Anthony Curtis'

Book Of The Key
$8.99
Book of the Key is guitarist Anthony Curtis with bass great Tony Levin, Frank Zappa's stunt guitarist Mike Keneally, drummer Lewis Pragasam, violinist Jeff Gauthier, and Ronan Chris Murphy on harmonium. Recommended if you like King Crimson, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Dream Theater. Highlights of this album include the moody and slightly mournful "Ruins" that somehow rises as it falls--probably a result of the snappy drumming by Pragasam, Gauthier's hauntingly beautiful violin work, and Curtis' exploration of the nine-note scale. "Gallabalba" showcases Tony Levin on Chapman Stick. The pace is fast and the energy is in-your-face, something like a power trio on steroids and laughing gas. "Hymn to Helios" is built around Curtis' feedback guitar and recalls "Blue Body of Water" from his work with BOOM. Fusion and prog fans should enjoy the epic title track clocking in at 23:24. It's a journey through some weird landscapes you might not experience anywhere else. One of my favorite songs is the threnody "From Towers to the Dome of Heaven." When I hear the siren in the background, the violin, the hand drumming, and Curtis' surprisingly delicate guitar work I'm reminded that beauty and love may be the best solace. It's a dense and somewhat challenging album by a group of fine musicians that takes the listener to distant places.

My Favorite Christmas: Heartwarming Stories from Ricky Skaggs, Steven Curtis Chapman, Kurt Warner, President Jimmy Carter And Many Others
$14.99
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In a world, where the demands can at times be overwhelming - that often seems too fastpaced and - even cynic - it's good to read these stories by people, who have warm Christmas memories. I especially enjoyed the story by former President Carter where he and his church reached out to a family in need and provided them with a very special Christmas present.

Offenbach: The Brigands
$17.99
Offenbach's music and Gilbert's libretto are both great fun, and the performances are too - especially allowing for the fact that this is really a "semi-professional" production. The acting is a little "comic opera-ish" and wooden, but this is if anything a plus. It is of course "authentic" in that it is how Victorian and Edwardian comic opera used to be staged. I rather like it anyway.

And, as nearly always with the Ohio Light Opera, this release does not have a competitor - if you want to hear this operetta in English then this is all there is!

What lets this CD set down in my opinion - and this goes to a lesser or greater extent to all this company's recordings, at the least the three I have purchased so far, is the quality of the sound. It is recorded "live" (i.e. presumably at an actual performance - although there is little or no evidence of an audience) - I wish it had been done in a proper studio instead!

Sound levels are generally very low (although they fluctuate a fair bit) and I actually had to make a "boosted" copy onto MD when I wanted to play some tracks on our local community radio station - just to get enough volume so our equipment at the station would broadcast it at a listenable level. Clarity is poor (the fault of the sound engineers rather than the performers, in the main) and it is very fortunate indeed that the set includes a full libretto. Otherwise some of Gilbert's best lines would be lost.

Both the "lost stars" in my assessment are for sound quantity and quality, anyway.

Hercules: The Legendary Journey Continues: In The Underworld (Vol. 4) [VHS]
$14.98
DVD is so popular now. Universal Studios should release the remaining of the two Action Pack movies on DVD. They neglected ever releasing "Circle of Fire" and "Hercules in the Under World". As an added bonus for the DVD feature, I say they should put "Mazo of the Menatour" I have VHS version but would love to have it on DVD.