NEIL YOUNG ~ "RUST NEVER SLEEPS"

Original released on LP Reprise HS 2295 (US 1979, July 9)

Filmed at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, on October 22, 1978

ALAN PARSONS PROJECT ~ "PYRAMID"

Original released on LP Arista AB 4180 (US 1978-05)

OST ~ "The Deer Hunter" (1978)

A banda-sonora de “Deer Hunter” foi apenas lançada em CD em 25 de Outubro de 1990, 12 anos após a estreia do filme. O tema “Cavatina”, composto por Stanley Myers e interpretado pelo guitarrista clássico John Williams, ficará para sempre conhecido como “The Theme of Deer Hunter”. A composição, na sua forma cantada, teve o nome de “He Was Beautiful”. Uma das melhores interpretações foi feita pelo tenor australiano Mark Vincent, que a incluíu no seu quarto álbum de estúdio, “Songs From the Heart” (2011). O produtor Deeley referiu que descobriu o tema num filme chamado “The Walking Stick” (1970) e teve de pagar uma elevada quantia pelos direitos de autor. “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” é outro tema que se identifica bastante com o filme. Trata-se de uma canção da autoria de Bob Crewe e Bob Gaudio, que fez muito sucesso em 1967, ao ser interpretada por Frankie Valli. Nesta edição especial, para além do álbum original, foram adicionados mais 8 faixas de temas ou canções que se ouvem durante o filme, mas que não foram creditados na altura.

WHITESNAKE Debut Album + EP

Original released on LP United Artists UA-LA937-H

(US, October 1978)

"Trouble" was Whitesnake's first "real" album, setting the template for virtually all of the band's ensuing career, pre-1987 American sellout. (Ep "Snakebite", released earlier that year - and included here - was split between David Coverdale solo sessions and actual group recordings.) This was a group made up of seasoned veterans after all, and they knew exactly what it was they wanted: edgy hard rock based on R&B. They also knew who was boss: Coverdale, who after enduring a minority stake in the mighty Deep Purple, was now clearly established as top dog and de facto leader of the new outfit. (When he relinquishes lead vocal duties to guitarist Bernie Marsden on "Free Flight," it's because he wants to.) And what a slick, powerful outfit it was, too, with guitarists Marsden and Micky Moody compensating whatever visual shortcomings they may have had with their rock-solid six-string partnership, and former Purple organist Jon Lord holding it all together in the back. "Take Me with You"'s nonstop boogie and persistent slide guitar hook sets things into motion on a frenetic note, but it's the next song, "Love to Keep You Warm," which earns its stripes as a bona fide Whitesnake classic, largely due to its seductive, deliberate strut. In retrospect, concert fave "Lie Down (A Modern Day Love Song)" is a tad too simplistic and has not aged well at all, but the pairing of "Nighthawk (Vampire Blues)" and "The Time Is Right for Love" provides an amazingly succinct look back (the first is built upon a very Purple-esque stop-start riff) and ahead (the second introduces a cool melodic recipe which would characterize the band's later-day sound). The title track represents the album's high-water mark, its rollicking blues shuffle declaring it a worthy successor to Coverdale's original tour de force with Purple, "Mistreated." A few unexpected oddities throw the album off-balance here and there, not least of which the instrumental jam "Belgian Tom's Hat Trick" and an unexpected, stuttering cover of the Beatles' "Daytripper," but all things considered, it is easy to understand why "Trouble" turned out to be the first step in a long, and very successful career. (Eduardo Rivadavia in AllMusic)

CARLOS DO CARMO: "Fados e Canções"

50 Fados e Canções que reflectem o que de melhor Carlos do Carmo gravou até 1980

THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD!

"The Last Waltz" was a concert by the Canadian rock group, the Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. "The Last Waltz" was advertised as the end of the Band's illustrious touring career, and the concert saw the Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood and Neil Young. The event was filmed by director Martin Scorsese and made into a documentary of the same name, released in 1978. The film features concert performances, scenes shot on a studio soundstage and interviews by Scorsese with members of the Band.

