"...You Surely Are...A Truly Gifted Kid..."
Following on from their
hugely promising February 1984 debut “Swoon" - England's PREFAB SPROUT
took many English and Irish hearts by storm in the summer and autumn of 1985
with their stunning 2nd album "Steve McQueen".
Rated by many as being in the
Top 50 albums of all time - this 2 April 2007 'Legacy Edition' Reissue of "Steve McQueen" by PREFAB SPROUT on Sony
BMG/Legacy/Kitchenware 88697072442 is a long overdue 2CD celebration of that
bedsit staple - the album Remastered on Disc 1 with brand new Paddy McAloon
interpretations on Disc 2 of 8 songs (beautifully recorded and done). Here’s
the layout…
Disc 1 "Steve McQueen –
Original Album Remastered" (45:13 minutes):
1. Faron Young [Side 1]
2. Bonny
3. Appetite
4. When Love Breaks Down
5. Goodbye Lucille No. 1
6. Hallelujah
7. Moving The River [Side 2]
8. Horsin’ Around
9. Desire As
10. Blueberry Pies
11. When The Angels
Tracks 1 to 11 are the album
"Steve McQueen " - issued June 1985 in the UK on Kitchenware Records
KW 3 (Vinyl, Cassette and CD). The US version was called "Two Wheels
Good" for contractual reasons and was issued on Epic 40100. The US CD version contained 3 bonus tracks -
"Faron Young (Truckin' Mix)", "The Yearning Loins" and
"He'll Have To Go" - they were not included on the UK version - nor
unfortunately included here on this reissue either. This Legacy reissue is
remastered by original producer THOMAS DOLBY at The Mastering Lab in Los
Angeles - he also contributes
recollections to the liner notes.
Disc 2 – "New Acoustic
Versions by Paddy McAloon" (35:00 minutes):
1. Appetite
2. Bonny
3. Desire As
4. When Love Breaks Down
5. Goodbye Lucille No. 1
6. Moving The River
7. Faron Young
8. When The Angels
Tracks 1 to 8 are brand new
acoustic re-interpretations by Paddy McAloon (band's principal songwriter) of 8
tracks from the original 11 - they were recorded across the summer of 2006.
The 2CDs are housed in a card
gatefold digipak (where's the Legacy Edition Protective Plastic outer wrap?),
have motorbike logos on the CDs and a scant 12-page booklet with liner notes by
PAUL LESTER. There are some new photos - outtakes from the album cover shoot,
but bizarrely the original inner sleeve of the LP depicting the members of the
band and giving recording details - is missing. But worse is the lack of
musical extras. Between October 1984 and as late as February 1986, no less than
6 singles came off the album in the UK - When Love Breaks Down was put out 3
times - Faron Young, Appetite and Johnny
Johnny were issued also - between them and their multiple formats, they
produced as many as 12 unreleased B-sides and mixes. As you can see from the
playing time on both discs, there was plenty of room for remasters of these
rarities. They will probably never see the light of day now - which is
maddening - especially on a supposed collector's edition. However, the other
way of looking at it is this - presented as is - this reissue forces you to
focus 'only' on the album proper - and the new acoustic tracks - and as they
stand - they make for a truly sensational listen. So I can see why McAloon
would want the album presented in this way, it's just disappointing not to see
those non-album tracks that are not on CD anywhere...
Which brings us to the 1st
part of the good news - THE SOUND. Like many who've loved this wonderful
record, I've had the cramped vinyl LP and dull sounding original CD for over 20
years now - hoping for a good reissue of it at some point. Well this Thomas
Dolby remaster is just BEAUTIFUL - clean, muscular and full of presence.
Hearing the sublime "Bonny" in this sound quality is a treat no music
lover should be without - and that synth solo - wow! And when you think of how
awful a lot of Eighties music sounds now - so dated and over-produced -
musically the whole album still holds it own. So many great tracks "Moving
The River", "Desire As" and the Johnny Johnny song "Goodbye
Lucille No.1" A really sweet remaster by Dolby. But the real fireworks and
good news number two start on Disc 2...
Few would have expected that
Acoustic Reinterpretations would be this good - or even rival and better the
originals - but here they do. It's hard to understate just how stunning these
beautifully recorded remakes are - I've been playing them to buggery for over
18 months now and still don't tire of them. I made up a shop-play disc of 7
tracks from Ryan Adams' "Easy Tiger" album from 2007 with 7 from this
- and every time I play it, it never fails to bring customers to the counter
with looks of `discovery' on theirs faces wanting to know "Who is
this!!!"
To sum up - despite the ok-only packaging and lack of those b-sides - this is a 5-star reissue of a 6-star album - a must buy. I will go weak at the knees if the same treatment is planned for the equally magnificent "Jordon: The Comeback"...
To sum up - despite the ok-only packaging and lack of those b-sides - this is a 5-star reissue of a 6-star album - a must buy. I will go weak at the knees if the same treatment is planned for the equally magnificent "Jordon: The Comeback"...
