"The Studio Albums 1978-1984" by VAN HALEN – Features Their Debut "Van Halen" (February 1978), "Van Halen II" (April 1979), "Women And Children First" (March 1980), "Fair Warning" (April 1981), "Diver Down" (April 1982) and "1984" (January 1984) – All On Warner Brothers Records featuring Eddie Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen (February 2013 UK/EUROPE Warner Brothers 6xHDCD Clamshell Box Set of Remasters (2000 Chris Bellman Versions) in Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Hot For Teacher..."

 

Apart from the "Women And Children First" album (a no tunes go faster heavy metal bore) – I loved these VH platters when they first hit our ill-prepared streets on vinyl in the late Seventies and early Eighties. 

 

I was smitten (like so many of my mates) with the explosive self-titled debut – the underrated covers album "Diver Down" and their skip-a-heartbeat Rock-Pop masterpiece of big hair fun "1984". I was indeed Hot For Teacher. To this day, I have always seen Van Halen as a great Rock Band with a killer rhythm section, a guitarist in Eddie Van Halen that was quite possibly the only rival Jeff Beck or Stevie Ray Vaughn ever really had and a whole lot of tongue-in-cheek leap-frogging fun-cool in their mad as a melting ice-cream cone front man - Dave Lee Roth. To sweaty Waldo and his Little Guitars...

 

UK released 25 February 2013 - "The Studio Albums 1978-1984" by VAN HALEN on Warner Brothers 8122796893 (Barcode 0 81227 96893 9) is a 6CD Clamshell Box Set with Six Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves (no booklet) that use the July 2000 'Warner Remasters' Series transfers. It breaks down as follows:

 

CD1 (35:31 minutes):

1. Runnin' With The Devil [Side 1]

2. Eruption

3. You Really Got Me

4. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

5. I'm The One

6. Jamie's Cryin' [Side 2]

7. Atomic Punk

8. Feel Your Love Tonight

9. Little Dreamer

10. Ice Cream Man

11. On Fire

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Van Halen" - released February 1978 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3075 and April 1978 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56470. Produced by TED TEMPLEMAN - it peaked at No. 19 in the USA and No. 34 in the UK.

 

CD 2 (31:57 minutes):

1. You're No Good [Side 1]

2. Dance The Night Away

3. Somebody Get Me A Doctor

4. Bottoms Up!

5. Outta Love Again 

6. Light Up The Sky [Side 2]

7. Span Fly

8. D.O.A.

9. Women In Love...

10. Beautiful Girls

Tracks 1 to 10 are their second studio album "Van Halen II" - released March 1979 in the USA on Warner Brothers HS 3312 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56616. Produced by TED TEMPLEMAN - it peaked at No.6 in the USA and No.23 in the UK.

 

CD3 (33:37 minutes):

1. And The Cradle Will Rock... [Side 1]

2. Everybody Wants Some

3. Fools

4. Romeo Delight 

5. Tora! Tora! [Side 2]

6. Loss Of Control 

7. Take Your Whiskey Home

8. Could This Be Magic?

9. It's A Simple Rhyme

Tracks 1 to 9 are their third studio album "Women And Children First" - released March 1980 in the USA on Warner Brothers HS 3415 and Warner Brothers K 56793. Produced by TED TEMPLEMAN - it peaked at No.6 in the USA and No.15 in the UK.

 

CD4 (31:17 minutes):

1. Mean Street [Side 1]

2. Dirty Movies

3. Sinner's Swing!

4. Hear About It Later 

5. Unchained [Side 2]

6. Push Comes To Shove

7. So This Is Love?

8. Sunday Afternoon In The Park

9. One Foot Out The Floor 

Tracks 1 to 9 are their fourth studio album "Fair Warning" -- released April 1981 in the USA on Warner Brothers HS 3540 and Warner Brothers K56899. Produced by TED TEMPLEMAN - it peaked at No.6 in the US and No.49 in the UK.

