Customer Reviews

The Band (Remastered / Expanded)

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This album was my prime introduction to The Band, alongside the Classic Albums -documentary which got me to purchase this piece of work in the first place.

I feel that this is a great starting point to anyone interested in The Band and their music, and also quite essential to those (us) interested in classic rock.

Music is purely marvellous. I admit that it had to grow on me a bit - but then again that often is the case with new artists. Now I'm dreaming about the "Music From Big Pink" -album and especially "A Musical History" -boxset.

Highlights to me are (among others, actually the whole album is a highlight): Across The Great Divide, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Whispering Pines, Jawbone and King Harvest (Has Surely Come)

Very Highly Recommended!

I really thought it would sound more the other albums by the band, but it doesn't, I actually thought it was kind of dull.

N.B. The official review above is somewhat misleading as it is written as if Joan Baez composed "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" from this album; she did not. Robbie Robertson, guitarist of the band is the composer for anyone who didn't already know. Anyway, now to the important stuff...
Having had this album for a couple of months I find myself in a far more settled place in which to write a review that I know I can stand by for good. This band is absolutely essential, in the way that the Beatles, Elvis, Cash, Springsteen, the Stones, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye etc. etc. are essential. They captured in its purest form a method of storytelling that still has as much potency and passion now as it ever did back in the late 1960's. This, in my estimations (as well as many, many other musicians and music-lovers) forcefully eclipses any of the "classic" albums at the time (St. Peppers and Pet Sounds being the most acclaimed) in every single way.

From the stunning sway of "Across the Great Divide", right through to the undeniable anguish of "King Harvest", each song tells a vivid and engaging story, sung with such passion and played with such amazing talent, that this is simply the most artistically important album of the 20th century (in my eyes at the very least; I know at least some people agree).

If nobody knows the members of the Band, prepare to be engaged in the kind of enthralling empathy that no other band I have come across has yet instilled in me...

The Band consists of three vocalists; Richard Manuel (Pianist), Rick Danko (bassist) and Levon Helm (drummer), of which Richard was most definitely the lead. His voice is truly inspiring, breathtaking, and (once you know his fate) absolutely heartbreaking. Listen to "Whispering Pines" or "Rockin' Chair" off this album and you will know what I mean... indeed, buy the "Classic Albums" dvd of this to see just what sort of impact Richard had on the music and people involved with the Band. For those of you who do not know the Band, Richard committed suicide back in 1986 while touring with the reunited (ex-Robertson) band.

Let's not forget the force of the other vocalists and musicians within however, because each made a massive impact upon the music that came out of the "Big Pink" and "Band" sessions. The most impressive songs on this album are, without doubt "Across The Great Divide", "...Dixie...", "Unfaithful Servant", "Whispering Pines", "Rockin' Chair" and "When You Awake", all bona-fide classics. The other songs are just as impressive once you know the Band's music, but are a little more dense in scope and may take a few listens to fully appreciate.

Helm, a superb drummer, singer, and mandolin player, sings "Dixie" with the kind of passion nobody from out of the South of the US could. It's undeniable and frighteningly haunting. Similarly, Danko (also deceased) puts in superb vocal performances on "When You Awake" and "Unfaithful Servant".

All the musicians (except Robertson, who wrote nearly all the songs) are exceptional multi-instrumentalists who exhibit the kind of genius (and that includes Robertsons' guitar playing and songwriting) that maybe just one part of every classic band has; the disturbing thing is that every member of this band has it in spades.

The music itself is breathtaking in scope, not because of its component parts (although they too are magical), but because of the force and complexity of the textures that these musicians created... created, may I add, in the midst of post "St. Peppers" flimsy and whimsical psychedelia, and not scarred in any way by it (as much of the late 60's, early 70's music was). The underbelly of the songs is based upon Helm's substantial drumming, Danko's persistent and beautiful bass and Garth Hudson's complex textures of hammond and Clavinette.

This is timeless music for timeless troubles, music we can all grasp something from, whether it is hope, empathy, sadness, (envy!), or simple inspiration and respect.

Once of the very few "perfect" rock albums, in my opinion far greater than any album that came out of the '60's or 70's and simply one of the most awe-inspiring examples of songwriting, storytelling and musicianship that you will ever bear witness to.
Timeless and essential.

