Customer Reviews

Pearl (Spec) (Dig) (Spkg)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nothing has gone stale about Joplin and her band on the all-time classic Pearl. After all these years, it remains a magnificent listening experience because of the quality of the songs, the band's tight playing and the impressive emotional range of Joplin's vocals. The second CD includes some stirring live versions of her greatest songs.

Unlike Cheap Thrills, where there was mostly a cosmic battle between Joplin's voice and Big Brother's heavy metal onslaught, here the voice is the star. My favorites on an album of classics include the poignant Me and Bobby McGee, the tender A Woman Left Lonely, the edgy Half Moon, the emotional Cry Baby, the buoyant Get It While You Can and the plaintive/humorous Mercedes Benz.

Perfect arrangements, brilliant playing and masterly vocalization combine here to create a rock masterpiece. The live album shows the extraordinary power of Joplin on stage. This CD is essential for all rock fans, providing the very best of 1960s rock.

Janis sang the truth. This was only her third album, and it was to be her last, and the tragedy of that gets to you as you listen to the greatest woman ever in rock and blues take apart these songs. There is an overwhelming sense of tragedy as she delivers the famous "Mercedes Benz," but if you can divorce what you know from listening to this disc, especially the Legacy edition, you'll receive one of the most sublime musical experiences of your life. Every cut was perfect, even the title Coda instrumental that closes what was the official release. Richard Bell and his Canadian cohorts proved that Roberston, Danko & Co. weren't the only Ontarians who could deliver the goods. They band was perfect at every moment. Proof positive comes on the swecond disc, which is culled from the Festival Express tour across Canada. The tour occured before the recording of PEARL, but you can hear PEARL coming. The second disc is one of the best live CDs you'll ever hear.
It is just such a shame that Joplin fell victim to old habits. There is a circle in hell for the rotten scum who sold her the uncut horse. Anyway, there would not be a voice with this kind of power again in rock until Sinead, whose wild horses are more psychological. All the same, nothing prepared rock for Janis when she hit her stride, and singers, male or female since, have never been the same. This is, beyond the cliche, what a classic CD sounds like. Do yourself a favour and pick this up.

The first disc, simply the regular Pearl album, is incredible and definitely worth buying. However, the second disc has its high moments but leaves something to be desired. Buy just regular Pearl, and for live Janis go get Live in Winterland 68, it is very powerful and you won't be disappointed.

The folks at Columbia have been releasing the same Janis material across several different releases. So, for those who are wondering if they already own some of the Calgary show that makes up disc 2:

Tracks 1, 6, 8, 11 appear on the single-CD remaster of Pearl.

Tracks 1 and 8 also appear on disc 3 of the Janis box set.

Tracks 3, 8, 12, 13 appear on Janis In Concert.

I think Summertime is previously unreleased, and this second disc is worth it for that alone.

Pearl was Janis Joplens last album. She died in 1970 and this album was released just after her death. This was her most succesful album criticaly and artisticaly, and i sold the most as well. To most people Janis was something special, to me she was the queen of the blues as well as rock. Janis did something never done before she busted out on the scene in hippie atire, long hair and a bottle of Jack in her hand and she demanded the worlds respect and she finally captured it just before she died. Now so many years after this little ladys death Janis is refered as one of Rock and Blues most influential women. To celabrate this amazing womans contrabution to music her greatest album, Pearl has been re-released and with the star treatment.

Pearl is an album full of tons of Janis Joplen classics. The album opens with her all time best song, 'Move Over.' This was one of the few songs Janis wrote all by herself and she did it right. This song is everything good bluesy rock and roll should be. 'Cry Baby' 'Mercedes Benz' and 'Trust Me' are all Janis Joplen classics. Also this album features Janis' biggest and really only hit single, the Kris Kristpherson written 'Me And Bobby Mcgee' which still to this day gets lots and lots of radio air play. The rest of this album is full of fantastic songs as well just these stand out the most. On the first disc not only do you get the full length album but you get alternate tracks, outtakes, and demos which is really cool and a nice touch for and Janis fan.

Disc two is full of tons of live matrial from Janis Joplens last tour in Canada just before she passed away. All the songs are performed really well and are remastered perfectly so tha you get hear everything. This live disc could be sold on its own because its better then all her other live cds.

So to wrap things up this is a disc that really should be owned by everyone who loves rock or the blues, so do yourself a favor and pick this remaster up!

Columbia has done a great job on the second disc of this set. It is the closest we will get to hearing a performance of Janis with her legendary band. What is sad is that this material sat in the vaults for over thirty years. I wish that I had access to the record company vaults. I'm sure there are treasures waiting for release. This is definitely one of them. Buy it now!

yes i am 10 but that dosen't matter this was the best album she well half made. she died on october 4,1970 and i still feel that shes alive.

When you get the chance get this album
Jacoby

You know what sucks? I'll tell ya. How talents like Janis die so young and hacks like Fred Durst outlive her. And right after this beautiful, amazing album! I mean, this is a fantastic classic album. Every rock fan should own a copy. What's so good about this? Well, for one, her group can actually play (their jam "Buried Alive in the Blues", left instrumental because Janis was dead before she could record a vocal track for it, really proves that). Not to mention the country-rock posthumous #1 "Me and Bobby McGee", still one of her most resonant songs. There are also several enjoyably heavy rockers ("Move Over"; "Cry Baby"; "Half Moon"). Her sarcastic, anti-commercial solo vocal (an early rap!) "Mercedes Benz" is really, really funny; and there's a lot of pure, unbridled belting ("A Woman Left Lonely"; "My Baby"; the Aretha-like "Get It While You Can") that really packs a punch. I couldn't name you a weak track on this album if I tried: the closest is "Trust Me", and even that firmly resonates. Cheap Thrills was great, but this is my favorite Joplin album.

Even though I was 10 years old when this album came out, I remember it as though it were yesterday. In 30 years of buying tons of music, nothing has moved it from the throne of #1 for me. The only album that has ever come close is "Hatful of Hollow" from the Smiths. Janis was amazing and can never be duplicated no matter how they try to sell a nasty reality show. She would be disgusted. This album is packed with so much passion you would have to be dead inside to not appreciate its many merits. This reissue has been very well put together. The bonus material is crucial. Just makes me sad that they had to wait 35 years to put it out. What else is lurking in "the vaults"? Just hope they release it before I die so I can enjoy more of Janis' unmatched emotional impact. If you don't own a copy of "Pearl" then you owe it to yourself to experience why music is so important in life.

As a #1 Janis fan, I feel the need to own everything she recorded. Although I have all of the recordings on this CD on other Janis CD's, it is a nice compilation and worth having these cuts all in one place.