"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 2CD Anniversary Edition" by THE BEATLES (May 2017 Universal/Apple/Parlophone '50th Anniversary' 2CD Reissue, Remix and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Benefits For Mr. Kite..." 

Yet another review of The Beatles game-changing 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is hardly what the world needs in 2020 - but I'd argue (until I'm 64 which is not that bloody far away frankly) that this truly eye-watering and ear-opening 2017 multi-disc reissue deserves all the scripture it can get. 

Man did the mixing desk hoards of transfer-boffins over at Apple and Abbey Road stump up good and do us old fogies proud. Let's get to Lucy and her sky-bound diamonds, lovely Rita and the Stereo holes she fixed and all the benefits being for Mr. Kite (splendid times ahoy)...

UK released Friday, 26 May 2017 - "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 2CD Anniversary Edition" by THE BEATLES on Apple/Parlophone 0602557455366 (Barcode 602557455366) features the STEREO MIX of the 1967 Album on CD1 with 18 Outtakes and Rarities on CD. It plays out as follows:

CD One "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" STEREO MIX 2017 (39:47 minutes):

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [Side 1]

2. With A Little Help From My Friends

3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

4. Getting Better

5. Fixing A Hole

6. She's Leaving Home

7. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!

8. Within You Without You [Side 2]

9. When I'm Sixty-Four

10. Lovely Rita

11. Good Morning Good Morning

12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)

13. A Day In The Life

CD Two "The Sgt. Pepper Sessions" (60:27 minutes):

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Take 9)

2. With A Little Help From My Friends (Take 1 - False Start and Take 2 - Instrumental)

3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Take 1)

4. Getting Better (Take 1 - Instrumental)

5. Fixing A Hole (Take 3)

6. She's Leaving Home (Take 1 - Instrumental)

7. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! (Take 4)

8. Within You Without You (Take 1 - Indian Instruments)

9. When I'm Sixty-Four (Take 2)

10. Lovely Rita (Take 9)

11. Good Morning Good Morning (Take 8)

12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (Take 8)

13. A Day In The Life (Take 1 and Hummed Last Chord)

14. Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7)

15. Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 26)

16. Strawberry Fields Forever (Stereo Mix - 2015)

17. Penny Lane (Take 6 - Instrumental)

18. Penny Lane (Stereo Mix - 2017)

The outer card wrap houses a gatefold card sleeve of the famous album cover that cost £3000 at the time when most had a budget for £100. CD1 is in the first flap with the cardboard cut out that came with original LPs (disc  in the second flap) while both CDs sport the British black and yellow Parlophone label logo. The truly beautiful 40-plus-pages of the colour booklet break down everything – track by track details – names of all 87 things and people featured on the front sleeve – their jackets – tape boxes – even American and British trade adverts. A splendid time indeed guaranteed for all…

A team carried out the audio restoration work, remixes and remasters – Produced by GILES MARTIN (son of original LP producer George Martin) with SAM OKELL (Mix Engineer), MILES SHOWELL (Mastering Engineer), MATTHEW COCKER (Transfer Engineer), JAMES CLARKE (Audio Restoration), ADAM SHARP (Mix Coordination) and Mix Assistants Matt Mysko and Greg McAllister. Everything sounds incredible – like dust has been lifted off these mixes – the STEREO impact truly beautiful. I personally think it's the most impressive old Pepper Pot has even sounded. Deep cuts like "Fixing A Hole", "She's Leaving Home" and the ethereal brilliance of George Harrison's "Within You Without You" (practically introduced Eastern mysticism to the West) shine like new diamonds (and they're not out of reach up in the sky either).

The first couple of outtakes are interesting but not a lot else (that Billy Shears piano part before the segue guitar opening of "With A Little Help From My Friends" is the most fascinating) but then you get a genuinely insightful peek into genius - Take 1 of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" where even if it isn't John's greatest ever vocal - the instrumentation is magical and so bloody inventive. You can actually hear Paul working out chords and melody as he tinkers on and then plays the Harpsichord (lead vocals too that are channeling his inner Liam Gallagher). Another eureka moment comes with the truly gorgeous Take 1 of "She's Leaving Home" where Mike Leander's instrumental-only arrangements of four violins, two violas, two cellos, double bass and harp will surely leave even the most jaded of Beatles nuts reaching for the superlatives (a true highlight on CD2).

