"Gold" by STEPPENWOLF. A CD Remaster Sensation!

This review is part of my Series "SOUNDS GOOD: Exceptional CD Remasters 1970s Rock And Pop" Download Book available to buy on Amazon to either your PC or Mac (it will download the Kindle software to read the book for free to your toolbar). Click on the link below to go my Author's Page for this and other related publications:

                       http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00LQKMC6I

"...Sookie Sookie..."

As you can see from this release's dull artwork and naff title, on the outside, this reissue has all the imagination and aesthetic appeal of a cold hamburger on a Monday morning. It's the kind of compilation you'd probably ignore in the rack of your local music emporium. "Gold" for God's sake!! So why review it - and should you give it the time of day? Because of what's contained on the "inside".

I've had various compilations throughout the years in order to have Steppenwolf tracks in my collection - both British and American issues - and some like 'The Beat Goes On' British 2CD set of the first two albums - are excellent. But they are all rendered redundant by this fantastic 2CD anthology. The difference lies in the STUNNING RE-MASTERED SOUND engineered by ERICK LABSON. This is way better than anything else previously issued and the sheer numbers of tracks also make it seriously great value for money. LABSON is one of those great unsung heroes of CD re-issues. Working on the huge and varied Universal catalogue, he has a monumental 800+ credits to his name for Engineering, Mastering, Restoration and Digital Remastering stretching back to the early Nineties. So he knows his way around a master tape or two. His exceptional tape work is behind the following generic titled series you've probably seen across Amazon's vast store (most are from the Universal catalogue):

"20th Century Masters The Millennium Collection"
"Blues Classics Remastered & Revisited"
"Chess 50th Anniversary Collection"
"The Definitive Collection"
"Gold"
"Rock `N' Roll 50th Anniversary Edition"

His mastering/re-mastering ROCK credits include: The Who's "My Generation Deluxe Edition", Neil Diamond's "Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings", Joni Mitchell's "The Beginning Of Survival", Wishbone Ash's "Argus" and Three Dog Night's "The Complete Hit Singles" - and as anyone who owns these will know, they are all exceptional in their sound quality - and thorough in their presentation.

Back to "Gold". The set covers the first and better part of Steppenwolf's output from 1968 to 1974. For the uninitiated and prospective buyer, the albums are listed below and then after the discography, what track is from what album:

1. Steppenwolf (1968)
2. Steppenwolf The Second (1969)
3. At Your Birthday Party (1969)
4. Monster (1970)
5. Steppenwolf Live (1970)
6. Steppenwolf 7 ((1970)
7. For Ladies Only (1971)
8. Forgotten Songs & Unsung Heroes (John Kay Solo LP, 1972)
9. My Sportin' Life (John Kay Solo LP, 1973)
10. Slow Flux (1974)

DISC 1
1. Born To Be Wild (Steppenwolf)
2. Sookie Sookie (Steppenwolf)
3. Everybody's Next One (Steppenwolf)
4. Your Wall's Too High (Steppenwolf)
5. Desperation (Steppenwolf)
6. The Pusher (Steppenwolf)
7. The Ostrich (Steppenwolf)
8. Take What You Need (Steppenwolf)
9. Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf The Second)
10. Don't Step On The Grass Sam (Steppenwolf The Second)
11. Tighten Up Your Wug (Steppenwolf The Second)
12. It's Never Too Late (Steppenwolf The Second)
13. Jupiter's Child (At Your Birthday Party)
14. Rock Me (At Your Birthday Party)
15. Monster: Suicide/America Medley (Monster)

DISC 2
1. Move Over (Monster)
2. Power Play (Monster)
3. Hey Lawdy Mama (1970 7" single)
4. Snow Blind Friend (Steppenwolf 7)
5. Who Needs Ya (Steppenwolf 7)
6. Renegade (Steppenwolf 7)
7. Foggy Mental Breakdown (Steppenwolf 7)
8. Hippo Stomp (Steppenwolf 7)
9. Screaming Night Hog (1970 7" single)
10. For Ladies Only (For Ladies Only)
11. Tenderness (For Ladies Only)
12. Ride With Me (For Ladies Only)
13. I'm Movin' On (John Kay solo - Forgotten Songs & Unsung Heroes)
14. My Sportin' Life (John Kay solo - My Sportin' Life)
15. Drift Away (John Kay solo - My Sportin' Life)
16. Straight Shooting Woman (Slow Flux)

