"Atom Heart Mother" by PINK FLOYD (September 2011 EMI 'Discovery Edition' Remaster AND January 2016 'Pink Floyd Records' CD Reissue) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Funky Dung..."

Emerging from the Syd Barrett-led 60ts phase – PINK FLOYD started the new decade with the frankly bizarre "Atom Heart Mother" – a late 1970 album that signalled the new more Prog sound to come - but in "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" held onto the lunacy of old. And you have to give them credit for the name "Atom Heart Mother" and the wacky utterly unforgettable artwork – a lone moo-moo staring out at us from a field wondering what in God’s name is that man doing pointing a camera at my posterior when I’m just trying to graze some grass here? Curiouser and Curiouser...

Always a task trying to find a decent vinyl copy original – the length of the LP at just over 52 minutes did for its fidelity too. But all of that is thankfully part of the past because this 2011 James Guthrie and Joel Plante CD Remaster is a massive improvement on a dog’s ear of a recording (relaunched January 2016 on Pink Floyd Records). Here are the Holy Cows and the Funky Dung...

UK re-released 8 January 2016 – "Atom Heart Mother" by PINK FLOYD on Pink Floyd Records PFR5 (Barcode 5099902894027) is a straightforward 5-track reissue CD using the Remaster from 2011. It's once again housed in a gatefold card digipak, has a stickered sleeve (on the outer shrink-wrap) with the new catalogue number PFR5, a 12-page colour booklet with photos and lyrics and the same barcode as the 2011 issue (52:06 minutes). The original album gatefold is the centre pages of the booklet while the lyrics (never on the original) are now featured over new photographs of shovels and a pair of boots and other useless and pointless images. It looks nice for sure but informs you of nothing – no history – no liner notes – no updates or insights. It’s a damn shame that 2016 wasn’t used as a way to pump up the booklet into something special from their laughable 'discover nothing' from our 'discovery' editions of 2011. In fact you could argue that this 'Pink Floyd Records' 2016 reissue is in itself 'corporate' – the very thing they raged so much against on "Animals" and "The Wall" in 1977 and 1979.

The original version of this Remaster was released 26 September 2011 as a 'Discovery Edition' single CD on EMI/Harvest 50999 028940 2 7 (Barcode 5099902894027) – this 2016 version on Pink Floyd Records uses that 2011 remaster and the same artwork. The 'Discovery Edition' sticker is gone as is the horrible 'green and blue Ds' reinvented CD artwork that came with the 2011 issue – that's thankfully been replaced on the CD with the front album cover artwork.

1. Atom Heart Mother (Suite):

(a) Father's Shout

(b) Breast Milky

(c) Mother Fore

(d) Funky Dung

(e) Mind Your Throats Please

(f) Remergence

2. If [Side 2]

3. Summer '68

4. Fat Old Sun

5. Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast

(a) Rise And Shine

(b) Sunny Side Up

(c) Morning Glory

Tracks 1 to 5 are their 5th album "Atom Heart Mother" – released 10 October 1970 in the UK on Harvest SHVL 781 and in the USA on Harvest SKAO-382. Produced by PINK FLOYD and NORMAN SMITH – Recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London in 1970 – it peaked at No. 1 in the UK and No. 55 in the USA.

PINK FLOYD was:

DAVID GILMOUR – Lead Guitar and Vocals

ROGER WATERS – Bass, Guitar and Vocals

RICHARD WRIGHT – Keyboards and Vocals

NICK MASON – Drums

Guests: JOHN ALLDIS CHOIR on parts of "Atom Heart Mother"

Mastered by JAMES GUTHRIE and JOEL PLANTE at Das Boot Recording Studios in Tahoe in California in 2011 - the original 1st generation master tapes have been given a thorough going over (Guthrie is a Sound Engineer associated with the band since 1978). In fact - each song feels like these experts have spent a staggering amount of time worrying over every single nuance - because the audio result is truly impressive. That 2011 remaster has been reused for the January 2016 reissues.

The entirely instrumental Side 1 six-part suite "Atom Heart Mother" runs to 23:42 minutes and typically fades in with mad brass and a droning synth note.  Avant Garde artist RON GEESIN being the fifth accredited writer along with the four boys in the band – gives us a cornucopia of sounds - cars starting up – engines turning over – until it all settles down into a "Meddle" like duo of Richard Wright on Organ and Gilmour on Guitar. The clarity as Gilmour solos over that brass and lone organ is impressive – and as the still unidentified leading lady of the John Aldiss Choir comes sailing in – you can so hear where Mike Oldfield got some of his more orchestral ideas for "Tubular Bells" and "Ommadawn" from. When they fade out and we’re in "Funky Dung" – the Remastered Wright/Gilmour combo of Organ and Guitar is superb and certainly more muscular than I’ve ever heard it - and I still can’t make out what the Kate Bush-mad chanting voices are saying (very cool though).