Beginning with a title card saying "This film should be played loud!" the concert documentary is an essay on the Band's influences and their career. The group – Rick Danko (died 1999, December 10) on bass, violin and vocals, Levon Helm on drums, mandolin and vocals, Garth Hudson on keyboards and saxophone, Richard Manuel (died 1986, March 4) on keyboards, percussion and vocals, and guitarist-songwriter Robbie Robertson – started out in the late 1950s as a rock and roll band led by Ronnie Hawkins, and Hawkins himself appears as the first guest. The group backed Bob Dylan in the 1960s, and Dylan performs with the Band towards the end of the concert.

The idea for a farewell concert came about early in 1976 after Richard Manuel was seriously injured in a boating accident. Robbie Robertson then began giving thought to leaving the road, envisioning the Band becoming a studio-only band, similar to the Beatles' decision to stop playing live shows in 1966. Though the other band members did not agree with Robertson's decision, the concert was set at Bill Graham's Winterland Ballroom, where the Band had made its debut as a group in 1969. Originally, the Band was to perform on its own, but then the notion of inviting Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan was hatched and the guest list grew to include other performers.

Promoted and organized by Bill Graham, who had a long association with the Band, the concert was an elaborate affair. Starting at 5:00 p.m., the audience of 5,000 was served turkey dinners. There was ballroom dancing with music by the Berkeley Promenade Orchestra. Poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Michael McClure gave readings. The concert began with the Band performing its more popular songs an lasted more than 9 hours with all those special guests playing with the group. At around 2:15 a.m. the Band came to perform an encore, "Don't Do It". It was the last time the group performed with its classic lineup.

The original soundtrack album was a three-LP album released on April 16, 1978 (later as a two-disc CD). It has many songs not in the film, including "Down South in New Orleans" with Bobby Charles and Dr. John on guitar, "Tura Lura Lural (That's an Irish Lullaby)" by Van Morrison, "Life is a Carnival" by the Band, and "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" by Bob Dylan. In 2002, this four-CD box set was released, as was a DVD-Audio edition. Robbie Robertson produced the album, remastering all the songs. The set includes 16 previously unreleased songs from the concert, as well as takes from rehearsals.

"Fidelio" by LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Recorded in Vienna, February 1978

A ópera era o género que fazia a fortuna de muitos compositores na altura, mas Beethoven só escreveu esta, que lhe terá dado mais trabalho do que qualquer outra das suas obras. A história gira em torno de uma mulher que se disfarça de homem para salvar o seu marido, um combatente da liberdade que se encontra preso e prestes a ser executado. A qualidade da música está muito, muito acima da do libreto. Esta versão dirigida por Leonard Bernstein, em 1978, com Gundula Janowitz, René Kollo e Lucia Popp nos principais personagens, mantém-se bastante recomendável.

The DIRE STRAITS Debut Album

Original released on LP Vertigo 9102 021

(UK, May 1978)

Dire Straits' minimalist interpretation of pub rock had already crystallized by the time they released their eponymous debut. Driven by Mark Knopfler's spare, tasteful guitar lines and his husky warbling, the album is a set of bluesy rockers. And while the bar band mentality of pub-rock is at the core of Dire Straits - even the group's breakthrough single, "Sultans of Swing," offered a lament for a neglected pub rock band - their music is already beyond the simple boogies and shuffles of their forefathers, occasionally dipping into jazz and country. Knopfler also shows an inclination toward Dylanesque imagery, which enhances the smoky, low-key atmosphere of the album. While a few of the songs fall flat, the album is remarkably accomplished for a debut, and Dire Straits had difficulty surpassing it throughout their career. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

SERGEI PROKOFIEV: "Suite From Romeo and Juliet" + "Peter and the Wolf"

Recorded in 2013, Maestro Riccardo Muti’s performances of selections from Sergei Prokofiev’s "Romeo and Juliet" drew critical acclaim. On this recording, Riccardo Muti conducts selections from both of Prokofiev’s suites derived from his ballet – beginning with "Montagues and Capulets" and taking the listener on a journey through Shakespeare’s story as told by Sergei Prokofiev.

