THE GUESS WHO: Road Food / Power in the Music / So Long, Bannatyne / #10 / Rockin' / Flavours / Artificial Paradise / Wheatfield Soul (BMG Canada) |
You've probably heard the old adage: "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is." This is the perfect description of the 4 new 'two-fer' releases from The Guess Who. Fans have been clamoring for these 8 albums (3 of which had never been available on CD) since Buddah abandoned the band's reissue program back in 2000, leaving fans to make do with their scratchy old vinyl. When BMG Canada announced that they were going to reissue the band's remaining RCA catalog, fans were thrilled. Unfortunately, the end result didn't live up to the hype. In fact - all 4 of these discs are inferior to their vinyl counterparts. All four discs say that they were 'remastered from the original masters.' As someone who has had the original vinyl versions of these albums for years, I can say, without any doubt, that this is not the case. All of the albums have been compressed to the point where there is little or no dynamic range left. In some instances, songs have been edited, mixed differently, and/or equalized to make them sound 'better.' The artwork and liner notes have been reproduced from the original albums (most of them anyway), but that's about the only good thing I can say about them. After listening to these CDs, I find it very hard to believe that anyone involved with the band had anything to do with their release.
Power in the Music doesn't fare any better. The entire album (especially the first half) is compressed. The high end is boosted a bit on "Down and Out Woman." The end vocals on "Dreams" are buried in the mix, and Bill Wallace's intricate bass work is now lost in the mix. Cummings' spoken word parts in "Rich World, Poor World" are buried as well. One of the worst jobs on any of the tracks is on "Rosanne," when the intro is actually faded in. The title track (which is incorrectly listed as "Shopping Bag Lady" in the lyrics) has dropouts at 6:12 and 6:21 into the song.
#10 (1973) suffers from entirely too much bass on most of the album. Compression rears its ugly head once again on "Musicione." "Miss Frizzy" sounds fairly decent, although the vocals (once again) should be louder. "Self Pity" is the only track on the album that sounds like it should. The rest of the album's second side has way too much bass and "Just Let Me Sing" is a compressed mess.
Pairing Rockin' with Flavours (1975) is the musical equivalent of mixing apples and oranges. We're talking two completely different bands at this point in the group's history. The equalization and mix on most of Flavours is just plain terrible. Cummings' piano is buried on "Dancin' Fool" and the vocals are too loud. The acoustic guitar on "Hoe Down Time" sounds unnatural now, due to the EQ boost. From there, it's one extreme to the other. "Nobody Knows His Name" has too much bass. "Diggin' Yourself" has been compressed and the high end is muffled. "Seems Like I Can't Live with You " suffers from too much bass and major noise reduction at the end. "Dirty" also has major equalization and compression, and awful noise reduction at the end. The rest of the album doesn't fare any better.
Artificial Paradise (along with Flavours and Power in the Music) was one of the three albums never released on CD. Packaged in a paper 'sleeve,' this album was loaded with goodies--most of which are duplicated in much smaller form in the liners of the new CD. While the album was never one of the band's better sounding efforts, it still sounded better than it does here. The equalization and vocal mix isn't nearly as bad as it is on Wheatfield Soul, but it's still not right. And as is the case with most of the material reviewed here, there is too much compression as well. The bottom line here is that unless you feel the need to throw your money away on these CDs, hang on to your old vinyl or look for a new copy in your local used record shop or maybe on eBay. These CDs should be avoided. |
© 2004 Steve
Marshall |
Purchase Road Food / Flavours from Amazon.com |
Purchase So Long, Bannatyne / #10 from Amazon.com |
Purchase Rockin' / Flavours from Amazon.com |
Purchase Wheatfield Soul / Artificial Paradise from Amazon.com |