After the indulgence of Side 1 - Side 2’s "If" comes as an Acoustic relief – Roger Water's delightfully upbeat "...if I go insane...please don't put your wires in my brain..." lyrics feeling like 1977 and not 1970. The audio on Gilmour's guitar is beautiful and even the background Richard Wright Organ/Piano playing is more evident. Richard Wright then stumps up "Summer '68" which feels like the kind of pretty song that would have not been out of place on 1972's "Obscured By Clouds" or even Kevin Ayers 1971 Harvest Records LP "Whatevershebringswesing". The brass and piano are loud and open for all the right reasons. Gilmour vocals his own "Fat Old Sun" but I've always felt it was not a great song. The album ends on the nutty 13-minutes of "Alan Psychedelic Breakfast" where someone babbles on about liking Marmalade and Porridge as they potter about in a kitchen before keyboards take over. After the musical interlude - it returns to our still unidentified hero warbling this time about 'breakfast in Los Angeles' with 'macrobiotic stuff'. It's fun but that's about all and you can't help thinking that they would have been better just allowing those lovely Acoustic Guitars in the centre passage simply play out the album (music boys - remember).

"Atom Heart Mother" is part genius, part knob and very much an example of an experimental time and a label prepared to let their artists go a bit bonkers for the sake of their art. But at least on this 2011/2016 CD Remaster - you can now hear it. And that faucet tap dripping that looped on the Side 2 run-out groove as your needle went over to the label can now be heard too. Moo moo indeed...

PS: OK - Cue the cow jokes:

I'd review this if only I 'cud' - you should see the 'udder' guy - let's 'milk' this one again - I'd lift this CD but it's too 'heffer' - check out the 'teats' on this one - I think we're 'dung' here...

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"Highway To Hell" by AC/DC (2003 Epic/Albert Productions 'ConnecteD Technology' CD Remaster) - A Review To Mark Barry...

"...Going Down...Party Time..." 

"...Paid my dues...playing in a rocking band...hey mama...look at me...I'm on my way to the promised-land..." Bon Scott sang with sly gusto on the amazing title track to "Highway To Hell" – their genuine breakthrough album from August 1979. But come February 1980 he was gone – lost to a dumb drinking binge - and I for one was miserable at his loss.

Luckily enough I did at least get to see the Bon Scott line-up of AC/DC on that tour in Dublin – a wow that still tingles my weary bones nearly 40 years after the event. Cocky, self-knowing and lecherous towards anything in a skirt (pencil or otherwise) – he was also possessed of a set of rasping pipes and a rapier wit – the kind of lead singer that made your mama worry and your daddy reach for the garden hatchet - ready to tame that excited appendage should to come looking for some post gig jiggery-pokery. 

Bon Scott was one of the best front men I've ever seen. Up there with Phil Lynott and Johnny Rotten - the man was impossible to ignore and impossible not to like - and their hour of adrenalin-fuelled Aussie Hard Rock on that cold Monday night was some of the most amazing Rock 'n' Roll I've ever seen. AC/DC had it all at that moment - a genuinely awesome thing to behold live - and then only a few months later - it was gone... 

After the blistering no-holes barred "Let There Be Rock" set in 1977 and the lukewarm reception to the excellent but more muted "Powerage" in 1978 – it was do or die for the Australian hard rockers – and time for a change. That smart move turned out to be a Producer – ROBERT 'MUTT' LANG – who gave AC/DC and their sensational new material the spit and polish it needed for American radio. Suddenly the world went nuts for the Pop-Rock of "Girls Got Rhythm" and "Get It Hot". In fact "Highway To Hell" could be called a 'classy' AC/DC album - if I can say such a thing about a bunch of misogynistic Hades-loving reprobates. Here are the horn 'n' tail details...

UK released May 2003 - "Highway To Hell" by AC/DC on Epic/Albert Productions EPC 510764 2 (Barcode 5099751076421) is a 10-Track CD Remaster of the 1979 US LP and plays out as follows (41:42 minutes):

1. Highway To Hell

2. Girls Got Rhythm

3. Walk All Over You

4. Touch Too Much

5. Beating Around The Bush

6. Shot Down In Flames [Side 2]

7. Get It Hot

8. If You Want Blood (You've Got It)

9. Love Hungry Man

10. Night Prowler

Tracks 1 to 10 are their sixth studio album (5th in the UK) "Highway To Hell" - released 3 August 1979 in the USA on Atlantic SD 19244 and in the UK on Atlantic K 50628. Produced by ROBERT JOHN LANG (aka 'Mutt' Lang) – it peaked at No. 8 in the UK and No. 17 in the USA.