Just a small note to Patrick Alex Fleck....His review of the album was accurate except for one small error. Garth Hudson played a Lowrey organ, not a Hammond. This is an important point, because the Lowrey has its own tone and sound,thus giving Garth, and subsequently The Band, their unique twist.

RICHARD MANUEL NEVER GETS ENOUGH CREDIT AMONGST SINGERS !!!!HIS VOICE ON WHISPERING PINES SOUNDS AUTHENTIC AND FROM THE DEPTHS OF HIS HEART.....I AM A HUGE FAN OF THE BAND BUT JUST HONE IN ON RICHARDS VOCALS AND GOOFY DRUMMING STYLE ON SOME SONGS AND YOU WILL HAVE THIS IN YOUR CD PLAYER FOR WEEKS ON END....NOT TO MENTION GARTH LEVON ROBBIE AND RICK ARE ALSO GENIUSES AT THEIR MUSICAL TRADES AND YOU HAVE ONE KICK ASS DISC...BUY THIS STEAL THIS DO SIDE JOBS TO PAY FOR IT ...JUST GET IT

Levon Helm has one of the most honest,passionate voices in pop music and he delivers some of his best vocals on this classic LP. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "Across The Great Divide" and "Up On Cripple Creek" are the best known songs here and they remain popular for a number of reasons, the first of which is Robbie Robertsons vivid lyrics and the almost ramshackle delivery of the Band, on the surface it all sounds loose and unrehearsed, but listen closer and the intricate details and texture reveal themselves. The late Rick Danko delivers the impossibly pretty "Whispering Pines" in his rich, high tenor and provides gorgeous harmonies along with Helm on the Richard Manuel led "When You Awake". Garth Hudson's flawless organ work and piano on "....Divide" and the juke-joint attack of "Rag Mama Rag" adds just the right touch of creepy woodsy ambience. A lot of modern listeners won't understand this music because of it's homespun, unpolished feel and the unconventional arrangements, but patience and repeated listens to this seminal masterpiece will be time well spent.

I purchsed this album when it 1st came out -- and as I was first coming over to rock from symphonic and early folk music. Since that time, among the thousands of albums in my collection, this has always been my very favorite, most beloved music. It has amazed me that whenever this music comes on -- whatever the mood or setting -- I am *always* happy to hear it.

I feel similarly about The Band's other 2 initial albums -- Music from Big Pink and Stage Fright -- but this one's even finer. Each voice is powerful, resonant and evocative. Each composition is strong. Each line, each instrument played is "just right" harmonically and rhythmically, and the ensemble is as tight as any music I know. At the same time, each player's work -- especially the bewilderingly wonderful Garth Hudson keboards -- is so complex and well conceived that new discoveries within each song still reveal themsleves to me, even after thousands of listenings. How can that be true?! It can be so only with the very finest of all music.

The bonus tracks here include rehearsals which show the arrangements in mid-form, some steps leading to the synthesis as ultimately recorded.

Best known of this classic ensemble, Robbie Robertson with his guitar contrasts some with the rest. His playing is spare, tighter than anything I've heard, and always incisive. Yet for me, the other instruments and vocals are more central to the full presentations. This said, it is clear Roberston's role in it all was crucial, and not only as guitarist. After he left The Band, some of the fire dropped away. Robertson had contributed beyond anything tangible he brought. Their later albums, recorded after a very long hiatus, are excellent but nowhere near the level of the 1st 3.

When I've seen these folks in person, I have been astonished to see that they switch instruments with each other during the set, and each player is excellent playing any instrument!

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is the best known in this colletion, having been covered by many other artists -- notably Joan Baez, in a 'nice' track, but completely outshone by the original. Yet this Band track -- wonderful as it is -- must for me bow to the even more stunning yet varied tracks: King Harvest, When You Awake, Look Out Cleveland, Rockin Chair...and, yes, Rag Mama Rag and Up on Cripple Creek. The great Little Feat cover Rag Mama Rag on their Down Upon the Suwannee River, and do it well. But any cover of this music is simply superfluous.

The Band had been playing together for a decade, including a tenure as Bob Dylan's highly esteemed backing group, when they finally cut their debut album in 1968. The resulting "Music From Big Pink" was a remarkable album, but this one, 1969's "brown album", is even better.

