| | Joe Jackson Rain Vinyl LP Record Joe Jackson Discography of CDs
As one of the original Angry Young Men of the U.K. new wave, Joe Jackson barely touched a piano on his first three albums with his original band. Some three decades later, his second studio reunion with his old rhythm section (this time minus guitarist Gary Sanford) turns that scenario upside down. RAIN is just piano, bass, and drums--no guitars, no overdubs. As winningly melodic as ever, Jackson handily navigates the ivories throughout, delivering mostly ballads whose elegance is balanced by a healthy dose of his trademark lyrical barbs. The Motown-like groove of "King Pleasure Time" and the breathless syncopation of "Good Bad Boy" provide uptempo contrast, but for the most part, RAIN is a mature, reflective effort unafraid to take its time.Uncut (p.81) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "There are some lovely moments....'Wasted Time' in particular reminds what an intelligent writer and agile singer Jackson is."
Q (Magazine) (p.96) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[W]ith a pared-back immediacy that showcases his craftsmanship to the full."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.102) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "RAIN again places his best George Gershwin and Cole Porter-styled songwriting centre-stage....Most tracks are sophisticated, jazzy pop songs and ballads about relationships..."
Harp (magazine) (p.113) - "[S]traight-ahead rock and pop songs that are as forceful and energetic as they are melodically compelling."
The Word (magazine) (p.100) - "The crispness and clarity of the writing is matched by Jackson's insistence on using only bass, drums and piano -- the effect is like a well-oiled jazz trio playing very grown-up pop, allowing the songs time to stretch and breathe."
Record Collector (magazine) (p.90) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "He's still as caustic and witty as ever, but the social commentary is couched in a mood swing complexity/simplicity that Jimmy Webb or Burt Bacharach would be proud of." Rain Review
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Purchase Rain CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Elvis Costello Momofuku Vinyl LP (2008)
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 $15.05 
Over the course of the decade preceding MOMOFUKU, the notoriously eclectic Elvis Costello made albums with everyone from jazz guitarist Bill Frisell to opera singer Anne-Sofie Von Otter, but with the inauguration of his band the Imposters (essentially the old Attractions with a new bassist) with 2002's WHEN I WAS CRUEL, it felt like a rock-&-roll rebirth for the old New Waver. His third Imposters album, MOMOFUKU, is the most expansive of the ...
| | Del Fuegos Boston, Mass. CD (1985)
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 $12.05
In the mid-1980s, when high-gloss synth-pop threatened to conquer the world, guitar-wielding roots-rockers like Boston's Del Fuegos arrived to set things straight. Their second album, BOSTON, MASS, proved ...
| | Del Fuegos Longest Day CD (1984)
Rain music CDs
$10.65
The Del Fuegos were kicking around Boston for a few years before they signed to the big L.A.-based indie, Slash Records, and released THE LONGEST DAY in late 1984. It finds the band confident in their sound: a back-to-basics, sporadically ragged, no-frills rock sound, with leader Dan Zanes ...
| | Tom Petty Live Anthology CDs (2009)
Rain songs
$19.98  
It's a commonly held opinion among fans and band alike that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' lone live album, 1986's Pack Up the Plantation, didn't quite capture the group at its peak, so there has been a long-standing need for another live set, which 2009's Live Anthology finally provides. Like its closest cousin, Bruce Springsteen's Live 1975-1985, Live Anthology almost overcompensates for the long wait by offering almost too much music, cherrypicking highlights from 1978 to 2007. In its simplest incarnation, Live Anthology is a super-affordable, four-disc box set running 48 tracks, which is eight cuts longer than Springsteen's box, plenty long enough for most fans, but in its deluxe version, available only through Best Buy, there's an additional CD, plus two previously unreleased DVDs -- a 1978 New Years Eve concert from Santa Monica, a documentary called 400 Days shot during the Wildflowers tour -- a Blu-Ray edition of all 62 tracks on the five-CD version, a vinyl copy of the 1976 Official Live 'Leg LP, plus a book and lithograph, along with other assorted bonuses. Certainly, the deluxe edition lives up to its billing, offering enough extras to justify its price tag, but the standard edition is plenty generous as it is, serving up enough consistently strong music from throughout the decades, ranging from expert covers of Willie Dixon and the Grateful Dead to deep treasures from the Heartbreakers ...
