Customer Reviews

Friendly Strangers: The Warner Bros Recordings

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I will tell you this....Rhino did a superb job on the mastering and production of this 2cd set....

The sound quality is very clean and clear...considering the era of its origin....the booklet is informative...and basically has both album covers and backs....to include any and all inside liner notes from the original albums..they also added alot more pics and info for your reading pleasure...a nice treat was that they also included the single version of "Vehicle"....the 2cd set comprises of both albums plus the rare unreleased tracks from those recording sessions...so you have here the COMPLETE Warner Bros recording sessions...you dont get that if you buy the 2 other cd's separately...this set was pricey...but the best usually is.

I am not going to get into a breakdown review of each and every track..as so many other reviewers like to do...cuz it really has no bearing...if you never heard the songs or are even familiar with the band...if you ARE familiar with the band and the songs...you really dont need to have somebody trying to relate what they thought the band was trying to say in their music.....all you really need to know..or care about knowing...is...how is the sound quality..production...packaging..contents....and are you getting your monies worth...isn't that about accurate?

I was always an IDES fan...as I remember seeing them back in their heyday of 1970 at the WILD GOOSE in Joliet as a young music addict....the Chicago area was a music mecca back in those days. Well those days are long gone...but the music is still very much alive....You have to love people like Rhino for bringing it all back....I have never purchased any IDES cd's up to this point....just have the original vinyl lp's stashed away....so this was a real find and worth waiting for.

BUY THIS CD!!!!!!!!

Finally someone has released a CD with many lost treasures such as this one. There are songs on here that were never even released. This is the most under rated group around. Warner Brothers and RCA dropped the ball. If you ever get a chance to see them perform, don't miss it.

Hopefully people will re-discover The Ides of March...favorite sons of Berwyn, Illinois ("Berwyn?!") It's so great to hear a clean copy of "L.A. Goodbye", and there are some of my personal favorites here, too, like "One Woman Man" and the 1968 CTA-like "Time For Thinking". If you can own only one Ides' CD, this would be the pick.

Thanks rhino records for releasing the warner brothers recordings of the ides of march on compcact disc. LA GOODBYE and VEHICLE still sound as great as when i first heard them played on WLS radio the big 89 in chicago in the early 70 s.

I must admit, I only knew of "Vehicle" as a rock radio jock.
That seemed to be the common theme from those around my age, but a few years older, and it was possible to find someone who knew a wee bit more of this band.
Growing up in Wisconsin, we had the influence of AM radio playing rock and pop at night, or if the conditions were right, tuning in WLS in Chicago.
However, this band didn't receive commercial exposure - at least in central Wisconsin and up to the north woods.
I also have to admit, I only purchased this for one single reason.
There was some album or 45 by this band around the house when I was a kid, from either a sister 4 years older or a brother 6 years older than me.
My brother James was murdered in Madison, WI on his birthday five years ago (8-2-06).
The pain has never gone away, and I've been buying things here and there that reminds me of my childhood, and him.
Hoping I'd hear something off this set that I would know or would bring back a memory, I listened to everything.
Then listened again, minus a song or two.
Then listened again, minus a song or two.
It's possible a few songs rattled a brain cell but I'm not sure.
I do know one thing... this sound is addictive.
This was expensive, but I also purchased it from a seller who heard why I wanted it, and he (TD's Music Collection) cut the price down a bit.
The guy had a 100% seller rating (in July, 2011) and still has it today (Sept, 2011).
Ides Of March was a decent set to pick up then, and still is decent to listen to today.
In my search of years past, the first five albums of Blood, Sweat & Tears have made it into my home.
The first eleven of Chicago have made it into my home.
The set from Chase has made it into my home.
And now Ides Of March.
Mix it with some Chicago tracks, some Blood, Sweat & Tears tracks, some Chase tracks... what an excellent mix of music.
I feel old, can't stand todays radio at all, wish I could get my job on-the-air once again - just to play this stuff.
Automation replaced us program and music directors, but just a purchase here and there and paying more attention to when rock 'n' roll was growing up has seasoned me in ways I never thought of before, and I'm ready to go album oriented rock - oldies style... if only a computer crashed, or Alice Cooper and John Tesh would go away, we jocks would have our jobs once again!

To my brother James, thank you.
I know you gave so much when we were kids.
I know you hated the babysitting thing those few years when it was forced upon you, but at least you didn't treat me like our sister did (and still does).
You also stepped in and allowed me to live with you, your (ex) wife and your two little ones (who I never see anymore)...
at a time when AD-HD wasn't understood, and I was the terror of the city, school and home.
I remember being placed in special ed classes - i.e. the same room, same teacher - same drugs to bring me down and remain calm.
(They) told me it was because our parents divorced when I was 6, so I didn't have any direction or guidance except from Grandma.
(They) went to school, got degrees... and got it wrong.
You'd think after years of screwing me up (professionally), they'd spend a little time to help now.
You played basketball every chance you had.
Started a home and family before alcohol took over your life after a divorce.
Funny, but for a period of time, you got it right.
I love you and miss you big brother.
Thanks for the music, caring when I most needed it...and the black-eye once in awhile that I probably deserved.
No hard feelings... just memories.
Hell, I'd love to cook Grandma's chili and bring it over or have mom drop it off like she used to.
But she's gone too.