Album Reviews

(This review, originally written back in 1995, appeared in Volume 1, issue 2 of The Tracking Angle as a review of Sony Legacy Gold CD ZK 66220, produced by Bob Irwin. It was an amazing sounding CD).

Now in 2007, Irwin gets to issue it on vinyl on his own label, Sundazed. As good as that gold CD sounds, this LP reissue sounds better (of course) and better than the original Bang LP, which was bright, hard and not particularly pleasant, though you could hear a great recording under the poor EQ. The music and sound numbers are for the new LP).

(Speakers Corner recently issued its180g version, and while it is pressed on superior vinyl and has smarter "fit'n'finish" (and is more expensive), it sounds really bright and hard. Ironically, the Speakers Corner version sounds closer to the original pressing, so if you want one closer to the original, get that one but as far as I am concerned its a replication of the original mistake).

In the mid sixties, American record producer Bert Berns was invited over to London to figure out what to do with the floundering Irish rock band Them. Bringing in an American was an almost unprecedented move, but Berns was an astute singles producer and a hit single is what Them and Decca records needed.

Berns immediately saw that the real talent in the group was the moody and difficult lead singer Van Morrison. After the group broke up, Berns invited Morrison to America for a quickie three day recording session. The goal was to record a few hit singles for Morrison and for Bang.

The result was "Brown Eyed Girl" Van's biggest single, later covered under another name ("Mr. Jones") by Counting Crows. Okay I'm being facetious. Needing an album, Berns packaged the singles sessions in a way Morrison probably didn't intend, but that was the record biz back then.

The rest of the material swings wildly between Berns' nose for commerce and Van's wild creativity. But central to the proceedings is the voice of 21 year old Van. Its there, fully formed as we know it now and ready for some real action. That would come a short time later with the release of the transcendent Astral Weeks.

Even though most of these songs eventually fall on their faces and some feature unintentionally funny qualities (like the bass riff on "Midnight Special" stolen from The Temptation's "Get Ready" ) there's enough good stuff coming from Van to make them all of interest including some outtakes Not on the LP).

These recordings done live to four track at famed A&R studios, now owned by Phil Ramone, have all the astounding life and presence of Make Way For Dionne Warwick (Scepter 523) also recorded at that venue.

This transfer is nothing short of brilliant. The sound on this CD is sensational: vibrant and bursting with musical energy (and much better sounding than my Bang LP which is compressed and tilted toward the top end). It should serve as a lesson to today's engineers on how natural and convincing a recording can be free of the studio shit that too many of them insist on depositing onto today's tapes. Van's three-dimensional vocal image standing right out front on the soundstage will blow your mind! The other instruments, bass, drums, guitar, tambourine, are captured with alarming honesty.

Here's how this was done: the original four tracks "....were mixed down to two track stereo on 30ips analogue tape , with all necessary processing (modest equalization and compression) done strictly within the analog domain; this was accomplished by use of appropriate, vintage gear in order to preserve the integrity and fidelity of the original recordings." Then it was digitized using Super Bit Mapping.

I don't know how you feel about reading something like that on a CD released by Sony, but for me its the kind of relief one feels after taking a giant dump. One that's been ten years in the coming.

Yes, you should hear this disc (referring to the gold CD) and then, you should invest a few bucks in Van Morrison : The Bang Masters (Epic/Legacy EK 47041) a 1991 (ADD) compilation. Compare the two dimensional, listless, un-involving, edgy yet soft sound on that mess, and you'll hear everything wrong with early CD and digital sound. You'll also wretch from the production liner notes which I won't quote here.

Forget the sound, the disc contains a pre- Astral Weeks version of "Madame George", an alternative version of "Brown Eyed Girl" which really should have been included on the gold CD, and a few other interesting tidbits.