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 Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar RockSales Rank:3466List Price: $18.98 Lowest New Price: $9.63 Lowest Used Price: $9.99 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 Total Reviews: 27 Customer Reviews:Rating: 5 Excellent! The first time through you listen to the words; after that you hear the outstanding guitar music throughout the CD. I first found out about this CD when I was listening to a November 2008 interview with Dion on National Public Radio. He did it on NPR's Fresh Air and it is availble on-line at: [...] It is about 25 minutes long and worthy of a listen. It is only Dion with an acoustic guitar and the interviewer, Teri Gross. I did not realize Dion was still singing/playing and sounding so young and alive. I am not into listening to music from earlier generations, but this CD is more than that. It is like what you heard in the late 50's/early 60's, but so much better. The guitar work is outstanding. I only purchase a few CD's each year and this one was well worth the money. Rating: 3 Be Yourself, Dion Dion is one of the best voices and song stylists to come out of the rock and roll era. I was disappointed that if he was going to record some of the songs from that era that he didn't do more to make them his own. I realize the purpose of the album is to honor his guitar heroes, but he did nothing to make us want to listen to his versions instead of the originals. The DVD is interesting to hear an artist's view of his contemporaries, but offers no new insights to these "Giants of Early Guitar Rock." For Dion at his best today, buy "Son of Skip James." That is real five-star Dion. Rating: 5 The Remaining Flag Bearer of Old Time Rock 'N Roll I saw Dion for the first time at Humphrey's in San Diego, in a rare West Coast appearance about 5 years ago or so. He surely didn't disappoint. I am not surprised at all that he's come out with this cover album of some of his favs. He mentioned virtually all of these artists while on stage. One surprise on this album was the exclusion of a Fats Domino cover. Dion said that one of his biggest influences was Fats. His other two were Elvis and Joe Turner. He also mentioned Hank Williams and other country and blues artists. On this interview he mentions others. My impression of this cover CD I received today is favorable, though like others in here I didn't think that Walk The Line is one he should have covered. Other than that, I think he did quite well in capturing the essence of these songs. As he said in the accompanying CD, he was trying to be careful to not "copy" the songs. My favorites are "Come On Let's Go", "Summertime Blues", "Bye Bye Love", "Runaway", "Blue Suede Shoes", "Sweet Little Rock and Roller" and of course "The Wanderer". Rating: 4 +1/2 -- An original rock `n' roll idol salutes his roots Who would have thought that at the age of 69 that Dion would have this album in him? If his voice doesn't have the full swagger earlier years, it's still incredibly solid and filled with the spirit that lifted him onto the first wave of rock `n' roll. Even more surprising is that Dion's an accomplished guitarist, and together with Bob Richardson, he salutes the real giants of early guitar rock: Cliff Gallup, James Burton, Scotty Moore and other players whose six-strings provided the sting of many early rock `n' roll classics. Dion's picked 15 well-known hits from the catalogs of Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson, The Everly Brothers, Gene Vincent, Del Shannon, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, Bill Haley and his own "The Wanderer," and on each he and Richardson highlight their core guitar sounds. Given Dion's first-hand experience with these songs and their original artists, these aren't so much covers as personal renditions of the folk music of his adolescence. Most of us can hazily remember our teenage years, but few expressed it so fully at the time, night-after-night in song. Dion's recitations of youthful pique, broken hearts, freewheeling joy, feverous love and adolescent braggadocio are obviously much more than distant memories. He cooks with the passion of a hormonal teenager on "Believe What You Say," aches with longing on "Runaway" and rekindles his own young swagger on "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Who Do You Love." This is both a stroll down a nostalgic street and a vital new work by an artist forever infused with the emotional fire of rock `n' roll. 4-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com] Rating: 5 A Great Artist Dion is a cultural icon. He had a great career, but he does his art to communicate with people, and he makes me realize where I came from, and the timelessness of his music. |