Album Reviews

They are expensive ($40.00), they are 200 grams thick, the titles are mostly inspired and as you might expect, the pressing and jacket quality are absolutely spectacular.

The great unanswered question is "How do they sound?"

The first one I received and played immediately was this Stevie Wonder classic, probably his greatest album, though some would argue it's Talking Book.

With "Too High," "Visions," "Living For The City," and "Golden Lady," it's easy to argue for Innervisions.

Side two's lineup of "Higher Ground," "Jesus Children of America" (you know it even if the title doesn't register), the gorgeous ballad "All In Love Is Fair," "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" and "He's Misstra Know-It-All" is equally stellar, and with the added novelty of Margouleff and Cecil's Moog and Arp synth programming, plus great arrangements and probably the best sound Wonder ever had in support of his music, this album is definitely a classic worthy of an expensive AAA reissue.

I compared this to two original American pressings and a Japanese Victor reissue from 1977 (VIP 6004).

Now here's a curious fact: the back of the jacket credits George Marino with mastering the LP at The Cutting Room in New York. However, despite years of searching, every early copy I've ever seen was mastered at Kendun in Los Angeles. Go figger.

The original Kenduns do sound fine. This was always a good sounding release and even the vinyl quality was pretty good.

In retrospect, the Victor Japanese pressing has mushy, overly EQ'd bass and a soft overall sound. It's not as good as the original.

This new reissue will thrill most fans of this album with its pressing perfection, ultra-silent backgrounds and incredible detail, especially on top. the cymbals will fall into your lap, the percussion rattles with newfound detail.It's like being right in the studio and sitting at the mixing board.

However, the price paid for all of this detail is a bit of hyper-brightness that accentuates the slightly hashy sibilants that you can hear on the original but that are masked by the more subdued EQ.

I played this album on a variety of cartridges including the lush sounding Air-Tight PC-1, and even on that cartridge, the sound was a bit tipped up and the sibs somewhat aggressive.

The EQ choices have been very carefully drawn in that you won't hear overall brightness (unless your system is so), just a thin band of it right where the cymbals shimmer, and the percussion jangles. It's also where the sibilants reside, so when Stevie hits "S" or "T" words, you'll know it!

But, the snare and cymbal detail is astonishing and you'll forgive the sibs to get the goods on the percussion.

Naturally all of this is system dependent. You can be sure if your cartridge is tipped up, or worse, not properly set up, you'll hear more than a hint of the brightness and if your system is bright and hard it will be grating. That's not the record's problem.

Dynamics and transparency are all you'd demand for paying $40 for a vinyl LP. If you like this sophisticated set you will hear it as you never have and be more than happy with your purchase.

I paid for it and I am. This is the definitive Innervisions.

Understand that the cost to your record dealer, from what I've been told by many of them, is such that their profit margin is miniscule. In fact, when you consider their hidden costs, it's probably a break-even affair for most of them, which means they're stocking and selling these reissues as a "public service."

Despite the cost, I've been told that most of the titles in this series are sold out, or are about to be so, so don't hesitate. At least if you want this one. More soon!