Fans will note that 8 out of the 11 tracks on their Dunhill 1968 debut LP are on Disc 1, 4 from the 2nd album too and a hunk off of '7' - all great news. The sound quality is glorious. If you can't play them through Media Player, then go to the iTunes Store and click a 25 second listen to "Sookie Sookie" and "Everybody's Next One" and you'll hear what I mean - just stunning! It would be a fan's dream if Labson could get to do "extended versions" of their 1st two classic albums "Steppenwolf" and "Steppenwolf The Second" - both of which deserve to be given as much status as anything that rocked out of the late sixties. I do wish Steppenwolf weren't forever attached to 'that' song - solely - almost as if it's all they ever did!

Universal’s GOLD Series:
Each title usually consists of 2CDs, each is digitally remastered/mastered from the original tapes and each is a comprehensive anthology with many titles properly presented for the first time anywhere.

Some of the record labels covered are: ABC/A&M/Brunswick/Cadet/Checker/Chess/Coral/Duke/Dunhill/Island/MCA/Mercury/Tamla Motown/Verve/Vogue - and many more besides under the Universal umbrella. They began to appear in 2004 and are on-going into 2008. There are huge numbers of artists in the series right across the musical spectrum - here's the list:

Aerosmith, The Allman Brothers Band, Joan Armatrading, Louis Armstrong, Asia, Burt Bacharach & Friends, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Beautiful South, Chuck Berry, James Brown, J.J. Cale, The Carpenters, Cinderella, Joe Cocker, The Commodores, The Cranberries, Cream, Bing Crosby, The Crusaders, Neil Diamond, Eric B. & Rakim, Fairport Convention, Ella Fitzgerald, The Four Tops, Peter Frampton, Connie Francis, The Gap Band, Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday, Engelbert Humperdinck, Buddy Holly, John Lee Hooker, Joe Jackson, The Jam, Etta James, Rick James, Tom Jones, B.B. King, Kiss, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Kool & The Gang, Patti LaBelle, Level 42, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Brian McKnight, The Mamas & Papas, Bob Marley & The Wailers, John Martyn, The Mavericks, The Moody Blues, The Neville Brothers, Olivia Newton-John, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Ohio Players, Robert Palmer, Parliament, Poco, Lionel Richie/Cmmodores, The Righteous Brothers, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Rush, Scorpions, Nina Simone, Dusty Springfield, Squeeze, The Statler Brothers, Status Quo, Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart, The Style Council, Sublime, The Supremes, Tears For Fears, The Temptations, Pete Townshend, Traffic, Various – AM, Various – Classic Country, Various – Disco, Various – 80’s, Various – 80’s British, Various - More Motown Classics, Various – Motown Classics, Various – Old School Jams, Various – Reggae, Various – 70’s Gold, Various – 60’s Gold, Various – Southern Rock, Sarah Vaughan, The Velvet Underground, Dinah Washington, Grover Washington Jr., Barry White, Whitesnake, Hank Williams and Zamfir.

On the down side, because of commercial limitations and a crowded marketplace, for some artists here, the "gold" series is probably all we music lovers are going to get in terms of their work presented to us in top sound quality. The naff artwork and unimaginative presentation in general, hasn't and doesn't help. This series seems to have come out and gone away - ignored by a public awash with such titled compilations. Which is a damn shame, because the quality of the material, the huge number of tracks on each - and above all, the simply brilliant sound-quality, means that they're all languishing unloved, unnoticed and unused in digital purgatory somewhere near you. My advice is – if you see an artist you like on the “Gold” series – buy it!

For a few dollars/handful of pound coins, you can acquire this great Steppenwolf 2CD set - and be like me - start searching second-hand vinyl stores again for good copies of their original LPs - because you've just rediscovered how bloody good they were and still are!

I can't recommend this 2CD retro enough. Buy with the utmost confidence and enjoy!!

"War" by U2 (July 2008 Universal/Mercury Music Group/Island Interscope Records 2CD 'DELUXE EDITION' Reissue) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"....We Can Break Through...We Can Begin Again...

On New Year's Day..."

