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"...Oil On
Canvas…Couplets And Stanzas..."
I have to say that Beat Goes
On of the UK have done a solid by Dan Fogelberg’s excellent recorded output –
their remasters of his Seventies classics have been utterly superb – and this
2nd volume in that series is no different.
UK released July 2007 - "Captured Angel/Nether Lands" by DAN FOGELBERG on Beat
Goes On BGOCD 764 (Barcode 5017261207647) is a 2CD Reissue and Remaster that comes in
a card slipcase and features Dan Fogelberg's third and fourth studio albums
from the Seventies "Captured Angel" (1975) and "Nether
Lands" (1977). It plays out as follows...
Disc 1 (38:04 minutes):
1. Aspen/These Days [Side 1]
2. Come And Goes
3. Captured Angel
4. Old Tennessee
5. Next Time [Side 2]
6. Man In The Mirror
7. Below The Surface
8. Crow
9. The Last Nail
Tracks 1 to 9 are his 3rd
album “Captured Angel” first issued in the USA in September 1975 on Full Moon
PE 33499 and November 1975 in the UK on Epic S EPC 69189.
Disc 2 (45:31 minutes):
1. Nether Lands [Side 1]
2. Once Upon A Time
3. Dancing Shoes
4. Lessons Learned
5. Loose Ends
6. Love Gone By [Side 2]
7. Promises Made
8. Give Me Some Time
9. Scarecrow’s Dream
10. Sketches
11. False Faces
Tracks 1 to 11 are his 4th LP
released May 1977 in the USA on Full Moon Records PE 34185 and June 1977 in the
UK on Epic EPC 81574.
The 20-page booklet is
excellent – all artwork reproduced, lyrics to both albums, full credits and
liner notes by noted writer JOHN TOBLER. With the outer card wrap – it’s a
classy presentation. But the big news for fans is the fabulous remasters.
ANDREW THOMPSON at Sound Mastering in London has done the deed (he’s handled
large numbers of BGO’s reissues) and his transfers on this 2CD set are
beautifully handled. But to the music…
Following the stunning Joe
Walsh produced “Souvenirs” in 1974 was always going to be hard (it charted at
17 in the States) and in some ways I still remember “Captured Angel” as being a
disappointment when I bought it as a teenager (it reached Number 23). It opens however with a strong double – the strings of "Aspen" segueing into the
Country Rock of "These Days" which is followed by the very pretty "Comes And
Goes" (a firm fan fave). The title track and its Side 1 finisher "Old
Tennessee" sound nice but lack any real killer melody for me.
Things pick up with the piano
and Al Perkins Pedal Steel of “Next Time” which could have been an Eagles song.
Both “Man In The Mirror” and “Below The Surface” go down the countrified route
again - while “Crow” really benefits from the remaster with slide guitars
beautifully alive in the mix all of a sudden. “The Last Nail” goes all Eagles
again and the remaster brings his stunning multi-instrumental prowess out of
the mud – very good indeed.
Things got very melodramatic
with 1977’s “Nether Lands” – and not in a good way. The opening title track is
swamped with huge strings and orchestral stuff that just feels heavy handed.
Things improve with the Country Rock of “Once Upon A Time” now sounding so good
and the pretty accordion piece “Dancing Shoes”. Again the shadow of the Eagles
surfaces with “Lessons Learned” which sounds like “The Best Of My Love”
(fabulous remaster too). “Love Gone By” is trying too hard with its pseudo Rock
and Roll franticness - but “Promises Made” which sounds ‘so’ Dan Fogelberg
redeems things. It ends with the echoed piano of “Sketches” and the excellent
big finisher “False Faces” (a true nugget in his song catalogue – lyrics from
it title this review).
He would hit paydirt with
1979’s “Phoenix” and really open out with “The Innocent Age” double in 1981
(featuring a rare duet vocal appearance by Joni Mitchell on the track
"Nexus").
I posted a note on
Fogelberg’s website when he sadly succumbed to cancer in December 2007 - yet
another teenage hero of mine gone to the great gig in the sky.
Well - now Dan is free - and
this beautiful-sounding 2CD reissue does his musical legacy proud...
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