"Rebel" by JOHN MILES - March 1976 UK Album on Decca Records featuring "Music" (March 2008 UK Lemon Recordings 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue with Tim Turan Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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1976

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"...The Man Behind The Guitar..."

Jarrow's JOHN MILES popped out his debut album "Rebel" in March 1976 on Decca Records and promptly took his native Blighty by storm (and everywhere else for that matter as evidenced by the number of picture sleeves to the "Music" single on Page 2 of the gorgeous booklet).

Produced by studio whizz Alan Parsons who’d steered Pink Floyd’s "The Dark Side Of The Moon" to global domination in 1973 and containing the reasonable hit "Highfly" from the preceding year (No. 17 in October 1975) - "Rebel" the album had one further absolute ace up its tootin' sleeve - the single "Music".

Clocking up a whopping 10 failed singles on Orange and Decca Records since 1970 - Miles had been around for years - writing and slugging away. But the six-minute "Music" released in the same month as the album (March 1976) caught the public's imagination and heart completely. I remember it was absolutely huge - people basking in its sentiment, brilliant slow-to-funky structure and those epic Andrew Powell string arrangements. Tapping into that Elton John "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy", Wings "Venus And Mars" and 10cc "How Dare You" marketplace for sophisticated rock - "Music" pushed up to No. 3 on the UK pop charts and would come to define John Mile's song legacy for decades after. 

But there's other goodies on this album worth seeking out and that's where this rather superb Lemon Recordings CD reissue comes shooting in. Here are the details...

UK released March 2008 (May 2008 in the USA) - "Rebel" by JOHN MILES on Lemon Recordings CD LEM 105 (Barcode 5013929770522) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (49:53 minutes):

1. Music [Side 1]

2. Everybody Wants Some More

3. Highfly

4. You Have It All

5. Rebel [Side 2]

6. When You Lose Someone So Young

7. Lady Of My Life

8. Pull The Damn Thing Down

9. Music (Reprise)

Tracks 1 to 9 are his debut album "Rebel" - released March 1976 in the UK on Decca SKL 5231 and April 1976 in the USA on London PS 669. Produced by ALAN PARSONS - it peaked at No. 9 in the UK and No. 171 in the USA. John Miles and Bob Wallace wrote all songs except "Music" and "Lady Of My Life" by John Miles.

BONUS TRACKS:

10. There's A Man Behind The Guitar - non-album B-side to the UK 7" single for "Highfly" released September 1975 on Decca F 13595

11. Putting My New Song Together - non-album B-side to the UK 7" single for "Music" released March 1976 on Decca F 13627

JOHN MILES - Lead Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards

BOB MARSHALL - Bass

BARRY BLACK - Drums And Percussion

Guests:

The Maggini Quartet - Strings on "Music"

Phil Kenzie - Saxophone solo on "Lady Of My Life"

Andrew Powell - String Arrangements

The 16-page booklet is a feast of foreign pictures sleeves for the albums two big hitters "Highfly" and "Music" - rare issues from around the word - sheet music and more. You also get the lyrics and new decently in-depth liner notes from STEPHEN CARSON. The foldout poster that came with original copies of the British vinyl LP was the front sleeve photographed by Terry O'Neill but because of the cover art to the booklet is exactly that - it's kind of superfluous to requirements so Lemon have left it out. TIM TURAN - who handled the Nazareth catalogue to such great effect - has taken a beautifully produced album and given it the CD upgrade it deserves. This disc sounds great and fans are also going to appreciate those two rare non-album B-sides in such rocking audio.

The album opens and closes on the epic "Music" - his piano gently leading in the song before funk and strings take it to another level. Overplayed a tad on radio these days - it still holds up and you can so hear why it was so huge 40 years ago. That's followed by another one of the album's genuinely great tracks - the very 10cc-meets-ELO "Everybody Wants Some More" where his great vocals soar up and down to complimentary strings and clever arrangements. The incredibly Pilot-meets-The Hollies sounding "Highfly" was an obvious single and came out as far back as September 1975 and was rewarded with his taste of chart action - No. 17. The side ends on the seven-minute "You Have It All" and feels so Captain Fantastic Elton John it's not true - all guitars and keyboards that funk and boogie like they're making a Prog record.

I've always felt that "Rebel" was the hammy overdone moment on the record - better is the touching "When You Lose Someone So Young" which is almost done for by strings but gets through. Hall & Oates fans might like the keyboard slink of "Lady Of My Life" which has a very "Abandoned Luncheonette" feel to it. It ends on the seven-minute "Pull The Damn Thing Down" - a ecology song about over-building that rocks to the finish with a segue into a "Music" Reprise. Of the two B-sides I prefer the rocking "Putting My New Song Together" where words and music are going around his head while riffage threatens to do your speakers in.

