My CD-buying habit continues unabated! Here's what's new in my CD player.

Average White Band - Pickin' Up the Pieces: Best of the AWB. This was a Guitar Hero-inspired purchase. I'm ashamed to say that despite the fact I got this a couple of weeks ago it still has not entered my CD player. In fact, where did I put it? I better go find it.

I wonder if buying this was a good idea, or should I have just bought the first album, since it seems like that's the key one? Oh, well, can't hurt to have a career overview. I think the Average White Band is going to be way up my alley.

James Brown - Sex Machine. This CD hasn't been up to expectation, I regret to say. This is James Brown "live," but it's well-known that it's not as live as it claims to be except for a few tracks (the liner notes `fess up to it). That wouldn't even bother me as long as it was faked well, which it is, but it seems like Jame's intent here was to deliver mellow versions of songs like "Sex Machine," and that stuff isn't made to be mellow. It does pick up as it goes along, and that's probably where it crosses over into songs that are genuinely live as opposed to studio with canned applause. I've only listened to it once so maybe another spin or five is merited.

James Brown - Revolution of the Mind. This CD is genuinely live, and genuinely good! The only problem is the mix is one of the worst I've heard on a professional CD. It sounds like James' monitor mix because he's way up front and dry and the band sounds like they're on 3 in the background. When he tries to "rap" with his band members you sometimes can't even hear what they're saying. The performance, though, is in line with what you expect from James Brown, which is to say intense.

I've now got to get Love, Power, Peace: Live in Paris 1970 and Say It Live and Loud: Dallas `68. I think those are the REAL documents of funk-era James Brown live.

Rush - All the World's a Stage. I was lucky to get Rush's first live CD in minty condition at the used CD store, although you can probably buy it new for the same price at Best Buy these days; CD's are on their way out, I guess, so you can get stuff new for $7.99.

This is certainly no Exit...Stage Left, Rush's second live recording and one of my favorite albums of all time, but it's a good listen, anyhow. I enjoy just about anything that involves "plexi" Marshalls and blues-rock riffs, and Rush delivers some of that on this album, which is a document of their earlier, Led Zeppelin/Cream wanna-be years.