Unlike "Let There Be Rock" and "Powerage" that have track anomalies requiring pages of explanation – "Highway To Hell" was a globally synchronised release – same 10 songs everywhere. This Epic 2003 CD reissue has what they call 'ConnecteD Technology' that allows you to access online content via your computer but I'm buggered if I've ever bothered. The card digipak is the same for all of these reissues - very tasty and tactile - picture CD - a 16-page booklet crammed full of colour photos, press adverts, picture sleeves of 7” singles, stage passes and Angus and Bon in various manic live poses (ERNIE WELCH liner notes). They’ve reproduced handwritten lyrics for "Highway To Hell" and "Shot Down In Flames" and the unique Australian artwork for Albert Productions APLP-040 is on the back cover. The inner pouch has Angus chucking a bucket of paint at something while the others giggle.

The GEORGE MARINO Remaster (done in the USA) is from 'original master tapes' and sounds sharp - rocking like the beast it is (aided by MIKE FRASER and AL QUAGLIEREI in the transfers). Some have complained there's too much treble but I'm thinking Lang put that polish on the finished product on purpose. This CD rocks and you can feel it on every song.

What I love about "Highway" is that everything clicks – the whole damn album is brilliant. Each track comes in – does the business – and leaves. The pace changes fast to slow – and at the centre of it – there's Angus riffing away like a loon while Bon finally has his vocals clearer than ever. And unlike 1980’s "Back In Black" which I found cold and uninviting – "Highway" is full of fun – Bon’s mischievous and downright un-PC lyrics making you giggle (and occasionally wince). As you navigate killer riff number one hundred and ten – you can just see him at the microphone – that twinkle in his eye and bulge in his pants. This guy has been there - drunk from the fountain of Rock 'n' Roll and set up camp in its life-replenishing waters (possibly wee-wee’d on its outer walls). Album tracks like "Get It Hot" and the fantastic slow riffage of "Night Prowler" still impress - while "Beating About The Bush" and "Shot Down In Flames" are anthems that fans get tearful about to this day.

Best Rock Band on the planet then and many would argue (in 2016) not a lot has changed. Genius...and I miss him...

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"Animals" by PINK FLOYD (September 2011 EMI 'Discovery Edition' CD Remaster 'AND' January 2016 Pink Floyd Records CD 'Reissue' Using The 2011 Remaster) - A Review By Mark Barry...

"...Born Into A House Full Of Pain..."

Despite (or perhaps because of) a musical landscape utterly blown open by the sheer violence and life-by-the-throat nature of Punk – good old misery guts Roger Waters of Rock Dinosaurs PINK FLOYD didn't seem to notice nor give a rat’s ass.

Recorded in 1976 and then released into a poisonous British landscape in January 1977 on Harvest SHVL 815 – even its dower Battersea Power Station 'industrial monolith' artwork seemed as grime-grubby as the portentous contents within where our cheery chappies blathered on about Orwellian things like Pigs and Sheep and the occasional Dog to the backdrop of an immaculately recorded guitar. It's coming from the sky – we're all going to die – nice. But none of that stops me from admiring the 2011 James Guthrie and Joel Plante Remaster on this more acidic of Floyd albums – relaunched January 2016 on Pink Floyd Records – the lads now just as corporate as the machine they so raged against nearly 40 years ago.

"Animals" remastered on CD is a huge improvement over the LP original – an album that sported a hard card inner sleeve itself inside a gatefold cover and has for years been notoriously difficult to get a good vinyl pressing of. This CD is 'massive' – and for all the right reasons – beautiful clarity that's made me reassess my loathing of both it and the 'the system is killing the kids' knob that followed – 1979's double "The Wall". Here are the newly floated Piggies...

UK re-released 8 January 2016 – "Animals" by PINK FLOYD on Pink Floyd Records PFR10 (Barcode 5099902895123) is a straightforward 5-track 2016 reissue CD using the Remaster from 2011. It's once again housed in a gatefold card digipak, has a stickered sleeve (on the outer shrinkwrap) and 12-page colour booklet (41:44 minutes).

The original version of this Remaster was released 26 September 2011 as a 'Discovery Edition' single CD on EMI/Harvest 50999 028951 2 3 (Barcode 5099902895123) – this 2016 version on Pink Floyd Records uses that 2011 remaster and the same artwork. The 'Discovery Edition' sticker is gone as is the horrible 'green Ds' reinvented CD artwork that came with the 2011 issue – that's thankfully been replaced on the CD with the Side 1 'Dog' label artwork of the original LP. The 'Sheep and Pig' label of Side 2 is nowhere to be seen.

1. Pigs On The Wing 1 (1:26 minutes)

2. Dogs (17:05 minutes)

3. Pigs (Three Different Ones) (11:26 minutes) – Side 2

4. Sheep (10:20 minutes)

5. Pigs On The Wing 2 (1:29 minutes)

PINK FLOYD was:

ROGER WATERS – Bass, Guitar and Lead Vocals

DAVID GILMOUR – Lead Guitar and Vocals

RICHARD WRIGHT – Keyboards

NICK MASON – Drums

Mastered by JAMES GUTHRIE and JOEL PLANTE at Das Boot Recording Studios in Tahoe in California in 2011 - the original 1st generation master tapes have been given a thorough going over (Guthrie is a Sound Engineer associated with the band since 1978). In fact - each song feels like these experts have spent a staggering amount of time worrying over every single nuance - because the audio result is truly impressive. That remaster has been reused for the January 2016 reissues.