I've always wondered why "Rebel" receives so many five-star reviews - it just isn't that great an album (a good one yes, a great one, no). In fact I think his follow-up "Stranger In The City" from February 1977 also reissued with Bonus Tracks by Lemon was a better record overall. But if you've any love for the "Music" of 1976 - then this is most definitely the version of "Rebel" to let into your living room. Well done to all involved...

"Pretenders: 2CD + DVD Deluxe Special Edition" by PRETENDERS (October 2015 Edsel/Rhino 3-Disc Reissue/Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Got Brass In Pocket...Gonna Use It..."

Prepped for a whole year by killer 7" singles like "Stop Your Sobbing" (January 1979), "Kid" (June 1979) and the total winner that was "Brass In Pocket" (a UK No.1 in November 1979) - The Pretenders incendiary self-titled debut album finally arrived on Real Records (Sire in the USA) in the first week of a new decade - January 1980. 

And the public went quietly doolally for it. In the same organic way the sassy "...I'm so special..." single of "Brass In Pocket" had captured a nation's heart, hips and head-shakers in those last months of 1979 – the Pop, Rock and New Wave musical combo that was "Pretenders" went to No. 1 in Blighty and even cracked a No. 9 slot in Chrissie Hynde's own USA. It remains one of the great debut LPs of all time in my books and holds a special place in fan's hearts...

But which CD variant of it do you buy? I'd argue there are two real contenders in 2017 - the Rhino 2CD Remaster from October 2006 in a gatefold card sleeve with 16 Bonus Tracks - or this - Edsel's October 2015 upgrade on the Rhino issue that offers 19 music tracks across 2CDs (three more than before) and a 3rd disc - a DVD with 9 Videos some of which is Previously Unreleased. I'm gonna suggest that the Edsel reissue edges it on several fronts - here are the tattooed love boys...

UK released October 2015 - "Pretenders: 2CD + 1DVD Deluxe Special Edition" by PRETENDERS on Edsel EDSG 8047 (Barcode 740155804732) is a 3-Disc Reissue/Remaster that plays out as follows:

CD1 (67:46 minutes):
"Pretenders"
1. Precious [Side 1]
2. The Phone Call
3. Up The Neck
4. Tattooed Love Boys
5. Space Invader 
6. The Wait 
7. Stop Your Sobbing 
8. Kid [Side 2]
9. Private Life
10. Brass In Pocket 
11. Lovers Of Today 
12. Mystery Achievement 
Tracks 1 to 12 are their debut album "Pretenders" - released January 1980 in the UK on Real Records RAL 3 and January 1980 in the USA on Sire Records SRK 6083. Produced by CHRIS THOMAS ("Stop Your Sobbing" only produced by NICK LOWE) - it peaked at No. 1 in the UK and No. 9 in the USA. 

B-Sides: 
13. Swinging London
14. Nervous But Shy
Tracks 13 and 14 are two non-album B-sides to "Brass In Pocket" (both instrumentals) - a UK 7" single released November 1979 on Real Records ARE 11
15. Cuban Slide
Track 15 first appeared as the non-album B-side to "Talk Of The Town" - a UK 7" single released March 1980 on Real Records ARE 12. It was also one of five tracks on the March 1981 American "Extended Play" 12" EP on Sire MINI 3563. 
16. Porcelain 
Track 16 first appeared as the non-album B-side to "Message Of Love" - a UK 7" single released February 1981 on Real Records ARE 15. It was also one of five tracks on the March 1981 American "Extended Play" 12" EP on Sire MINI 3563. 
17. Precious (Live in Central Park, 30 August 1980) - one of five tracks on the March 1981 American "Extended Play" 12" EP on Sire MINI 3563. 
18. Kid (1987 Extended Remix by Bob Clearmountain) - first released October 1987 as the A-side to a UK 7" single on Real/WEA YZ 156   

CD2 (48:26 minutes):
Demos
1. The Phone Call (Late 1977)
2. Brass In Pocket (Air Studio, 6 February 1978)
3. Precious (Regent’s Park, 12 April 1978)
4. The Wait (Regent’s Park, 12 April 1978)
5. Stop Your Sobbing (Regent’s Park, 12 April 1978)
6. I Can't Control Myself (Regent’s Park, 12 April 1978)
7. Tequila (Regent’s Park, 12 April 1978)
8. Kid (Olympic Studio, 7 December 1978)

LIVE
9. Sabre Dance (The Marquee, London, 2 April 1978)
10. I Need Somebody (The Kid Jensen Show, BBC Radio 1, July 1979)
11. Mystery Achievement (The Kid Jensen Show, BBC Radio 1, July 1979)
12. Precious (The Paradise Theatre, Boston, March 1980)
13. Tattooed Love Boys (The Paradise Theatre, Boston, 23 March 1980)

DVD (NTSC, No Region Restrictions):
PROMO VIDEOS 
1. Stop Your Sobbing 
2. Kid
3. Brass In Pocket 