The almost-serene pastoral feel to leaving home is quickly and abruptly followed by John's quirky circus music and vaudeville poster lyrics to "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite" - his nasals telling us that "...the production will be second to none as Henry the Horse dances the waltz...". Swirl and swoon. The running order also demonstrates so vividly the two wildly differing songwriting talents Lennon and McCartney possessed - battling you suspect against each other all the time - something you’d have to argue made the finished listen so remarkable. Then we get genius number three when you throw in George discovering India, Sitars and Tabla beats with the stunning "Within You Without You" - here given to us as an almost perfect Take 1.

Back to Paul and his jaunty "When I’m Sixty-Four" ad-libbing the lyrics towards the fade out. Looking indeed a little like a military man, Take 9 of "Lovely Rita" has acoustic portions I kind of wish they had kept in the final version (and that final piano bit is a blast). Having never liked it and ever rated "Good Morning Good Morning" – Take 8 actually feels like a better song than the overly produced finished article which just came across as a meddle too far. Take 8 of the Reprise packs a surprisingly rocking kick – Ringo whacking that bass drum while Paul wails and John lets rip on the guitar in the background. As John starts singing Take 1 of "A Day In The Life" it feels shockingly similar to the finished song - just stripped back more (1000 holes in Lancashire). And what a blast to hear engineer Mal Evans count out the numbers one, two, three… each one more echoed than the last – Paul brilliant on the piano. And then that hummed note. The stand-alone single "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" issued around the album ends Disc 2 on a high with differing takes that scream creative brilliance – the outtakes capped of nicely with new Stereo Mixes of a Mono single for both songs.

If you want the much-applauded MONO MIX and more of those juicy outtakes along with the full LP-Sized impact – the Super Deluxe Edition weighing in at around a ton is the 'I heard the news today oh boy' for you. In the meantime, I'll settle for this 2017 sexy wee reissue belter – sonically splendid and spruced up to the flowerbed nines. Well done to all involved…

"Scott Walker Meets Jacques Brel" by SCOTT WALKER and JACQUES BREL (31 January 2020 UK Ace Records CD Compilation - Nick Robbins Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Sailors Dance And Lust…"

Swinging door cemeteries, witches at night, rabid dogs, blackish shadows cowering and if she should go away, moons that stand still, sailors that die, sailors swallowing moons, chaps in crisis playing Amsterdam accordions, fishheads and tails, sad tears and nightmare fears, muggy hot mornings, songs sung by handsome fellows, Spanish bums with borrowed guitars getting drunk every night, gonorrhea, naked as sin, Jackie's opium dens, sons of saints, children with no complaints held by old women too old to give a damn - and NEXT! NEXT! NEXT! Yes folks, its laugh-a-minute Scott Walker meets the drop-your-trousers hilarity of Jacques Brel...

You'd have to say that the ludicrously over-the-top melodrama Scott Walker (along with Producer John Franz and Orchestral Arranger Wally Stott) brought in the late 60ts to already overwrought Jacques Brel brothel hymns and tunes about death and misery guts would be – ahem – an acquired taste. Whiskey and mud and Mathilde’s come back to me once more. Here are the bible truths at the funeral of his youth from an unlit mind (nice)…

UK released Friday, 31 January 2020 (14 February 2020 in the USA) - "Scott Walker Meets Jacques Brel" by SCOTT WALKER and JACQUES BREL on Ace Records CDTOP 1565 (Barcode 029667097420) is a 19-Track CD Compilation with 9 Tracks to SW (Tracks 1 to 9) and 10 to JB (Tracks 10 to 19) that plays out as follows (63:21 minutes):

1. Mathilde (from the September 1967 UK debut solo album "Scott" on Philips SBL 7816 in Stereo)

2. My Death (from the September 1967 UK debut solo album "Scott" on Philips SBL 7816 in Stereo)

3. Amsterdam (from the September 1967 UK debut solo album "Scott" on Philips SBL 7816 in Stereo)

4. Jackie (from the March 1968 UK second solo album "Scott 2" on Philips SBL 7840 in Stereo)

5. Next (from the March 1968 UK second solo album "Scott 2" on Philips SBL 7840 in Stereo)

6. The Girls And The Dogs (from the March 1968 UK second solo album "Scott 2" on Philips SBL 7840 in Stereo)

7. Sons Of (from the March 1969 UK third solo album "Scott 3" on Philips SBL 7882 in Stereo)

8. Funeral Tango (from the March 1969 UK third solo album "Scott 3" on Philips SBL 7882 in Stereo)

9. If You Go Away (from the March 1969 UK third solo album "Scott 3" on Philips SBL 7882 in Stereo)

Tracks 1 to 9 by SCOTT WALKER

10. Mathilde (from the 1964 French LP "Jacques Brel" on Barclay 80 222)

11. La Mort (from the 1959 French LP "Jacques Brel No. 4" on Philips B 76.483 R)

12. Amsterdam [Live] (from the 1964 French LP "Olympia 64" on Barclay 80 243)

13. Le Chanson De Jacky (from the 1965 French LP "Jacques Brel" on Barclay 80 284)

14. Au Suivant (from the 1964 French LP "Jacques Brel" on Barclay 80 222)

15. Les Files Et Les Chiens (from the 1963 French LP "Jacques Brel" on Barclay 80 186)

16. Fils de... (from the 1967 French LP "Jacques Brel 67" on Barclay 80 334)

17. Tango Funebre (from the 1964 French LP "Jacques Brel" on Barclay 80 222)

18. Ne Me Quitte Pas (from the 1959 French LP "Jacques Brel No. 4" on Philips B 76.483 R)

BONUS TRACK:

19. Seul (from the 1959 French LP "Jacque Brel No. 4" on {Philips B 76.483 R)

Tracks 10 to 19 by JACQUES BREL

It's become sort of the norm to praise booklets in Ace releases, but even by their high standards, the 24-page word and photo-fest presented here is densely gorgeous. Written with affection and a veritable barrage of info - IAN JOHNSTON and KRIS NEEDS compliment the text by pouring on original artwork for both cult figures. You get album after rare album cover art including hugely hip Japanese picture sleeve single issues (Page 4) and song-by-song dissertations on the reams of morbid lyrics and those harsh even uncomfortable themes that have so intrigued British Artists over the years (famously including David Bowie and Alex Harvey).

NICK ROBBINS - Ace's long-standing Audio Engineer has done the mastering honours and while the Walker material has been remastered well before - I've never heard the Brel tracks sound so good. These transfers are clean and full of that string-laden melodrama for Walker while Brel has those Baroque and Lounge Room arrangements brought up front - nicely done.  

The baritone melodrama and brass blasts kick in immediately with "Mathilde" where our hero smolders through lyrics that will either make you laugh out loud or reach for the Thesaurus for praise-adjectives no one's yet used. While he sings of slightly dodgy subject matters like "...go ask the maid if she heard what I said, change the sheets on the bed..." - you listen with admiration as you realize good-looking Scott was actually Avant Garde in a Euro thrash kind of way long before most UK lads went anywhere near it. "My Death" and "Amsterdam" both feature extraordinary lyrics that seem to occupy a universe all to their own – brave narrative streams on funerals and bible truths and witches at night and passing time and death waiting amongst the falling leaves (the audio is fabulous too). And speaking of exceptional human beings, you can so hear what attracted literate songwriters like Bowie to "Amsterdam" which was apparently originally set in Antwerp (wouldn't have worked would it) and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band to the giddy-up-a-ding-dong debauchery of "Next".

Interestingly too is that Brel didn't see "If You Go Away" as a love song, but a mournful and melancholic hymn to the cowardice of men when it comes to commitment to women, especially when they needed their love the most. It's probably Brel's most famous and liked tune and was made a hit by another peddler of soul-searching melodrama – America's Rod McKuen. Although it's hard not to just giggle at the comical seaside organ on "Les Files Et Les Chiens", overall the Jacques Brel originals are a clever addition. "Amsterdam" is live (he crowd loving its risqué words), "Fils De..." is shockingly lovely and the final inclusion "Seul (Alone)" is featured as a Bonus Track because although Scott never recorded it, the dapper gent sang it in his live shows.

