What's to like?
The first thing you notice is that the sound is HUGE. This is most obvious in the first four tracks, culled from The Ark and Cabbages and Kings, which were originally heavily injected with sound effects and instrumentation typical of the post Sgt. Pepper/Satantic Majesty/Pet Sounds period. This time around there's still great percussion, heavy bass, woodwinds, horns, and strings (I'd guess these are synth sounds, and they work well), plus the great vocals. And rather than feeling this is all the studio "look what we can do" excess of that earlier period, everything included here fits, and enhances. (I've got a so-so quality 6.1 surround sound system. Good Onkyo receiver, and neat 100 watt powered sub woofer courtesy of my BFF George, but, only ok speakers, if truth be told. Anyway, this CD shakes the house nicely at moderate volume :)).
And that's just the first 4 songs.
After that, we've got:
1 - A hint of banjo and the remarkable bass in Progress.
2 - A surprisingly deep and effective harmony in the chorus of When & If I Can.
3 - A new sparkling arrangement of Distant Shores that both hints at the romance of the 60's version (and I loved the strings and horns on the original LP cut) and brings in some new guitar solos at the end of the song to make it new again.
4 - Their best performance of Homeward Bound to date. This one is closest to the S&G verision while keeping it their own.
5 - "Nice, dad, Chad & Jeremy doing reggae," comment from my son listening to The Way You Look Tonight. While my leanings are toward the 60's Lettermen version on this one, I've grown quite accustomed to the reggae stylings here :). And you gotta love the bass.
6 - I Have Dreamed has simply astonishing guitar work. The solo and the piece at the end of the song simply wipe me out with their beauty. Oh, yes, and the vocal harmony!
7 - Jeremy's vocal on a vastly re-worked No Other Baby.
And that's only part of it all. This is a really an album for guitar players to enjoy over and over again. No solos for the sake of solos, no speed scales, just lyrical and soulful playing that beautifully colors each song, every step of the way.
The songs here are 40+ years old. What's remarkable is that you need not even know that these were hits when you were a kid. The lyrics remain relevant, and meaningful, and that's a smart comment on the guys' original choice (or at the very least, agreement) to record them in the first place. So, the song choices may be a trip down memory lane, but the new arrangements, the pristine sound, and the simple virtuosity of the new performances make this both new and contemporary.
Quibbles? The omissions of I Don't Want To Lose You Baby (I know, I know, and I bet you tried it. Just another of my original C&J faves :( ), and You Are She, a very moving and beautiful a capella concert favorite. And that's it.
You boys done real good here. And I'll repeat my thanks for helping me grow up, all those years ago :).
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Thanks for the great review, Tony: I agree with everything you say here, but you say it so much better than me :-) And, yes, the guitar playing is out of this world, as well as the voices!
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