More All Music Guide Stupidity

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lukpac
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More All Music Guide Stupidity

Postby lukpac » Tue Oct 14, 2003 10:35 pm

For someone that writes so much for them, Bruce Eder sure seems to be able to screw things up easily.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... 66mpm39foo

Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs had been a vexation since the dawn of the CD era, its first issue marred by harsh textures and lots of noise, a result of the multiple overdubs on the original album.


While the recording itself isn't an audiophile masterpiece*, the original CD actually sounds pretty good. I'd go as far as saying *really* good.

Then Polygram issued the Eric Clapton box Crossroads in 1988, which included a new remastering of "Layla" and the handful of other songs from the album


Er...the title track was the *only* track included, and it was remixed, not remastered.

This set isn't the ultimate, enveloping experience of the Layla album that it could have been — a couple of years later, Mobile Fidelity released a CD that captured the majesty of the original album much better, and at the end of the 1990s Polygram followed suit as part of the "Clapton Remasters" series


I still haven't heard the MoFi, but in comparison to the various remastered tracks, the original CD holds up very well - I'll even say I prefer some of the tracks from the original CD.

Interesting that this is a fairly recent review - in particular it mentions the "late" Tom Dowd, who died a year ago. Also, I remember the old review saying *much* less about the various issues and instead focusing on how all the bonus material just took away from the original album.

*For all the bashing it gets, I actually think the mix/recording is pretty good. Sure, it's moderately hissy, and there are some board clicks in places, but other than that, I think it's a great natural sounding recording. But what do I know?
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby Chris M » Wed Oct 15, 2003 9:04 am

I can't stand the All Music Guide. Just look at the Hendrix entry for archetypal examples of their inaccuracy. A few examples

-The are no less than 100 'semi-legal' grey area releases listed in AMG under Hendrix. 70 of these 100 are either the Scene Club jam with Jim Morrison or the pre-Experience session with Lonnie Youngblood. Not only do they list these titles but they actually REVIEW many of them. There are 5 DIFFERENT reviews by AMG writers for the after-hours, amateur ecording of the Scene Club jam.

-Anyone notice how random AMG's catagorizations are? For example, Jimi Live at the Isle of Wight is listed in the 'ALBUMS' section but Jimi Live at Berkley is listed under BOXSETS, COMPILATIONS.

-Anyone ever read AMG's reviews of bootlegs? If you haven't they are a good laugh. Also, why do they group videos and bootlegs in the same catagory?

-Has anyone ever got a reply from BMG? Someone needs to tell them Mitch Mitchell wasn't in the Band of Gypsys.

Chris
Last edited by Chris M on Wed Oct 15, 2003 6:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Postby Xenu » Wed Oct 15, 2003 5:56 pm

Actually, Chris, w/r/t AMG's review of bootlegs, they tend to be wildly off *or* wildly fawning. Bootlegs, if you notice, almost always get lower star ratings than anything else on the page.

In the "wildly fawning" section, Mr. Eder (whose problem, I think, is simply that he's a bit overworked) absolutely adores those LP-alike digipaks of the Who/Stones/Beatles that came out a while back, whereas I'm of the "if you can get it anywhere else, do" camp (of course, they seem to have a monopoly on mono Stones at the moment...I wish someone would do a better rip of the mono Satanic and Buttons).
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Postby Grant » Fri Oct 17, 2003 5:28 am

Pthew! I never par attention to anything written in the All-Music site.

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Postby CDJones » Fri Oct 17, 2003 9:00 am

I recall a review of the Layla album in book called "Rock Music on Compact Disc" or something to that effect that I bought at the dawn of the CD era. They basically called the album dated and harsh. But, I have to agree with you, Luke, I find the album to be a pretty straight forward, live and honest sounding recording. And I'll take the original mix over the Anniversary remix any day.

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Postby lukpac » Fri Oct 17, 2003 5:10 pm

CDJones wrote:I recall a review of the Layla album in book called "Rock Music on Compact Disc" or something to that effect that I bought at the dawn of the CD era. They basically called the album dated and harsh.


Was that a longbox sized book? From 1987? I remember that review clearly. It basically said it sounded terrible, Layla was the only worthwhile song on the album, and that since it was just over the 74 minute limit of CD (!), it was the most expensive "CD single" ever (ie, you were spending all that money on two CDs for one song).

I also remember "boxy" being a common description, in particular in reference to Aftermath and Between The Buttons. Also something about "stereo processed mono masters" for the first four Beatles albums.

Interesting that I don't remember *any* mention of differences between US and UK CDs. I remember they'd give both catalog numbers in most cases, but would only mention one CD or the other. The Stones CDs mentioned were the London versions, for instance.

Man that was a horrible book.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby lukpac » Fri Oct 17, 2003 5:14 pm

Rock 'N' Roll on Compact Disc

I should buy a copy just to laugh at it.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Re: More All Music Guide Stupidity

Postby Grant » Fri Oct 17, 2003 6:06 pm

lukpac wrote:For someone that writes so much for them, Bruce Eder sure seems to be able to screw things up easily.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... 66mpm39foo

Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs had been a vexation since the dawn of the CD era, its first issue marred by harsh textures and lots of noise, a result of the multiple overdubs on the original album.




In fact, if i'm not mistaken, the thing was recorded "live" in the studio with minimal overdubs.

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Postby Rspaight » Fri Oct 17, 2003 6:09 pm

Ah, yes, good ol' Harmony books. If it's big, glossy and factually dubious, it's gotta be Harmony.

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Re: More All Music Guide Stupidity

Postby lukpac » Fri Oct 17, 2003 6:27 pm

Grant wrote:In fact, if i'm not mistaken, the thing was recorded "live" in the studio with minimal overdubs.


Depends on the song. Some are totally live, some have a few parts added or changed, and some (ie, the title track) have quite a few overdubs.

Speaking of Harmony, I also have a rock encyclopedia by them - same deal. Lots of "huh?" entries. Really poor editing, too. There are tons of references to other artists in the book that were since removed. And many great groups were removed in favor of then (mid '80s) "up and coming" artists.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby lukpac » Sun Nov 23, 2003 10:52 am

Here's another funny one:

Straight Up

Todd Rundgren's warm, detailed production makes each songwriter sound as if he was on the same page, although the bonus tracks -- revealing the abandoned original Geoff Emerick productions -- prove that the distinctive voices on No Dice were still present.


Anyone who's listened to this would know "warm" is the *last* thing you'd call the sound of Todd Rundgren's production style. "Detailed" perhaps, but many elements verge on thin, harsh, etc.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD