Islands

Northern Lights-Southern Cross Hailed upon its arrival as a significant comeback for the Band, this 1975 collection hasn't aged as well as the likes of Stage Fright, Moondog Matinee, or even the outfit's post-Robbie Robertson output. The eight-song collection (augmented on the 2001 reissue with two agreeable e...	Moondog Matinee By 1973, the Band were at a crossroads. Having summed up the first phase of their recording career with the Rock of Ages concert recording, Robbie Robertson flirted with an ambitious project inspired by Polish composer Krzystof Penderecki. But instead of forging ahead into unchar...	Cahoots Here's where the Band stumbled. This 1971 lapse followed two consensus classics (Music from Big Pink and The Band) and the dicier but still worthy Stage Fright. Consequently, expectations were high. But, despite moments of excellence ("Life Is a Carnival," "When I Paint My Master...	Stage Fright The Band's third studio album is also their third-best studio album, and that isn't bad. It's not as synchronous as Music from Big Pink or as overpowering as The Band, but that's part of its appeal. The quintet's first two albums were such towering achievements that the group cam...	Rock of Ages This 1972 live album is a watershed recording for the Band. Recorded the previous New Year's Eve, the two-disc concert recording presents the core quintet fortified by a five-man horn section overseen by New Orleans ace Allen Toussaint, and it is capped by a guest appearance by B...
The Band Popularly known as the "Brown Album," this is the collection people first think of when this august outfit's name is mentioned. The four-parts Canadian, one-part Arkansan quintet's sophomore effort boasts more soon-to-be-staples than any other Band studio recording, what with the...	Music from Big Pink Music from Big Pink stands as one of those rare albums that turned the rock world on its axis. On this record, released in 1968 at the height of the psychedelic revolution, the five members of the Band (along with producer-sideman John Simon) eschewed spacey diversions, opting fo...	The Basement Tapes The Basement Tapes can be heard as a manifesto for the '90s' underlying Americana agenda or as the greatest album never intended for commercial release. Homegrown 1967 recordings taped in the Band's fabled Big Pink hermitage in Saugerties, New York, many of the 24 songs resonated...	Before The Flood [Live With The Band, 1974] Dylan has issued a large number of live albums in his day, but 1974's Before the Flood deserves special mention because of the presence of the Band behind him. Dylan had recently brought the Band into the studio to record the chart-topping (yet still somehow underappreciated) Pla...	The Last Waltz (Remastered / Expanded) (4CD) Even taking into account inflation, it's ironic in this era of $250 concert tickets that critics harped when the Band charged $25 for their legendary November 1976 farewell show at San Francisco's Winterland. That price not only included Thanksgiving dinner, but also numerous gue...

This is a very underrated album
Islands was the Band's last studio album released in 1976. Reading through the liner notes on the new remastered cd, one finds out that this wasn't supposed to be taken as an album proper as it was just a bunch of songs they were working on at the time. Well, I know band members should have their word but I wouldn't put it down as it's been done through the years mainly because as a fan - and I know all their albums - I regard Islands as a highlight in their career with them being exactly where they'd left off on Northern Lights-Southern Cross a year before. Their sound had gone that direction anyway. Let The Night Fall, Christmas Must Be Tonight, Street Walker and Knockin' Lost John are standout tracks. So IMHO Islands is sadly a very underrated album indeed.

a very good album
Even though the album was a pot pouri of songs culled for contractual obligations, this is still a very good album from The Band. I prefer listening to the cd in its entirety over Cahoots. You get the feeling listening to Islands that this is a group who has matured over time. Most of the songs still hold up today. Richard Manuel, especially, turns in some very soulful, even wistful performances such as "Right as Rain" and "Let the Night Fall." The album has a more mellow, polished sound that earlier Band albums, several nice sax solos here... Islands is overall very enjoyable.

