Customer Reviews

Loud, Fast & Out Of Control: The Wild Sounds of '50s Rock

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4 star:		(3)
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The intent of the compilers is to give the 50's music the credibility and relevance it deserves. It is true that 60's and 70's music is filed in stores by artist, and with the excetion of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, or Jerry Lee Lewis, 50's music is relegated to oldies bins.

In addition, this decade has been associated with Doo Wop, slow ballads (Earth Angel, for example) and Sock Hops. The box presents the music as it was intended: dangerous, rebellious music.

To set this tone, the odd discs open with famous audio bites where religious figures, political figures were condemning rock and roll and trying to ban it. The even discs close with these. One you might remember: "Rock and Roll has got to go...We're all through playing Rock & Roll" This soundbite in an imaginative move closes the box completely at the end of disc four.

If this is the compilers wish, they can breathe easier. They have accomplished their objective many times over. When one plays these tracks, excitement, and awesome energy emerges. Stagger Lee, La Bamba, and a slew of obscure tracks are deserving of repeated listenings.

The accompanying booklet is well assembled, with lots of liner notes under each track, photos of the artist, and introductory notes that defend the motive of this box. The sound quality is topnotch. But why wouldn't it be with restoration wizard Bill Inglot at the helm. Force fade-outs that were applied to these tracks over the years are gone, so the songs have sharp cold drop offs as was intended.

The only beefs one can find, is some songs were left off seemingly due to the fact they don't fit the title of the set (Loud, Fast, and Out of Control). However, Fats Domino's My Blue Heaven, and the Everly Brothers' Wake Up Little Suzie, sound tame when compared with Elvis Presley's Hound Dog which wasn't included.

Also, the set does cheat a little bit with Buddy Holly's Brown-Eyed Handsome Man. This song was released posthumously in 1963 on the overdubbed album Reminiscing. Their the Fireballs overdubbed instruments to give it a full studio and stereo sound. The stripped down original with Jerry Allison's drumming now audible was not released until the 1980's on the CD For The First Time Anywhere. Yet, it's on this.

Other than these two flaws, the set is a worthy purchase, and deserves to be put next to the Nuggets box set!

Well I'll be the first to tell you that selling my soul for rock and roll has not payed such great dividends. Yes, I live in a cardboard box down by the river, and as such cannot afford this lushly packaged and produced product from the often genius (but never completely perfect) folks down at Rhino. But, if I could.... Wow what a collection! The thing about golden era fifties rock and roll groups (Elvis, B. Holly, C. Berry, seveal others accepted) was that most only had two or three or four great songs. This box set has (most) of them all! Now, I'm not going to waste your time telling what's all not here. Just look what IS here... one hit wonders, obscure should have been hits, and many many geniuses of deliquent music (link wray rules my world!). this is the stuff (along w/ bee bop) that came at a great time in recorded music and seperated the old (what they are calling "Roots Music" on PBS now) and the new. Finally, I think this collection should put to rest the old faulty theory that rock and roll is "white" music. Many of the men who recorded, produced, and wrote much of the songs were black and were not being ripped off any more than their white brothers.

So, in conclusion, if you are gainfully employed and can miss a night of drinking at a upright type of bar that uses glasses and what not, buy this c.d. collection. Then sell it to me at your garage sale.

Rhino does it again! This stuff is dangerous! True attitude of rock and roll. Includes the first record I ever bought in 1953, Crazy, Man, Crazy by Bill Haley & his Comets and the rest is just incredible. There is just too much good stuff and good rockin' to mention. Whether you lived through it, are fascinated by it or are just curious and academic about it, this boxed set is an important chapter of American music. Real music! You can almost smell the leather and the burning rubber. A boxed set you'll go back to again and again. Pure fun!

This is a great set of '50's music, and standing alone it is pretty essential stuff. However, if you have already bought Rhino's Rockin' Bones set, you can pretty much dispose with picking this one up. That set has most of the rarities this one has at far below the larcenous prices some sellers ask.

Whereas Rockin' Bones is more narrowly focused on '50's Rockabilly, this one casts a broader net and revels more in music that the compilers envision the '50's juvenile delinquent set may have listened to. An interesting concept, but most any serious music collector is likely to already posess the rare cuts not on Rockin' Bones.

"Happy Days" never existed, at least not in the '50's. That decade was in reality the beginning of the "Culture Wars" of social liberation and the opening salvo was the arrival of the "filthy, degenerate devil music" (not my words but I forget whose) known as rock and roll. Rhino records brings back this period with this issue; four cd's containing one hundred four of the wildest songs in rock's history. Most of the classic performers (Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis) are represented, as well as some period performers (Wanda Jackson, Vince Taylor) and some one-hit wonders (the Viscounts, Warren Smith). The collection mixes classic songs with more little known numbers. Bill Haley's version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" is replaced by the much more satisfying version by Joe Turner and several other songs which would be covered more famously appear.(I wish somebody would cover Wynonie Harris' "Lovin' Machine". Place and time notwithstanding it's probably the most subversive song in the set). In addition, about 40% of the material is performed by black artists, representing a fact that was not lost on the critics of rock and roll at the time. The crystal clear digital remix seems to give the music even more of an edge. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough of it. This collection is further evidence that rock and roll is one of the world's most powerful forces. If you love it and you're not a serious '50's collector, get this set.

Tired of the same old, predictable oldies collections with the same basic tunes over & over again? Then this is the collection for you! As usual, Rhino includes not just the familiar classic hits most of us baby boomers grew up with, but also plenty of obscure(but still fine)tunes as well. If you're having friends and/or family over & are looking for some fun party music, then this is what should be on your cd player/stereo. Rock & Roll Is Here To Stay! Very highly recommended.

Excellent compilation of singles (some well known, some not) reflecting the darker side of 50's rock. Comes colorfully packaged with a very informative and witty booklet.

I've been playing guitar and listening to music for nearly 40 years, and until I bought this CD collection I never realized just how much the foundation for virtually everything that came later was laid in the 50s. Solidly laid. So that this collection is no trip down memory lane, but a window into rock, rock and roll, blues, comedy records, country rock, rap ----- gimme time and I'll even work out a hip-hop connection!

Having bought the Nuggets box set and being pretty overwhelmed by the quality of material on it, I would say that this box set is even better. Maybe because I didn't grow up with this era of music, it sounds really fresh to me. I couldn't stop listening to it once I had got it. This box set rescues 50's rock from becoming a novelty and really let you understand how dangerous and raw this stuff was when it came out. It rocks. Of special interest to me were the tracks from Link Wray, Johnny Burnette Trio, and Chan Romero. But the box set is loaded with previously unknown treasures alongside better known contemporaries. I suggest to anyone interested in rock'n roll.

What can you say? Some of the greatest music ever recorded. Put together with NUGGETS, this will provide hours of essential listening.

The only fault I could find is that this could've been a 10-disc set.