fined $27 Billion for destroying this Ecuadorian Rain Forest but they have said they will never pay it.

The scientific expert working on this case says that this could never happen in the United States but he is dead wrong. As Elizabeth Burns said, it has happened and it continues to happen every day.

I live on top of the Barnett Shale in Wise County in North Texas. I have a blog, Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS, where I document industry abuses such as burying the waste pits or simply abandoning them. Like Elizabeth Burns, I have dozens of videos and hundreds of pictures. Come see for yourself.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
“Bang your head against the wall, but apathy is worse”
By J. L LaRegina
In the 2009 documentary CRUDE Steve Donziger, attorney for the people of Ecuador suing Chevron over dumping more than eighteen billion gallons of toxic waste into their rainforest, questions the chance of winning. While Mr. Donziger does not doubt Chevron is guilty, he wonders if the oil company’s money and government connections are so great that justice is only for those who can afford it.

CRUDE places you in a ringside seat as the Ecuadorians and he make their case. Chevron officials and lawyers deny either causing the damage or its existence, reminding you of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN’s Marty Feldman asking Gene Wilder, “What hump?”

It feels helpless watching Ecuadorian children die of cancer, but as CRUDE documents, grassroots organizing grows out of disease-causing hydrocarbons in the country’s soil and water. The film ends with the litigation against Chevron far from over, but attracting the support of everyone from Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to rainforest advocates Sting and Trudie Styler, the plaintiffs may have more than just faith and hope on their side. If nothing else, it beats going down without a fight.

See CRUDE.

See all 16 customer reviews…

It was a dark and rainy night. The courthouse clock struck midnight; a stray dog howled. It was all too beauteous when the staff of Gear Vault convened for their semi-annual mystery meeting with the confines of the beloved cinder block chamber they call their “office.” Their agenda? To determine the 20 most necessary humans in guitar.

1. Jimi Hendrix

Widely recognized as one of the most originative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix initiated the explosive future prospects or potentials of the electric guitar. Hendrix’s progressed style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion produced a new musical form. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is not one thing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix’s meteoric rise in the music took place in just four short years. His musical language proceeds to influence a host of progressed musicians, from George Clinton to Miles Davis, and Steve Vai to Jonny Lang. Hendrix was the revolutionary guitar god, enuff said!

2. Edward Van Halen

Edward Van Halen once likened his guitar playing to “falling down the stairs and landing on my feet.” Eddie’s had thirteen albums’ worth of such happy accidents and in the procedure has changed the way humans play, listen and think in regards to the electric guitar. With his unorthodox technique, dare-devil whammy bar jokes and fearless experimentation, Van Halen revitalized heavy guitar after it had run it is course in the Seventies. Espousing an I-just-play-that’s-all-I-do attitude and favoring basic gear like stock Marshalls. Peavey 5150s, homemade, slapped together guitars and simple, minimal stop box effects, Van Halen became guitar’s greatest hero by getting it is unassuming anti-hero.

From the jaw-dropping gymnastics of Van Halen’s “Eruption” to the eerie, tidal crescendos of “Catherdral” on Diver Down, through his 1984 chart-topping synth experiments and spirit of 5150 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Eddie has remained innovative all around his career. Never one to wait around for the electrician, Van Halen alternatively chooses building his own gear-and if it doesn’t always look pretty, well, beauty is in the ear of beholder. By “Frankensteining” his introductory striped guitar from $130 worth of parts, Van Halen launched his quest for the elusive “brown sound-”big, warm and majestic”-and gave rock guitarists a new holy grail of tone to seek in the post-Jim-my page era. His single-pick up and volume control innovation changed the way guitars looked and sounded, extrapolated the antecedently obscure Kramer Guitars, and inspired the do-it-yourself guitar gear industry. Eddie’s custom-designed Peavey amps and his with Sterling Ball on his Music Man guitars prove that Van Halen still believes the artisan will have to retain originative input on his equipment.

As a player, Van Halen single-handedly-well, dual-handedly-introduced millions of rock players such stimulating proficiencies as two-handed tapping and harmonics. Before 1978, guitar just had to be earsplitting and fast. Eddie’s playing is likewise tasteful and always in context, a fact that distinguishes him from his legions of imitators. While he’s unimpressed by the copycat syndrome, it can not be refused that a heap of players primary picked up a guitar after Van Halen’s dazzling licks. But none of them may fall down the stairs with such brilliance.

3. Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton has with great success reinvented himself dozens of times: Rave-Up King with the Yardbirds; Holy Father of the Anglo-blues with the Bluesbreakers; free-form improvisational talent with Cream; chameleon rises to each musical occasion.

By 1965 the 20-year-old Clapton was already a legend. He’d introduced the blues to the masses, interpreting and updating what had been a for the most part unknown form for the rock generation. Simultaneously, his lush, Les Paul-driven tone marked the sheer turning point in the history of rock, transforming what had been a good-time twang instrument into a vehicle for unfathomed expression.

Ultimately, the most enduring effigy of the outstanding guitarist will be of Clapton the bluesman, standing on a corner of a stage and exposing his psychic wounds to the masses. It is interesting, though, that, while “bluesy” in feel, his most unforgettable songs-”Layla,” “Tears In Heaven”-do not utilise the blues structure.

While most of Clapton’s contemporaries talk reunion and revival, he never retreats behind memories of his “good old days.” His Unplugged album, which was enormously successful-both for him and acoustic guitar manufactures-included a radical remake of “Layla.” Clapton is one artisan who has learned how to grow up.

4. Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney has expended very little of his career playing six-string guitar. But as a bassist, he almost single-handedly made guitar players’ jobs a whole lot easier.

When the Beatles firstborn arrived on the scene, seldom was the bass even heard on most pop records; players seldom attempted anything more adventurous than a root-fifth accompaniment. But McCartney, who not only played bass, but sang, enlivened the Beatles’ material with dynamic, moving basslines on his widely known and esteemed Hofner and, later, a Rickenbacker 4001. By the time the Beatles started out work on Sergeant Pepper’s, McCartney as pumping out bass melodies that carried entire songs, with the result that the Beatles’ guitar elements ofttimes became sparser, more subtle. Within months-and to this day-bass players the world over were unshackled.

5. Pete Townshend

Before Pete Townshend came along, feedback was something guitarists shunned like halitosis. Pete turned it into one of rock guitar’s most powerful sonic resources.

Soon after The Who debuted in 1964, Townshend became legendary for violently slamming his guitar into his Marshall stack (a form of amplification he was the primary to use) and smashing his instrument to splinters at the end of each show. All of this had a unfathomed influence on Jimi Hendrix (aka The Guitar God #1) and just regarding each other rocker who ever picked up a guitar. Pete’s trademark “windmill” strum was in truth swiped from Keith Richards. But Townshend made it even more spectacular and more dramatic-which is what he and The Who did with just with regards to everything they touched. Having mastered the art of the three-minute pop song, Townshend turned his attention to 15-minute mini-operas and, with Tommy in 1969, the worlds basi double album rock opera. Townshend’s songwriting talent and theatrical flair tend to obscure the fact that he is also a fine guitarist, as competent of supple lyricism as he is of angry mayhem.

