Customer Reviews

Testament: The Complete Slash Recordings

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At last! A fitting tribute to one of America's greatest roots music bands. The 1990 album The Blasters Collection was terrific, but Testament: The Complete Slash Recordings leaves it in the dust. Not only do you get all four of their Eighties Slash albums in their entirety, you get eight previously unreleased songs--in addition to the three tracks from The Blasters Collection that were at that time previously unreleased. This anthology also includes The Blasters' two contributions to the soundtrack of the 1984 film Streets of Fire: "One Bad Stud" and "Blue Shadows." The new songs include "Can't Stop Time," "Flattop Joint" (an alternate version to the one found on 1980's American Music), "Leave My Money Alone," four live tracks from 1982--"What Will Lucy Do," "Crazy Baby," "Got Love If You Want It," "Walkin' With Mr. Lee," and a live duet featuring Phil and Dave Alvin from 1985 on "Take Out Some Insurance."

This band knew how to rock with Fats Domino's sax player Lee Allen (later replaced by Steve Berlin, who would eventually join Los Lobos), pianist Gene Taylor (who had performed with Ronnie Hawkins' Hawks and Canned Heat), drummer Bill Bateman, bassist John Bazz, and of course siblings Phil (guitar, vocals) and Dave (lead guitar) Alvin. Like they sang in "American Music," they were a combination of "Louisiana boogie and the Delta blues. We got country swing and rockabilly too. We got jazz, country-western and Chicago blues. It's the greatest music that you ever knew." This will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I can remember going to California in the early 80's to visit my cousins in Long Beach. I was listening to heavy metal and stuff like REO and Sammy Hagar. We went into Hollywood to see this band my cousins were raving about called the Blasters (they were opening for Greg Kihn!). The moment they walked on stage I knew something big was happening. I was totally blown away! I've been a roots, rockabilly fanatic ever since. Years later (2001), I'd lost my album collection (stolen), sold my turntable and realized how bad I missed listening the that 1st Blasters album. Went online, bought it, borrowed a turntable so I could record it. This is the only vinyl I own. Wouldn't you know, after all that, Rhino comes through! THIS IS A MUST FOR ANYONE WHO LOVES ROOTS ROCK N ROLL. If you ever get a chance to see the Blasters (hopefully with Dave Alvin) do it!!!

I agree with most of the reviewers. I have seen the BLASTERS in Belgium as the opening acts of ZZ TOP and The KINKS in 1983. The BLASTERS out performed these "polished acts". I was completly impress with the roots blues sound. I found an LP with " One red rose" in a little city of Mons, Belgium. I have played that LP until it is almost non-playable. I want to thank who ever put these tracks on CD. None of the live sound was lost in the translation into CD. If you buy only one CD this year buy Testament: The Complete Slash Recordings by the Blaster. Quick side note. Catch the Blaster in the movie: "Streets of Fire".

This is not an unbiased review. I have been a hardcore Blasters fan since I bought their first Slash album in March 1982. It's about time this stuff was available on CD! I saw the Blasters live twice (1983 at the University of Utah; 1985 at the Utah State Fairgrounds) and I was front row center both times. I've seen Springsteen, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris with Spyboy, Social Distortion, Steve Earle, and a lot of other really good performers, but the Blasters are still the best live band I ever saw. The pictures of the band in action that are in the booklet that accompanies "Testament" bring back a lot of really good memories.

The music on these 2 CD's is awesome. I hadn't listened to the actual albums in quite a few years, since my turntable died. I had forgotten how good "Hardline" is. "Just Another Sunday" is one of the Blasters' best. Dave Alvin's narrative of being trapped in a small town on a hot Sunday afternoon is one of the most evocative things he's ever written. I'd forgotten how good Phil Alvin's vocals were at bringing Dave's songs to life. It's also interesting to listen to "Nonfiction" and hear the original versions of songs that Dave later reinterpreted on "King of California." Although Dave recorded the definitive version of "Bus Station" on "King Of California," it's good to have the original version available again.

Whether you're a fan of alternative country, traditional r&b, or good old fashioned rock and roll, you should own this album. The Blasters were not posers or wannabes. The Blasters were the real deal, and they should have been bigger than they were.