"David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf" is a classical music album containing David Bowie's narration of Sergei Prokofiev's 1936 composition "Peter and the Wolf". Bowie was RCA's third choice to undertake the narration for "Peter and the Wolf" behind Alec Guinness and Peter Ustinov, who had both turned the album down. Bowie later said that it was a Christmas present for his son, Duncan Jones, then 7 years old. Stephen Demorest, reviewing the album in Rolling Stone at the time of its release, describes Bowie's involvement as "engaging and benevolent". Demorest finishes his review by saying Bowie had "found his most charming guise since Hunky Dory." Joe Viglione for AllMusic finds the album as "charming" and Bowie's performance as "splendid" and describes the Philadelphia Orchestra's involvement as "first rate". He finished by saying it was "A remarkable and well-crafted project". The original 1978 US version of the LP album was pressed on green vinyl and included liner notes insert (RCA Red Seal ARL1-2743). Later issues were pressing in standard black vinyl. 

The Watermark of GARFUNKEL

Original released on LP Columbia JC 34975

(US, January 1978)

The original idea was for Art Garfunkel to record an album of songs written by Jimmy Webb. But when the leadoff single, "Crying in My Sleep," failed to make the charts, Columbia Records withdrew the album and induced Garfunkel to put together a cover of Sam Cooke's "(What A) Wonderful World" with Paul Simon and James Taylor harmonizing. The single and a revised version of the album then made the Top 40. But "Watermark" is still a Garfunkel-Sings-Webb album, except for one song. And the initial idea was a good one: Garfunkel handles Webb's wistful pop songs well, and he has made good choices from Webb's songbook, dating back to the '60s, though avoiding his big bits. The result is Garfunkel's most cohesive solo album. [The original version of "Watermark", on test pressings and only a very few commercial copies, was available briefly in October, 1977. The revised version, containing "[What A] Wonderful World," was released in January, 1978.] (William Ruhlmann in AllMusic)

The GRATEFUL DEAD: "Shakedown Street"

Original released on LP Arista AB 4198

(US 1978, November 15)

Since the Grateful Dead were notorious for recording awkward studio albums, it always seemed that the answer to their problem was simply getting the right producer to coax magic out of the band - and nobody would seem better suited for the position than Little Feat leader Lowell George, whose own band shared the Dead's tendency to wander and jam in a live setting, yet made almost nothing but good studio records. But 1978 was not a great year for either camp, as the Dead were drifting in their attempts to score a crossover hit for Clive Davis' Arista Records, while George was pushing Little Feat toward disbandment as he was inching closer to his premature death in 1979. Add to that the Dead's sudden, inexplicable fascination with disco, a desire to have Donna Jean Godchaux be an integral part of the record, plus no new songs ready to go at the beginning of the sessions, and it's little surprise that "Shakedown Street" wound up as a mess. It rambles and wanders all over the place, as the Dead cover the Rascals' "Good Lovin'" before they revive "New Minglewood Blues" (which they originally cut for their debut), as Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter write their own "Stagger Lee" while Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann get a percussion workout on the brief instrumental "Serengetti" and Bob Weir affects a bluesy growl on "I Need a Miracle." In George's hands, this is all given a smooth gloss not all that far removed from such latter-day Feat LPs as The Last Record Album, but since the Dead favor hazy, lazy grooves to Feat's laid-back but tight New Orleans funk - and since George didn't produce so much as he created an appropriate atmosphere in the studio - "Shakedown Street" meanders mercilessly, and its indulgences wind up overwhelming the album as a whole. And there isn't just one kind of indulgence here; there's a plethora of them, ranging from the disco pulse of the title track to the fuzziness of the two songs sung by Donna Jean. This can make "Shakedown Street" a bit of a difficult, dated listen, since even the good songs boast bad arrangements ("Shakedown Street" and "Fire on the Mountain" were later reworked and revitalized in concert), yet it falls short of flat-out disaster, partially because it's a fascinating listen due to the very things that make it a severely flawed record. The disco flirtations, subdued funk, misguided commercial concessions, and overarching Californian slickness do make "Shakedown Street" fascinating for at least one spin, even if they'll keep even hardcore Deadheads - maybe especially hardcore Deadheads - from coming back to the record more than once every decade or so. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)