Our new compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 has been released. You can buy the CD here and the digital download here. CDs are starting to make their way into the hands of those who preordered, and our own copies of the CD arrived on Friday.
We are very, very proud of this set. I confess I was initially intimidated by the notion of even trying to follow up 2017's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 (which is still available as a CD or download). We've been happy and quite satisfied with all of our compilations, and with Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, which was assembled for us (and very nearly made us feel--believe it or not!--humble with gratitude). But Volume 4 seemed to be something really special. What could possibly be our adequate sequel to that?
Volume 5 lives up to the legacy--I mean, if you'll grant "legacy" as not too high-falutin' a word to apply to a bunch of sets slapped together by this little mutant radio show that could. But I dunno: it may be the rush of the new talking here, but I've come to believe that This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 is the best we've ever assembled.
I don't think this belief is built solely from the buzz of the moment. Each of our compilations has gathered a number of extraordinary tracks from an amazing selection of talented artists. Our gang of five doesn't include any losers. Volume 1 and Volume 2 were fantastic. Volume 3 and especially Volume 4 were leaps forward in our effort to make these collections something more than just an amassing of cool tracks, something beyond a 21st-century rockin' pop update of K-Tel and Ronco, or even Warner Special Products. We want albums that present a cohesive listening experience.
We want albums that sound like albums.
To my ears, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 does indeed sound like an album, even more so than the rewarding listen that was Volume 4. The sequence and flow of tracks is specific and deliberate, intended to create an impression of an overall story. It's not quite a concept album, but it is a willful song cycle, uniting the sublime work of outstanding individual artists to form a fresh, connected mosaic. E pluribus unum.
The collective result implies an emotional saga of love and loss, failure and salvation, boys and girls coming together and falling apart, and ultimately persevering through the redemptive power of music.
Too lofty? Hell, too simple? It's okay. Just listen, and feel. From an opening plea of Hey Mr. DJ, play me a song through a closing vow of This year's gonna be our year, we have a new album we think you're going to dig.
Operators are standing by:
THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO, VOLUME 5
Purchase CD here, or digital download here
Read the official liner notes here
Read the individual track credits here
Track-by-track supplemental liner notes will be posted here some time soon. Soon, I say. Definitely soon.
And this is what you're getting with our new album:
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl
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