Rock Star: A Night at the Mayan Theatre

Various (Artist), Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 8, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Burnett Records/Epic Records
• ASIN: B000B5IORA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,307 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

129 of 141 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Prefered Song Selection Would Be ..., October 1, 2005

By 

R. Freeman "Prog Rock Fan" (Central Coast, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rock Star: A Night at the Mayan Theatre (Audio CD)

As others have already written, the song selection is extremely disappointing. If I was to put together a highlight CD, the first 8 songs would be:

Baby One More Time - Marty Casey
Pretty Vegas - JD Fortune
Bohemian Rhapsody - Suzy McNeil
Wish You Were Here - Marty Casey
Baby I Love Your Way - Mig Ayesa
Trees - Marty Casey
Pretty Vegas (Encore) - JD Fortune
Trees (Acoustic Encore) - Marty Casey

101 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "Song Selection, Song Selection, Song Selection!", September 24, 2005

By 

Bruce Caines (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rock Star: A Night at the Mayan Theatre (Audio CD)

I've got to admit it--Paula Abdul, who appears on one of my guilty pleasures, American Idol, has got it right. Song selection is key. Maybe she should have produced this disc.

RockStar:INXS became our TV summer guilty pleasure--and in reality, the music performed on the show is far more the vibe of what we listen to in our house than music performed on Idol. So, with so many outstanding cover performances to choose from I'm wondering what brand of crack was being smoked when the producers picked the songs for this collection. Even in the rush to slap something together and get it in the stores while the fans were still arguing over who should have won, more care could have gone into chosing what we get to buy.

Yeah, to be sure, there are some tasty tracks here like Jordis Unga's "Man Who Sold The World" and Ty Taylor's "Cult of Personality." (Yes Ty, we noticed you were trying to channel Corey Glover throughout the competition.) Deanna Johnston's inspired "Piece of My Heart" (speaking of channeling artists) is worth the price of admission alone, but Marty Casey's fan favorite rendition of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" and Radiohead's "Creep" are conspicuously absent. And what about the luscious version of "I Can't Make You Love Me" by "Sweet" Suzie McNeil? Where is that? I personally love Casey's dark version of "Baby One More Time." You would NEVER have convinced me I would ever allow a Britney Spears song in the house. Not on this disc either.

Most of the songs were recorded during one night's performance at the Mayan Theater--and not the versions we saw performed throughout the competition. Those later, stronger performances should have been on this disc. Maybe it's a licensing thing--the fees may have been more than the producers wanted to pay to incorporate some tracks into this disc. Maybe it's a marketing thing--see how the public responds to this release and then do a bunch of subsequent releases of other compilations. In all honesty, there weren't enough stellar performances on the show to squeeze more than two discs out of it--and I think they missed the mark with this one. The goal of this seemed to be, "get it in the can and ready to release as soon as the competition is over."

The audio mix on this is good--certainly better and a little cleaner than the live broadcast, so that's a good thing. But you know how there are some CDs you buy for the three or four hot jams? Well, that's what you would be doing here. If you REALLY love the show and most of the contestants (even the ones who deserved to go home before the RS:INXS hit the air), then plunk down your bucks and get it. For my money, I'd rather download individual tracks and get exactly the eight or so I want.

Just an aside: While I wasn't a fan of JD Fortune, I wish him and INXS the best. (I can still enjoy my old vinyl INXS sans Fortune!) If you watched the finale and the selection of JD over Marty Casey seemed oh-so-wrong, check out Marty Casey's band Lovehammers. Their CD, Murder On My Mind kicks butt. Marty's loss is likely Lovehammers' gain--along with everyone else. Sometimes things just work out the way they should...

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, unless........, November 8, 2005

By 

Kristin Danninger "Wisconsin Woman" (Stoughton, WI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rock Star: A Night at the Mayan Theatre (Audio CD)

I was a huge fan of the Rock Star INXS TV show so I bought this CD. But unless you're a bigger fan than me I would say save your money. There were a couple of good songs on the CD, but the majority of the songs I enjoyed on the TV show are not featured on the CD. This CD is not worth the price.