Essentially three long pieces of music (17, 11 and 10 minutes) bookended by the short one-and-half minute acoustic strums of "Pigs On The Wing" Part 1 and 2 – the Audio improvement is immediate on hearing the opening. This is a beautiful remaster and when we enter the Waters/Gilmour written "Dogs" and its various Guitar-Solo parts – you're clobbered with the Production values Floyd and Engineer BRIAN HUMPHRIES brought to the original 1976 recordings (done at Britannia Row Studios in London). When Waters sings the verse beginning with "...and after a while you can work on points for style..." – the band kicks in, as does Gilmour's fabulous axework that makes the whole seventeen minutes so edgy. You can hear this version. The lyrics are incredibly bleak – old men dying of cancer – people born in a house full of pain – souls trying to shake of the creeping malaise. And when those dogs do start barking and Richard Wright gets a chance to make his keyboard presence felt – the effect is brilliant – ably supporting Gilmour as he rips into his Strat for the first of many solos.

Side 2 opens with treated piggy grunts and very clear Bass and Keyboard parts before Gilmour flicks that guitar on "Pigs (Three Different Ones)". I can never work out if Roger Waters blatantly vicious attack of England's Mary Whitehouse and her moral-crusading is either smart thinking or a petulant child with too much money barking at an easy target. 

And when he sings "...ha ha charade you are..." or "...Mary you're nearly a treat...but you're really a cry..." - he sounds like a wordsmith who can't get his words out. 

But there's absolutely no doubting the clarity of the Remaster and when it breaks down into more Pig noises and that slow Guitar strum - the rhythm instruments are better than ever – and that wild soloing towards the end is great. Many have commented on the similarity between Meddle’s "One Of These Days" and Animal’s "Sheep" - that same backbeat driving the song on. And it ends on the second variant of "Pigs On The Wing" – essentially a slightly different re-run of Part 1.

Even now I can understand why Punk Rockers (also enjoying a 40^th Anniversary or two) despised Pink Floyd and "Animals" – it still reeks of establishment supposedly ribbing itself. But that aside – the CD Remaster is a thing of wonder after all these years of less than great originals and half-assed reissues on newer formats.

Fan – or just curious - "Animals" on CD is a must buy. Apple (who are finally going to corporate the Battersea Power Station into a multi-media selling powerhouse) will be pleased...

"Teenage Licks/Ontinuous Performance" by STONE THE CROWS [feat Maggie Bell on Vocals, Lesley Harvey and Jimmy McCulloch on Guitars] (2015 Angel Air 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Keep On Rollin'..." 

England's Angel Air Label did a 2CD solid by the first two albums from Scotland's STONE THE CROWS back in September 2015 (see separate review). This October 2015 next-stage twofer gives us their 3rd and 4th platters on Polydor from 1971 and 1972 before the band imploded after the loss of their founder and inspiration Lesley Harvey (brother of Alex) from a freak electrocution accident on stage in May 1972.

Both their debut "Stone The Crows" and its follow-up "Ode To John Law” had been released in July 1970 and February 1971 to critical acclaim but few sales. Fronted by not one but two stunning Vocalists in Maggie Bell and James Dewar – Scotland's STONE THE CROWS also boasted the guitar talents of Leslie 'Les' Harvey (younger brother of Alex Harvey) and the songwriting genius of Keyboardist John McGinnis. Both Dewar and McGinnis had jumped ship by album number three "Teenage Licks" – replaced by Keyboard wizard Ronnie Leahy and then adding Jimmy McCulloch on Guitars for their final studio LP "Ontinuous Performance" (ex Thunderclap Newman and later with McCartney's Wings).

I've been after their wicked run of four albums on Polydor between 1970 and 1972 on affordable/decent CD remasters for years now – and at long last Angel Air of the UK (and in conjunction with the band) have acquired the tapes and remastered all four back into digital form and even found space to chuck on four bonus live tracks. Here are the pious birds of good omen...

UK released October 2015 – "Teenage Licks/Ontinuous Performance" by STONE THE CROWS on Angel Air SJPCD468 (Barcode 5055011704688) gives us their last two studio albums onto a 2CD set with four bonus tracks and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (49:22 minutes):
1. Big Jim Salter
2. Faces
3. Mr. Wizard
4. Don't Think Twice
5. Keep On Rollin' [Side 2]
6. Ailen Mochree
7. One Five Eight
8. I May Be Right But I May Be Wrong
9. Seven Lakes
Tracks 1 to 9 are their third studio LP "Teenage Licks" – released September 1971 in the UK on Polydor Super 2425 071 and January 1972 in the USA on Polydor PD 5020. Produced by MARK LONDON – Engineered by EDDIE OFFORD, GEORGE CHIANTZ and MARTIN RUSHENT.

