Perhaps the largest online music resource has just had a complete overhaul with new features and expanded content...I just thought we should have a thread to discuss positives/negatives of the new version.

Personally, I'm a bit dissapointed in the fact that their site is now Internet Explorer specific...as I, for one, have enjoyed using Mozilla browsers for the past 4 years. I've never had any problems accessing allmusic.com via Mozilla, until now. Half of their page displays incorrectly...aside from that, I like their updated look and the inclusion of sound samples is a massive improvement. All in all, I'd say it's a mixed bag...

my only complaint so far is that it's yet another website that won't dynamically resize itself to fit my browser window...

I haven't been able to access anything past the homepage. One thing is for sure, I don't like having to register.




Now if it turns out they deleted all Thom Jurek's mental masturbation reviews, as well as all the one sentence reviews that tell you nothing, than I give the site two thumbs up no matter what else they did.

I won't even mind all the mistakes on bio's, musicians, track listings. Not that I wouldn’t mind if they had a more coherent policy on their reviews. Enough with the reviews that rave about a recording but only give it two or three stars. I could go on but if they did something about Jurek it would go a long way.

Has Jurek heard a recording that is not the second coming of Jazz/avant/Free? Has he ever written a review that is shorter than 5,000,000 words?

I agree that AMG is hardly a perfect resource...I've submitted quite a few corrections to them myself, but as far as freely available online music information, it's the best out there at the moment...although I must say that I think I preferred the old version to the new...in terms of ease-of-use, it was far superior to this glossier version.

It's great for a free site but as the saying goes, "You get what you paid for". I still can't comment on the latest version's ease-of-use.

You know Jurek even makes your posts more along the lines of Haikus.

i REALLY like how long it takes for the shiny new looking site to load... gives me lots of time to really think about what i want to check out... the spiffy new graphics really do make the site way nicer (at least the 1 time i was able to get it to load today)... that some good use of resources and funding yep

I finally got it to load and was able to register and change my password. I can tell you right now, I hate having to keep clicking tabs to get all the information that used to be on one page.

And what are the odds that the first record I check, has a review by Jurek?

Now you have to work your way through 5 pages to get the information on an artist that was on one and 4 pages for each recording. It's like they are trying to make sure you have to hang around longer instead of making it quicker.


Oh yea, when did Jurek start reviewing rock recordings as well?


I give you the review for Rush's cover release Feedback, which appears to be the second coming of cover releases.



This is a riot! Rather than put out some windy and dreary box set to celebrate their 30th anniversary, Canada's seminal power prog band and one of big rock's most enduring units turns the tables and lays out hot and heavy covers of nine classics from the annals of rock & roll history. The track list is amazing, and the cool thing is that the arrangements of these nuggets are not all ripped up and mutated, either. "Summertime Blues" may begin as a nod to Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady," but it comes roaring back as an acknowledged homage to the Who's Live at Leeds version. The version of Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth" begins as a slippery little acoustic tune but quickly turns into a heavy, droning rock orgy. "The Seeker" goes for the jugular in the same way that the Who's did; Geddy's sneer has a little less contempt than Daltrey's but it's just as hungry and desperate. "Heart Full of Soul" is pure psychedelic Yardbirds elegance with a bunch of space and dimension added to redeem the track for the 21st century. The backmasked guitars on "Mr. Soul" and Neil Peart's deliberate mix of thud and snap give the cut a solid footing for Alex Lifeson to unhurriedly coax Lee's vocal along the lyric. The ringing of Lifeson's chords that barely hold this side of overblown feedback is masterful in keeping the original spirit of the song while future-dating its sonics. Rush's read of "Seven and Seven Is" is much faster that Love's original, but its barely-on-the-rails tempo is welcome in lieu of the fact that these guys are all in their fifties and play like they're kids. "Shapes of Things to Come" is fun, and a real attempt to provide nuance to a great song, especially the cross-channel fading in the guitar mix. But on "Crossroads," the other bookend of this EP, Rush give a romper-stomper wailing performance of Cream's arrangement of Robert Johnson's seminal blues tune. Lifeson leaves Eric what's-his-name in the dust. Lee may not be the vocalist that Jack Bruce is but he kicks his ass as a bass player, and his moment of glory in this cut tears the roof off the song. None of these tunes are done with an ounce of camp. What the listener encounters is a Rush that has never ever been heard before: they indulge in the hero-worship and dream roots of the garage band that eventually became Rush, and they simultaneously search for the young garage band whose members never dreamed they'd be playing these tunes 30 years later as Rush. Anyone who thinks that there is no life left in the classics of the genre needs to hear this. That something this wild and freewheeling could only be pulled off by a band with 30 years experience is not only worth noting, but celebrating.

Not sure how long this will last, but for the moment the old site is still up.

http://allmusic.com/