 

CD5 (31:27 minutes):

1. Where Have All The Good Times Gone? [Side 1]

2. Hang 'Em High 

3. Cathedral 

4. Secrets 

5. Intruder 

6. (Oh) Pretty Woman

7. Dancing In The Street [Side 2]

8. Little Guitars (Intro)

9. Little Guitars 

10. Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)

11. The Full Bug

12. Happy Trails

Tracks 1 to 12 are their fifth studio album "Diver Down" (mostly cover versions with some originals) - released April 1982 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3677 and Warner Brothers K 57003 in the UK. Produced by TED TEMPLEMAN - it peaked at No.3 in the USA and No.36 in the UK.

 

CD6 (33:28 minutes):

1. 1984 [Side 1]

2. Jump 

3. Panama

4. Top Jimmy 

5. Drop Dead Legs

6. Hot For Teacher [Side 2]

7. I'll Wait

8. Girl Gone Bad 

9. House Of Pain

Tracks 1 to 9 are their sixth studio album (last with Dave Lee Roth) "1984" – released January 1984 in the USA on Warner Brothers W1-23985 and February 1984 in the UK Warner Brothers 92-3985-1. Produced by TED TEMPLEMAN - it peaked at No.2 in the USA and No.15 in the USA. 

 

The Clamshell Box Set does only what it can get away with - five single card sleeves that repro the original US LP artwork - none were gatefolds, but inserts and inner sleeves are not here neither is there any kind of booklet. But it won't take genius to work out that these audio transfers are the July 2000 CHRIS BELLMAN 'Warner Remasters' Series that want to maraud around your living room with bad intent. Any track on the ashtonshing "1984" album - "House Of Pain" or "Drop Dead Jimmy" - and you hearing Eddie's unbelievable playing with al the kick-ass muscle you could hope for. Tracks like "Eruption" from the debut, the swing and swirl of those synths in their cover version of The Kinks classic "Where Have All The Good Times Gone" from Diver Down" -- the acoustic intro to "Little Guitars" following by that chunky riff that wants to bite your hand off when it goes into the "Little Guitars" song. Ediie's dirty but brilliant geetar playing throughout "Drop Dead Legs" - when you play "Hear About It Later" on "Fair Warning" or the American single "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" taken off the debut - the whole shebang ROCKS! 

 

Like Prince, Tom Petty, David Bowie and Jeff Beck - Eddie Van Halen's loss hit lovers of great music makers hard and I find myself turning to this little thumper of a Box Set more often than I used to. Check out "Panama", "Hot For Teacher" or even the sheer balls and chug to their cover of that Roy Orbison Monument Records 60ts classic "(Oh) Pretty Woman" - how many bands would have done it proud like this. And they were fun too...

"The Best Of Everything: The Definitive Career Spanning Hits Collection 1976-2016" by TOM PETTY and THE HEARTBREAKERS (March 2019 UK Geffen/Universal 2CD Set - Chris Bellman and Ryan Uylate Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...American Dream..."

You could argue that we need another Tom Petty 'Anthology' or multiple-disc 'Best Of' like we need another loss of an artist we adore, another slice of our musical past and joy taken too soon. But sentiment aside, what's important to remember with this March 2019 Geffen/Universal 2CD set is what’s new - the 2018 Chris Bellman and Ryan Ulyate Masters taken from first generation tapes. This twofer CD set looks and sounds stunning...

Including tracks from albums that aren't generally available as remasters, not only is the audio good on "The Best Of Everything" but real thought has gone into the play - clever sequencing that slips Soundtrack songs and lesser-heard exclusive cuts in-between all those album reference points we know so well ("Breakdown", "Free Fallin'" and so on). The line up on each disc makes the listen feel fresh. And for us 'have it all' types, we also get two rarities - an Alternate Version of "The Best Of Everything" from the "Southern Accents" sessions in 1985 and an August 2000 unreleased track called "For Real" - each tail-ending Discs 1 and 2.