U2's third album was unleashed on an expectant world in late February 1983 and launched them as a genuine global phenomenon. This long overdue CD Remaster is released today, Monday 21 July 2008 in the UK and then 22 July 2008 in the USA and other territories. Also released today are "Boy", their 1980 debut and "October" their second album from 1981. Alongside Audio Engineers Arnie Acosta and Bernie Grundman, the band’s guitarist The Edge has personally overseen the remastering of all of them utilising the same team that brought us the amazing quality re-issue of "The Joshua Tree" last year (2007).

DISCS:

Here in the UK - "War" by U2 (like the others) comes in no less than 4 physical variants. The single CD is a straightforward remaster with an extended and upgraded booklet (it's one of those new round corner jewel cases) and costs £10 (Universal/Mercury Music Group/Island/Interscope Records 1764647 (Barcode 602517646476). 

The second is this issue - the 2CD Deluxe Version at £20 - the 2nd disc being the B-sides of singles and new previously unreleased mixes (Universal/Mercury Music Group/Island/Interscope Records 1761675 (Barcode 602517616752). 

The third variant is a Limited Edition containing the 2CD Deluxe Edition housed in a DVD sized card box with a T-Shirt of the album sleeve - it costs a frankly ludicrous £35 and is a waste of space and money in my book (Universal/Mercury Music Group/Island/Interscope Records 17797994 (Barcode 602517616752). 

Last is the humble 10-track LP of "War" by U2 on Universal/Mercury Music Group/Island/Interscope Records B0010832-1 (Barcode 602517616745) - it's housed in a repro of the original gatefold sleeve and is pressed on 180 grams vinyl with upgraded liner notes - it costs £15 and is a limited edition (mastered for vinyl by Bernie Grundman). 

This review is for the 2CD DELUXE EDITION of "War" by U2 - here's the layout:

CD1 (42:11 minutes):

1. Sunday Bloody Sunday [Side 1]

2. Seconds 

3. New Year's Day 

4. Like A Song...

5. Drowning Man 

6. The Refugee [Side 1]

7. Two Hearts Beat As One

8. Red Light 

9. Surrender 

10. "40"

Disc 1 is the 10 track original album, issued March 1983 on Island ILPS 9733, remastered 2008 (42:11 minutes)

CD2 (59:29 minutes):

1. Endless Deep

2. Angels Too Tied To The Ground 

3. New Year's Day (7" Single Edit)

4. New Year's Day (USA Remix)

5. New Year's Day (Ferry Corsten Extended Vocal Mix)

6. New Year's Day (Ferry Corsten Vocal Radio Mix)

7. Two Hearts Beat As One (Long Mix)

8. Two Hearts Beat As One (USA Mix)

9. Two Hearts Beat As One (Club Version)

10. Treasure (Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop)

11. I Threw A Brick Through A Window/Day Without Me (Live)

12. Fire (Live) 

Disc 2 is the B-sides of 7" and 12" singles from Germany, the UK and the USA along with two brand new mixes of "New Year's Day" - all tracks remastered in 2008. It should also be noted that the CD lists 12 tracks, but the booklet lists only 11 – and in the wrong order! Looks like the track list was changed at the last minute, but the booklet wasn’t upgraded to reflect this – a bit sloppy to say the least considering the expensive price of the 2disc set. Whether this is a mistake or a hidden track - is unsaid, but the song not listed on the packaging is number two, "Angels Too Tied To The Ground". 

PACKAGING:

Housed in an outer hard card sleeve is a 36-page hardback booklet with lyrics, album history by noted writer NIALL STOKES, 7" singles pictured, photo outtakes from the videos and a detailed breakdown of the tracks on Disc 2. The booklet is extended over the single CD version by about 12 pages and there are informative notes by The Edge on how and why some of the B-sides were recorded. Both CDs are picture discs with 2 members of the band on Disc 1 and the other 2 on Disc 2. A nice touch is the way the card leaves that hold the CDs have slits at their base to let the disc slide out a fraction (it would have cut through anyway). It's a small thing, but nice attention to detail. The packaging is good, and classily presented, but the best bit is the SOUND...