"The Band" is a singular blend of rock, folk, blues and country, and it includes some of the Canadian-American ensemble's finest songs. The dominant instrument on "Music From Big Pink" was Garth Hudson's icy and majestic organ, and while that still has a prominent place on "The Band", it now often shares centre stage with Richard Manuel's piano, and the importance of Levon Helm's superb, versatile drumming is very clear.

The Band's vocal harmonies weren't subtle and sophisticated like those of, say, the Beach Boys; rather the three singers (Manuel, Danko and Helm) traded off lines seemingly off-handedly, as if they were making up the blend of lead and harmony vocals on the spot.
Expressive tenor Richard Manuel performs excellent, soulful lead vocals on the wonderful opener "Across The Great Divide" and the underrated "When You Awake", a lyrical, swinging folk-rock ballad. And rougher-voiced drummer Levon Helm sings the two best-known songs off the album, the New Orleans-styled semi-R&B of "Up On Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", Canadian Robbie Robertson's everlasting epos about Civil War veteran Virgil Caine who served on the Danville supply train (fittingly enough, with Helm being the only Southener, and indeed the only American, in the band).

Other highlights include the gorgeous ballad "Whispering Pines", a piano ballad with textured organ phrases from Garth Hudson, the swinging country-rock of Levon Helm's "Jemima Surrender", the rocking, up-tempo numbers "Rag Mama Rag" and "Look Out Cleveland", and the odd but fascinating "King Harvest", filled with powerful imagery.
And the remastered year 2000 reissue includes no fewer than seven bonus tracks, including alternate versions of "Rag Mama Rag", "Up On Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", as well as the outtake "Get Up Jake" which had previously been released only as a live recording.

"The Band" is The Band's (!) greatest record, an almost flawless masterpiece, idiosyncratic and endlessly original. They made other excellent albums, but they never topped this one, which sparked an interest in them equalled only by the critics' fascination with Bob Dylan and The Beatles.

not quite as good as Big Pink but pretty good anyway. the main complaint i have is that Robbie Robertson is not a good guitar player. everyone on these reviews keep saying that the guitar solo in King Harvest is so great, honestly it sounds like a 10 year old could have played that solo better. obviously hes talented since he writes most of the songs, but the thing with The Band is that it always sounds like a group effort. I especially like the songs that sound like the vocals are coming from the other side of the room (jawbone) and most of the songs sound like live takes. most of their biggest songs are on here and most are enjoyable. I still have a problem distinguishing between Danko and Manuel on alot of the vocals, they sound kinda similar.

"The Brown Album" is no "Music From Big Pink." But then again, "Music From Big Pink" is no Brown Album. The Band followed their brilliant, acclaimed debut without missing a beat in the heart of their flowing creativity. The sound of "Big Pink" had been so unique that it was impossible to attach it to a specific era, while "The Brown Album" is a distinct musical vision of an electrified "old days" matched with an acoustic backwoods accent. Each of the original twelve songs on the album seem as if they originated from an innocent jam session from the 1800's era Appalachian Mountains, and whisked away into a modern studio in 1969.
"The Brown Album" was officially titled simply "The Band" (like the Beatles' "White Album" is also called "The Beatles" and Metallica's "Black Album" is also called "Metallica"; but neither of those albums deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as this accomplishment). From the moment they cross the Great Divide, The Band harps from their own land of Americana, but the feelings they proclaim on the album are still applicable to the times, as genuine as a bottle of moonshine that could have been brewed in 1969 or 1869. Rick Danko's fiddle on 'Rag Mama Rag' sounds as if he travelled back in time with a tape recorder, while Levon Helm's distinctly Southern voice punctuates this song and several others. 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' is an emotion-stirring portrait from the Civil War, while the "drunkard's dream" 'Up On Cripple Creek' portrays a funky Delta epoch, with Garth Hudson taking a turn at the clavinette, with brilliantly quirky results. Richard Manuel meanwhile gives a typically astounding vocal on 'King Harvest,' a character study of determination and hardship, capped off by a sonic "minimalism" guitar solo from Robbie Robertson. It's nothing short of amazing that a group could make such a solid, believable statement during the swinging 60s with songs like 'Jemima Surrender,' 'Whispering Pines,' or 'Rockin' Chair.'
Aside from becoming one of The Band's most acclaimed pieces of work, "The Brown Album" also proved the group was strong and creative even without former employer Bob Dylan in front of them (though "Music From Big Pink" had already done much to prove that fact). No other band in history has painted such a stirring vision of the past to contradict an overbearing modern grain.