And frankly this fantastic American Artist and his ace band deserve no less. Let's get to Indiana Girls on those Indiana Nights...

UK released Friday, 1 March 2019 - "The Best Of Everything: The Definitive Career Spanning Hits Collection 1976-2016" by TOM PETTY and THE HEARTBREAKERS on Geffen/Universal 00602567934394 (Barcode 602567934394) is a 38-Track 2CD set of Remasters (Two Unreleased) that breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (72:17 minutes):

1. Free Fallin' (from "Full Moon Fever", 1989)

2. Mary Jane's Last Dance (from "Greatest Hits", 1993)

3. You Wreck Me (from "Wildflowers", 1994)

4. I Won't Back Down ("Full Moon Fever", 1989)

5. Saving Grace (from "Highway Companion", 2006)

6. You Don't Know How It Feels (from "Wildflowers", 1994)

7. Don't Do Me Like That (from "Damn The Torpedoes", 1979)

8. Listen To Her Heart (from "You're Gonna Get It", 1978)

9. Breakdown (from the debut album "Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers", 1976)

10. Walls (Circus) (from the Motion Picture Soundtrack to "She's The One", 1996, featuring Lindsey Buckingham on Backing Vocals)

11. The Waiting (from "Hard Promises", 1981)

12. Don't Come Around Here No More (from "Southern Accents", 1985)

13. Southern Accents (from "Southern Accents", 1985)

14. Angel Dream (No. 2) (from the Motion Picture Soundtrack to "She's The One", 1996)

15. Dreamville (from "The Last DJ", 2002)

16. I Should Have Known It (from "Mojo", 2010)

17. Refugee (from "Damn The Torpedoes", 1979)

18. American Girl (from "Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers", 1976)

19. The Best Of Everything (Alternate Version) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (original version on "Southern Accents", 1985)

Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 by TOM PETTY - all others by TOM PETTY and THE HEARTBREAKERS

Disc 2 (74:08 minutes):

1. Wildflowers (from "Wildflowers", 1994)

2. Learning To Fly (from "Into The Great Wide Open", 1991)

3. Here Comes My Girl (from "Damn The Torpedoes", 1979)

4. The Last DJ (from "The Last DJ", 2002)

5. I Need To Know (from "You're Gonna Get It", 1978)

6. Scare Easy (from "Mudcrutch", 2008)

7. You Got Lucky (from "Long After Dark", 1982)

8. Runnin' Down A Dream (from "Full Moon Fever", 1989)

9. American Dream Plan B (from "Hypnotic Eye", 2014)

10. Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (a Top Petty and Mike Campbell song from the Stevie Nicks solo album "Bella Donna", 1981)

11. Trailer (from "Mudcrutch 2", 2016)

12. Into The Great Wide Open (from "Into The Great Wide Open", 1991)

13. Room At The Top (from "Echo", 1999)

14. Square One (from "Highway Companion", 2006)

15. Jammin' Me (from "Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)", 1987)

16. Even The Losers (from "Damn The Torpedoes", 1979)

17. Hungry No More (from "Mudcrutch 2", 2016)

18. I Forgive It All (from "Mudcrutch 2", 2016)

19. For Real - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (recorded 23 August 2000)

Tracks 1, 8 and 14 by TOM PETTY

Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, and 19 by TOM PETTY and THE HEARTBREAKERS

Tracks 6, 11, 17 and 18 by MUDCRUTCH

Track 10 by STEVIE NICKS featuring Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

When looking at the cover on a small shot - I had initially thought the cover photo/artwork was a bit naff actually, but when you open out the three-way gatefold card sleeve, it’s gorgeous to look at inside. They’ve put mini shots of all 18 different album covers across the two CD-holding sleeves (1976 to 2016) - whilst the 20-page attached booklet has three pages worth of single picture sleeves from all over the world (an impressive display). The liner notes are provided by TP’s champion and regular user of his material in his films, Director CAMERON CROWE – giving a potted history of what’s been picked and why. The artwork at the rear has '2018' as the Copyright date for a compilation released in March '2019' - I suspect this has to do with the fact that these transfers were done for the "American Treasure" 4CD Deluxe Retrospective released September 2018. 

