Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind (from As You Like It)
Who Is Silvia? (from The Two Gentlemen of Verona)
Hark Hark the Lark (from Cymbeline)
Sweet Sweet Viola (inspired by Twelfth Night)
Come Away, Death (from Twelfth Night)
Come Unto These Yellow Sands (from The Tempest)
A Lover and His Lass (from As You Like It)
O Mistress Mine (from Twelfth Night)
Cats and Dogs (inspired by Cymbeline)
Will You Buy Any Tape? (from A Winter's Tale)
A Sheep-Shearing Song (by John Hilton)
Sigh No More, Ladies (from Much Ado About Nothing)
Take O Take Those Lips Away (from Measure for Measure)
Master & Swabber (from The Tempest)
Under the Greenwood Tree (from As You Like It)
Fie on Sinful Fantasy (from The Merry Wives of Windsor)
Fear No More (from Cymbeline)
Irish Dement (by Dog Legs & Feet)
That Sir That Serves (from King Lear)
?Shakespeare?s Palpable Hits? is a compilation of Shakespeare lyrics set to catchy modern music. Texas-based band Dog Legs & Feet created this album of their ?greatest hits? after several years of scoring plays in Aust... more »in?s underground theatre scene. Shakespeare's plays contain dozens of songs -- but only the lyrics. For the most part, the original melodies are unknown. Any music for the 400-year-old words must be created afresh for each new production of a play, just like the costumes and sets. The music helps define the world that the characters live in, whether it is first-century Italy, 1920?s London, or a timeless fantasy-land. This is not your great-grandfather?s Shakespeare. On ?Palpable Hits,? a bunch of rustics in the forest might break into a madrigal or a rollicking country jam; a star-struck lover might express his feelings in a sultry jazz number; a witty song mocking the opposite sex might turn into a campy cabaret. Just like the plays from which they come, the songs are a mixed bag of old and new, bitter and sweet, fast and slow. The album also contains four ?non-Shakespeare? songs -- two that were inspired by the plays, and two that are frequently used in Shakespeare performances. By turns catchy and cool, hilarious or haunting, ?Palpable Hits? is an album no Shakespeare-lover should be without.« less
?Shakespeare?s Palpable Hits? is a compilation of Shakespeare lyrics set to catchy modern music. Texas-based band Dog Legs & Feet created this album of their ?greatest hits? after several years of scoring plays in Austin?s underground theatre scene. Shakespeare's plays contain dozens of songs -- but only the lyrics. For the most part, the original melodies are unknown. Any music for the 400-year-old words must be created afresh for each new production of a play, just like the costumes and sets. The music helps define the world that the characters live in, whether it is first-century Italy, 1920?s London, or a timeless fantasy-land. This is not your great-grandfather?s Shakespeare. On ?Palpable Hits,? a bunch of rustics in the forest might break into a madrigal or a rollicking country jam; a star-struck lover might express his feelings in a sultry jazz number; a witty song mocking the opposite sex might turn into a campy cabaret. Just like the plays from which they come, the songs are a mixed bag of old and new, bitter and sweet, fast and slow. The album also contains four ?non-Shakespeare? songs -- two that were inspired by the plays, and two that are frequently used in Shakespeare performances. By turns catchy and cool, hilarious or haunting, ?Palpable Hits? is an album no Shakespeare-lover should be without.
CD Reviews
Thoroughly entertaining and catchy
Toren K. Smith | Austin, TX USA | 12/03/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I was lucky enough to have seen Dog Legs and Feet perform live, and bought this CD as soon as it became available. As the description explains, the album consists mostly of classic Shakespeare song lyrics set to new music, as the original score was lost. The musical style spans a wide range across the tracks, including some very catchy melodies.
This band has an infectious sense of camaraderie which comes through beautifully on this CD. It sounds like a very personal gathering of friends playing together rather than a stiff recording session; these guys were clearly having a blast making this CD, and I guarantee it'll bring a smile to your face."
Catchy album
LJ | 10/26/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This isn't normally the type of music I'd pick up, but I was pleasantly surprised at how light and fun it is. It has a great rhythm that I find gets stuck in my head -- sometimes I can be caught singing the songs at work. Great band that sounds like they actually enjoy playing together. I highly recommend it."
Good tunes and a fun romp through Shakespeare's canon!
D. M. Sacks | 10/25/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is really enjoyable and accessible. You don't have to know Shakespeare to enjoy this album, but of course, the more Shakespeare you know - the more you'll enjoy these songs!
Their arrangements are quirky and fun and their harmonies are spot on!
My favorites are - Sweet Viola, Irish Dement and A Lover and His Lass.
Fun for all!"
No Holds Bard!
J. Edwards | Austin, TX USA | 10/15/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There are not many albums out there like this. It's not unheard-of for a rock band to update a centuries-old song on the back half of an album - heck, think of the Byrds "Turn, Turn, Turn" - but an entire disc of them? The good news is that, in this case, it works. In fact, you can - if you should want to - almost forget you are listening to Shakespeare and just enjoy the music on its own merits. It is, Shakespeare or no, an album filled with good tunes.
What comes across in just about every track on "Shakespeare's Palpable Hits" is the theatricality of the music. Listening to it, you're reminded that each of these songs has a dramatic context in which it both entertains an audience and advances a plot; and though that context is stripped away here, the songs still are filled with the color and pageantry of a play.
This album does not have the classically trained, fragile sound that one often associates with Shakespeare music - these guys have rock-and-roll voices, and they frequently belt out the songs as if they are on stage in a crowded bar. Even the few songs that sound "Elizabethan" have a certain roughness to them - the music of the pub, not the court. Some of the songs have a silly or farcical or vaudevillian quality that makes this sometimes sound like a children's album. Others have a haunting lilt, and still others are just good toe-tappers. The disc as a whole has some of the same jumbled, fantastic, over-the-top quality of a late Beatles album like "Sgt. Pepper" or "Magical Mystery Tour."
The disc also contains a handful of "non-Shakespeare" songs (that is, with lyrics not written by Shakespeare) sprinkled throughout. "Sweet Sweet Viola" is a roots-rock finger-snapper that quickly runs down the labyrinthine plot of "Twelfth Night." "Cats and Dogs" is a satirical take on the wicked queen from "Cymbeline," who covers up her plan to poison her stepdaughter by claiming she wants to get rid of some pesky strays. "Irish Dement" is a raucous beer-swinging singalong that reminds you "you're sure to be dyin' someday."
The only problem with this album, really, is that there could be more of it. "Come unto these yellow sands" and "Master & swabber" in particular seem to end just when they're getting going... though the band can hardly be blamed if Shakespeare didn't write more words for these ditties.
All in all, this album is one of those little gems that, even if you don't listen to it every day, you'll always be glad you have in your collection."
Buy Me
Paul Foerster | Lincoln Heights | 11/15/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If Shakespeare be your thing, buy this album. If groovy tunes be your thing, buy this album."
Track Listings (19) - Disc #1