PXR 5 CD

[Tim Gadd]

Latest in recent batch of things-to-turn-up in my process of re-acquiring CD
versions of my old vinyl, is PXR 5 (cheers, Paul, if you're on this list).

Whereas I'm very happy to have this, and the overall quality of the sound is
excellant, I'm left with the same question as per Lucky Lief (though more
so, in this case) - why did they have to frig around with a perfectly good
album? Where did this remix/re-arrangement of 'High Rise' come from? IMHO
it's markedly inferior to the original, particularly in the vocal dept. On
the vinyl version Calvert sounds nicely manic, with that
frothing-at-the-mouth sort of edge to his delivery. On this one, other than
having acquired an annoying echo, the vocals are (for Bob) relatively
anaemic and lacklustre. It sounds more like a demo. And why the hell did
whoever re-mixed this album decide to jack up the instrument levels in the
last minute of the title track? I'm sure it must have seemed like a good
idea at the time. Must have been his faourite part of the song.

Griffin - if you are listening, and intend to re-release this album, please
restore it to its original form!

Are there similar differences between the vinyl and Virgin CD of the
Hawklords album?

Finally, I'm now convinced that the definitive version of 'Uncle Sam' is on
the Stonehenge 1977 CD-R (originally Weird 102/3 from memory). Calvert at
his most ferocious, Simon House hammering his keyboard like it's a rhythm
guitar, and the song hurtles along; all sharp edges and electricity. Nothing
wrong at all with the PXR 5 version, and it does have the nice spoken
section about Drum Majorettes, but it does seem a bit sedate compared with
that other live take.

Anyway, just my 2c. I guess there are people who grew up with the CD version
of High Rise, and prefer it, but it was a bit of a shock for me.
--
Tim Gadd
Hobart, Tasmania