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Fans Album Reviews For:

JANIS JOPLIN
(2 reviews sent in so far)

Pearl
By Chris
March 31, 2004
Rating: 8.5

The best Janis Joplin album ever. This collection of songs was recorded right before she died. The album starts out with "Move Over",  written by Janis Joplin herself. Next is "Cry Baby", which really shows what a great singer she was. The third song, "A Woman left Lonely" is one of my favorites on the album,  a soft song with a nice piano and organ to fill it. The fourth song is "Half Moon", which is an upbeat tempo-blues with a little hint of a disco touch in it. "My Baby" is an okay song, but not my favorite on this album. "Me and Bobby McGee" is the best song here, one of her best known songs overall. "Mercedes Benz" is more of a rap song, with only bongos in the background, I don't really care for it. "Trust Me" is one of the better songs."Get it While You Can" has a catchy piano intro, and once again excellent vocals.

This album was released in 1971, a year after Janis Joplin was found dead in her room from of an overdose on heroin. She was found the day she was supposed to record "Buried Alive in the Blues." Instead of not putting the song on Pearl, they left it as an instrumental. The album was a success and it is very sad that she died. Only releasing a couple of albums, she remains one of the best singers in rock and roll history.

To listen to some soundclips from Pearl or to purchase it click on: Pearl (Bonus Tracks - Buy.com)

Cheap Thrills
(by Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company)
By Chris
May 24, 2004
Rating: 9.0

I love this album. Some of the tracks are live, but I don't mind. The album starts up out with "Combination of the Two", Janis does not sing lead on this one, but her backing vocals really make the song great. Janis sings lead on the next song, "I Need a Man to Love", which is a good song, mostly guitars and vocals on this one. One of my favorites is Summertime ,a remake of the George Gerswin song. It is a great remake, and Janis' vocals are amazing. The next song is "A Piece of My Heart", with acid rock roots. "Turtle Blues is an ok song, and is one of the only songs to include a piano. "Oh Sweet Mary" is another song that does not have Janis as the lead, but as the back up vocals. The last song is "Ball and Chain, which is my favorite song, and it runs over 9 minutes long, and it is also live.

The 1967 Musical Pop Festival made Janis Joplin a Rock and Roll superstar. This album was released in 1968 and went straight to number one on the charts and stayed at number one for 8 weeks. The total number of weeks on the charts was 66 weeks. The album sold over a million copies.

To listen to some soundclips from Cheap Thrills or to purchase it click on: Cheap Thrills - Alibris

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