The first one hit in 2000, and the last of the group so far came this year. So how do these reissues stack up against others and themselves?
LOOK AROUND (2000) - part of the Verve By Request series while still under the PolyGram umbrella, this was the first domestic release of a Sergio Mendes A&M album since FOOL ON THE HILL on the old A&M had gone out of print. The album was issued in a digipak format, with a simple fold-out "booklet" with credits and other artists' listings in the series. Artwork included the original album cover on the front, and the original back cover on the inside of the digipak gatefold. New liner notes graced the back cover along with the track listing and basic credits. A pink "obi-like" printed spine somehow cheapened the outer appearance, but the label on the disc itself was an encouraging homage to the old ochre A&M LP labels. The only odd thing about that was that the white background of the A&M logo, (somewhat oversized), was silver-colored from the CD itself, rather than a proper white color. The sound of the disc was a revelation, surpassing the Japanese release from the '90s.
EQUINOX (2002) - We waited around a couple of years, and with the folding of Verve and A&M all under the Universal umrella now, had little hopes of seeing more reissues, and yet we were all surprised when EQUINOX was announced. This one came out in a mini-LP format, mimicking a small record album, with a cardboard jacket, cloth/paper innersleeve, and a gold obi, almost as an homage to the Japanese style of putting a paper folded around the spine of albums, their purpose to provide Japanese text for largely other-language albums. In this case, the "obi" gave us brief liner notes, a track listing, some credits, and the fact that the disc was a 96khz, 24 bit digital transfer, and that it would only be available through May 2005. The outer cardoard was pretty much an exact replica of the original album, complete with original A&M catalog numbers and all, with a tiny "Verve" mention at the bottom of the back cover. Inside, the disc again featured the ochre-style label, though the background color is really closer to tan. The logo was better however, with a white behind it instead of silver. And again, the sound was superb, though some remarked that the master tapes might be sounding their age, with a few minor dropouts noted.
FOOL ON THE HILL (2004) - Again a couple of years went by, and again we thought the series had folded and again we were surprised when FOOL ON THE HILL was announced. This one marked a return to the digipak format, but this time, instead of a pink printed spine, a gold obi-like device was again used. This one was wider on both front and back, to make room for bar codes and FBI warnings. Underneath, the original outer covering of the gatefold album was finally, properly represented. As it was originally conceived, Sergio and his group are sitting on what appears to be a desert-like terrain. Open the cover and look at both panels, and it's revealed that they are sitting on a woman's body, with the "hill" clearly in view on the back cover. Since the days of the original SPX issue of the album, that back cover had all but disappeared as reissues substituted a picture of Sergio on a beach. Again, a tiny "Verve" credit appears on the back cover, low and unobtrusive. Instead of a booklet inside the front pocket of the digipack gatefold, we get a smallish folded poster, which recreates the inside of the gatefold of the original album, with pictures of the group in black and white, on the beach, using tin cans for percussion. The disc's label marked another improvement, getting the tan color to be more ochre-looking. The sound again was superb, marking the best-ever release of this album, far superior to the old A&M and Rebound issues, and an improvement to the sound of prior Japanese releases.
Two more years went by, and in 2006 we were presented with three Sergio Mendes re-issues. Perhaps sparked by Sergio's current popularity with TIMELESS, Universal released the original HERB ALPERT PRESENTS, CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS, and YE-ME-LE, all first-time issues on CD in the US. Still with the overall "Verve" imprint, these three were marked with a series title of "A&M ORIGINALS". These three are all housed in standard CD jewel cases, with simple fold-out booklets containing available credits. Front and back album covers are mimicked reasonably well on the booklet insert, with all of the old A&M catalog numbers still proudly shining through, and a tiny Verve credit at the bottom rear. Back covers feature uniform-looking artwork with new liner notes on the left with white-on-black text. Track listings and album credits are in a black-on-white rectangle on the right side with the printed gold/tan spine wrapping around to the front tray insert. Underneath the clear CD tray, we get the reissue packaging and mastering credits. The discs all appear to fit in well with the others in the series, with the label color perhaps a bit more back in the direction of tan. The sound on these vary a bit, with HERB ALPERT PRESENTS sounding just about as good as Japanese reissues (though not approaching the ancient MFSL LP mastering); CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS is perhaps as good as, if not a notch better-sounding than prior Japanese issues; and YE-ME-LE getting top honors for most-improved sound from the earlier issues in Japan.
All of these are worthy editions for your music shelves, with perhaps the only regret being the lack of consistency of appearance. But given that the catalog went from one label to another (both in periods of upheaval) during its release cycle, it's remarkable that we have these six at all!
If we interpolate ahead, we might conjecture a release for STILLNESS by 2008 - but I won't go there. For now the Japanese reissue of that one will suffice.
