Customer Reviews

Stage

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was turned onto Keller the first time I heard him. His energy is completely unique and uniquely Keller.

I thought his studio album "Home" truly had an intimate home feel. However, with "Stage" Keller gives it his all and you get his genious, insanity, and humor packaged beautifully in 2 discs for $15.

The recording quality is excellent, but the appeal is in the energy - I still listen to my Keller tapes despite their sound quality. "Stage" is a necessity to any Keller fan, and the best representation of his work for any new comers.

Simply, "Stage" won't dissapoint.

Upon first hearing Keller, I immediately was drawn to his unique style of jamming and clever sense of humor. I also consider his live shows to be among the best (and most innovative) around -- and am lucky enough to have witnessed several great live performances. Keller's previous live CD release, Loop (which I highly recommend), has been a staple of my CD collection for several years. With that as background, you can understand that I obviously was very excited to receive this two-CD set.

Unfortunately, as much as I appreciate Keller, I was a little disappointed with this release and certainly cannot rate it higher than 4 stars. In fact, I was quite underwhelmed by the song selection, choice of covers, and even some of the jams (which seem to go nowhere). The strong material on Loop (i.e., Vacate, More Than a Little, Stupid Questions, etc.) simply blows this away by comparison.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I just don't understand why Keller doesn't showcase more of his strong songwriting instead of filling space with novelty covers such as Rapper's Delight and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough. Sadly, other than Bird Song, I find most of the second CD almost unlistenable. Keller, my man, what's happened to the great, strong songwriting evidenced on Loop and Laugh? I'd sure love to see a follow-up to this set (perhaps "Stage 2"?), with a little more discretion in the editing and an emphasis on Keller's unique abilities and songwriting rather than gimmickry.

I give this album 4.75 stars, unfortunately that's not a choice, and while I realize 5 would most likely suffice, if I did that you wouldn't care to look into why it's NOT a 5 star attempt by Keller.
First off, I'm assuming that 5 stars would be Keller live, as is . . . you just have to see him live to fully get his divine energy. I understand this is the too commonly thrown cliche' of a majority of "jam bands," but while I cannot speak for all, after going to only 2 Keller shows, he is by far the best live performer in my book. His shows have an intimacy and down home good feeling to them and to watch him just groove and laugh his way through a set barefoot is like watching your little brother finally rid himself of those training wheels and fly down the street screaming "I'm doing it!"
THis album is great. I listen to it on each of my 4hr trips to my mom's, dancing and singing the whole way down, but I can't stress the fact that you must, i repeat MUST see him live.

I also own his studio albums Laugh and Home, While Home has great songs from "Above the Thunder" to "You are what you eat," nothing can outweigh the reminicing I find myself in when I put on "Freeker by the Speaker" and all the other top notch songs, including the immaculate intsramentals like "Mental Instra"

So if you can't find a ticket to his next show, do yourself a favor and buy this album, kick off your shoes, and dance like a mad-man on your indian rug

This is the first Keller album I owned and it never gets old. 6 out of 5 stars. CELEBRATE YOUR YOUTH!

Williams, the one-man show as documented on two discs here, is a marvel of talent to behold; some of the most articulated acoustic rhythms and fluid technicality mixed in hot sauce funk and tons of humble bells and whistles.

Stage is a GREAT album and the double disc just makes it better.
the cd is all live and only further proves that Keller is equally as good live as he is recorded. some even argue that he actually is better live.
He is a musical genious and this cd is probably my favorite cd he has. He does a great job with covers too, if they sounded like the original then why not just listen to the original, you got to be different with your version. Every song on this cd has it's own life to it and he keeps up the energy through out the entire two discs. If you're a fan of Keller, it's mandatory that you buy this cd.
BUY THIS Album!.. Now!

if you arn't fimiliar with Keller and are just looking for your first cd, here's the albums i have, so far, in order of how i like it.

Stage - Great cd and makes you feel like your right there in the front row catching every drop of sweat in your mouth that comes from his feet... ? ... any way...

Dream - Brings back a couple old songs with new artists. well made. really catchy tunes

12 - Who doesn't love a greatest hits cd

Laugh - Many Different moods and has classic songs like freeker by the speaker and mental instra

Dance - Remix (kind of) to Laugh... every song is fun and energetic but you probably wont listen any song all the way through due to repetivety (probably not a word) but still has really good stuff. also, if you look at the list of songs on the back of the cd after listening to it. you wont have any idea which one you just listened to. i bought it. you should too.

Grass - If i had to choose between other Keller cd's i'd choose the others first. by no means is this album bad, it's just a different genre than the rest of his work. buy this one at Hastings (the best store on the planet) for cheap then go read a book and drink some coffee

i also have the DVD called Sight. it's really cool at first then he plays songs that run together a little, but he picks it back up in the end. i still really liked and it has a hilarious intermission. read the credits too, they're hilarious.

i purchased Loop from Amazon last week and i'm pumped for it. i hope it's a dandy

This is the best Keller Williams cd your money can buy. He is always good, but he's always better live. In fact, forget the cd and go see him right now. I'd also suggest purchasing the DVD of this concert.

If you have seen Keller Williams live, you probably loved him or hated him right away. I fell into the prior group and have been following him steady for about two years now. This new double live cd, stage, is the best representation to date of his live shows. Loop, another live cd released in 2001, was also a very good disc which I highly recommend to anyone, and Stage carries the torch of this album by reflecting his more recent escapades on stage. There are more instruments used on this album (read my loop review for more info on his one man band angle) to create a much more complete sound. Some of the cover songs on stage will make you laugh out loud or at the very least guffaw slightly. I especially enjoyed his version of rapper's delight, which I saw him perform live and is barely recognizable from the original. All in all, this is a great cd if you are into improvisational live music and, as i've said before, if you can't see him live, this is the next best thing (but not nearly as good as in person, check him live!)

I never really knew too much about Keller Williams until I went to the second Bonnaroo and saw him. I was hooked immediately. I then saw him several times after that. If you have never actually seen this man perform, then this is a must listen to. It's as close to seeing him as you can get without actually seeing him. Just imagine this one incredibly talented man perfoming this on stage by himself. These songs are great. You can not find some of these songs on any other CD, he only plays them live. You are missing out if you haven't heard this yet.

I have had the pleasure of witnessing Keller Williams in concert twice (once for free and once with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones)and he most definitely puts on one of the most interesting/amazing live shows I've ever seen. His musical knowledge is uncanny, as he will make use of a myriad of instruments and a lot of times will have them going at the same time. These discs represent Keller's live shows very well in my opinion. They display his musical talent and some of the feel of his shows. But you kinda have to see Keller putting all of the sounds together to fully appreciate his live capabilities. All in all, a very good album, but go see him live.