BONUS TRACKS:
10. Let It Down (Live)
11. Going Down (Live)
Tracks 10 and 11 are from the "Radio Sessions: 1969-72" – originally UK released May 2009 as a 2CD Stone The Crows set on Angel Air SJPCD272

For "Teenage Licks" STONE THE CROWS was:
MAGGIE BELL – Lead Vocals
LESLEY 'Les' HARVEY – Guitars, Recorders
RONNIE LEAHY – Keyboards
STEVE THOMPSON - Bass
COLIN ALLEN – Drums and Percussion

Guests:
Dundee Horns (pre Average White Band) featuring:
Roger Ball, Malcolm 'Molly' Duncan and Noel (?) who play brass on "Mr. Wizard"
Wee Marie (?) sings on "Faces" and "Don't Think Twice"

Disc 2 (48:05 minutes):
1. On The Highway
2. One More Chance
3. Penicillin Blues
4. King Tut [Side 2]
5. Good Time Girl
6. Niagara
7. Sunset Cowboy
Tracks 1 to 7 are their 4th and final studio album "Ontinuous Performance" – released October 1972 in the UK on Polydor Super 2391 043 and in the USA on Polydor PD 5037. Produced by MARK LONDON – Engineered by MARTIN RUSHENT and JOHN BROMLEY.

BONUS TRACKS:
8. Good Time Girl (Live)
9. Penicillin Blues (Live)
Tracks 8 and 9 are from the "Radio Sessions: 1969-72" – UK released May 2009 as a 2CD Stone The Crows set on Angel Air SJPCD272

For "Ontinuous Performance" STONE THE CROWS was:
MAGGIE BELL – Lead Vocals
LESLEY HARVEY – Guitars on Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6
JIMMY McCULLOCH – Guitars on Tracks 5 and 7
RONNIE LEAHY – Keyboards
STEVE THOMPSON - Bass
COLIN ALLEN – Drums and Percussion
Guests: Roger Ball and Malcolm Duncan of the Dundee Horns

Although the 8-page inlay has new liner notes from Malcolm Dome and includes interviews with Maggie Bell and Colin Allen as well as a few photos – it's a disappointingly slight affair that doesn’t even bother to provide catalogue numbers for the LPs or proper release dates. What you do get is a potted history of the Scottish band arising out of the ashes of The Power who were managed by Zeppelin's Peter Grant. Grant had them change their name because an American group had already nabbed it – and it was he who suggested the much cooler moniker of STONE THE CROWS. A nice touch is that each CD is a picture disc of the album front covers – and the inner gatefold artwork for the beautiful-looking "Teenage Licks" album (done by C.C.S.) is used as a backdrop to the text on most pages. But there are sloppy typo errors in the band names like Jimmie instead on Jimmy and Collen instead of Colin. The inside of the rear inlay advertises other Stone the Crow and Maggie Bell releases on Angel Air...

There is no mention of who remastered the albums but there is a credit that the material is licenced from Maggie Bell and Colin Allen. The audio is a mixed bag of brilliant clarity one moment followed by awful hiss the next (thankfully the later is more in ascendancy).

The moment you play the two opening tracks of "Teenage Licks" - the kick-ass boogie of "Big Jim Salter" and the Rod Stewart soulful saunter of "Faces" - you're aware of two things - the great Remaster and why Maggie Bell won 'Vocalist Of The Year' so many times in those early years. Her rasp is fabulous and combined with the huge organ sound achieved by Leahy - the effect is like The Faces meets The Stones in 1971 with a woman leading out front instead of Jagger or Rodders. I still don't know the identity of 'Wee Mary' credited on the back cover of the album who harmonises so perfectly with Maggie Bell on "Faces" - answers on a postcard please. We then get the Brian Auger funky "Mr. Wizard" - a chugger written by Allen, Bell and Harvey. It starts with Auger organ notes floating over a cool backbeat but is soon joined by what Maggie Bell nicknamed the 'Dundee Horns' - several members of the Average White on brass. And dig that Harvey guitar work as Maggie roars about incantations. It's a dreadful cliché to cover a Dylan song but Stone The Crows turn "Don't Think Twice" into something Rock-Soulful - a superb version with real power.

Side 2 opens with the rollicking "Keep On Rollin'" - a boozy piano/guitar boogie with Maggie letting rip on those 'carry our heavy load' images while Harvey riffs alongside some Leahy organ soloing. The Scottish Traditional "Ailen Mochree" is 25-seconds of Maggie doing an Acapella rendition before things get all guitar/organ trippy and weird on the McGinnis composition "One Five Eight". I love this track - just when you've pigeonholed Stone The Crows as purely a good-time band - they give you the slightly Proggy five-minutes plus of "One Five Eight". Surely one of everyone's fave raves is the brilliant Faces boogie of "I May Be Right But I May be Wrong" - the kind of early Seventies piano/guitar romp that I've stuck on countless 70ts Fest CD-Rs. The album then ends on the slow piano and acoustic guitars of "Seven Lakes" and you're left thinking - why didn't this corking LP create more of a stir?