SOUND:

Remastered by ARNIE ACOSTA at Bernie Grundman Mastering, the tapes and remasters were also overseen by THE EDGE and the quality achieved is FANTASTIC! I've waited like most fans for over 20 years to hear "Seconds", "Drowning Man", "Surrender" and "40" in truly great sound quality and this re-issue delivers that in dollops. The drums are clear and loud, the guitars and keyboards passages leaping out of the speakers at you - the live-in-the studio recordings now brought to the fore and given the real muscle they needed. As I say - FANTASTIC STUFF. Fans will really delight in this.

EXTRAS:

The extras, however, are a very mixed bag. “Endless Deep” is the non-album B-side to the German and UK 7” singles of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and is a sort of a meandering instrumental – interesting but hardly great. "Angels Too Tied To The Ground" is much better though and new to me - it's got to be an outtake from the sessions - musically it sounds like a rehearsal for "New Year's Day". It's a fully formed song and would have made a great B-side - it's a superb little ditty - and without question one of the best surprises on here. Fans will eat this one up. Unfortunately, tracks 5 and 6 are - in my mind - absolute travesties. They're 1999 Ferry Corsten remixes of "New Year's Day" which sound like those endless crap versions that came off the "Pop" album's CD singles - they're staggeringly inappropriate to an 1983 album and its unique sound. What were they thinking about - tagging these on here - they're so out of place as to be laughable? "Treasure..." is the B-side to the UK issue of "New Year's Day" while 10, 11 and 12 make up the 3 other songs on the UK double 7" pack of "New Year's Day". The live tracks are good, but not that well recorded. All in all, with 4 mixes of "New" and 3 mixes of "Two", Disc 2 is a very boring and disjointed experience. In truth, I doubt I'll be returning to these soon, despite their rarity value.

To sum up, Disc 1 is 10 out of 10, but Disc 2 is pushing 5.

"War" is a superb U2 album and still stands up to this day - and this great remaster has only reminded us of that. Shame that Disc 2 lets the side down somewhat. Fans will have to own this 2CD Deluxe Edition, while the casual buyer should opt for the single disc version instead...

"Barnstorm" by JOE WALSH. A Review Of The 2006 Hip-O Select CD Reissue And Remaster.

This review is part of my Series "SOUNDS GOOD: Exceptional CD Remasters 1970s Rock And Pop" Download Book available to buy on Amazon to either your PC or Mac (it will download the Kindle software to read the book for free to your toolbar). Click on the link below to go my Author's Page for this and other related publications:

                       http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00LQKMC6I

"Sets Me Free Without A Warning..." - Barnstorm by JOE WALSH (2006 Hip-O Select CD Remaster)

It's hard for me to be rational about Joe Walsh's "Barnstorm" - I've adored it for over 30 years and this brill-sounding CD reissue has only made matters worse!

First things first though - this HIP-O SELECT re-issue has had a troubled existence. It was first released in January 2006 to howls of derision because someone had used the wrong master tapes (laden with unbearable amounts of hiss) and even left gaps between the songs on Side One where certain tracks segue into each other. Mistakes were admitted, it was withdrawn, and it re-appeared in November 2006. To complicate things further, there are in fact 4 variants of the album on CD, the US 1980s crappy MCA issue which is rubbish, the wonderful silver disc version by Mobile Fidelity in 1990 which is superb but rare and pricey, a 24-bit remaster issued in Japan in December 2004 as a mini-album repro that is now also rare too and extortionately priced. And now this - the Hip-O Select USA November 2006 re-issue. I've got the Mobile CD, the Japanese repro and now this - and to my ears, the HIP-O SELECT version is even better than the Mobile and Japanese issues. Finally, a remaster worthy of the record and - what a peach of a remaster it is!

HISTORY:
Having left THE JAMES GANG behind after 3 great albums, Walsh recruited KENNY PASSARELLI and JOE VITALE to record his solo debut in March of 1972. It was finally released in the USA on Dunhill DSX 50130 in October 1972 with its British counterpart released November 1972 on Probe SPBA 6268 (later reissued in 1974 on ABC). It was afforded the luxury of a gatefold sleeve, which is reproduced on both sides of the gatefold inlay in colour (the inside of the UK sleeve was in black and white). There's no new liner notes though - nor any juicy bonus tracks nor outtakes - which is a damn shame - a missed opportunity there.