BBC TV APPEARANCES
1. Stop Your Sobbing (Top of the Pops, February 1979)
2. Kid (Top of the Pops, July 1979)
3. Brass In Pocket (Top of the Pops, November 1979)
4. Brass In Pocket (Top of the Pops, December 1979)
5. Kid (Swap Shop, December 1979)
6. Brass In pocket (Top of the Pops, January 1980)

The stocky and chunky digipak on Edsel EDSG 8047 certainly looks the part. It folds out into four flaps and pictures the black and white theme on the three discs that was on the original labels of the English Real Records album (RAL 3). The 16-page booklet features lyrics - front and rear picture sleeves for key singles like their cover of The Kinks classic "Stop Your Sobbing" (from their 1964 "Kinks" debut album on Pye) and Chrissie Hynde's own "Kid" as well as a more interesting foreign pic sleeve for "Brass In Pocket" than the rather plain black and white UK issue. There are a couple of photos of the four-piece band looking suitably biker-moody - Ohio-born American Vocalist, Guitarist and Principal Songwriter Chrissie Hynde leading with her equally spiky British cohorts - Guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, Bassist Don Farndon and Drummer Martin Chambers. Although it looks good (see photos provided) and apart from the usual reissue credits - disappointingly Edsel have taken the lazy way out and provided no new liner notes. 

But Audio-wise they have used Warners Tape Archives for those 'Special Deluxe Edition' multipacks and their resident Engineer PHIL KINRADE has done the transfers at Alchemy Mastering. I loved the Rhino Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch Remasters from 2006 that featured extra oomph given to a notoriously long and cramped debut album sonically compromised by the limitations of a single vinyl LP. Here we get more of the same - all of it sounding fabulous - even those great B-sides like the groovy "Cuban Slide" and the sexy "Porcelain". I'm also thinking the visuals are a huge bonus too over the Rhino twofer. The DVD authoring was done by LARA RUFFLE at Sony DADC. 

Amped up and ready to let rip - "Precious" opens the album with Chrissie screaming and off we go into a lethal Punk slasher riff. What I loved about The Pretenders was their 'sound' that seemed to straddle Rock and New Wave and Punk - like it was all three - and with the most ballsy, sexy and expressive woman singer out front giving the Clash boys a run for their White Riot money. A dial tone opens the aggressive riffage of "The Phone Call" where the band sound lean and mean and hungry - but "Up To The Neck" gives the first real indication of that 'Pretenders' sound Chrissie gets as the notes ping and chime across her shimmering voice. It takes of waking up in a strange room but as lust turns to anger - she takes jabs as he previous chap's bedroom abilities. "Tattooed Love Boys" has always been a stormer for me. Here is the anger of Punk corralled like The Clash into a new rocker - that crazy pace - stunning lyrics and that brilliant guitar solo that now roars out of your speakers. I used not think much of the Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott instrumental "Space Invader" but as the years have passed it's wormed my way into heart. I'm honestly not a huge fan of "Stop Your Sobbing" - but "The Wait" is a whole different buttered bun. What a fantastic little rocker and always a crowd-winner live. 

Side 2 opens with the very Nick Lowe-esque "Kid" but is soon blown out of the water by the magnificent "Private Life" - six and half minutes of female rationalising as some dweeb bemoans his fate with drama and crisis tactics that aren't working on savvied Chrissie. Grace Jones would of course take this most ballsy of songs and almost immediately make it her angry own on the May 1980 "Warm Leatherette" LP over on Island Records. The remaster keeps that strummed menace just sizzling on the surface until those guitar jabs come roaring in - no sentimental gestures here. The mood is lightened with the irresistible "Brass In Pocket" - surely a contender for one of the Top 20 singles of all time. The last two tracks "Lovers Of Today" and "Mystery Achievement" are the overlooked bedfellows - both lifted up from vinyl cramp into something more expressive as Chrissie's voice warbles on "Lovers" and the rhythm section anchors the chugging guitars of "Mystery Achievement". It’s a fantastic end to a fab album. 

Of the Bonus Material I can live without the dismissible instrumental "Nervous But Shy" - but the two studio B-sides "Cuban Slide", "Porcelain" and a further Live in Central Park version of "Precious" (August 1980) from the American "Extended Play" 5-Track EP are superb extras (stuff I find as exciting as anything on the core album). The very Patti Smith sounding demo of The Troggs track "I Can't Control Myself" is close to "The Wait" in structure and again another brilliant inclusion but the 5:19 minute Remix of "Kid" is an 80ts tinker I can do without. The BBC stuff (which was Previously Unreleased in 2006) also has some corkers too like "I Need Somebody" and a more fulsome "Mystery Achievement". But their safe studio sterility is trashed by another version of "Precious" this time recorded live 23 March 1980 in Boston along with "Tattooed Love Boys". The band and the audience are on fire - so tight - so frigging exciting - barely taking a breath between songs. And as far as I can see all of the BBC TV Appearances are new to this release – best of which is band having a laugh enjoying the hit "Brass In Pocket" in three different studios as adults and children look on bemused and ever so slightly turned on at one and the same time. 

