Search - Various Artists :: Into the Music: Jam Bands 1

Not much jammin'

08/11/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The new trendy term in live music is "Jam Band" and the good folks at Rhino Records have released yet another of thier genre based collections, and this one's pretty good. The only defect is the absence of any real 'jamming',except for the Grateful Dead's 10 minute "Morning Dew" (live from the Fillmore East in April 1971). Unfortunately The Allman Bros. are missing, but this was probably due more to licensing problems than oversight. Out of 13 songs, 8 have a connection one way or another to the Grateful Dead, but considering The Dead's legacy, this is not totally surprising. Bob Weir's Ratdog opens the set with a decent tune reminiscent of "Throwing Stones". Mickey Hart's band follows with a song bringing up images of John Lennon and Jerry Garcia. String Cheese Incident, Zero, .moe, and Ominus Seapods all contribute the newest material here, and all are pretty good, but we never really get to hear that elusive 'jam'! An old Little Feat tune is thrown in for good measure, though a live song would have gone a bit further in chasing that still missing Jam. Perhaps some live Commander Cody or Asleep At The Wheel would liven things up. An odd addition is Frank Zappa's "Republican", a live instumental piece recorded in 1984 and taken off the album "Guitar". Frank's band plays a carefully orchestrated background while he plays a nasty guitar solo up front, displaying his obvious dislike for Republicans. At 77 minutes it's a nice collection, worth repeated listenings, but you could burn a more jammin' disc yourself. Also a very cheesy one page booklet with no info at all. 4 stars, minus one for false advertising."

There's something missing from this collection

Hammond Egger | Southern Ilinois | 03/19/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"...There is a lack of "jamming" on this disc. The name itself would suggest a little more than the 6 minute songs that run the majority of the CD. But perhaps since these bands are so hard to catagorize Rhino felt that "Jam Bands" would suffice. However, I would recommend this disc to anyone who likes
"stoner" music. I would like to think of this collection as a sampler disc. But of course I take into consideration it is only Volume 1. A truly noble effort on Rhino's part to open up people to more kinds of music. Unfortunately the world DOES revolve around the Top 40. This collection eases the tension a bit. Enjoy and cheers!!!"