| | John Mayer Battle Studies CD (2009)
Rain album
$11.17   
It's no secret that John Mayer is a 21st Century Fox, wining and dining women all through tabloid headlines, so it's about time he delivered an album that traded upon his loverman persona -- and Battle Studies is that record in spades. Retaining more than a modicum of the slick, soul-blues undertones of Continuum, Mayer fashions a modern groove album, a record that maintains a smooth seductive vibe so thoroughly it spills into a one-man band cover of "Crossroads." Mayer remains somewhat of a disciple of Slowhand, but he shows an unusual interest in the big AOR stylings of Journeyman, along with Stevie Ray Vaughan's In Step, creating a coolly clean blend of synths and Strats, one that's as much about texture as it is about song.something perfectly appropriate for a make-out album like this. Sometimes, Mayer dips too heavily toward the texture, but he can't resist a good, tight melody and builds the bulk of Battle Studies upon them: the elegant "Half of My Heart," the softly soulful "Perfectly Lonely." Here, Mayer is effortlessly seductive and somewhat irresistible, and it's easy to see why the ladies love cool John. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
It's no secret that John Mayer is a 21st Century Fox, wining and dining women all through tabloid headlines, so it's about time he delivered an album that traded upon his loverman persona -- and Battle Studies is that record in spades. Retaining more than a modicum of the slick, soul-blues undertones of Continuum, ...
| | Black Eyed Peas E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) CD (2009)
Rain CD music
$9.99 
Black Eyed Peas, the hip-hop crossover juggernaut that propelled singer Fergie and producer Will.I.Am to superstardom, have, since 2003's ELEPHUNK, been audaciously plugging away at their bombastic but lighthearted ...
| | Lee Morgan 3 Vinyl LP (2005)
Rain music CDs
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| | Joan Of Arc So Much Staying Alive & Lovelessness Vinyl LP (2003)
Rain songs
$11.19
So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness is hardly a leap into Jimmy Eat World-style pop emo (check that wildly cheerful album title, for one thing), but Joan of Arc's fourth studio album is a huge change from 2000's deliberately "difficult" release, The Gap. Where that album took leader/sole constant member Tim Kinsella's penchant for post-rock experimentalism way, way over the top, the comparatively subdued So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness is a much more streamlined affair. The songs take at most one or two unexpected left turns each, and even songs like the spiky "Hello Goodnight Good Morning Goodbye" and the dissonant, quirky "Diane Cool and Beautiful" (which sounds like it could have come from an early Soft Machine album) have a less opaque feel to their lyrics than before. It's not necessarily a pretty album -- the centerpiece, "Mr. Participation Billy," is a bizarre, piano-based waltz ...
| | Isis In The Absence Of Truth Vinyl LP (2006) Limited Edition
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$19.85
Forward-thinking art/prog metalheads ...
| | Icewater Scandal No Handle Vinyl LP (2004)
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$18.45
Picking up where their self-titled EP (recorded as AM Radio) left off, Icewater Scandal's No Handle delivers a more confident and versatile version of their lanky experimental rock. The band make a bold move in opening and closing the album with their two most challenging tracks: "Klat" is high-strung and angular, recalling a more elongated Erase Errata or Sonic Youth (along with the Dream Syndicate and Dead C references); the fact that Lee Ranaldo mixed and recorded No Handle underscores the connections between that band and Icewater Scandal's approaches (or at least makes them easier to hear). The pretty finale, "See Saw," meanwhile, tops out at 18 and a half minutes -- much like the epic closing track of AM Radio, "Beezwax." The track picks up speed as it goes along, and over ...
| | Mowbray Tropical Heights Promo Vinyl LP (2008) (Import)
Rain music CDs
$14.29
| | Ital Tek Cyclical Vinyl LP (2008)
Rain songs
$17.79
| | Eli 'Paperboy' Reed Roll With You Vinyl LP (2008)
Rain album
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| | Noisettes Never Forget You/Saturday Night Vinyl LP (2009)
Rain CD music
$5.59
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