They would return with "Pretenders II" in August of 1981 cementing the reputation they’d struggled for years to achieve - followed in 1984 with the stunning and svelte "Learning To Crawl" LP – a bit of a 1-track unsung hero in our New Wave boudoir. 

"...Gonna use my arms...gonna use my legs...gonna use my style..." – Chrissie Hynde sang nearly 40 years ago. And I for one am still listening...

Releases in the October 2015 
PRETENDERS 'Deluxe Special Edition'

 Reissue Series by Edsel/Rhino:

1. "Pretenders" (January 1980 debut) - Edsel EDSG 8047 (Barcode 740155804732) - 2CDs + 1DVD
2. "Pretenders II" (August 1981) - Edsel EDSG 8048 (Barcode 740155804831) - 2CDs + 1DVD
3. "Learning To Crawl" (January 1984) - Edsel EDSG 8049 (Barcode 740155804930) - 2CDs + 1DVD
4. "Get Close" (October 1986) - Edsel EDSG 8050 (Barcode 740155805036) - 2CDs + 1DVD
5. "Packed!" (May 1990) - Edsel EDSX 3022 (Barcode 740155302238) - 1CD + 1DVD
6. "Last Of The Independents" (May 1994) - Edsel EDSG 8051 (Barcode 740155805135) - 2CDs + 1DVD
7. "The Isle Of View" (September 1995) - Edsel EDSX 3023 (Barcode 740155302337) - 1CD + 1DVD 
8. "Viva El Amor!" (May 1999) - Edsel EDSG 8052 (Barcode 740155805234 - 2CDs + 1DVD
9. "Pretenders 1979-1999" - Edsel PRETBOX01 (Barcode 5014797892620) - 22-Disc Card Wrap Box Set with all of 1 to 8 above (no extra booklet)

"Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy: SACD Version" by ELTON JOHN - 1975 UK and US LP on DJM Records (June 2005 Island Chronicles/Rocket SACD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Very Clearly A Case Of Cornflakes And Classics..."

Arguing the merits of a 1975 album that smashed the top spot in the USA is a mute point (it was the first LP to enter at No. 1 in American chart history). But which version does a punter buy on CD? In 2017 there are four or five variants and it's this I want to address...

Although Elton John's "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy" cropped up on British CD as early as 1984 (the very first vanguard of issues on the format) - the first decent Remaster is acknowledged as the 'Elton John The Classic Years' version by TONY COUSINS in July 1995. Mercury 528 160-2 (Barcode 731452816023) came armed with a massively expanded booklet, John Tobler liner notes and Three Bonus Tracks.

The UK and Europe 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' then followed as a '30th Anniversary Edition' in September 2005 on Mercury 0602498317242 (Barcode 602498317242). This upgrade offered the thirteen tracks of the 1995 issue in newly Remastered sound and a Previously Unreleased 12-song "Midsummer Music" concert on Disc 2 recorded at Wembley Stadium 21 June 1975. That Deluxe Edition 2-disc variant was itself reissued in Mini LP Repro Artwork on the (superior) SHM-CD format in Japan September 2008 on Universal UICY-93674/5 (Barcode 4988005525833).

But the one I want to concentrate on is the reissue in-between - the 2004 American SACD. Here are the Towers of Babel...

USA released June 2005 - "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy: SACD Version" by ELTON JOHN on Island Chronicles/Rocket B0003606-36 (Barcode 602498241202) is a 13-track SACD (Super Audio CD) that plays out as follows (62:40 minutes):

1. Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy [Side 1]

2. Tower Of Babel

3. Bitter Fingers

4. Tell Me When The Whistle Blows

5. Someone Saved My Life Tonight

6. (Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket [Side 2]

7. Better Off Dead

8. Writing

9. We All Fall In Love Sometimes

10. Curtains

Tracks 1 to 10 are his ninth studio album "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy" - released May 1975 in the UK on DJM Records DJLPX 1 and May 1975 in the USA on MCA Records MCA-2142. Produced by GUS DUDGEON - it peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in the USA.

BONUS TRACKS:

11. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

12. One Day At A Time

Tracks 11 and 12 are the non-album A&B-sides of a 7" single recorded with JOHN LENNON. Released 15 November 1974 on DJM Records DJS 340 in the UK and on MCA Records MAC-40344 in the USA - Lennon is credited on some label A-sides as 'Dr. Winston O'Boogie & His Reggae Guitars'. The A-side is a cover of the famous "Sgt. Peppers" track from 1967 - while the B-side is a Lennon song from his 1973 Apple Records LP "Mind Games". It peaked at No. 1 in the USA and No. 10 in the UK on the singles charts.