6. George Harrison

When George Harrison strummed his original chord for the duration of the Beatles’ historic aspect on the Ed Sullivan show 44 years ago, he became the catalyst for the electric guitar’s metaboli process from stringed instruments to tool of teenage liberation. And, as the folks at Gretsch and Rickenbacker will readily attest, it didn’t precisely hurt sales, either.

While Harrison has never been a virtuoso guitarist, he was an innovator-constantly pushing the limits of studio sounds and stylistic boundaries. In some ways, he also was the introductory progressed session musician, his chops as diverse and far-reaching as Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting. He could dish up brilliant Scotty Moore-style rockabilly (“All My Loving”), heart-rendering gut-string lines (“And I lover”) and sheer fuzz and fury (“Revolution”)-always adding something unforgettable to the material. Later in his career, he produced an original slide style that is more melodic than bluesy. Like the Beatles as a whole, Harrison never settled into a comfortable groove. He glided all over the musical spectrum-from country and western to spaced-out psychedelia to smooth and sweet slide-shattering conventions and then moving on.

7. Angus Young

Two decades after Angus Young original emerged AC/DC’s axe-wielding dervish at age 14, the we Scottish Aussie remains one of the sturdiest bridges amongst young metal-ists and rock’s blues roots. Although he did outstanding work before and since, Young will always be best known for 1980′s Back In Black, a blue-collar masterwork which, with killer classics like “You Shook Me All Night Long,” remains an all-purpose primer for riff writing and tight, scalar lead playing. Never mind the fact that the man does it all while spinning around like chinchilla on speed. Though he may be dwarfed by his signature oxblood SG, Angus Young is a giant amid men.

8. Jimmy Page

Arguably the most emulated guitarist in rock history, Jimmy Page is in addition assured a place in the music’s pantheon of greats for his roles as a musical director, construct and all-around guru of Led Zeppelin.

His Rampaging, blues-based work on anthems like “Whole Lotta Love,” “Communication Breakdown” and “Rock And Roll” defines heavy metal. His real genius, however, was his capacity to exaggerate the parameters of the genre to include elements of conventional English folk, reggae, funk, rockabilly and Arabic classical music.

Page the guitarist has never been a facile as Edward Van Halen or Steve Via, but few players in rock history have been capable to match his restless imagination or visionary approach to guitar orchestration. Whether he was exploring the exotic joys of open tuning on tracks like “Kashmir” and “Black Mountain Side,” pioneering the use if backwards echo on “You Shook Me,” or coaxing other worldly sounds from his ’58 Les Paul with a cello bow on “Dazed And Confused,” Page systematically transcended the limitations of his instrument and the recording studio.

More than 30 years have passed since Page recorded the seminal Led Zepplin IV, but the album’s gigantic imprint may still be detected in the work of such cutting edge bands as Jane’s Addiction, Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden, to name a few. Page, of course, remains active. His dense, mutli-layered work on the Coverdale/Page record demonstrated his refusal to rest his laurels.

9. Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain was the intense and unkempt grunge lord who brought Nirvana from obscurity to the top of the charts, was all the rage-literally. The king of the guitar anti-hero, he didn’t play his Fender Jaguars but he mauled them in a chord-crunching fury. Inevitably, he smashed his guitars, littered stages around the world with his splintered victims.

Cobain was a guitar pioneer because he managed to fuse into one dynamic style the aggression of Seventies punk rock, the speed and simplicity of Eighties hardcore and the bottom-heavy crunch of Nineties metal-and done so without a trace of ridiculousness or bombast to which all three genres are prone.

There’s little doubt that scores of new players have been inspired to plug in by the chugging chords of Cobain’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Segovia he wasn’t. But Segovia never captured the angst of an entire generation with one burst of ungodly feedback.

10. David Gilmour

What makes David Gilmour veritably remarkable is his uncanny capacity to marry two seemingly contradictory genres-progressive rock and blues. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this strange union may be heard on one of Pink Floyd’s greatest hits, “Money” (Dark Side Of The Moon). As the song begins, Gilmour tardily builds a delicate network of spacious, effected guitars, only to topple them with a series of with regard to emotions charged, vibrato-drenched solos, whose rich, shimmering tone and impeccable phrasing recall B.B. King, rather than King Crimson.

Gilmour is the rarest of rockers. Like Jimi Hendrix, he ahs the natural capacity to remainder the cerebral with the emotional, the technical with instinctual, while keeping an eye on both the past and the future. It is this awful juggling act that is the mystery to Pink Floyd’s lasting appeal.

11. Keith Richards

Keith Richards is the archetypal rock outlaw, the quintessential skinny English rock guitarist in a tight black suit. He’s filled that role since the Rolling Stones original traditionalisti themselves as the dark, dangerous substitute to the Beatles in 1963. With his deep love of the blues, Keef initiated a generation of white, middle-class kids into the wonders of Muddy Waters, howling’ Wolf and Chuck Berry. His distinguishable five-string, open-G tuning lies at the heart of such all-time power chord classics as “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Street Fighting Man.” As a soloist, Keef has worked a few miracles; witness the icy, amphetamine mesmerism of his licks on “Sympathy For The Devil” and his buoyant bending on “Happy.” And he is the author of the most-played riff in all rock: the tritone mating call of “Satisfaction.” Much has been made of Richards’ fondness of controlled substances, but his uttermost drug is music; his noesis of rock, blues and reggae is encyclopedic, his passion for them boundless. They have sustained him through imprisonment, addiction, tempestuous lines of his leathery face, the history of rock and roll is etched.

12. Eric Johnson

In a realm often eclipsed by ham-fisted machoismo, Eric Johnson stands apart as rock guitar’s graceful poetical laureate. He has managed to manufacture an introductory style from such radically dissimilar roots as country chicken picking, Jimi Hendrix and jazzman Wes Montgomery. A legend long before he became famous, Johnson’s seemingly endless, melodious lines and distinctive “violin” tone made it an sheer requisite for guitarists stopping near the Texan’s hometown of Austin to attend his show there in the early/mid 1980s.

After turning down a good deal of offers to tour as a sideman, he rose to prominence in 1986 with his badly acclaimed, Grammy-nominated album, Tones. His follow-up, Ah Via Musicom, thrust the self-effacing innovator further into the spotlight, yielding one Grammy-winning cut (“Cliffs Of Dover”) and ultimately going gold. Combining passion and lyricism with what may only be described as an overwhelmingly positive vibe, Johnson’s music is progressive without being academic, uplifting without stooping to sentimentality.