Sails of oblivion at my head, talking to trees and worshiping the wind – well now their collective English/French histrionics are nestled nauseous-like in my CD player instead of being on my Garrard SP25 (with Dustbuster).

Loosely tied-in with their Singer-Songwriter Series of CD Reissues (see photo of the inside inlay I've provided above) - "Scott Walker Meets Jacques Brel" is absolutely an acquired taste for sure. But nonetheless, its emotional cesspit and mushy cauldron of human misery is beautifully done, and once again Ace Records of the UK gives us fans of la souffrance what we really, really want (and with tasty audio too). 

Go forth Scotty W and Jackie B - you big old whinge bags...

Star Trek: PICARD Season 1 - A Review by Mark Barry of the January 2020 TV Series on Amazon

"...The Needs Of The Many Are Met By The Talents Of A Few..." 

Star Trek: PICARD Season 1

Classy, well-written, quality effects that work and don't just intrude - the Star Trek franchise returns in January 2020 with a genuinely likeable re-boot.

Effectively retired but restless in idyllic French countryside where the sunny vineyards are managed by automated sprinklers – it’s 20 years since Picard helmed the Starship Enterprise. We open with a tantalising flashback conversation embedded in a card game - Brent Spiner doing a guest appearance as the sentient android Operations Officer Data who gave his life for humanity in the painful past.

It’s a smart move on the part of the writers who know what Trekkies love and want - but the introduction of the hugely watchable (and ethereally gorgeous) Isa Briones as Dahj is a masterstroke.

She is a young intelligent and deeply sensitive woman having a loving relationship with a male creature of another species, when her seemingly ordinary world is shattered by three assassins catapulting into her New Boston apartment – an action that activates some Jason Bourne type moves inside her she clearly had no idea were there. Alone on the streets of a holograph-saturated city at night - Dahj is now hunted but also haunted by the face of Jean-Luc Picard who she sees being interviewed on TV by a smiling but wily host determined to get to her version of the truth and possibly make herself look good with her galactic viewers into the bargain (a clever way of introducing backstory). Finding him in France - and although they don't know each other at all – Dahj and Jean-Luc begin a journey to find out who or what she is and why their connection is so physically and mentally deep.

Orla Brady and Jamie McShane play Romulan housekeepers in France to our Star Fleet curmudgeon and the lovely Alison Pill (one of my heroes from the Aaron Sorkin TV Series "The Newsroom") turns up as a Synthetic Research boffin in Okinawa, Japan who hints to an animated Picard as to the possible true nature of Dahj. But it is of course Patrick Stewart reprising his most famous TV role that keeps you watching, infusing his Starship Captain with a humanity and dignity that few other actors could provide. Stewart's gravitas is extraordinary and as an actor he knows his character so well - his bruised Picard vegetating in retirement with his faithful hound by his side when his every sinew longs to be back in the thick of it – making at difference from the inside instead of giving interviews about what its like to be banished to the outside.

Telling y’all more would spoil the fun. I'm 62 this year and one of those people who waded through all 10 or 120 or whatever of the original Star Trek films with my brothers in the cinema - wearily trekking through the ups and down and have been baldly going to new frontiers (or multiplexes) ever since.

Episode 1 of Season 1 of Star Trek: Picard isn't genius or even groundbreaking for sure, but it is damn good, exudes class and feels like the start of something that could bring the flame back to life. Our beloved Star Trek seems to be back in the hands of those that love it as much as we have and will do this extraordinary space adventure proud – a wholly positive entity in our lives since the swinging 60ts.

So it seems that for now the needs of the many have indeed been met by the talents of the few, so we mere humanoids can go forth and boldly enjoy a galaxy just at the end of my remote and not in the least bit far away. Hell, I even want to kiss a communications officer in a first-time multi-racial clincher down at the Margate Universal Credit Office (I do hope she opens all channels if you know what I'm saying).

I'd better finish now because in my advanced dotage I can feel a set-my-phaser-to-stun joke coming on (I cannay control it Captain – oh do be quiet)...