Not Alone [Box set]

Not Alone (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 4, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Durtro / Jnana
• ASIN: B000B6TTAK
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,077 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Fly Away - And Then What?

2. A Song for You

3. Brian

4. Forgotten Language of Light

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Mantra

2. The First Flower People

3. Do You Want to Go Somewhere?

4. Indulge Yourselves with Our Delicious Monster

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Someone Always Talks [#]

2. Snowballin'

3. The Transit Rider

4. Unbelievable

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Heliogabalus

2. Huntsville Affair

3. No Thing

4. The Work of Washing

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 5

1. Our Love My Love

2. Crow Flies

3. The Gate of Polished Horn

4. City of Dreams

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best-priced box-set I've seen; high-quality music donated for a great humanitarian group., April 6, 2006

By 

Nicholas Soucy (Lansing, Mi United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not Alone (Audio CD)

Handsomely packaged in a white slide-open box, the set comes with 5 discs and one rather thick liner book.

Unfortunately, we don't get the lyrics in this book. However, there is a nice description of the charity and of the genesis of this compilation project. The important thing to remember is that the proceeds from this generous 5-disc box set go to the noble non-profit group, Doctors Without Borders (or Medecins Sans Frontieres, hence MSF), an independent humanitarian medical group which targets the African HIV/AIDS epidemic amongst dozens of other international emergency health crises.

By my count, there are 86 songs total. How many of them do I like? About half, so far, which isn't bad. 43 excellent songs for $33 is a tremendous deal. You might dig all the tracks; who knows?

"Not Alone" is a solid collection of artists who donated their songs for a good cause. Think of it as a benefit fundraising concert that you get to take home with you. The vocal tracks range from good to amazingly beautiful, and the genre spread is comfortably diverse. You'll find a swooning song from Antony of "Antony of the Johnsons," a tune from the prodigious Devendra Banhart, one from our old friend Marc Almond, the sublime psychedelic-folk group Pearls Before Swine and several others like Current 93, Vashti Bunyun, Angels of Light, Baby Dee, William Basinksi (who sounds a bit like Bowie) along with many more. Genres include rock, alternative, electronica, neo-folk, prog-rock, cabaret, and other categories.

I was admittedly a bit dissatisfied that nearly half of the songs are instrumental; lyricless. I don't have an automatic aversion to instrumental songs, but a good chunk of the instrumental tracks are just synthesized computer noise. But don't let that discourage you, because you will certainly enjoy many of the instrumental songs as much as the gorgeous vocal tracks. I just wish Jnana Records had told me up front that not all of the songs had vocalists.

All in all, it's worth the asking price, because many of the songs are excellent and the proceeds go to a magnificent charity.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good, Diverse Collection, April 10, 2006

By 

Logan Albright "thellama73" (Marietta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not Alone (Audio CD)

This set really is a bargain. Where else can you get such a high quanity of music for such a low price? But what's really amazing is the diversity of the songs included. There really is something for everyone, regardless whether your tastes lean towards pop, folk, ambient, rock or noise. Of course this means that most everyone will be dissatisfied with a number of the tracks as well. I myself find some of the neo-folk and Canadian pop/rock a bit tedious. However the tracks by Colin Potter, Black Noise, Thighpaulsandra, William Basinski, Mirror and many others are wonderful. I was rather disappointed with the tracks by Nurse With Wound and Coil, though. They are two of my favorite groups, but their contributions here are underwhelming. the NWW track is nothing more than the lyrics to "Black is the color of my Love so Fair" recited into a vocoder, and Coil's Broccoli is a live recording that consists mainly of John Balance talking about being abused by his stepfather.
Overall, though, it is well worth the cost and you will likely discover some new favorite artists.

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't Pay Too Much For This?, December 16, 2011

By 

VegasDV "VegasDV" (Las Vegas, NV United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Not Alone (Audio CD)

Nice product featuring eclectic music and (more importantly) part of the proceeds go towards a good cause (Doctors Without Borders), but how much? This same item can be found for $19.95 + $5.50 shipping and handling on other websites. Does the additional you pay here go to the cause or the vendor?