13. Buddy Guy

“Part of my reason for forming Cream was I all of a sudden had this crazy idea with regards to being English Buddy Guy; my goal was to be Buddy Guy with a composing bass player… And to this day, when he’s on I don’t think anybody may touch him. He takes you away to someplace completely different.” -Eric Clapton

“Buddy Guy is as close as you may come to the listen of the blues.” -Jeff Beck

“He plays one note and you forget when it comes to the rent.” -Carlos Santana

“Nobody may get out of tune as cool as Buddy Guy.” Stevie Ray Vaughan

14. Yngwie Malmsteen

Two schools of thought have sprung over the years regarding Yngwie J. Malmsteen. On the one hand, the Swedish native’s fantastically precise, rapid-fire playing has earned him as a unfathomed and brilliant artist, the founder and most necessary exponent of neo-classical guitar. From the point of view of this school, the effortless blend of raw spead, finesse and passion that has characterized Malmsteen’s style since his 1984 solo debut, Rising Force, represents the pinnacle of fretboard achievement. Yngwie is likewise credited with popularizing the scalloped guitar neck.

But Yngwie is likewise scorned by a lot of in the guitar community, who loathe him with an intensity that matches the fervor of his most devoted boosters. To group, Malmsteen was the architect of cold, empty guitar style, which emphasized technique over art, speed over feel. They rejoice over the evident demise of neo-classicism. And how do you plead-for Yngwie or against?

15. Dimebag Darrell

This authentic, crimson-bearded lone star madman had rewritten the book on heavy metal riffing in the short space by a heap of major-label releases. By combining the virtuosity of Edward Van Halen with the rhythmic drive of a glue-sniffing punk rocker, the legend Pantera guitarist had devised a highly person sound that that appeals to classic rockers, fans of death metal and industrial headbangers. On Pantera’s March 15, 1994 release, Far Beyond Driven, Darrell solidified his reputation as one of metal’s true originals on tracks like “Good Friends And A Bottle Of Pills,” which combines hell-and-damnation riffing with the kind of abrasive avant-garde noodling that put Sonic Youth on the map.

16. John Petrucci

Known with Dream Theater, John Petrucci is proud to be progressive. “Our style is totally dissimilar from grunge and substitute music,” says the 41-year-old Berklee-trained musician. “But I think our music has as much attitude as any of those bands.”

Dream Theater is known for a complicated, textured style of hard rock that embraces flawless musicianship, lengthy improve sections, daring arrangements and other flashy parts made general by Yes, Kansas, Rush and other old-school rockers. Leading the progressive charge is the technically masterful Petrucci, whose playing encompasses angular melodic phrases, liquid chromatics and manic dispays of speed-picking into an exciting, consistent style.

Despite his reputation, the Ibanez-wielding shredder remains modest; “Being looked at as a guitar hero is very flattering, but being singled out away from the rest of the band doesn’t appeal to me,” says Petrucci. “I’d prefer to have people view me as a gifted musician in a good band-not as a heap of flashy soloist.” Not a chance.

17. B.B. King

As the universally hailed ambassador of the blues, B.B. King has introduced his favored music to more persons the world over than all other artists combined. In fact, he’s so highly visible-popping up everyplace from ads for Northwestern Airlines and McDonald’s to episode of “Sanford And Son” and “Married With Children”-that it’s easy to take for granted and forget why he became so revered in the basi place.

B.B. King has an fabulously expressive, vocal vibrato and an unmistakable, ringing tone, both of which have been imitated by legions of admirers. He is likewise the master of the utterly placed bent note, stretching his strings with eloquence, brilliant timing and systematically perfective intonation. But what is perhaps most impressive with regards to B.B. King is that in spite of hanging over 300 nights a year for decades, and in spite of having attained cultural icon status long ago, he has fended off slipping into complacency. He never plays the same solo twice and to this day stretchings himself, demonstrating night after night precisely why he is the King Of The Blues.

18. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai — Both rockers are equivalent careers and talent.

Starting with Joe Satriani, a walking warehouse of almost each rock guitar style and technique ever developed. From delicate, classical-style finger-picking to the most profane vibrato-bar molestation, Joe knows it all. He elevates the level of whatsoever he’s playing with his passion for sonic adventure and dead-eye sense of song and orchestration.

Like a humane melting pot, Satriani has managed to integrate such disparate influences as surf guitar, world beat and Jimi Hendrix into his playing. His much-lauded 1987 breakthrough album, Surfing With The Alien, almost single-handedly rehabilitated instrumental rock as a mainstream genre and support inter the myth that a thoughtful, educated player couldn’t rock. In the manner of the Blow By Blow-era Jeff Beck. Satriani employs his superior technique and seemingly limitless vocabulary of licks, riffs and styles in the service of unforgettable songs (rather than the other way around). And he proceeds to do this exhibitionism, traps that have foiled too some of his peers.

Steve Vai’s unparalleled technique and effortless flash made him rock’s paramount pair of hired hands in the 1980′s. He rendered PIL more accessible, empowered David Lee Roth, gave Whitesnake artistic believability and even shredded for the Devil in a sensational performance in the film Crossroads.

But it was with 1990′s Passion And Warfare-perhaps the most prevised guitar release of all time-that Vai crystallized his technical skills, unbelievable drive and explosive vision into a sensitive, acutely personal guitar statement. He shifts gears with the greatest of ease, gliding from delicate lyricism to the back. Like a demented circus master, Vai has the power to amuse and frighten with his most dangerous menagerie of sound.

19. Joe Perry

For 35 years, through not one or two, but assorted climbs to the top, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry has been a living testimony to the power of a Bad-Ass Attitude. Perry’s perpetual sneer is indicated not merely on his chiseled face, but also through his guitars and overdriven amps. Of course, he’s also written a good deal of finelooking decent riffs, the best of which completely defines their song; it’s out of the question for even non-guitarists to think of “Walk This Way” or “Sweet Emotion” without humming Perry’s etched-in-stone guitar lines.

20. Zakk Wylde

Zakk Wylde’s hellacious guitar playing and charismatic stage presence made him a keeper of the heavy metal flame with Ozzy Osbourne for a good deal of years. But you ain’t heard nothin’ yet. Zakk stared a few bands of his own, Pride & Glory and his most recent, Black Label Society (BLS), frenzied, high octane slab of guitar mayhem. It’s a molten mix of Zakk’s two selves: his heavy, energetic Ozzyfield side and the hell-bent Southern rocker and remorseless side. Step out of the way and make peace with yo’ maker, son.