13. Philadelphia Freedom

Track 13 is a non-album A-side of a 7" single released February 1975 on DJM Records DJS 354 and in the USA on MCA Records MCA-40364 (as The Elton John Band). It peaked at No. 12 in the UK and No. 1 in the USA.

The jam-packed 24-page booklet is the 1995 version that featured (then) new liner notes from noted British writer and musicologist JOHN TOBLER. The original vinyl album was a fantastically elaborate and fancy affair with no less than two substantial booklets, a huge foldout poster of the cover art and all of it housed in a stunning gatefold sleeve. The booklet makes a good fist of trying to repro much of this - you get the lyrics to every song spread across many pages, some of the memorabilia photos like the framed lyrics for "Your Song" and pictures of a young Reg Dwight at an electric piano giving it some "Empty Sky".

On the second-last page of the booklet are the Mastering credits (a team of four eventually) – TONY COUSINS did the original Stereo Mixes Remastering in 1995 – further to those are Digital Transfers by RICKY GRAHAM – DSD (Direct Stream Digital) Editing done by GUS SKINAS and finally Surround Sound Mixed, Produced and Mastered by GREG PENNY at Flower Sound in California. You get a SACD Stereo layer – an SACD Surround Sound layer and finally a simple Audio CD layer for play on all machines (the SACD and Surround variants require specific equipment). Whatever your machine is capable of – the disc will default to that once loaded. In short I find the Audio on this particular beast to be the best of them all.

I can recall my first listen to the title track "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy" and thinking 'sophistication' and given the extraordinary packaging - that this was an LP old Elton was clearly proud of. That fantastic guitar break with Davey Johnstone on rocking form - the autobiographical lyrics about a rocket ride from sessions on Top Of The Pops cover version LPs to international stardom. Following quickly are two winners - the Sodom meets Gomorrah of "Tower Of Babel" versus the grumpy musical agents in Denmark Street of "Bitter Fingers". I've always loved a bit of Rock-Funk and it comes in the slinky shape of "Tell Me When The Whistle Blows" (fabulous string arrangements by Gene Page). Side 1 then ends of the overwrought ballad "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" - a song I've always thought was too puffed-up on its own importance somehow.

Side 2 opens with a fantastic bit of guitar riffage "(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket" - a song about losers hoping to strike lucky on Skid Row - where in order to survive you've gotta find a way towards that meal ticket - rise about the King’s Road pimps. The barrelhouse piano on "Better Off Dead" sounds huge and again Tauzin’s lyrics are amongst his best - cigarette hazes and greased-streaked windows of all-night cafes - characters come and go - live and die - then go out and do it all over again. The whimsical "Writing" offers a respite with its salsa beat - affectionately remembering stifling yawns on Sunday morning - will the things we wrote today still sound good tomorrow  (yes they will boys). The album ends on a duo of big-ballads - "We All Fall In Love Sometimes" and "Curtains". I prefer the near seven-minute "Curtains" of the two - the kind of epic tune Elton seemed able to tap into once given the Taupin words - cultivating flowers and thinking of treasure-children and the future...

Like Paul McCartney & Wing's "Venus And Mars", 10cc's "The Original Soundtrack", Bob Dylan's "Blood On The Tracks" and Joni Mitchell's "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" - Elton John's "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy" seemed to confirm 1975 as Rock's most sophisticated and musically productive year. And this glorious-sounding SACD of it only hammers than point home.

"...Very clearly a case of Cornflakes and classics..." – The Captain and The Kid from Putney sang on the title track. Nicely put boys... 

"Sticky Fingers" by THE ROLLING STONES (Differences between the 2010 and 2013 Japan-Only SHM-CD Reissues) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Got Me In Its Sway…"

When the first four re-reissues of the Stones' Label catalogue arrived in May 2009 with their spangly 'new' remasters - I snapped them up (as I'm sure the Glimmer Twins knew I would). "Goat's Head Soup", "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll", "Black and Blue" and of course the mighty "Sticky Fingers". Four more came in June - "Some Girls", "Emotional Rescue", "Tattoo You" and "Undercover".

The rounded jewel cases seemed cool but the miserable 8-page inlays smacked of the usual fan-disrespecting laziness that seems to be associated with all things Rolling Stones reissue. But that aside - I couldn't believe just how good the Stephen Marcussen and Stewart Whitmore remasters were - hugely improving to my ears the rather restrained UV22 Virgin CDs from 1994 (done by Bob Ludwig). And despite losing all that gorgeous original artwork to a truly dreadful 'underpants' rear sleeve of the CD of "Sticky Fingers" - I was digging the music of my favourite Stones album blasting out of my speakers with a clarity and power that I'd not heard before. That is until the Japanese used that 2009 remaster and put out an SHM-CD with perfect repro artwork the following year - and I knew it had to be mine - again.