ADIOS TO THE ORIGINAL LINEUP
AS CREAM HAD GOODBYE THE HAWKS HAVE ISLANDS...the very name and photos on back and front cover also implying a huge gap betWEen Robbie and the 4 who would go on to tour and record together as The Band despite Robertsons warning Levon...according to levons book..."we could stop you"...by we robertson must have meant lawyers/ warners/ ad nausuem.. WITH levon repling.... " I know big business is running this but to hell youll tell me what i cant do"...or something like that. Robbie, Rick, Richard, Garth, and Levon played something like 40 instruments .In HOSKINS book he says one of the songs here sounds " as if it were thrown together in an afternoon at ShangriLa" The best songwriting of Robbie / Richard, is not too evident here nor is their once Coproducer John Simon so the album is indifferently produced.....and judging by the sound of it AND THE TITLE they werent getting along too well. IF YOU HAVE THE OTHER CDS AND LIKE CAHOOTS THAN GO FOR THIS ONE BUT ITS LAST PICK!!!!

Really lackluster, but it's still The Band
I think the fact that the average rating for this album is 4 stars is a bit of an inflation. Don't get me wrong, I own all their recordings and love The Band just as much as anybody else, but this album, though it has a couple highlights, sounds mostly burnt-out and hollow, making it subpar (for ANY band) and WAY lower quality than we've come to expect from The Band. I'll start with the negatives, since they mostly outweigh the positives, then move to the album's highlights later (please remember, I'm trying to take off the rose-colored glasses and be realistic about this album). First off, as everyone knows, this collection of songs is, and never was, an album. It's a collection of unreleased studio tracks strung together to fill The Band's contract. Consequently, the songs weren't conceived as part of a cohesive whole and the album has no flow whatsoever. Likewise, the rest of the album reflects this: a lack of attention, care, and soul. By this point, a lot of Robbie's writing became really tired and forced--listen to "The Saga of Pepote Rouge," and "Let The Night Fall," and you'll see what I mean (spaceships?!). There's not much inspiration, and he seems to be ineffectively trying to follow stock song blueprints that worked on their better albums. The magic that buoyed Northern Lights-Southern Cross, making it one of their strongest records ever, is pretty much completely absent, which is a pity. You can really tell on these songs just how bad Robertson wanted to be done with The Band and move on. The playing is pretty similar. The Band members go through the motions, passing around lead vocals, Garth plays a bunch of instruments (a lot of easy-listening sax this time around, not really to my taste), and Robbie contributes some pretty gnarly guitar, though it's not supported by well-written songs. Although the songs are pleasant enough, there's not really much to get excited about, and it really sounds like the musicians aren't emotionally invested and inspired in making these songs as good as they can be. On a final note, "Knockin' Lost John" reminds us why Robbie didn't and shouldn't have sung on almost all of the Band's releases. Now on to the album's saving graces, since there are a few. No matter how bland the songs and how uninspired the playing, it's still The Band doing it, which counts for something. Even though much of their signature sound is being replaced with a more late-70's lite-pop production, it's still a bit of a pleasure to hear Rick's, Levon's and Richard's voices. "Georgia On My Mind" is worth the price of admission all by itself. Richard Manuel's voice was getting pretty haggard due to his hard living, but I'll be if it didn't add even more soul and texture to his always sublime vocals--I could listen to the guy sing grocery lists and probably still be entertained. Robertson actually did write a couple decent tunes, like "Christmas Must Be Tonight" (although an arguably better version was already released as a bonus track on the superior Northern Lights - Southern Cross), and "Right As Rain" isn't too bad, though it really doesn't sound like The Band. It's also pretty cool that Rick Danko helped out with the songwriting with "Street Walker" (Robertson always complained that he had to do all the work), even though it's not that great of a song. Unfortunately, though, most of the album's good points are only mildly pleasant, and after it's over you get the feeling you've just listened to something with little substance that The Band cared about just as much as you probably did. I'll probably get axed by hardcore fans for not giving it 5 stars, but seriously, it's not worth that many by anyone's standards. If Islands deserves 5 stars, how much is Music From Big Pink worth?! I'm glad I own it because of its highlights and because I'm a completist, but not everybody is. Islands certainly isn't essential, but you might get some enjoyment out of it. Just make sure you have everything else first.

Manuel makes this a masterpiece
Without the soulful voice of Richard Manuel, this album would be drowning in MOR. But he lifts the music into an indescribably emotional area - Right as Rain, Georgia on my mind particularly. He performed almost the same miracle on Northern Lights, Southern Cross. Maybe Islands contains markedly inferior songs and some lacklustre performances, but it is nowhere near as bad as it has been painted. Listen to Richard...