After three good LPs failed to make an impression on the British album charts – inexplicably the public seemed to notice record number four and the weirdly titled "Ontinuous Performance" charted first week of October 1972. Spurred on by this – Polydor launched "Good Time Girl" backed with "On The Highway" as a British 45 in November 1972 (Polydor 2058 301) but it failed to make the desired impression. No other singles were tried. With the whole album dedicated to Harvey who had passed in May 1972 from a freak accident (killed on the stage) - many feel "Ontinuous Performance" is somehow a lesser album but I've always liked it. Leahy's "One More Chance" allows Maggie to be Soulful while the (admittedly hissy) slide of "Penicillin Blues" lets both Harvey and Bell give it some Delta like its in their very DNA. I love the slinky instrumental "King Tut" but I'd warn that it's incredibly hissy here. 

Things cheer up with the obvious British Rock 'n' Roll single of "Good Time Girl" - where Maggie assures us that she's not after the local talent (no matter what the people might say). The nine-minute Leahy composition "Niagara" rocks for a few minutes before slowing down into an ambling Blues for its centrepiece - Harvey proving why his guitar playing was such a loss to the band. The power-ballad of "Sunset Cowboy" ends Side 2 with a very Soulful feel as Maggie matches Leahy's echoed piano playing. Very tasty indeed...even if it is a tad hissy in places...

It's not all undiluted genius for sure but Scotland's Stone The Crows are remembered with huge affection – and on the strength of this cool British CD Reissue - it's easy to hear why...

"Runt: Deluxe Edition" by TODD RUNDGREN (September 2014 Edsel 'Deluxe Edition' 2CD Reissue/Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Post Hanging Days..."

Back in May 2014 - Edsel of the UK began celebrating TODD RUNDGREN albums with 'Deluxe Edition' packaging upgrades - hardback book editions of key albums in his extensive back catalogue. The first three were "Something/Anything?" (a double-album from 1972), "A Wizard A True Star" (a single album from 1973) and "Todd" (another double from 1974). 

So here's the next batch of three for September 2014 - "Initiation" and "Hermit Of Mink Hollow " from 1975 and 1978 (see reviews) - and this - the forgotten "Runt" album - his 1970 solo debut LP for Ampex Records in the States - now extended into a double-CD edition with a bonus. Here are the details...

UK released 9 September 2014 (23 September in the USA) - "Runt: Deluxe Edition" by TODD RUNDGREN on Edsel EDSK 7075 (Barcode 740155707538) is a 2CD reissue of their October 2011 double that combined "Runt" (both versions). For this 2014 issue you get "Runt" only in its original 10-track album form on Disc 1 - with a 12-track 'Alternate Runt' on Disc 2 that also boasts a further bonus track. Here are the finite details for both versions:

Disc 1 "Runt" - US-only LP released May 1970 on Ampex A 10105 (40:50 minutes):

1. Broke Down And Busted (4:32 minutes)

2. Believe In Me (2:01 minutes)

3. We Gotta Get You A Woman (3:06 minutes)

4. Who's That Man? (2:59 minutes)

5. Once Burned (2:06 minutes)

6. Devil's Bite (3:52 minutes)

7. I'm In The Clique (4:55 minutes)

8. There Are No Words (2:09 minutes)

9. Baby, Let's Swing / The Last Thing You Said / Don't Tie My Hands (5:25 minutes)

10. Birthday Carol (9:12 minutes)

Disc 2 "The Alternate Runt" - November 1970 Version (51:47 minutes):

1. Broke Down And Busted (Intro: There Are No Words) (4:56 minutes)

2. Believe In Me (Alternate Mix) (1:58 minutes)

3. We Gotta Get You A Woman (Alternate Mix) (3:04 minutes)

4. Who's That Man? (Same as on the original version)

5. Once Burned (Same as on the original version)

6. Hope I'm Around (Early Version - different to the one that's on "The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren" album

7. Devil's Bite (Alternate Mix with extended guitar solo)

8. I'm In The Clique (Same as on the original version)

9. There Are No Words (Same as on the original version)

10. Baby Let's swing (Full Length Song)

11. Say No More (Exclusive to this version)

12. Birthday Carol (With some alterations)

13.Broke Down And Busted (Live At Carnegie Hall, June 8, 1972) - a BONUS TRACK. Originally released on the "Something/Anything" 2CD set in 1998

The attached 12-page booklet within has liner notes by Paul Myers from his superb tome "A Wizard, A True Star - Todd Rundgren In The Studio" and is an excellent read. There are black and white photos of a young and shorthaired Rundgren in the studio as well the hand-written album credits. The lovely Bob Zoell cartoon artwork on the rear of the original Ampex Records album is reproduced on the back of the hardback book gatefold. There is no new remaster that I can hear - this is the Edsel February 2012 version - that in itself was a Peter Rynston UK master using the 1993 American Rhino remasters. Don't get me wrong - the sound is superb. The only upgrade here is the cool-looking book packaging - which is a rather lovely thing to behold...