SOUND:
The album has been REMASTERED by GAVIN LURSSEN who did such exceptional work on the two STEPHEN BISHOP Hip-O Select titles "Careless" and "Bish" and the stunning 2 CD "Gold" set for Universal by THE CRUSADERS (see separate reviews). Originally produced and engineered by BILL SZYMCZYK, "Barnstorm" was always a `sloppy' album in feel (in stark contrast to say "So What" from 1974) and was always going to be a difficult album to remaster well - but LURSSEN has done a fantastic job. The instruments are live and in your face. There is still hiss on some of the tracks but in the main it's minimal. Some love the rough feel of the recordings; it drives others crazy; personally I find there's charm in them that's missing in the more polished later albums. The production difference for instance when you go from the slightly hissy "Giant Bohemoth" to the all-out riffs of "Mother Says" is marked. MS rocks like a monster now and even in the centre passage where all the instruments crescendo and threaten to get out of hand, this remaster holds it all together - YOU HEAR IT ALL - the drums, the wonderful keyboard flourishes - even the men giggling like loons at the end when it fades out. Superb stuff.

But then comes the gem I've been waiting for - "Birdcall Morning" - I'm lost man - I go to pieces at hearing this. After 30 years it finally sounds a fresh as a new sixpence - a beautiful song now given beautiful sound. I've A/B'd this with the Japanese issue and it's just brighter - fuller somehow - wonderful. "Turn To Stone" is the original version and is just HUGE in sound - a little `too' rough I would say for most tastes. The album ends with the lovely acoustic ditty "Comin' Down" - the strings rattling around the speakers with the harmonica playing it out.

A little know fact about one of the album tracks is worth mentioning. "I'll Tell The World (About You)" was written by ALAN GORDON and ALLAN JACOBS of the obscure American band THE MAGICIANS. They made 4 singles on US Columbia in the mid Sixties (never got an album out). The band featured FELIX CAVALIERI who later went on to be with The Rascals and Mountain - Walsh probably heard the song through him. Sundazed have a wonderful CD out which has this beautiful song on it - well worth checking out. A top-notch cover version done by Walsh - and a truly magical criminally forgotten Sixties original - someone please stick this in an advert somewhere!

To sum up, the remaster on this forgotten 1972 gem is a joy. "Barnstorm" is an album you need to get into your life and this version of it is the best yet.

Joe Walsh once ran for President of The United States of America. On the strength of this album, I could never understand why he didn't he get the job.

"A Load Of Blather". A Review Of The Book Highlighting The Best Of The Witty Posts On "Blather.Net"

"...Team Of Irish Scientists Find "The Clitoris"..." And Other Ball-Breaking Stories!

I’ll openly admit to being biased on this book, as one of the three writers is my younger brother Damien.

Like the British, Irish people have a blinding sense of humour and a healthy knack of taking the piss out of country’s respective lunacies. Set up in Ireland for fun in 1997, Blather.net is an Internet site that does exactly that – it features ballbreakingly funny articles about varying things that get on the tits of Irish people. The Irish Press quickly picked up on it of course – producing several of the better stories – and it snowballed from there. The 140 pages of this book feature 29 of their best posts.

If you find that titles like "Unidentified Feckin' Objects", "Most Of The Internet Is About Bobby Darin" and "Irishwoman Deafened By Ticking Of Her Own Biological Clock" already have you giggling, then you get the general idea. My personal favourites are "IRA Announces Massive Redundancies" in which the Peace Process and market forces (influx of Euro terrorists who’ll do the job cheaper) have left the boys proclaiming, "...we simply can't compete". I almost wet my Shamrock-shaped Y-fronts at "Clontarf-Based Science Team Find "The Clitoris"..." which was (we’re reliably informed) located in the back of a Fiat Punto on Dollymount Beach in Dublin.

What's great of course about so many of these life vignettes is the delicious irreverence of them – especially in the face of so much po-faced political correctness nowadays. You can’t help but feel that the world desperately needs a laugh like this.

If I was to bring up a downside, it's that the posts often came with equally funny visuals and none are reproduced here – hopefully they’ll get that rectified with the next print run.

Irreverent, clever, insightful and very funny – you should treat yourself to this book. In truth, I found myself with it in Soho Square on Kirsty MacColl’s commemorative bench giggling like a loon at lunchtime. And when a very nice lady from Toronto couldn’t resist anymore and asked me what I was chortling at, I had to tell her the awful truth. I’ve a younger brother who’s funnier and smarter than I am.

Fecker!