"Hats" by THE BLUE NILE (2012 Virgin/Linn Records 'Deluxe Edition' 2CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...I Know A Place...Where Everything's Alright..." 

I can't be rational about "Hats" - few who love THE BLUE NILE can be. But little will prepare fans for this beautifully remastered reissue of their 1989 masterpiece - sonically up there with the very best 2012 has to offer. Here are the finite details...

Released Monday 19 November 2012 in the UK - "Hats" by THE BLUE NILE on Virgin/Linn Records LKHCDR 2 (5099901730029) is a 2CD 'Deluxe edition' Remaster/Reissue and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (38:48 minutes):

1. Over The Hillside 

2. The Downtown Lights

3. Let's Go Out Tonight

4. Headlights On The Parade [Side 2]

5. From A Late Night Train

6. Seven A.M.

7. Saturday Night

Tracks 1 to 7 are their second album "Hats" - released October 1989 on LP, MC and CD in the UK on Linn Records LKH 2. The first CD issue carried with it a single page inlay with virtually no details and sound quality that was good rather than great. This is the first remaster of the album - handled by Calum Malcolm (a member of the original line-up and long-time Producer for the group) along with Band members Paul Buchanan and Robert Bell (US customers should use the barcode number provided above to get the right issue when searching on Amazon.com).

Like the other title in this reissue campaign (their debut "A Walk Across The Rooftops" from 1984) - the remaster is again breathtaking. The danger would have been to amp everything up - but it's not like that. It's subtle, clean and beautifully realized. "Hats" was put out initially on Linn Records - Linn were (and still are) a high-end turntable manufacturer - and audio quality is their 'thing'. Well those initial production values have served this subtle remaster well - because the detail now is fantastic.

As the echoed drums of "Over The Hillside" fade in with that synth and drums - the smack is immediate - 'so' sweet. It continues with the album's first hit "The Downtown Lights" (later covered by Rod Stewart and Annie Lennox) - when the guitars begin to crescendo towards its six and half minute end - it's so much more powerful. But then comes the album's first real moment of magic - the hurting yet gorgeously romantic "Let's Go Out Tonight" - a song I've seen people cry to when I was at their live gigs. The slow trumpet and acoustic sounds swirl around the room - "...why don't you say...what's so wrong tonight..." - beautifully done - a song that was old now made new again (lyrics from it title this review).

The kick out of the bopping "Headlights On The Parade" is again amplified - especially the bass and walls of synth-counter-melodies that arrive when Buchanan sings the chorus. But then comes the two album sleepers which in my opinion benefit the most from this sonic upgrade - "From A Late Night Train" and "Seven A.M." - their ethereal and aching nature suddenly feel more poignant than ever - so deftly handled. And last - probably everyone's favourite - the impossibly gorgeous "Saturday Night". By now my stroke-addled eyes are bloodied and the cheeks puffy - I'm mush for this song. I fell in love with my wife and partner of 23 years to this melody - walking down streets with my Sony Discman singing "...an ordinary girl...can make the world alright...meet me outside the cherry lights...you and I walk away..." I defy the hardest of hearts not to be moved by it.

But again (like "A Walk Across The Rooftops") the packaging and bonus disc are a combination of missed opportunities and genuine discoveries. The minimalist gatefold card digipak is pretty for sure (the internal flaps are the plain blue colour of the sleeve too) - but the 16-page booklet is fluffy and vague rather than being informative. There's a series of colour photos from the time - but with no history - no liner notes - no lyrics - no input from the band - not even any real info on the 'bonus' stuff (the last page literally). Frankly - an acknowledged masterpiece like "Hats" deserved a little more effort than this. But things improve a lot with some shocking new discoveries on the 'bonus disc'...

Disc 2 - Bonus Disc (33:19 minutes):

Exclusions first - the 'Bob Clearmountain Remix' of "Headlights On The Parade" and the beautiful duet with Rickie Lee Jones on "Easter Parade" (both tracks on the 12's and CD singles of 1990) are missing. The non-album track "Halfway To Paradise" and the Edit of "Saturday Night" that were on varying CD singles are both AWOL too. But what is on here is surprisingly good...

Track 2 is "Christmas" - a Previously Unreleased five-minute studio song. There's no annotation as to where it came from and its hissy - but its also pretty - lyrically festive as the title suggests. But if I'm to be honest - I don't think it's as good as the previously unreleased track "St. Catherine's Day" on the "Walk" reissue (which sounds suspiciously like an outtake from the "Hats" period - perhaps put on there to bolster up proceedings). Having said that - and having lived with it a day or two now - it's gently growing on me. Fans will make up their own mind of course...