Amazon.com
In the early to mid-1990s, Mad About You was in regards to as good as sitcoms got. As newlywed couple Paul and Jamie Buchman, stars Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt crackled with rapid-fire wit, and a alchemy that produced a heap of genuinely moving moments. The Mad About You Collection is a set of 21 spotlight sequences from all seven seasons; Reiser and Hunt chosen the sequences and introduce each with a 4- to 6-minute Q&A. From the basi season are the pilot and the story of how they firstborn met. From the second season are Paul’s encounter with Christie Brinkley in a virtual-reality investment prospect and the recap of the marriage proposal. From the third season are the zany family Thanksgiving dinner in which Murray the dog eats the turkey, Paul’s try to create an “honest” 15-minute film in regards to a day in their lives (this was before the reality-TV craze), and Carl Reiner’s guest aspect as a TV legend. From the fourth season are Yoko Ono playing herself and the three-part finale in which a good deal of hints of infidelity lead to severe marriage problems. Mel Brooks appears as Uncle Marty (“Firm embrace!”) in the fifth season, and Bruce Willis makes a goofy guest aspect in the two-part season finale, “The Birth.”

It’s well-known that TV series that try to keep themselves applicable by making momentous changes ordinarily go quickly downhill (a phenomenon known as “jumping the shark”). In Mad About You’s case, it was the birth of baby Mabel, or perchance it was that the lead characters’ neuroses plainly begun to wear thin. Either way, the later seasons became more erratic, and it might not be a outstanding loss to see only a few sequences from them. The selections from the sixth season focus on Jamie and Paul writing letters to Mabel, and Paul directing his parents in The Pirates of Penzance while Jamie battles postpartum depression. In the seventh-season episodes, Paul and Jamie ask their therapist with regards to resuming sexual activity, they undertake to instruct Mabel to go to sleep by herself, and Paul runs over his mother-in-law. Then in the series finale, Janeane Garofalo plays a grown-up Mabel telling how her parents encountered they weren’t actually married, and what happened over the following years.

In addition to the episode intros, the set’s bonus features are gratifying and informative commentary tracks by the two stars on the initial and final episodes, a blooper reel, and featurettes on the guest stars and the theme music (you may see Reiser playing the piano). The involvement by the stars might appease the frustrated fans who purchased the introductory two finish seasons on DVD then waited in vain for the third. DVD fans have become accustomed to having finish seasons, because no matter how well spotlight sequences are selected, galore favorites are bound to be missing (how when it comes to the what-if-they-hadn’t-met episode, or the Rashomon-like taxi ride?). On the other hand, the former sets had no bonus features, and a fan boycott that results in poor sales might mean no more Mad About You DVDs at all. That would be a shame, for even with it is shortcomings, The Mad About You Collection reminds us that the series had a special capacity to make us laugh and cry. –David Horiuchi

From the Back Cover
Honored with assorted awards including 10 Emmys, long-running “Mad About You” is one of TV’s most beloved and general comedies. “Mad About You” explores the romantic ups and downs of an endearingly neurotic couple, Paul and Jamie Buchman, as they cope with marriage, mood swings, love and life. Co-stars Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser have personally chosen their bestloved sequences to invent this inspired collection. You’ll experience the uttermost in laughs and amusement with shows featuring celebrity guests Lisa Kudrow, Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar, Estelle Getty, Bruce Willis, Hank Azaria, Cyndi Lauper and more. This is genuinely the extreme collection for everyone who is crazy when it comes to “Mad About You.”

Fans of the Paul Reiser-Helen Hunt sitcom will be crazy when it comes to this terrifi four-disc boxed set featuring the stars’ hand-picked 21 favored episodes. Included are “Met Someone,” “Virtual Reality,” “The Alan Brady Show,” “Yoko Said,” “The Birth,” “The Final Frontier,” and more. 8 1/4 hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English stereo; Subtitles: Portuguese, Spanish; bloopers; audio commentary on chosen episodes; featurettes; TV spots. NOTE: This Title Is Out Of Print; Limit One Per Customer.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73302 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2005-02-08
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, Portuguese
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 491 minutes

Paul Reiser Show Blu Ray Pic

Paul Reiser Show Blu Ray Photo

Paul Reiser Show Blu Ray Image

Paul Reiser Show Blu Ray Image

143 of 154 people found the following review helpful.
What kind of release strategy is this?
By J. Cummings
I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I understand what Sony has in mind with this upcoming release. They release season one with a low bit rate, inexpensive 2 disc set, then season two in a better quality 3 disc set and now they’re doing a “best of” set that has Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt participating in some of the extras and commentaries. Why weren’t they involved from the beginning and then just release the series season by season? Does mean that this new set is the final word on Mad About You and that we will see no more season sets? Will they continue with “best of” collections? It’s a perplexing way to treat a classic television show.

Before “Friends” was available in season collections they tried doing “best of” discs. I’ve noticed that those discs are now in the $5 pile at various electronics stores. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for this kind of format.

118 of 130 people found the following review helpful.
Not gonna happen my friend!
By J. SHARP
I really can’t believe Sony did this. I have dutifully bought Seasons 1 and 2 and have been patiently waiting for Season 3. What does Sony go and do? A “Best of..” hodgepodge?

I know that Season 2 sales were very low and they put this product together with Hunt and Reiser in order to draw in the non-cult crowd. Boycotting this set may guarantee there are never any other releases of any seasons. But I’m afraid that ship has already sailed or they wouldn’t have done this “Best of…” to start with.

Yes, these episodes are all great but I still don’t like it because:

a) It’s just stupid, and
2) I want Season 3!

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful.
Well, it’s a start…
By G. Hough
As a long-time fan of Murray and the gang, I was waiting anxiously for Season 3 to be released on DVD. The good old taped copies pale in comparison to professional editing quality. So I’m happy that the series is still being considered for release and isn’t dead in the eyes of Sony.

There are some really nice episodes here, like Giblets for Murray, and a blooper reel. So it’s not Season 3, but it’s a good start. I’ll probably cough up the cash to ensure the new releases, then watch it gather dust when the rest of the show is released seasonally.. oh well. It’s still one of the funniest comedies to come out of NBC, and the best NYC-based comedy (far better than those Seinfools and their LA eccentricities in my opinion).

Oh, and here are the disc contents if you’re curious:

Disc 1

The Pilot (Season 1)

Met Someone (1)

Virtual Reality (2)

Cold Feet (2)

Giblets for Murray (3)

Special Features:

Extra stuff from Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser

Disc 2

Our Fifteen Minutes (3)

The Alan Brady Show (3)

Yoko Said (4)

The Finale (Parts 1, 2, & 3; Season 4)

Disc 3

Citizen Buchman (5)

The Penis (5)

The Birth (Parts 1 & 2; 5)

Letters to Mabel (6)

Moody Blues (6)

Disc 4

Le Sex Show (6)

The Conversation (6)

Paved with Good Intentions (7)

The Final Frontier (series finale)

See all 69 customer reviews…

Have you not long back purchased a new Zune player and are itching to download music for Zune? But you merely do not recognise where is the best place to get that “S.O.S” by Jonas Brothers and “Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat. This entire article is written to show you the entire routine to download music onto your digital portable player as well as where are the places owners like you get their Zune music downloads at the most reasonable prices.