There have been other reissues since - so to disperse confusion lets try to clarify what's what and what not to buy. 

This review is for the first version of "Sticky Fingers" on SHM-CD (Super High Materials) released 30 June 2010 on Rolling Stones/Polydor UICY-94571 (Barcode 4988005613943) in Japan only. It's a straightforward transfer of the 10-track album with an exact repro of the famous 1971 Andy Warhol 'Zipper' sleeve artwork (46:27 minutes). But more importantly it uses the 2009 Stephen Marcussen/Stewart Whitmore remaster. A SHM-CD doesn't require a special CD player to play it on (compatible on all) nor does it need audiophile kit to hear the benefits. It's a new form of the format that picks up the nuances of the transfer better (top quality make). I mention the 2009 remaster because there's another.

Fans should note that a 'second' SHM version appeared 30 October 2013 in Japan but this time reissued on two formats (SHM-CD and PLATINUM SHM-CD) 'both' of which use a 'different' remaster. Those issues feature a 2011 'flat transfer' that I hated (dull as dishwater). The SHM-CD version is on Rolling Stones/Polydor UICY-75886 (Barcode 4988005788467) and the PLATINUM SHM-CD version in a beautiful presentation box is on Rolling Stones/Polydor UICY-40001 (Barcode 4988005788368). I've reviewed the Platinum SHM-CD variant separately (use the Barcode to locate it on Amazon). 

But let's get back to the 2010 SHM-CD version with the 2009 Remaster...

1. Brown Sugar

2. Sway

3. Wild Horses

4. Can't You Hear Me Knocking

5. You've Got To Move

6. Bitch [Side 2]

7. I Got The Blues

8. Sister Morphine

9. Dead Flowers

10. Moonlight Mile

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Sticky Fingers" - released 23 April 1971 in the UK and USA on Rolling Stones Records COC 59100

Right from the opening riffs of "Brown Sugar" (slightly distorted it has to be said) - you know you're in the presence of a different beast. This thing rocks - the guitars and rhythm section filling your speakers with incredible energy. I can hear the 'loudness wars' naysayers already - sure these things are loud and sure they're hissy in places too - but at least I feel like I'm in the presence of the real master tape. The power and clarity of instruments on say "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and "Dead Flowers" is astounding. Ry Cooder's Slide Guitar and Jack Nitzsche's Piano on "Sister Morphine" is so good too, Paul Buckmaster's gorgeous Strings on "Moonlight Mile" and Keith's beautiful acoustic playing on "Wild Horses" - all fabulous. But if I was to isolate one track that shows massive improvement on this SHM - it's the Side 2 nugget "I Got The Blues". Everything about it rocks - Keith Richards and Mick Taylor on guitars, Bobby Keys and Jim Price on Horns, Jimmy Miller's Percussion and especially the Billy Preston Organ solo - it sounds truly fabulous. There's just that little more pep in the step of every track on this format - and somehow that amazing Cooder Slide on "Sister Morphine" seems more in your face (but in a good way), the sexy Saxophones on "Bitch" - the guitars on their fantastic bluesy cover of the Mississippi Fred McDowell/Gary Davis dead-and-dying tune "You Gotta Move".

OK - you could argue that spending over twenty quid on a fancier form of the CD with original repro artwork and a natty plastic outer is a bit of a luxury - especially with the 2009 standard CD costing as little as four round ones in some places. But this is one of my favourite albums of the Seventies and I want the best version of it I can get my hands on.

I'd argue - if you go the few extra pounds of brown sugar for the 2010 SHM-CD out of Japan - you'll love the difference...

"Some Girls: Deluxe Edition 2CD Version" by THE ROLLING STONES - May 1978 Album on Rolling Stones Records (November 2011 USA Universal Republic Records 2CD Reissue) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Party Like We Used To..."

Recorded in Paris in October 1977 and March 1978 but rooted in the insanity of a financially crumbling New York City over 3500 miles away - the Stones embraced Punk like they were born to the manor - albeit a more grotty manor than the ones they were used in tax exile. "Some Girls" rocked – two fingers up to everything – ludicrously un-PC – so Rolling Stones – and I loved it.

But for me this November 2011 Universal Republic Records 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' is a mixed bag of great music and truly lacklustre presentation (why is any fan of The Stones surprised by this). Here are the far away eyes, beasts of burden and respectable reconstruction details...

USA released 21 November 2011 - "Some Girls: Deluxe Edition 2CD US Version" by THE ROLLING STONES on Universal Republic Records B0016235-02 (Barcode 602527840550) is a 2CD Reissue with 12 New Tracks on Disc 2 that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 - "Some Girls" (40:44 minutes):

1. Miss You [Side 1]

2. When The Whip Comes Down

3. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)

4. Some Girls

5. Lies

6. Far Away Eyes [Side 2]

7. Respectable

8. Before They Make Me Run

9. Beast Of Burden

10. Shattered

Tracks 1 to 10 are their 14th British (16th American) album "Some Girls" - released 19 May 1978 in the UK on Rolling Stones Records CUN 39108 and the same day in the USA on Rolling Stones Records TP 39108. Produced by THE GLIMMER TWINS - it peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in the USA. All songs written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards except "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" which is a cover version of a Temptations song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong.