Track 6 is "The Wires Are Down" - a six-minute non-album song that turned on the 12" and 3" CD single of "The Downtown Lights" in 1989. The sound quality on that was always weedy - here its remastered form is an absolute revelation. Suddenly sounding all grown up - "The Wires Are Down" is a genuine bonus track now - and one of the highlights on Disc 2. But there's even better...

Although not stated as 'new' - Tracks 1, 3, 4 and 5 are previously unreleased versions. First up is "Seven A.M. - Live In The Studio". Fans will know that there was a non-album version on the 1990 "Saturday Night" CD single called "Seven A.M. (Live U.S.A.)" - this is NOT that track. "Live In The Studio" is a fully-fledged new version with fabulous sound quality. Track 5 is a "Live In Tennessee" version of "Headlights On The Parade" recorded with Larry Saltzman, Steve Gaboury and Nigel Thomas on some unknown date. Again - it is well recorded - and a good version with crowd appreciation at the end. But then comes the real prizes - two new versions of people's favourites - "Let's Go Out Tonight" and "Saturday Night". They're called "Vocal 2" in each case and offer early versions of the songs - the "Saturday Night" take in particular hears Buchanan go off into lyric rapping at the end and accentuates the strings throughout - it's properly gorgeous. Joyful surprises...

To sum up - the remaster of the original album is an absolute triumph - 10 out of 10. Ok - the side is let down somewhat by the bare-knuckles packaging and those sloppy omissions on Disc 2 - and it doesn't take a Mensa membership card to work out that the playing times of both discs could have been amalgamated into one (with more added on too) - and the second disc could have been a DVD featuring those rare videos - but - and I must reiterate this - what's on offer is superb - and worth the upgrade.

"Hats" has been name-checked by influential music-industry-types and world-famous musicians for decades now as their 'what to grab when the bomb drops' album - and I'm thrilled to say that this 2CD reissue of it does that affection genuinely proud. Melodious, sad and life affirming - "Hats" is a beautiful thing. And it's just been made better.

Now if we could just get those stroppy Scottish buggers to tour again...

PS: there is also a 2CD Virgin/Linn DELUXE EDITION of "A Walk Across The Rooftops" - their debut album from 1984 - and "Peace At Last" from 1996 (originally on Warner Brothers) - see separate reviews...

"A Walk Across The Rooftops" by THE BLUE NILE (2012 Virgin/Linn 'Deluxe Edition' 2CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Ocean's Deep..."

I was quite literally trembling with excitement as I ripped the shrinkwrap off this reissue. I've loved Scotland's BLUE NILE for decades now (saw them live 3 times - religious experiences all of them) - and 'Remasters' of their first two masterpieces is enough to make me animated in the trouser area. But typical of Virgin's supposed 'DELUXE EDITIONS' (the useless reissue of Peter Gabriel's "So" jumps to mind) - it's a case of the sublime and seriously missed chances. Here are the finite details...

Released Monday 19 November 2012 in the UK - "A Walk Across The Rooftops" by THE BLUE NILE on Virgin/Linn Records LKHCDR 1 (5099901730326) is a 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' Remaster and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (38:04 minutes):

1. A Walk Across The Rooftops

2. Tinseltown In The Rain

3. From Rags To Riches

4. Stay [Side 2]

5. Easter Parade

6. Heatwave

7. Automobile Noise

Tracks 1 to 7 are their debut album "A Walk Across The Rooftops" - released April 1984 on LP in the UK on Linn Records LKH 1. It was first issued on CD in mid-1989 with a page inlay and not great sound. This is the first remaster of the album - handled by Calum Malcolm (a member of the original line-up and long-time Producer for the group) along with Band members Paul Buchanan and Robert Bell (US customers should use the barcode number provided above to get the right issue when searching on Amazon.com).

The remaster is breathtaking. The danger would have been to amp everything up - but it's not like that. It's subtle, clean and beautifully realized. You may still have to crank the volume knob a bit - but the sonic clarity on every song is 'so' good. Linn were a high-end turntable manufacturer (still are) and the album was their first - used almost as an example of sonic greatness. That initial production has stood the album well. From the moment "A Walk Across The Rooftops" fades in with synths to when it opens up with that bass in the background - is just incredible. "From Rags To Riches" completely comes alive and "Automobile Noise" sounds newly minted. "Heatwave" is fantastic - full of detail - the differing instruments suddenly in your speakers. And I've waited over 20 years to hear the sublime electro-funk of "Stay" in proper audiophile quality - so I'll confess to some pogo-shapes being thrown in my home as I listened to it. But the peach on here is "Easter Parade" which is now HUGE but in an opened-up way. Superbly done. In fact the album stills sound strangely other-worldly - but in a luscious way. What a starting point (and their follow-up "Hats" would only trump it ten-fold).