Now if we can only get Rhino to release "Sundown" and "Long Gone Dead" by Rank and File. . .

Like many of the other reviewers of this compilation, I feel that its difficult to put into words the joy, exuberance, and true rock 'n' roll passion contained in these 52 tracks. The Blasters themselves were the epitome of great American rock 'n' roll music; blues, country, rockabilly, swing, and just about every other genre incorporated into one fantasic package.

I still remember the first time I saw them play live at a small, sweat-soaked club in Philadelphia. I had such a great time that I made the trek up the New Jersey Turnpike to see them play at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park the next night. I've seen hundreds of concerts, from Springsteen to the Dead to Metallica to the Black Crowes, and to this day I've yet to a see a band that captured the true spitit of Ameican rock 'n' roll music like the Blasters.

Without going into great detail the songs on "Testament" document just about every recorded piece of music by the Blasters, including their three Slash albums, a live EP, songs from the soundtrack of "Streets of Fire", and some unreleased gems. Everyone who listens to this will have their own personal favorites (mine being "Border Radio", "It Must be Love", "Trouble Bound", and "Can't Stop Time" to name but a few). However, everyone who enjoys real rock 'n' roll music will be swept back to a time when the only thing that mattered was grabbing another beer before last call and persuading that girl to dance just one more song. Thanks to this fantastic collection true American rock 'n' roll will most definitely stand!

God bless Rhino Records.

If you are a fan of the Roots Rock Revival, you need this CD in your collection.

You not only get the more "mainstream" Blasters' songs like "Marie, Marie", "Red Rose", and "American Music" from their three Slash studio albums, but a live set recorded in the UK in 1982, eight unreleased tracks and another half dozen cuts as a lagniappe. Damn, the only thing Rhino didn't throw in was Rosie Flores reading a Dave Alvin poem.

The Blasters could really bring it when onstage and the "Over There" EP, (fleshed out by the addition of "Crazy Baby," "Got Love If You Want It", "Walkin' With Mr. Lee", & "What Will Lucy Do?" shows off the live act fully, too bad it is only about 25% of a Blasters show.

The remaining studio cuts are mostly Dave Alvin Songs with a few notable exceptions; "Little Honey" and "Just Another Sunday" were penned by Alvin and John Doe of X fame, ("Sunday" is not about NFL Football and beer). "Colored Lights" is a John Cougar Mellencamp paean to pick up bars; "One Bad Stud" is a Leiber & Stoller rocker that comes alive behind the Blaster Horn Line of Lee Allen and Steve Berlin, and "Tag Along" swings with Gene Taylor's Piano and vocals.

Call it what you like, the Roots Resurgence of the late 70's and early 80's exposed a whole new generation to Rockabilly, BeBop, and Jump. Behind Phil Alvin's one of kind vocals, and brother Dave's lyrics, The Blasters led the revival right up the Rio Hondo Riverbed and into Hollywood.

It didn't get much better than Friday night at the Palace with Bateman, Bazz, and the Alvin's headlining and a local band like Los Lobos opening up. Hard to think of a better way to spend four or five hours.

Man oh man oh man. There really is a God. I was riding home on the train tonight and saw a small blurb for this collection in, of all places, Fortune magazine. I nearly jumped out of my seat with excitement. I've been waiting for someone to put this material on cd for years, patiently checking music sites every few months and hoping against hope that it would eventually happen.

These guys should have been HUGE, a feeling I had from the first time the deceptively simple but endlessly hooky Marie Marie went around on my turntable. They really had it all: Dave Alvin's evocative, spare storytelling and songwriting; musical chops; energy to spare, and style. Don't waste time trying to figure out what category to put them in -- even after all these years I'd be hard pressed to define their music -- just listen to these discs and tell me who, past or present, rocks any better than these guys.

I know it ain't gonna happen, but I'd give anything to see them live again. I've been lucky enough to see a few great and classic live acts like the Stones and Dylan, Pretenders, Johansen, but only Neil Young came even close to matching the intensity of the Blasters in performance(at the Ritz, and the World, in NYC). Talk about your sweaty rock-athons. I can still remember the floors literally shaking, and after the shows the satisfaction of feeling like I'd been put through a towel wringer, and seen something truly special.