Disc 1 THE ROLLING STONES were:

MICK JAGGER - Lead and Backing Vocals and Rhythm Guitar

KEITH RICHARDS - Lead Guitars, Keyboards, Bass and Backing Vocals

RON WOOD - Lead Guitars, Pedal Steel Guitar (Tracks 2, 6 and 10) and Backing Vocals

BILL WYMAN - Bass

CHARLIE WATTS - Drums

Guests:

SUGAR BLUE (James Whiting) - Harmonica on Tracks 1 and 4

IAN McLAGAN - Piano on Track 1 and Organ on Track 3

MEL COLLINS - Saxophone on Track 1

REEBOP KWAKU BAAH, JIMMY MILLER and SIMON KIRKE – Percussion on Track 10

Disc 2 - Bonus Material (41:30 minutes):

1. Claudine

2. So Young

3. Do You Think I Really Care

4. When You're Gone

5. No Spare Parts

6. Don't Be A Stranger

7. We Had It All

8. Tallahassee Lassie

9. I Love You Too Much

10. Keep Up Blues

11. You Win Again

12. Petrol Blues

Disc 2 Guests:

IAN STEWART – Piano on Tracks 1, 2, 3, 8 and 11

CHUCK LEAVALL – Piano Solo on Track 2

SUGAR BLUE (James Whiting) - Harmonica on Tracks 1, 4 and 7

DON WAS – Bass on Track 6

MATT CLIFFORD – Percussion on Track 6

JOHN FOGERTY and DON WAS – Handclaps on Track 8

All songs written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards except for "We Had It All" - written by Troy Seals and Donnie Fritts (a Waylon Jennings cover from 1973) and "Tallahassee Lassie" and "You Win Again" which are Freddie Cannon and Hank Williams cover versions.

A word about the original artwork versus this reissue - I've 14 vinyl copies of the British "Some Girls" album bought across the decades in a failed attempt to get all the different colour-coded sleeves in the one place. In fact I'm certain no one seems to know the truth about how many different sleeves there is for this 1978 LP (six, seven, eight who knows?). Perpetuated by the hardback book in the ludicrously overpriced Super Deluxe Edition - the common consensus is that there are six variants - five of the original Peter Corriston 'Rolling Stones As Drag Queens' die-cut sleeves and a further sixth 'Pardon Our Appearance – Cover Under Reconstruction' second-pressing variant because the offending originals had to be withdrawn due to legal pressure.

As ever our entirely angelic celestial-choir of misogynistic British ne're-do-wells had deliberately courted controversy with their saucy artwork and less than subtle songmanship - especially on the truly incendiary lyrics to the title track that names the sexual peccadillos of women from all sorts of racial backgrounds (black ladies come out best although Michael may not have enough Huntley's Jam for them). So why the legal recall - under the lurid adverts for strapless bras with elasticised inner pockets, perma-styled and care-free wigs (boy cuts an option) were die-cut holes on the front sleeve under which could be seen smiling mugshots of very famous ladies. But Raquel Welch, Lucille Ball, Farah Fawcett-Majors and the estates of Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe were all amongst the celebrities who didn't dig the artistic joke and filed against their images being used on what was then perceived as being a platter of schoolboy sexism railed loudly against by upstanding society types like the Reverend Jesse Jackson. American artist Peter Corriston had done Led Zeppelin's magnificent "Physical Graffiti" double-album die-cut sleeve in 1975 and would do the next three Stones albums too - "Emotional Rescue", "Tattoo You" and "Undercover".

I mention the sleeve's history because this particularly gutless American-based Deluxe Edition uses the 'Under Reconstruction' reissue artwork instead of the different coloured originals – a sanitised image that is about as shocking and appealing as a smelly sock in a University Student’s laundry basket. All four of the gatefold flaps on the inside of the 2CD set are the same – insanely dull snippets and close-ups of the reconstructed artwork that show little or no imagination. So what do you get? There are a couple of new black and white photos of the band in the studio in the 24-page booklet - the witty assessments of each band member as if Mick, Keith, Ron, Bill and Charlie were women around the edges of the back cover and the song titles that were in tiny print beside the garish Magazine Ads for lady products are blown-up to take a page each. And finally there are some excellent but short liner notes called "Love And Hope And Sex And Dreams" by ANTHONY DeCURTIS (the title is a lyric from "Shattered"). DeCurtis explains about the backdrop to the LP's inspiration  – New York City – a town in the grips of serial killer Son Of Sam, financial ruin with landlords torching slums for the insurance money (the Big Apple was famously bailed out by President Ford) while a strange mix of decadent Disco, bare Punk and bloated Rock music filled the nightclubs, stadiums and bars. But again the liner notes sloppily miss out guest credits for the album on the final pages like they didn't exist (see my list above for details) and there's zip discussion of the new recordings. And why didn't someone print the lyrics for an album that was in part defined by its radical and no-holes-barred words? It all feels like less instead of more somehow. The Rolling Stones used to be so Rock 'n' Roll - but now they're so corporate-safe. Thankfully there's the music that includes some very cool new entries...