As a debut after NAZZ - "Runt" showed great promise and tracks like the 3-part "Baby Let's Swing" song (about Laura Nyro) were amazingly complicated and accomplished at one and the same time - and yet the whole album to me always lacked some kind of cohesion. I say this because when you hear the `Alternate' version - it hangs together better. Right from the get go there's the beautiful and ethereal vocals of "There Are No Words" as an opening for about 30 seconds - then it goes into the "Broke Down And Busted" we all know and love. The released album version of the delicate and rather lovely "Believe In Me" is better than the remix which gets too busy with instrument flourishes that distract. I love the inclusion of "Hope I'm Around" - it gives the whole album a more mellow feel and somehow makes "Runt" more about feelings rather than studio trickery. And the extended "Devil's Bite" rocks more. The "Laura" song "Baby, Let's Swing" stretches out and is better for it and the brass-meets-rock of "Birthday Carol" amazes me even to this day. With its hooky melody - "We Gotta Get You A Woman" was an obvious single (lyrics from it title this review) and the gorgeous 2-minute spacey vocal piece that is "There Are No Words" is properly amazing.

So there you have it - remastered and remixed - this is a very cool little reissue really - and a timely reminder of his genius...

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"Dog Of Two Head" by STATUS QUO (2003 Sanctuary/Castle Music 'Expanded Edition' CD - Sean Magee Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Something's Going On..." 

If 1970's "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" started the Status Quo Boogie Blitz of the Seventies rolling - November 1971's "Dog Of Two Head" is where 'From The Makers Of' began to win real legions of devoted fans.

Their last studio effort for Pye Records (the label would issue a cash-in 'Best Of' in 1973) - the quirkily named "Dog Of Two Head" album is a good old Rock record and a hair's breath away from the sheer head's down riffage of "Piledriver" in late 1972 (their first LP for England's Vertigo Records). In fact re-listening to it in 2016 and I'm brought back to zits, jeans and throwing embarrassing shapes with tennis racquets in the front room of my Dublin home as my poor parents looked on in their Black and White Minstrel Show amazement (and moral despair). I'd also forgotten how good it is (even the three "Nanana" extracts). Here are the Mean Girls, Gerdundula's and Railroads...

UK released February 2003 (reissued August 2013) - "Dog Of Two Head" by STATUS QUO on Sanctuary/Castle Music CMQCD 755 (Barcode 5050159175529) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with five Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (56:13 minutes):

1. Umleitung

2. Nanana (Extraction)

3. Something's Going On In My Mind

4. Mean Girl

5. Nanana (Extraction)

6. Gerdundula [Side 2]

7. Railroad

8. Someone's Learning

9. Nanana

Tracks 1 to 9 are their 4th studio album "Dog Of Two Head" - released 5 November 1971 in the UK on Pye Records NSPL 18371 and Pye Records PYE 3301 in the USA. It didn't chart in either country.

BONUS TRACKS:

10. Mean Girl (Early Rough/Alternate Mix)

11. Tune To The Music (7" Single) - 18 June 1971 UK 7" single on Pye Records 7N 45077, A - Non-album track

12. Good Thinking (7" single) - 18 June 1971 UK 7" single on Pye Records 7N 45077, B-side to "Tune To The Music" - Non-album track

BBC Session for the John Peel Show 3 March 1972

13. Mean Girl

14. Railroad

The 8-squares-per-side foldout inlay is a feast of fan memorabilia that is itself bolstered up by superlative and seriously detailed liner notes from DAVE OXLEY. Chief-mover and idea's man on the reissue was JOHN REED who has been behind so many great reissues and is a compiler fans trust and admire. SEAN MAGEE at Masterpiece did the superbly muscular Remasters and there's a special thanks to LIAM MOORE at the BBC for the Sessions. There are repro's of pictures sleeves for singles I've never seen - a Euro version of "Railroad" cut into a Part 1 and 2 - "Tune To The Music" with the boys at astride a car and a fab live shot of the boys 'heads down' on stage for "Mean Girl". In-between those are press adverts and uber-rare gig posters with them and Nazareth. It's beautifully done...

As with the "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" LP in 1970 – the numbskulls at Pye didn't prep the new and far better November 1971 album with any singles that would tempt and despite initial good sales - "Dog Of Two Head" failed to chart on either side of the pond. But as with Kelly’s it did increase a growing legion of fans both in Blighty and in Europe (especially Germany).