I wish I could be so enthusiastic about the packaging and the bonus disc. The minimalist gatefold card digipak is pretty for sure - but the 12-page booklet is a joke. There's 10-pages filled with a singular photo on each (none any use nor explained). There's no history - no liner notes - no lyrics - no input from the band - not even any real info on the 'bonus' stuff. It has more than a feel of what you can get away with rather than an appreciation of a masterpiece. Nothing under the see-through CD trays either. Which brings us to the 'bonus disc'...

Disc 2 (32:58 minutes):

Tracks 1 and 5 "I Love This Life" and "The Second Act" are the A & B-sides of their debut 7" single on RSO Records RSO 84 released in October 1981. They were first made digitally available on the "I Would Never" CD single in August 2004 on Sanctuary Records (a track lifted off the "High" album) - but the sound quality wasn't the greatest. Here they're fully remastered and even though "The Second Act" is hissier than the A - the sonic improvement on both is very real (both tracks have been sought after for years by Electro-Pop fans).

Track 3 is "St. Catherine's Day". Starved of anything new for nearly 3 decades - Blue Nile fans will flip for this lone previously unreleased song. Feeling a lot like an outtake from 1989's "Hats" 5 years later - there's no annotation as to where it came from or why it sounds so fully-formed now. But I will say that it's been worth the wait because it's beautiful in that plaintive melancholic Blue Nile way. It's a genuine nugget on here and easily worth the price of entry alone (lyrics from it title this review). There are times when I just can't stop playing this...

Track 7 is "Regret" - it originally turned up as a UK non-album B-side to the 12" single of the "Tinseltown In The Rain" from 1984 on Linn Records LKS 2-12. It's only LP/CD appearance to my knowledge was on the 1991 compilation called "The Tree And The Bird And The Fish And The Bell - Glasgow Songs By Glasgow Artists" which in itself has been hard to get for years. It's a truly gorgeous song and brill to now hear it remastered to perfection (see PS below regarding a tie-in).

Which leaves us with the absences and seemingly 'new' inclusions. Exclusions first - fans will be gutted to see that "Saddle The Horses" (a non-album B-side to "Stay" in 1984) is missing - still unavailable on CD anywhere. Where's "Easter Parade" recorded with Rickie Lee Jones during the "Hats" period? Worse is the AWOL status of "Heatwave (Instrumental)" and the stunning 'Extended Remix' of "Stay" when it was reissued in 1989. That version beefed up the acoustic and electric guitars to incredible effect and has been one of my favourite 12" singles in the world ever since - and it isn't bloody on here!

For the life of me I can't find the three versions offered here anywhere in the band's Discography - and though not stated as 'new' - typically they're a very mixed bag. The "Mix" of "Tinseltown In The Rain" (Track 4) runs to 6:31 minutes - a full half-minute longer than any other previous version and is the best of the three here (you have to love Virgin who would call a track "Mix" and leave no other info about it). The "Little Mix" of "Stay" (Track 6) at 3:34 minutes is not great - while the "Rhythm Mix" of "Heatwave" (Track 2) at 5:50 minutes is too busy with distorted guitars ruining its original vibe. These are personal opinions of course - others may love them - but for me it's grating to know that there are released vinyl versions out there which are far better and should have been included here. It also doesn't take a Mensa member to work out that the playing times of both discs could have been amalgamated into one (with more added on too) - and the second disc could have been a DVD featuring those rare early videos. But alas...

To sum up - the remaster of the original album is an absolute triumph - 10 out of 10 - but the side is let down by the bare-knuckles packaging and those sloppy omissions on Disc 2 (docked a star for that).

PS: In September 2012 - I reviewed the BLU RAY reissue of Paul Greengrass' magnificent 9/11 movie - "United 93". In the review I mention a YouTube video apparently collated and posted by a fan who wanted to say something about the atrocity on its 10th Anniversary. The video uses "Regret" by THE BLUE NILE played against a backdrop of black and white images from that tragic event. Recorded years before in a country some 6000 miles away (and of course about something entirely different) the song somehow fits perfectly - both musically and lyrically. I urge you to check it out on YouTube. More to the point (and I'll openly admit to this) - it moved me to tears - as did the best bits of this reissue...

PPS: see also my review for the 2CD reissues of "Hats" and "Peace At Last"