Unsung Heroes [Import]

Andy West, Dixie Dregs | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 27, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Bmg Japan
• ASIN: B000006YCX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,706 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dregs' best album, and few bands were ever better, May 11, 2003

By 

woburnmusicfan (Woburn, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unsung Heroes (Audio CD)

The name Dixie Dregs was misleading--it always made people assume the band would sound like the Charlie Daniels Band or Molly Hatchett. So for "Unsung Heroes" the name was changed to "The Dregs". The music remained the same, instrumental rock played by five virtuoso musicians in a dizzying array of styles, with music and arrangements as intricate yet insanely catchy as anything either progressive rock or fusion has ever produced. Solos are kept short, and at some point during an album you're bound to hear every possible combination of two instruments play in unison (listen for the violin and bass on "Attila the Hun").

This is the Dregs' best studio album, with a fantastic set of compositions by Steve Morse, the world's greatest guitarist. By now, the formula for a Dregs album was pretty well established: a couple of rockers ("Cruise Control" and "Rock & Roll Park"), a couple of progressive rock tracks ("Divided We Stand" and "Attila the Hun"), a ballad ("Day 444"), and some bluegrass ("I'll Just Pick"), funk ("Kat Food"), and baroque ("Go for Baroque"). "Divided We Stand", "Kat Food", "I'll Just Pick", and "Go for Baroque" are the best songs the Dregs have done in each of their respective genres. In fact, "Divided We Stand" is perhaps the Dregs' best track ever, and unlike anything else you've ever heard. "Cruise Control", which had previously appeared on the "Freefall" album, is reborn in a stripped-down, harder rocking version. "Rock & Roll Park" gives keyboardist T Lavitz a chance to show that he can also play soprano sax. The climax of "I'll Just Pick" has Morse repeating an 8-bar melody, as one by one, bassist Andy West, Lavitz, and violinist Allen Sloan join in with counterpoint melodies. This was Sloan's last album before leaving to become an anesthesiologist, and his simple yet gorgeous solo on "Day 444" is the highlight of that song.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Premium Dregs!, August 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Unsung Heroes (Audio CD)

This may be the best Dregs CD. Their re-make of "Cruise Control" has more energy than the original, and "Go For Baroque" is a beautiful Classical piece that shows the incredible versatility of this band! I was able to see the Dregs live in 1981 with Mark O'Connor on violin and guitar, and O'Connor played guitar on "Rock and Roll Park" including the guitar harmony with Steve Morse at the end of the song. What an incredible night that was! The whole CD is full of amazing musicianship. If you are a fan of progressive music like "Rush" for example, you will LOVE this group's music! To go another day without hearing it would be unforgivable. Get it now! You won't regret it!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steve Morse Lover, January 15, 2003

By 

Michael Difrancesco (San Francisco Bay Area, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unsung Heroes (Audio CD)

Another simply masterful instrumental album by the Dregs/Dixie Dregs. Awesome at fusing/combining Rock, Freejazz, Funk, Celtic, Barouque, Folk, anything I left out. and the Tracks 'Divided We Stand'- best Celtic style and 'Go For Barouque' best dregs Classical Tune; only 1 of 2 to use guiter-violin-bass-piano.And great songwriting as usual. I Belive this is the Quitessential Dregs/Dixie Dregs album. (Just saw them live in San Francisco-January, 2003; they never fail to dissapoint me).