You perhaps already recognise that you may find movies, music, videos and games for your player at iTunes and Microsoft’s Zune marketplace and other online music stores like Amazon, HMV and more. At the marketplace, you may access millions of songs. For the price conscious, the price tag of $0.99 to $2 over for a piece of song at any of these music stores may genuinely be a turn-off. Imagine how much it would cost to acquire hundreds of songs for your music collection?

Another option which is rather frequent are the free download services. While these are in general free and you may download music for Zune to your heart’s content, you are likewise exposing your PC to the adware and spyware that comes attached with the music downloads. The extent of harm to your computer may be beauteous bad when you realize that your computer is slower.

There is a safe option to transfer songs to your digital portable player. Similar to any other MP3 players, you may rip songs from a CD and synchronize that onto your player. If you are intimate with music ripping, you ought to be rather comfortable to download music for Zune in this manner.

The routine starts introductory when you open a media player like Windows Media Player. Insert the CD and select the songs or soundtracks you wish to download. Next, click on the Rip button. You ought to see the song list appearing in the Windows Media Player library. Using the USB cable, connect your player to your PC and your player would synchronize with the Windows Media Player library to download music for Zune.

Even if the player is not syncing well, it is fine. You may plainly copy the music files manually onto your player and it would work just fine except for the extra step. On your windows explorer, you would always see your digital portable player as an further and added drive. Be sure to download to it correctly.

Many first-timers do not recognise that the file formats for your music are important. It may only support compatible formats like MP3, MP4, MOV, WMV and WMA and not other formats. Some examples of unsupported formats are DivX and RM.

Another substitute you have to download music for Zune is the paid membership services. This is one hot favourite among music lovers these days since you may find millions of downloads, finelooking much limitless downloads of songs, music, movies, videos and games. And the nice thing is you get all these for a flat fee. There are no limits to the bandwidth consumption and you may download at any time of the day.

I believe that by now, you ought to have a good perceive of where you may download music for Zune and do so affordably in a safe and secured environment. Check out my blog devoted to music, movies and videos on which are the authenti membership websites for unlimited music and song downloads.

Massive capacity in a deluxe device that delivers uncompromised audio and video quality, the Zune 120 GB may fit a big collection and still have room for videos, podcasts, and more. This major player hooks up with progressed invention features like Buy from FM and wireless sharing, so you never stop gobbling tunes. It holds up to 30,000 songs, 25,000 pictures, or 375 hours of video. Watch a demo on Zune.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1647 in Network Media Player
• Color: Black/Black
• Brand: Zune
• Model: H3A-00001
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: 108.20″ h x 61.10″ w x 12.90″ l, .75 pounds
• Display size: 3.2

Features

• IMPORTANT: Allow your Zune to charge for 30 minutes then disconnect and reconnect the cable to turn on the player
• Listen to your bestloved FM radio stations and click to tag the songs you like for later buy when you sync your device with your PC
• Download millions of tracks, whole albums, or playlists with the Zune Pass subscription service; extend your subscription online or by purchasing a Zune Pass card
• Connect to your home wireless network and remotely sync your Zune device with your PC collection from your dock, AC adapter, or speaker dock accessory
• 120 GB capacity for up to 30,000 songs, 25,000 photos, or 375 hours of video
• 3.2-inch color LCD with 320 x 240 pixel display resolution

Zune Video Mp3 Player Black Image

Zune Video Mp3 Player Black Image

Zune Video Mp3 Player Black Image

Zune Video Mp3 Player Black Pic

387 of 403 people found the following review helpful.
A Thorough (Long) Review from a Zune 30 Owner an a iPhone 3G Owner
By Super Mum
No matter your opinion on Microsoft, the amazing fact remains that every time they update a Zune they include a free software update for all past Zunes making them nearly identical as the new Zunes. I am sure one day this may stop due to the fact that the new hardware will require a different type of OS that won’t work on the old Zunes (i.e. a Zune Touch or something). Until then, I am have been a very happy past/present Zune owner for this reason.

I owned a Zune 30 for 2 1/2 years prior to buying the Zune 120. My old Zune worked perfectly and was not a factor in my decision to upgrade. Did I need the extra space? Not really… but I wanted to try out the touch/click “squircle” before the new Zune games were launched. I read that some games may not work (or work as intended) with the Zune 30 since it does not have the touch sensitive pad. We’ll see how true that is when games are put on to the Marketplace.

My opinion after owning the Zune 120 for a couple weeks:

The Good:

-I am a rabid/avid fan of the Zune Pass. I don’t mind renting music, in fact I LOVE it. It really opens me up to new bands without wasting $10-20 on an album I may hate. For $14.99 a month [for unlimited downloads on up to 3 Zunes and 3 Computers] I can download from more songs than I can fathom and not be upset if I pick a few tone-deaf artists along the way. If I love an album enough to keep it I can buy it from Zune or Amazon or whomever. If you think about it, the Zune Pass could save you money by allowing you to test out bands before committing to a purchase. Also, if throwing a house party or having guests over, you can download music for your guests that you might never consider buying for yourself.

-Audible support now available. Not sure how much I will use this feature yet but for now I like it and am happy I am not closed off from this option.

-WiFi: the options are now amazingly more advanced and now having WiFi on the Zune makes sense. Being able to download songs over a WiFi connection is huge. McDonald’s is teaming up with Zune and will be offering their WiFi connection to Zune owners in the near future. While iPod does this with Starbucks, there are many more McDonalds than Starbucks in the U.S. Though not sure if this is a good thing

-Channels!!!: I love the new channels built into the software. As a Zune Pass subscriber I love taking advantage of this. The software makes a “channel” once a week of songs it thinks I will like based on a genre (I have a “My Classic Rock” channel, “My Rock” channel, and since I share my Zune Pass with family members a “My R&B” channel). I choose which, if any, channels I want to subscribe to (so I can skip the R&B one if I desire) and it downloads a playlist of sorts that changes every week. Also, I can subscribe to other generic channels (i.e. “Rock” Channel, “Punk/Ska” Channel etc.) not tailored directly to me if I so desire. This has been a great way to sample new bands/music that have relevance to my music style. Of course if you love a song/artist you can always permanently download the songs. If you are an avid gym buff or runner there are some very cool channels titled “Walk” “Jog” and “Run” that have songs which consist of the same range of beats per minute to keep you moving at a constant speed. Very cool.