It's amazing even now to think that an obvious winner like "Something's Going on In My Head" with its hugely catchy guitar chords wasn't considered as a 45 (it would take Pye until 1973 to release "Mean Girl" as a single and that was only to promote their sour-grapes LP 'The Best Of'). They tried the stand-alone Rock/Bopper "Tune To The Music" as a Pye single in June 1971 and backed it with the cool Bluesy instrumental "Good Thinking" (both non-album at the time) - but it tanked and has proved a 45 rarity ever since. Even an edit of the seven-minute Boogie fest that is the LP opener "Umleitung" (German for diversion) would surely have elicited interest in the album - but wicked LP artwork in a gatefold sleeve or no - the album failed to sell.

"Nanana" turns up three times on the LP across two sides - the first two stabs are short acoustic/piano 'Extractions' that last less than a minute - until the final version simply called "Nanana" ends the album on Side 2 as a 2:25 minute full song. In a strange way the snippets make for brilliant interludes between the rockers like the brilliant "Someone's Learning" - apparently a comment on the Northern Ireland war raging in the six counties at the time. The other huge tune for Quo nuts is "Railroad" - a five and half-minute rocker with a catchy-as-a-cold hook that just won't quit.

I can't quite make up my mind as to which take of "Gerdundula" I like the most - the original October 1970 more acoustic-based 7" single mix (a Bonus Track on the "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" CD reissue that also came out in February 2003 also on Castle Music) or the re-recorded more filled-out album version presented here? July 1973 would see the 'Dog' version from 1971 belatedly released as a 45 on Pye 7N 45229 with "Lakky Lady" from 'Kelly's' on the B-side. Whichever take - the nonsensically-titled "Gerdundula" is a total winner - a clever and endlessly cool little Quo tune...

"Dog Of Two Head" is a great Seventies Rock album and this CD Reissue does it proud. The 'Quo' folks - would we have them any other way...

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"Pinball And Other Stories" by BRIAN PROTHEROE (May 2006 EMI Music CD Compilation Of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Run Out Of Pale Ale..."

Long forgotten UK song troubadour BRIAN PROTHEROE released three albums on Chrysalis Records in the mid Seventies and they make up the bulk of this excellent and long overdue mini-retrospective (a sort of mini 'Best Of'). Here are the flees in the bedroom...

UK released May 2006 – "Pinball & Other Stories" by BRIAN PROTHEROE on EMI Music 360 7182 (Barcode 094636071824) is a CD compilation of Remasters that breaks down as follows (72:58 minutes):

1. Pinball

2. Goodbye Surprise

3. Money Love

4. Changing My Tune

5. Fly Now

6. The Monkey

Tracks 1 to 6 are from his album "Pinball" - released October 1974 in the UK on Chrysalis CHR 1065

7. Enjoy It

8. Oh, Weeping Will

9. Running Through The City

10. Soft Song

11. Pick-Up

Tracks 7 to 11 are from his 2nd album "Pick-Up" - released October 1975 in the UK on Chrysalis CHR 1090

12. I/You

13. Dancing On Black Ice

14. Never Join The Fire Brigade

15. Hotel

16. The Face And I

Tracks 12 to 16 are from his 3rd album "I/You" - released September 1976 in the UK on Chrysalis CHR 1108

17. Thick And Creamy

18. Cold Harbour

19. Holyoke Hotel

Tracks 17 and 18 are on a CD called "Unreleased" - only available in a rather expensive 4CD box set called "Brian's Big Box" on Basta from 1997. The box contains all 3 of the above albums plus a 4th disc of unreleased songs. Track 19 "Holyoke Hotel" is a new song from the "Citysong" CD of 2003.

Most of the tracks are similar (if not as good as) "Pinball" - a superb lone hit for him in the UK in September 1974 on Chrysalis CHS 2043 (sort of 10cc meets The Beach Boys pop). And as you play through the tracks after it - IAN SMITH's remastering hits you - clear, muscular, revealing - similar in fact to the superlative job EMI did on the 5 Labi Siffre albums they also re-issued in 2006 (his UK catalogue from 1970 to 1975 on both Pye and EMI).

There are traces of Seventies singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, Pete Wingfield, Phillip Goodhand-Tate and Al Stewart too. "Money Love" is very "Year Of The Cat" territory - clever acoustic guitars meets bass runs and a catchy 10cc pace. While "Changing My Tune" feels like Colin Blunstone circa "Say You Don't Mind". "Enjoy It" from 1975's "Pick-Up" is plucky with a little Salsa thrown in while "Running Through The City" is very Seventies Clifford T. Ward ("I ordered from the menu but I never paid the bill...") and its easy to see why Chrysalis tried it as a 7" single in September 1975 on CHS 2077 (it didn't chart). "Face And I" is a lovely melody (sort of Eric Carmen) while the growing up song "Never Join The Fire Brigade" is fun if not a little slight. And on it goes to the big production values of "Holyoke Hotel" which is lyrically brilliant and full of lush string arrangements.

It's not all genius by any means - but those nuggets are worth it - and the remaster sound is absolutely top notch...