CD reviews

On the Floor of Heaven

(Bumstead)

As a fan of alt-country music, I like to think that I keep pretty good track of any good music from that genre that comes down the pike. I have to admit though, that when The Blue Shadows originally released its debut album, "On the Floor of Heaven," in 1993, I completely missed it.

I'm guessing that you did too, because that album, now considered by many to be one of the finest examples of alt-country, was never released in the U.S.

The band formed in Vancouver in the 1990s and featured Billy Cowsill, formerly of the 1970s pop group The Cowsills. Now, nearly two decades later, someone finally saw fit to release the album here in the States.

After reading the press release for the CD, which made liberal use of the term "legendary," I was skeptical. Surely, there was a reason this project never made it out of the Great White North. Happily though, this one seems to live up to the hype. Twangy in all the right places, Cowsill and his band mates roll through a dozen tunes that would make Gram Parsons nod in approval if he were still with us.

A deluxe version of the album features a second disc full of outtakes, covers and rarities, including a great take on Joni Mitchell's "Raised on Robbery." Kudos to whoever finally thought to release this alt-country gem in the U.S.

Key Tracks: "The Fool is the Last One to Know," "If We Make It Through December," "Raised on Robbery."

Keepin' On

(Blues Leaf)

Blues aficionados might recognize the name Albert Castiglia. The Miami native was the lead guitarist in Junior Wells' band just prior to that blues legend's death in 1998.

After touring for a time with Sandra Hall, Castiglia returned home to Miami, determined to start a solo career from that city. While Miami isn't Memphis or Chicago, it does have a fairly good blues scene, and Castiglia thrived there, releasing four solo albums and touring.

On Castiglia's fifth studio release, "Keepin' On," Castiglia keeps it simple, dishing out 12 tracks of no-nonsense blues, mostly recorded live in the studio with no overdubs. "Could Not Ask For More" features a guitar solo that will raise the temperature in the room in which it is played, while elsewhere on the CD Castiglia shows off his above-average singing voice on tracks such as "Till I Fell in Love with You" and "Keep On Keepin' On."

Castiglia's guitar work is blisteringly good throughout the CD, and after a few songs it becomes pretty clear why this guy has toured with and opened for some truly big names in the business.

Key Tracks: "Keep On Keepin' On," "Could Not Ask For More," "Goin' Upstairs"

All Night Long

(Eleven Seven)

When Buckcherry released its self-titled debut CD in 1999, the band seemed to be trying to recapture the wild days of Los Angeles hair metal, the sort that gave way to groups such as Guns 'N' Roses. That debut was amusing enough, but more than a decade later, even with hair metal again on the rise, Buckcherry's efforts on its latest CD, "All Night Long," are marginal at best.

Songs such as "It's a Party," "Recovery" and "I Want You" takes the concept of a musical cliche and makes that concept cliche. If you pine for the days when a mullet and an Iron Maiden T-shirt told everyone everything they needed to know about you, then you might actually like some of the music here.

For the rest of us though, the music on "All Night Long" seems like a trip on which we've already been.

Key Tracks: "These Things," "All Night Long," "Our World"

Live In Vienna

(Sony Classical)

It wouldn't seem as if a cartoon could start a lifelong fascination with classical music, and yet that is just what happened with Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

When Lang Lang was three, he saw a "Tom & Jerry" cartoon that featured Tom the cat playing Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody" at breakneck speed. Lang Lang wanted to play the piece as fast as Tom, and thus a career was born.

Nearly a quarter century later, Lang Lang is an internationally known musician who sells out concert halls. He is also the rare classical artist who has a major label recording contract.

"Live in Vienna" is Lang Lang's first recording of Beethoven sonatas. The entire first CD consists of performances of the composer's "Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2," as well as "Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 52 'Appassionata'."

The second CD features Albeniz's "Iberia, Book I," as well as Prokofiev's "Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83." Some musicians simply play what the composer wrote, which I suppose is the point of performing a composition written by someone else.

In the case of Lang Lang though, even though he is playing the music exactly as written, one can't help but notice that he plays with a sense of love. It is obvious that Lang Lang is leaving his own invisible mark on the piece.

Key Tracks: All of CD 1.