AUDIO – everything has been mastered from original stereo master tapes (and some digital files) by CHRIS BELLMAN working at Bernie Grundman Mastering – mastering supervised by RYAN ULYATE. I’d argue that everything after 1994 and the award-winning audio of "Wildflowers", (especially anything with Rick Rubin producing) has absolutely no need for remasters and their sonic power here is awesome. But the 1976 debut through to 1991’s "Into The Great Wide Open" is another matter. A perfect example is the "Southern Accents" LP issued in April 1985 – never remastered fully as an album except in Japan some years ago on an expensive SHM-CD – my crappy sounding MCA CD is a joke on the title track "The Best Of Everything" – a sort of four-minute non-event on an album that many felt underwhelmed. Here the Previously Unreleased (Alternate Version) that ends Disc 1 is 5:25 minutes long instead of four and the audio is staggeringly good. But more importantly this new version makes you feel like someone somewhere missed a trick with this gorgeous ballad. The brass and keyboards is more out there now and the power of the melody is suddenly screaming at you – a lost masterpiece in my books and I can so see why it was chosen for this set.

Other revelations include "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Southern Accents" – those once-buried sitars with power in the first and those distant strings now beautiful in the second. The sequencing too – take this trio - "Angel Dream (No. 2)" from 1996 (with Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac on very apparent backing vocals) slots in perfectly before "Dreamville", an overlooked cut from the 2002 album "The Last DJ", and then followed by a groovy rocker "I Should Have Known It" from 2010 – all of it works so damn well. The only slight disappointment to me is "The Waiting" where the guitars still sound like they were recorded in another room down the hall – strangely lacking - especially when it comes to that solo – but I suspect that has more to do with the original production.

Over on Disc 2 we get Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, Mudcrutch and that new song. Amazingly 1991’s "Learning To Fly" sits sweetly before a huge remaster of "Here Comes My Girl" from the breakthrough third album - "Damn The Torpedoes" from 1979. The second album Side 2 opener/rocker "I Need To Know" now feels punchy while the Mudcrutch mobile-home song "Trailer" and the acoustic higher-ground of "Square One" are typically deceptive TP songs – tunes that eat their way into heart. It’s fantastic stuff to hear anything from the undervalued "Let Me Up..." album – and here we're given the name-checking "Jammin' Me" song where none-other than Bob Dylan gets a co-credit alongside TP and Mike Campbell as they all vent their spleen about people they don't like (look out Vanessa Redgrave and Joe Piscopo). It sails to a 40-years down-the-line finish with two excellent Mudcrutch melodies from 2016 – his voice in "I Forgive It All" sounding like he was ill - producer and band friend Ryan Ulyate amidst the credits. The new song is good rather than being great - "For Real" - TP doing it his way and keeping it real...

Problems – It should probably have included something from The Traveling Wilburys albums and for some reason Disc 1 offers three track options when put in your computer with the first being all Japanese language (choose option three – Disc 1 of 2 in English). And I’d have put the genius of "Too Good To Be True" onto Disc 1 (from "Into The Great Wide Open") before "Refugee" and featured something better than "You Got Lucky" from the vastly underrated 1982 album "Long After Dark" – but that's just me.

When I think about how ordinary and lazy the 3CD retrospective "Don't Stop: 50 Years Of" for Fleetwood Mac was - you can't help but admire the keepers of TP's flame when it comes to "The Best Of Everything". They’ve not just done him proud, but given us a timely reminder of his four decades.

I miss Tom Petty and his great band. Travel into those fields of musical wildflowers our good friend and thanks for all the memories...