Harry
LOOK AROUND (2000) - part of the Verve By Request series while still under the PolyGram umbrella, this was the first domestic release of a Sergio Mendes A&M album since FOOL ON THE HILL on the old A&M had gone out of print. The album was issued in a digipak format, with a simple fold-out "booklet" with credits and other artists' listings in the series. Artwork included the original album cover on the front, and the original back cover on the inside of the digipak gatefold. New liner notes graced the back cover along with the track listing and basic credits. A pink "obi-like" printed spine somehow cheapened the outer appearance, but the label on the disc itself was an encouraging homage to the old ochre A&M LP labels. The only odd thing about that was that the white background of the A&M logo, (somewhat oversized), was silver-colored from the CD itself, rather than a proper white color. The sound of the disc was a revelation, surpassing the Japanese release from the '90s.
EQUINOX (2002) - We waited around a couple of years, and with the folding of Verve and A&M all under the Universal umrella now, had little hopes of seeing more reissues, and yet we were all surprised when EQUINOX was announced. This one came out in a mini-LP format, mimicking a small record album, with a cardboard jacket, cloth/paper innersleeve, and a gold obi, almost as an homage to the Japanese style of putting a paper folded around the spine of albums, their purpose to provide Japanese text for largely other-language albums. In this case, the "obi" gave us brief liner notes, a track listing, some credits, and the fact that the disc was a 96khz, 24 bit digital transfer, and that it would only be available through May 2005. The outer cardoard was pretty much an exact replica of the original album, complete with original A&M catalog numbers and all, with a tiny "Verve" mention at the bottom of the back cover. Inside, the disc again featured the ochre-style label, though the background color is really closer to tan. The logo was better however, with a white behind it instead of silver. And again, the sound was superb, though some remarked that the master tapes might be sounding their age, with a few minor dropouts noted.
FOOL ON THE HILL (2004) - Again a couple of years went by, and again we thought the series had folded and again we were surprised when FOOL ON THE HILL was announced. This one marked a return to the digipak format, but this time, instead of a pink printed spine, a gold obi-like device was again used. This one was wider on both front and back, to make room for bar codes and FBI warnings. Underneath, the original outer covering of the gatefold album was finally, properly represented. As it was originally conceived, Sergio and his group are sitting on what appears to be a desert-like terrain. Open the cover and look at both panels, and it's revealed that they are sitting on a woman's body, with the "hill" clearly in view on the back cover. Since the days of the original SPX issue of the album, that back cover had all but disappeared as reissues substituted a picture of Sergio on a beach. Again, a tiny "Verve" credit appears on the back cover, low and unobtrusive. Instead of a booklet inside the front pocket of the digipack gatefold, we get a smallish folded poster, which recreates the inside of the gatefold of the original album, with pictures of the group in black and white, on the beach, using tin cans for percussion. The disc's label marked another improvement, getting the tan color to be more ochre-looking. The sound again was superb, marking the best-ever release of this album, far superior to the old A&M and Rebound issues, and an improvement to the sound of prior Japanese releases.
Two more years went by, and in 2006 we were presented with three Sergio Mendes re-issues. Perhaps sparked by Sergio's current popularity with TIMELESS, Universal released the original HERB ALPERT PRESENTS, CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS, and YE-ME-LE, all first-time issues on CD in the US. Still with the overall "Verve" imprint, these three were marked with a series title of "A&M ORIGINALS". These three are all housed in standard CD jewel cases, with simple fold-out booklets containing available credits. Front and back album covers are mimicked reasonably well on the booklet insert, with all of the old A&M catalog numbers still proudly shining through, and a tiny Verve credit at the bottom rear. Back covers feature uniform-looking artwork with new liner notes on the left with white-on-black text. Track listings and album credits are in a black-on-white rectangle on the right side with the printed gold/tan spine wrapping around to the front tray insert. Underneath the clear CD tray, we get the reissue packaging and mastering credits. The discs all appear to fit in well with the others in the series, with the label color perhaps a bit more back in the direction of tan. The sound on these vary a bit, with HERB ALPERT PRESENTS sounding just about as good as Japanese reissues (though not approaching the ancient MFSL LP mastering); CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS is perhaps as good as, if not a notch better-sounding than prior Japanese issues; and YE-ME-LE getting top honors for most-improved sound from the earlier issues in Japan.
All of these are worthy editions for your music shelves, with perhaps the only regret being the lack of consistency of appearance. But given that the catalog went from one label to another (both in periods of upheaval) during its release cycle, it's remarkable that we have these six at all!
If we interpolate ahead, we might conjecture a release for STILLNESS by 2008 - but I won't go there. For now the Japanese reissue of that one will suffice.
Harry
Looking it up, BOTH SP-4378 and SP-4387 are attributed to nearly the same title. The former credits SM&B77, where the latter is just Mendes; both say "Live at the Greek Carnival".
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