3 Ships

Jon Anderson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 24, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Opio Media
• ASIN: B001AMNB4Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,681 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

3 Ships by Jon Anderson

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't be too scared of this re-issue..., November 29, 2008

By 

Jamie Tate (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 3 Ships (Audio CD)

Okay, so the do-it-yourself Photoshop look of the back cover where a more recent (and out of proportion) picture of Jon's head was placed on the smaller body of a 1985 Jon Anderson may have you thinking this is yet another careless reissue from Opio Media. Don't be afraid. And so what if the bonus tracks are thrown into the album's running order disrupting the flow we've all grown to love. It's not a problem. I can find ways to play it back in the original running order. And even though there are some bits that have been lost to early fades (Three Ships for example) I'm still not worried. And who cares if I see the name of the engineer who ruined the CD issue of Animation on the back cover. Never fear... this is actually a decent CD re-issue.

Like I said before I though Jon had squeezed me for more money when I saw remastering credit given to Mike Pietrini. Last itme I saw his name in the credits of a Jon Anderson CD it was for remastering the CD version of Animation. For that release he took a needle drop from a worn record (pops, ticks and scratches included!) EQ'd the crap out of it and then ran it through a limiter to the point of distortion and then they charged me $40!

However, for this release Mike may have regained some credibly. Basically what he did to make this 22nd Anniversary edition is rip the very nice sounding original Japanese CD of 3 Ships into his DAW and insert some bonus tracks. There was some minimal EQ and compression added but it's tastefully done. Two of the bonus tracks were ripped from the CD Change We Must (a Jon Anderson solo solo album from 1994... one of his very best releases, IMHO). Mike did a nice job of EQing these two tracks to fit in with the Japanese 3 Ships CD.

Also, there is a bit of a surprise on Ding Dong Merrily On High. There's something different with the backing vocals. Either they used the "BGV UP" mix or they took the original mix and overlaid the backing vocals at a higher level. The mix is the same but when I phase canceled it with the original CD I was left with only the background vocals. Kind of a neat addition. My only complaint is Mike must've EQd this track a bit when mixing the vocals in. It's just a bit on the dark side even though the original Japanese CD was bright and clear.

One last thing. Why was producer Roy Thomas Baker's name taken off the credits? Is there some rift between Jon and Roy? Is it a money thing (avoiding a royalty payment perhaps?)

Overall this is actually a decent release with some thought given to the sound quality this time. If you can't find that Japanese CD (catalog #32XD-886) this re-issue is a worthy place holder.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Another Mess from VoicePrint, November 25, 2008

By 

Billybobs (Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 3 Ships (Audio CD)

This was a favorite of mine when originally released on Vinyl.

However, As with Animation, this CD version is not remastered from the original Master Tapes, but is in fact a transfer from Vinyl. The sound quality is horrendous.

Secondly, most albums with bonus tracks place the tracks at the end of the original recording. For some insane reason they have decided to scatter these tracks randomly through the CD breaking the natural flow of the original. They're not even Christmas songs....

Thirdly, They have replaced the original Anderson head on the picture on the back cover with a more recent picture!!!!. The rest of the photo is the same, just the head is different! It looks stupid beyond belief.

This is another attempt by Voiceprint/Anderson to con the public. Shame on you all.........

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars i-Tunes Version of 3 Ships Available, December 2, 2008

By 

NortheStar "Out of the Clear Blue Sky" (Central, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 3 Ships (Audio CD)

This is my all-time favorite holiday album. Bought the audio cassette at a hardware store checkout display of holiday cassettes in the early 90s; don't ask me why I picked it up. It was love at first note. I was thrilled to just notice today that it is available on i-tunes (individual tracks for .99) or in its entirety (with five bonus tracks) for $9.99. I'm downloading, but looking for CD copy as well (will pursue the reviewer's suggestion of visiting the artists site). I agree with the reviewer concerned with sound quality, if familiar with the content, it could be easily distorted. It makes me tempted to hear it on vinyl. I also agree with the reviewer regarding the order of the bonus tracks, yuk! I can fix this with i-tunes download and my i-pod.