Disc 1 is the STEPHEN MARCUSSEN and STEWART WHITMORE Remaster done in 2009 and doesn't pretend to be anything new even though some hated it (I think it's brilliant). The second CD of new tracks (supposedly outtakes) was done in Paris and New York in 2011 and mastered by the same duo. Both sound storming to me.

The first Rolling Stones LP to benefit from Ron Wood's official presence in the five-piece band turned out to be a barnstormer. Side 1 opens with the irresistible "Miss You" – that fantastically sexy rhythm that's neither Rock nor Disco but somewhere in-between – Jagger's Puerto Rican girls lyrics so racy yet so true - Sugar Blue and his slinky Harmonica part and the Mel Collins Saxophone solo that seals the deal. What a bloody winner. With the brilliantly funny and knowing "Far Away Eyes" on the B-side – the US 45 of "Miss You" on Rolling Stones 19307 went to No. 1 in June 1978 and deservedly so. "When The Whip Comes Down" is the first sign of Punk - a fantastic little rocker that took on a life of its own when they did it live. Quite why they follow Whip with a Temptations cover version is anyone's guess - but their very Stones take on the 1971 R&B No. 1 of "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" fits perfectly. You also hear those duelling guitars on this incredibly muscular remaster with Ian McLagan's Hammond Organ contribution barely audible.

Even now I can recall the first time I heard the utterly astonishing title track "Some Girls" - shock and awe and just a little appalled too. How could anyone be saying this stuff? You know you're in trouble when it opens with Sugar Blue's fantastic Harmonica warble. With lyrics like "...some girls give me children I never asked them for..." and "...some girls take the shirt off my back and leave me with a lethal dose..." - the song was never going to get on the Sunday Hymn Sheet for Westminster Abbey. But in its defence (if that’s the right way to phrase it) the words were true in Jagger's brain and many didn't like that in-your-face stance. But re-listening to it now and that stunning Harmonica/Guitar combo makes it a bit of an angry masterpiece for me. The rip-roaring and equally snarling "Lies" ends Side 1 with the core five-piece band sounding more vital than they had in years.

Side 2 opens with the countrified preaching song "Far Away Eyes" – Ron Wood's Pedal Steel Guitar perfectly complimenting Jagger's hilarious song-on-the-radio story (send 10$ to the church of bleeding hearts in Los Angeles). Back to Punk and heroin with the President on the White House lawn and no problem that can't be bent - "Respectable" became a single too and another live thriller. Keith's "Before They Make Me Run" is the forgotten song on the album and while it's a half-decent bopper you can't help think that Jagger's vocals would have lifted it out of the ordinary. But all is redeemed with a lethal one-two of "Beast Of Burden" and "Shattered" - the two aspects of the Stones I love - melody one moment - snotty rockers the next - and brill at both.

I genuinely hadn't expected much of Disc 2 - but it's got some corkers amidst the good and merely ordinary. Ian Stewart gives it some Jerry Lee Lewis on the piano-pumping bopper "Claudine" where a wee bit of instrument-echo makes the song feel Fifties. But then we're hit with a total gem and something you can't help but feel should have been on the album or at least a B-side to say "Miss You" - the Punky and very un-PC "So Young" where Mick is clearly tempted by the flesh of girls on the school run rather than the office pool (it's a federal offence). They Countrify "Do You Think I Really Care", Blues Boogie "When You're Gone" (with Jagger on Harp) and Piano Ballad "No Spare Parts". Of the others I like the raw "Keep Up Blues" about Italian Suits and keeping up with the fashionistas and their take on the hank Williams classic "You Win Again" is the best of the covers. Jagger brings it all home with a Piano and Vocal on "Petrol Blues" - a track that suspiciously sounds like an actual demo from the period.

The album "Some Girls" still stands up and in 2018 amazingly will be 40 years young. But while there are moments on that second disc that evoke the old Stones magic - I still wish the packaging wasn't so utterly lame.

Time to get up and get into something new which they and artist Peter Corriston would do on 1980's "Emotional Rescue". In the meantime don a 100% miracle fibre wig, slip on those red leatherette stilettos and get whipped by this Rolling Stones bad boy. In the comfort of your own home of course...