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Interestingly, the runout information shows "STERLING" and "RKS" (Ryan K. Smith, who mastered it).
Something interesting I noticed about Kevin's catalog numbering.
What is the best CD release of "Touchdown"?I for one Love Bob James music I lost track after his 3rd collaboration with Earl klugh the 1993 "Cool" album but I have every CD from Bob James "One" until the aforementioned duet album I consider those albums to be My Best Of Bob James but I'm glad to know he's doing covers of his own stuff updating them a bit.
I only have a version on Qobuz and it doesn't sound too bad. Not sure which CD release it might correspond to.What is the best CD release of "Touchdown"?
Have been looking for years.
I have the Warner Tappan zee version ( issued on CD in the 90s) it still sounds very good to me The original Vinyl version on Columbia Tappan Zee is also very good ( there might be a Columbia CD version of touchdown but I have never seen one otherwise I would have grabbed it) your mileage may vary though but at this point Bob James owns The Tappan Zee Label and it was distributed by the aforementioned labels and several others since the 90s I recommend you try the earliest versions as they are closest to the original soundWhat is the best CD release of "Touchdown"?
Have been looking for years.
Same here. I like the Bang! era recordings (basically two LPs worth), am lukewarm on the Uni output (it varies between brilliant and, um, not so brilliant as the years went on), yet the Columbia era recordings I can't tolerate listening to. (There's your "syrupy.") I seem to gravitate towards the music he made when he was hungrier. Which kind of makes sense, as even his earliest hits on Bang! are ones that he still performed in concert decades later, whereas the most recent albums were almost always forgettable.Like Bob James, I'm hot and cold on Neil Diamond,
I was infatuated with Neil Diamond’s writing at one point. I just stopped putting him in rotation some time ago.I'm hot and cold on Neil Diamond, and originally only put Moods in my Apple Music library. Fixed that this morning and am now listening to Beautiful Noise and really enjoying it.
I'm sure there will come a time where I find Neil too syrupy and trying too hard. I wonder if it'll be at the same point that I thought it back in the day.
I have this one too I love the opening track "Hypnotique" one of the Rod temperton compositions plus " the Enchanted forest" and the funky title track "Sign of the times" this was and still is one of his more Adventurous albums in my opinion
As luck would have it, the rabbit hole was calling.
The title track "Sign of the Times" had heavy rotation on our local jazz station, but the album never really clicked with me since I bought it on one of those bad-sounding Mastersound half-speed remasterings that CBS put out back in the day, where it always had a very strange and "thick" sonic quality to it.
This CD version does sound better, and I only just now noted that it is a Rod Temperton project (he wrote three of the six songs), so it actually reminds me a little of a Quincy Jones production from the same era.
Same here. I like the Bang! era recordings (basically two LPs worth), am lukewarm on the Uni output (it varies between brilliant and, um, not so brilliant as the years went on), yet the Columbia era recordings I can't tolerate listening to. (There's your "syrupy.") I seem to gravitate towards the music he made when he was hungrier. Which kind of makes sense, as even his earliest hits on Bang! are ones that he still performed in concert decades later, whereas the most recent albums were almost always forgettable.
Hot August Night is probably his towering achievement--his best material, a nearly perfect presentation, plus the concert and album established him as a top tier entertainer who became a perennial major concert draw in decades to come. I don't listen often, but it's always an experience like no other, one of the few live albums I like.
I'd read a few reviews saying his "back to roots" Rick Rubin-produced record 12 Songs was good, but even that one didn't grab me. Sony's copy protection crippled sales of the CD, however, and copies were recalled. By the time Sony rereleased the album on a standard CD at the end of that year, the momentum was lost. I need to give this one another spin one of these days.
The hidden gem for me is If You Know What I Mean. I consider this as being his best work and even of the best songs ever written by any artist. He really captures a heart wrenching regret (Diamond revealed this one is true).
I could never figure out the various versions of the song "Shilo". Some are mono, some stereo. Some have a toy piano interlude, some have a real piano. Some have a different lead vocal from Neil. And they seem to show up differently on the many compilations out there. I'm guessing that an original version belonged to "Bang" maybe a different one to Uni/MCA? A re-recording for a Columbia comp? Almost like Richard Carpenter remixes.
I think my preferred version is the stereo one that's on the MCA comp HIS 12 GREATEST HITS. It's only problem is that it's the shortest at 2:57 - probably why radio liked it! Somehow the other versions sound 'wrong'.Short version: Bert Berns, who owned Bang records, flooded the market with Neil's old stuff when Neil went to Uni. Some of it he tinkered with. In "Shilo"'s case, he overdubbed background vocals to make the original track sound more contemporary years later. And, like A&M and a lot of others back in the day, mono mixes and stereo mixes were often two entirely different things.
Neil ended up buying his masters back.
I think Barry's jazz and standards albums are terrific. I do have a soft spot for One Voice, however.