-Mixview: Much better looking than “Genius” on iTunes since Mixview uses album art and artists pictures rather than plain old text and Mixview’s suggestions seem more relevant to me than Apple’s “Genius.” This can always change in the future as each product develops and I am excited that there is competition in this arena since it can only make this better and better. If you don’t know what Mixview is, it is Zune’s way of gathering data based on your music preferences (and the preferences of others) to recommend new music to you. Pandora (the Internet Radio website) does a BEAUTIFUL job at this. It’s free and I would check it out if you have never used it before. Amazing.

-Battery Life: Much better than the Zune 30 which is a nice surprise. Leave WiFi off for a longer battery life.

-Accessory Compatibility: the charger, dock, remote, car charger, etc. from the Zune 30/80/120 all work together wonderfully. If you have the version 1 dock you will need to remove the plastic insert in order to have the 80/120 fit. It only takes a few seconds and is very painless. I would add a link to websites that show video/pictures on how to do this but Amazon removed two posts in the Zune forum where I did this. Do a search, it’s out there. The cases for the Zune 30 do not work with the 120 but the 80 is the same size and both use the same cases. Heard there are problems with older FM transmitters working with the newer Zunes. Not sure how prevalent this problem is as I use an AUX jack in the car.

-The Squircle: This is the only “big” difference between the Zune 30 and the 80/120. It did not take long for me to get used to using this but my learning curve may be shorter than others as I am used to swiping on my iPhone and now clicking seems more difficult for me. (You can turn this feature off if you just want to use the squircle as a click pad.) When I went to buy a case I found that most cases covered the squircle and was concerned it would mess with functionality. I want to report that it did not take away the ability of the Zune to notice my movements. However, the case makes it not as smooth of an action as the bare squircle (I have a silicone cover that makes my finger “stickier” against the case so the glide isn’t as smooth). Something to think about when purchasing a case (which I would recommend.. see “The Bad”)

The Bad:

-I LOVED the Zune 30 casing. That was one beautiful thing that the Zune had over the iPod. The iPods scratched and showed wear very quickly and the Zune 30′s casing was virtually indestructible. With the new casing (party in the front/business in the back… the reverse mullet) it seems that the possibility for scratching is now higher. The shiny front is a fingerprint magnet and the matte black back has a silver/gold metal underneath (as evidenced by Microsoft’s Zune Originals website where you can have your Zune engraved professionally.. they “scratch” [engrave] a design and the gold/silver color appears). Not sure how deep you would have to scratch to get to that color and I won’t volunteer to be a guinea pig. Sorry!
I highly recommend getting a case and I am a sucker for buying a screen protector as the Zune is nearly all screen on the front and should remain beautiful and scratch-free.

The “I don’t care”/ “No opinion”:

-The Clock: There is a clock now.. and I don’t care. Many did so they will be happy. No alarm built-in, so beware clock lovers. (Microsoft updates the firmware and software quite a bit so you never know if this could be added soon.)

-Buy from FM: I hate the radio in my smallish town. There are only a couple decent stations but they aren’t good enough for me to stop listening to MP3s and tune in. For those who have better stations and are in to Top 40 or what is new on the charts this may be an amazing option for you. Getting artist and album info over Zune’s FM radio could be helpful if your DJ never states the name of an artist (like so many don’t) and, if you really like the song, you can download it immediately or tag it for download later (depending if you are in a WiFi hotspot or at home with plug in hand).

-Headphones: the Zune 30 came with “run of the mill” headphones, the Zune 80 came with “premium” headphones and the Zune 120 went back to the “run of the mill” headphones. I use third-party headphones ($100+) so I don’t care what comes in the package. Others might so here it is.

-Games: as of today’s date, there are no games available for download on the Zune Marketplace. This is supposed to change soon and I sure hope it does. However, there are two games that come loaded on the Zune when you plug it in to the computer and update (Hexic and Texas Hold ‘Em). Apple has the upper hand here and has done wonders with the App store. I hope Microsoft takes note and does something like it with the Zune. Heck, I hope the do something even better so then Apple steps up their game even more… and around and around we go. Competition is great for consumers.

I think here is a good place to mention that I love my iPhone 3G AND my Zune and I need to have both in my life to be happy (in the materialistic sense). I don’t listen to music on my iPhone due to limited space (after adding apps, photos, podcasts, etc. there isn’t much room for music) and also because Apple does not have a subscription music “rental” service. Ideally I would like to see Zune make a phone similar to the iPhone or the iPhone to have a subscription based music service (both phones would need a large capacity drive) so I could carry around just one device (either iPhone or ZunePhone depending on the offerings). Until that day I live in harmony with my Zune 120 and my iPhone 3G.

105 of 114 people found the following review helpful.
Fantastic product!
By Travis Brown
I love my Zune. After 4 iPods (in a span of 10 years), I decided to try something different. I never really had an issue with my pods, but I was curious about the Zune. I decided to purchase the Zune 30 a year after it was released. The player [Zune 30] was extremely durable, and I loved the device interface; although hated how I had to click in order to scroll down. There was much to be improved.

Fast forward two years and several major Microsoft updates later, I now own the Zune 120. I absolutely love it. The capacity is enough for me at the moment; although I’m a music junkie. The playback quality of the songs is noticeably better than the quality my iPod’s. The features, such as wireless sync, song sharing over the air, and the Zune Pass are wonderful. I lended the Zune to my girlfriend for an entire week so she could discover some new music (over 8000 tracks on my Zune), and she came back wanting to purchase one herself.

Pros:
- Great interface
- Wonderful sound quality
- FM radio + buying songs from FM
- Wireless syncing
- Sharing music over the air with other Zunes
- Improved software (more usable than iTunes, in my opinion)
- Support for podcasts and audiobooks
- Zune Pass
- Purchasing and streaming songs off Wifi
- Free updates every few months; they recently added games.

Cons:
- Battery life could be better
- Included headphones are good but not great.
- That’s all I could think of.

Final word:
I still use my iPod nano and video from time to time, but I love my Zune more. There’s nothing wrong with iPod’s, but if you’d like to give something different a try, by all means give this a try. You can’t go wrong with purchasing one.

Extra:
Living in a populated city like NY and taking the train to school every monrning, and coming back in the afternoon, there’s always at least one other person on the train with a Zune. Sometimes I get random “let me send you a song” request. Totally discovered a few new artists from random people with the ‘send’ feature.

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful.
A Mixed Bag of good and bad [mostly good]
By paranoidxe
The Zune is overall a great product and I would recommend it to anyone. This review makes some comparisons to the iPod Classic because many are familiar with the iPod Classic and are debating between these two often.