Now that I know its on the way, I don't know how I'm gonna last 'till the box comes. I'm gonna crank Marie Marie, Border Radio, Long White Cadillac, Just Another Sunday,So LOng Baby Goodbye and all the others, dance around the house like a maniac, and introduce my wife and kids to what they've been missing all these years.

A thousand thanks to Rhino for pulling this one off against the odds. It can't have been easy, or it would have been done long ago.

I won't spend much space on how those of us who have everything the Blasters released on vinyl have dreamed of the day that would be March 5, 2002. So.... to some specifics - all 3 of the bonus tracks from the out-of-print "Blasters Collection" are here, which is good news for those who missed out on that one. There are 3 more studio outtakes (including a rerecording of "Flat Top Joint" from the original Rollin' Rock LP), but I must say the best news here is the unreleased stuff that turns the Live EP into a 10-track fourth album, so to speak. Just about the best live rock 'n roll album, ever. I have a slowly deteriorating video of 30 min. of the Blasters live on MTV in '85, the highlight of which is "Crazy Baby". That also happens to be the highlight of this new live stuff, along with Lee Allen's sax on "Walkin' With Mr. Lee". They could have sequenced the live tracks as they originally appeared, followed by the bonus material, but as it turns out they mixed the new in with the old, and it works flawlessly. Obsessives may notice the loss of some unnecessary Philspeak ("this one's for The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis", "thanks to the Tearjerkers"), but, hey, hold on to the originals. I'd also say that the last track, "Take Out Some Insurance", is apparently from an audience recording of only fair quality, but it's included for it's significance of being solely Phil and Dave. Actually, the LAST track is not even listed - 30 seconds of Gene Taylor doodlin' away at the ivories. So what we have here.... all 3 studio albums, live 6-track EP becomes 10-track LP, 2 soundtrack tunes, 6 more studio tracks, and a rare duet with the Alvin Brothers. I find myself staring at the back of this collection, thinking "It's really all here" (not to mention the 52 page booklet). I only hope they release a live disc from the 5 reunion shows they just finished up in California, and that Phil brings some incarnation of the band to New York in the near future. The Blasters - Time Capsule Rock and Roll.

The Blasters' short career began and ended when I was in grade school, but I got turned on to them through Dave Alvin's superb solo work. It's been frustrating for a long time, though -- the Blasters' catalog has never been easy to find. But now it's here, and it's great: two crystal-clear discs of the entire Blasters output on Slash. It's great and at times, stunning. Hearing original versions of songs like "Border Radio" (which gets a vastly different treatment on Dave's "King of California" record) and "So Long Baby Goodbye" is a revelation. None of the performances are bogged down by excessive reverence for the material; there's none of the stilted and dogmatic pretentiousness of some of the current "no depression" bands. The Blasters lived, breathed and above all else *swung* like demons.
Los Angeles was perhaps was never served so well (at least until Los Lobos came along, anyway) by a rock band. Amazing work. Time wasted in some label's vault hasn't dulled its power. Dig it.

If you weren't a big fan of the Los Angeles punk movement of the late 1970's and early 1980's, or if you aren't a fan of American roots music, you might not be aware of the Blasters. If that's the case, please take this remarkable opportunity to familiarize yourself with one of the best American rock/blues/country/roots bands to ever take the stage.

Testament is a massive two disc set that reprises every song ever recorded for Slash/Warner Brothers by this Downey-based band. What you will hear is great American songwriting performed with great energy and love for a wide array of American musical styles.

Unfortunately the Blasters didn't last long as a single band. Brothers Dave and Phil ALvin haven't always seen eye to eye on many issues. Dave has since went on to a solo career that even led to a Grammy Award last year for his album Public Domain. Brother Phil remains a great vocal talent and continues to play with new members of the Blasters.

Prior to his solo career, Dave wrote a number of timeless songs as the guitarist for the Blasters. Many of these songs such as Marie Marie and American Music from their first album rank among the best rock songs ever performed and have been covered by many other acts. Later releases such as those on Non-Fiction showed great talent and a penchant for telling important stories.

The result is two full discs of incredible music. For me, it brought back great memories of the band when I was in high school and college.

For those of you new to the Blasters, take the time to listen to this collection and buy some of Dave Alvin's solo material such as Interstate City and Blackjack David.