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Whistle Stopper - The Wire: And All the Pieces Matter -- Five Years of Music from The Wire
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List Price: $23.98
Our Price: $15.55
Your Save: $ 8.43 ( 35% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0075597995381
Format: Explicit Lyrics
Label: Nonesuch
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Nonesuch
Release Date: 2008-01-08
Studio: Nonesuch
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Wire
Comment: A compilation of high standard.
I don't necessarily love all the songs of the cd, but the combination of the music and the quotations amended with some interesting comments from behind the scenes really give back the feeling of the show and a little more.
A must for all fans.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Stuff
Comment: If you are a fan of the television show, then this is required listening. While it won't have every piece of music that stands out in the show it will have the ones you think of first.
Customer Rating:
Summary: CD The Wire
Comment: Given as a gift and it was much appreciated - great service on this product as well
Customer Rating:
Summary: A powerful musical compilation, representative of the series. Maintains the quality that defines The Wire
Comment: Not much to add beyond what others have said, really.
This isn't a CD as much as a book with a CD. The insert has three essays, one by David Simon, George Pelecanos, and Jeff Chang (not sure who he is), that discuss the series and the use of the music. It's rather substanstial, surprisingly so, and I really liked reading it. Also full of gorgeous pictures of the show.
My only "complaint" would be that I wish we could have had more of the character voices: Snoop, Bubbles, Marlo, Omar, Prop Joe, Rawls... Just hearing Bodie, The Bunk, McNulty, Sobotka, Stringer, Poot, D'Angelo brings the whole movie back. They should could included the voices that said the little quotes that preceded each episode, for example.
I almost wish they'd release an 80 minute CD of just some great lines of dialogue (Good night, Moon from Season 5 makes me cry its so good) as well as the episode pre-quotes, etc. I'd love to just listen to the 5 seasons unfold like that.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Crafted with care
Comment: The makers of The Wire care.
This is evident in the show itself, with its passionate attack on all that is wrong with America today. The same search for truth and justice is also present in the writing of David Simon and other writers who were involved in the show, such as George Pelecanos (the reason I originally became interested in the show).
Another kind of care goes into details. In one of the great essays involved in this compilation's booklet, Simon explains how they would go to great lengths in order to get the voices and worlds of ghetto boys and longshoremen alike just right. This extended to the musical choices: apart from the season finale songs, all the music had to be something you could actually hear coming from radios, blaring from jeeps or playing in clubs in Baltimore.
Often this care and attention to detail made things more difficult for the creators of the show, but the result is something that I believe will endure for many years to come. It is a show to be proud of, and this compilation reflects the love that went into making The Wire.
The stylish black-and-silver packaging is impressive. In the thick booklet you'll find three interesting essays talking about the show itself and the music on the CD. The booklet is printed on quality paper and features numerous color photographs as well as choice quotes from along the way. In short, it's above and beyond most soundtrack albums I've seen. I sort of hope that the DVD sets had contained more extra material like this, because The Wire is one of those rare beasts I want to know more and more about.
The music and dialogue snippets bring back great memories from the show. It's a varied mix, with styles ranging from rough-sounding hip hop to melancholy Greek singing. Simon and Pelecanos are definitely music lovers, which comes through clearly in Pelecanos' essay, and they've managed to make strong picks while steering clear of the obvious choices. They've had great help from De'Rodd Hearns (whose early life was documented in The Corner) and Blake Leyh, resulting in an impressive collection of music. Like the show itself, it might just expand your horizons.
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Editorial Reviews:
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There's not much left to say about The Wire, David Simon's intricately plotted Baltimore crime drama that ran on HBO from 2002 to 2008. Critics loved the show so much it was almost embarrassing, but its audiences were never as large as those of The Sopranos, or even Real Sex. Five Years of Music is strictly for Wire fans. Music was, of course, used sparingly in the show, appearing as it does in real life: in a cop car (the Pogues), from a boombox (club music), or on headphones. This wasn't Miami Vice, and such restraint may have rendered the music all the more poignant and powerful, but obsessive Wire fans (is there any other kind?) will enjoy this disc far more than pedestrian listeners. The former will instantly recall the scene when Solomon Burke covers Van Morrison ("Fast Train"), or in which season the Blind Boys covered Tom Waits' grand theme song, "Way Down in the Hole". With four different takes of the opening theme, snippets of dialogue throughout, and this mish-mash of song, how could it be otherwise? --Mike McGonigal
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