Positives for the Zune:
- Sound Quality exceeds that of the Classic, while the classic is good it has too much focus on the low end and really isn’t all that great in the mids. The Zune has great balance meaning it plays low/mids/highs exceptionally well, matching the 5th gen iPod in my opinion. [Tested with Bose Around The Ear Headphones, won't be noticed much with cheap/stock ear buds]
- Interface is wild and more modern than other MP3 players. You’ll feel like you are in 2008 with the device’s interface. You can also customize it, while customization is limited to changing the wallpaper its still something not many other players have. [including the classic]
- The large screen is nice for video..I haven’t ran into any pixelation problems that some people report with the resolution of 320 x 240 on that size of the screen..however your mileage may vary. The screen is much better suited than the dinky 2.5 screen that is on the Classic.
- Navigation with the Zune pad is a breeze and better than the Classic. A few reasons being that a) you can press the buttons to adjust volume in your pocket [the classic relies on luck that you can actually get the touch sensitive wheel to respond through your pants], b) the zune pad sticks out from the unit which makes it easier to feel for than the classic which the click wheel is pretty well flush with the unit itself, c) you can navigate with pin point navigation, use the touch function to scroll fast and the click function to get precise.
- Microsoft continues to make improvements to the product like the Zune 3.0 release that adds the FM Radio feature that allows you to add music off the radio to your cart or with wireless download the song directly to your Zune. Clock is introduced [a feature that was lacking that people constantly complained about, MICROSOFT LISTENS!], and the Wifi Marketplace is also introduced which allows you to browse the marketplace wirelessly as well as preview/download songs instantly if you have a Zunepass.
- The software on the PC looks very modern..where as iTunes has virtually remained the same since its release on the PC. The software has the ability to combine albums with a simple drag n drop which allows you to combine singles into their full featured albums with a simple click. Getting Album art is easy as well as track listings for a album if you are missing tag information..if you are missing tag information and the software can’t find it, it will give you a drop down list of all albums on the CD and allow you to choose which track is the right one..none listed? No problem you can keep it its current track name. Manual Sync is NOW supported officially, meaning the device can run independently of your Zune Collection. The software can actually work with a external drive, when I tried with iTunes 7.6 it would close by itself. Mixview is nice, you can simply right click a album click mixview to get a view of several related artists to find new music with.

Neutral:
- Zune Pass, almost all the music on the Marketplace supports it..some might be annoyed with the fact you have to pay $15 a month forever unless you want to lose your songs, some might also have a problem with not owning the music or that some songs aren’t available for the Zune Pass. I personally think its a great concept and I have absolutely no complaints about paying $15 for all the songs I can download.
- Smudges and scratches might be a problem for some if you are really picky the new gloss front is prone to scratches from metal objects [keys, coins, etc.].
- Its made of plastic which could be taken either a) a good thing because its lighter b) a bad thing because its obviously not as tough.

Negatives:
- Software is still behind when compared to iTunes but improves with every update. Some complaints include, Rating system is a “Like, Don’t Like” System giving you very limited options when you find songs that aren’t GREAT but are OK..you either have to hate it or like it. If you are in a certain spot in your collection and click Marketplace then go back your spot is lost and Zune software returns to the top of your list. The same happens when you are at a certain spot in the marketplace as well, you leave and you end up reseting the marketplace back to home.
- Marketplace layout is very generic and needs some serious tweaking where as the iTunes Store is very precise the layout of the Marketplace is just sloppy, there really isn’t much browsing you can do unless the artist is new because when you browse through artists in a specific genre they aren’t in alphabetic order they are just scattered about I assume by popularity.
- Premium Earbuds are gone replaced with generic earbuds.

Overall a great alternative to the now dying Classic [which didn't get any upgrades beyond battery and the genius feature..unless you consider the 120GB a upgrade from the 80GB model last year]. I do not regret my purchase and would recommend it to anyone.

See all 575 customer reviews…

Here’s a method I use that works. First, sit down at your piano or keyboard and just improvise. I suggest improvising initial because music that is produced in this way is at it is freshest. It’s not adulterated or thought up. It is pure inspiration. Now, there will come times for the duration of improvisation where you may say to yourself, “this is nice and I’d like to develop it.” You see, now you have an introductory melody to develop.

The trick is you don’t need a lot of material to commence with. JUST TWO BARS IS ENOUGH to commence you on your way. I commonly work within 8-bar phrases so I know that the melody will commonly end or repeat itself after 8-bars. I say commonly because sometimes, the melody does not want to fit nice and neat into a predefined 8-bar phrase. But more times than not, the 8-bar phrase will serve you well

Now, to be capable to grow the introductory 2-bars of inspired melody into 8, you may either harmonize the melody with a few chords or just write out the rest of the melody as it comes. Once I have the primary 2-bars, I ordinarily have already identified what Key the piece will be in. It then becomes a matter of choosing a few chords from the Key and the rest of the material is without apparent effort flushed out into 8-bars. In the piece “Rainforest,” I use 2 chords for an entire 8-bar phrase ( 4-bars for G Maj. and 4 for E-minor) and improvise the melody on top.

Amazon.com
Even those allergic to musicals may be won over by Once, a tender-hearted Irish romance with songs by Czech Republic–born Markéta Irglová and Frames frontman Glen Hansard. (The film’s director, John Carney, in truth applied to play bass in the group.) The trick here is that Irglová and Hansard also play the leads; because their characters are shown busking, writing music, or rehearsing, the songs are with no problems or difficulties integrated in the film. The overall acoustic mood won’t surprise fans of the Frames–some tracks (“Say It to Me,” “When Your Mind’s Made Up”) have even popped up on the band’s albums, even though the arrangements are more pared-down here, befitting the scruffy, street-musician setting. Being the lesser-known entity, Irglová feels like a revelation; she sounds a bit like a folkie Björk on “If You Want Me,” and her song “The Hill” is downright heartbreaking. Irglová and Hansard had already made the 2006 album The Swell Seasontogether, so their collaboration here feels in truth organic–they sound specially good together on the title track, for instance. Now that’s the kind of magic you want from musicals. –Elisabeth Vincentelli

1. Falling Slowly / Markï’½ta Irglovï’½ 4:04 2. If You Want Me / Markï’½ta Irglovï’½ 3:48 3. Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy 0:53 4. When Your Mind’s Made Up / Markï’½ta Irglovï’½ 3:41 5. Lies 3:59 6. Gold / Interference 3:59 7. The Hill / Markï’½ta Irglovï’½ 4:35 8. Fallen from the Sky 3:25 9. Leave 2:46 10. Trying to Pull Myself Away 3:36 11. All the Way Down 2:39 12. Once / Markï’½ta Irglovï’½ 3:39 13. Say It to Me Now 2:35

• Amazon Sales Rank: #696 in Music
• Brand: Baker & Taylor
• Released on: 2007-05-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Original language: Czech, English
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Once Original Soundtrack Image

Once Original Soundtrack Photo

Once Original Soundtrack Picture

Once Original Soundtrack Photo

464 of 474 people found the following review helpful.
Great introduction to Glen Hansard as well as serving as an amazing soundtrack
By Robert Moore
Many visiting Amazon will remember the film THE COMMITMENTS telling the story of an Irish soul band specializing in many of the Stax classics of the sixties. Though most of the attention was focused on the rotund lead singer, the guitarist Outspan Foster was played by a veteran 21-year-old busker by the name of Glen Hansard. He played, in fact, one of the two first members of the band, since he and the band’s keyboardist asked Jimmy Rabbitte to help them form a band (though they would dispense of their tentative name, And And And, though they were also considering And And! And). Though no one at the time would have guessed it, it was Hansard more than any other member of the fictional band (though it did tour as a real band in the wake of the movie’s success) who would achieve musical success. About the same time that filming for the Commitments began, Hansard had formed a band, the Frames, that would over the course of the next seventeen years develop a reputation for being one of the best live bands in the world and though their recorded output never quite matched the extraordinary live performances they would release several superb albums. Two of the Frames’ albums–FITZCARRALDO and THE COST–would be nothing short of masterpieces. One of the original members of the Frames was John Carney. To complete the background story, Carney met the young Czech singer Markéta Irglová while visiting Prague and she later provided some vocals for his 2006 solo album THE SWELL SEASON.

I’m not quite sure whose idea it was to make a movie, but former-Frame Carney and Hansard, with the help of our young Czech heroine, came up with the idea to make a movie based on Carney and Hansard’s experiences in Dublin. Though the Frames are not well known in the United States, there are many who regard them and not U2 as the great Irish band. Those seeing this movie are not going to have a great deal of difficulty believing that. Hansard is one of the world’s great frontmen, singing with a white-hot intensity remarkably emotional and passionate songs. For those unfamiliar with his work, he will have seemed to drop out of the sky like a meteor. They will have trouble believing someone this talented is not already a household name.

The songs for the movie are culled from a number of places. The absolutely extraordinary “Say It To Me,” one of Hansard’s greatest songs, comes from the great 1996 Frames’ album FITZCARRALDO, “Lies” and “Falling Slowly” come from Hansard’s solo album THE SWELL SEASON (on which Irglová also sings), and “When Your Mind’s Made Up” is one of the best songs off this year’s amazing new Frames’ album THE COST. Regardless of the source, the songs here are amazingly well performed, more acoustic than in their original versions. I know some audience members for the film are blown away by the music and I think part of the reason is that they don’t realize that these songs represent highlights from a large and exceedingly great body of work. Even so, the great news is that Hansard has written far more great music than appears on this album.

I strongly recommend this disc for people who saw the movie and loved the music (and hey, what’s not to adore?). This is simply gorgeous stuff and anyone who isn’t moved by it probably is never moved by great music. So the album can act as a terminus, but it should also act as a door to the rest of Hansard’s work. The two albums I would most recommend are the two I mentioned above, FITZCARRALDO and THE COST. These are filled with great songs, all songs magnificently by Hansard, who also wrote them. If those don’t exhaust your interest you could also look at BURN THE MAPS as well as the aforementioned solo album THE SWELL SEASON. And as fine as this soundtrack is, the two main Frames albums I mentioned are each even better.

121 of 122 people found the following review helpful.
You cry, you laugh, you cry again; this is such a joy
By Jesse Kornbluth
There are movies that friends tell you about, and if those friends are forceful enough or more people make the same recommendation, you rouse yourself and buy a ticket, and if the movie turns out to be terrific, the next thing you know you’re telling everyone about a film they just have to see.

This is called “buzz,” and it’s a very good thing indeed — media companies hire consultants, often for impressive sums, to create that initial spark.

But “Once” starred Glen Hansard, lead singer of a terrific Irish band — The Frames — that’s sadly unappreciated outside of Ireland. His co-star was Markéta Irglová, a 17-year-old Czech high school student who had never acted before.

And it was filmed, in 17 days, for $150,000.

For the longest time, the future of “Once” looked bleak: straight to DVD.

Then the film was invited to Sundance. It won the Audience Award. Fox Searchlight bought it. And as “Once” went out into the world, audiences took to it like a beautiful orphan — they cherished it and made it a cause.

That’s how I came to see it; many people prodded me. What they knew: I’m a sucker for emotion that feels authentic, and so I was absolutely enchanted by this little film.

And I do mean little. He’s a singer. His girlfriend has left him. He’d like to make a record and get out of Dublin. Right now, he repairs vacuum cleaners and sings on the streets. Her situation’s just as dim. She may dream of music, but she’s in an alien culture, separated from her husband; she sells flowers and cleans houses to support her kid and mother. He and She (they are nameless) get together to make music; they become collaborators and friends, their songs propelling the plot. But the big question — for the audience, anyway — isn’t how their demo tape will be received. It’s whether they’ll become lovers.

“Two people, a few instruments, 88 minutes and not a single false note,” A.O. Scott wrote in The New York Times.

And what people! At the start of the movie, Markéta Irglová seemed like her character: a young woman of modest charms and uncertain talent. By the end, I was convinced she was the most beautiful woman in the world, a great talent and a deep soul. Love? I was besotted. And Glen Hansard was the ultimate admirable guy: smart, resourceful, realistic, emotionally aware.

And what music! Hansard started strumming his guitar, and I got weepy. Then he started singing, slow as a nursery lullaby:

I…don’t…know….you
But…I….want…you
All…the…more…for…that
Words…fall…through…me
And…always…fool…me

There are, I think, only two responses to feelings this directly expressed: cynicism and acceptance. Friends, this cynic was overcome: I blubbered. And I wasn’t the only one.

You may have heard some of the soundtrack; it pops up on better radio stations. If it’s considerably more “professional” than the film, there are reasons. Some of the songs were among the greater hits of the Frames. Hansard and Irglová had recorded a CD together. And the film’s director, John Carney, was savvy about music — he had once played bass in The Frames.

Though this is music like no other — not folk, not rock, mostly just two people literally singing their hearts out — it’s not just for emotional slobs like me. You can listen to it as you work. You can play it at dinner. It’s great for a quiet evening.

And, if you must, you can cry — for happy.

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful.
Good Disk. Good Movie. Double Your Pleasure.
By R. M. Ettinger
I really really enjoyed the film and though the acting and chemistry was great – it was the music that won me over.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova’s writing and performing was understated and moving. Though many of the songs appear on their 2006 disk ‘The Swell Season’ most people would have missed that (myself included).

The disk would be worth it for the first two tracks alone (“Falling Slowly” , “If You Want Me”), but the rest of the disk is certainly worth a listen.

Overall, the disk has a Damien Rice feel – and that is not horribly surprising considering the Irish busker w/the harmonies coming from a talented female.

Though the songs stand alone – folks should really see the movie and how Hansard & Irglova’s chemistry really makes the entire thing work.

See all 284 customer reviews…