Customer Reviews

Let's Change The World with Music

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been a fan of Prefab Sprout since 1988, when, as a lover of vinyl and a frequent visitor of my local record store noticed FROM LANGLEY PARK TO MEMPHIS staring at me (this was when albums were cheaper and you could buy an album because it looked interesting). After that I found TWO WHEELS GOOD at a pawn shop on cassette (have since bought all their stuff on CD). But enough of my rambling...

I can't seem to play anything else other than this CD...I absolutely love it. True, it's just Paddy...no Neil, no Wendy, no Martin even. I love Paddy's passion, in his songwriting and his voice. I've never been disappointed in Paddy McAloon or Prefab Sprout. If you love Prefab Sprout you should love this one. It's great!

It was revealed about the time that Steve McQueen(UK)/Two Wheels Good(US) was remastered and re-released with added Paddy McAloon acoustic versions of some tracks that Paddy was coping with both blindness and deafness. So if he releases some older demos under the Prefab Sprout brand, give the man a break. Maybe his infirmities have brought him closer to his God as well. His is a remarkable legacy.

And I, like NME, believe that Steve McQueen IS one of the top 100 albums of all time. Thomas Dolby, who produced the album in 1985, and oversaw the remastering in 2006, states on his blog, "If you never heard this album, I urge you to seek it out. You won't regret it. And, if you like my music, please know that you don't have a complete overview unless you own this album and 1990's `Jordan: The Comeback'-because these two works are as close to my heart as anything I've ever put out under my own name." Enough said.

Paddy's comeback has been unbelievably good. 12 wonderful songs, mixture of Andromeda Heights and Jordan, the comeback. He keeps being one the most intelligent and sensitive music writers of all times. The twelve songs are magic and lyric. I miss Wendy in the background chorus but it is just a question of nostalgy.

Only one slightly negative point, the recording. It is not bad in general but, I cannot understand why most recordings nowadays are registered so loud. It's not necessary doing so and Paddy, who was very comitted in his recordings quality, have missed this in "Let's change the world with music".

Whatever it is, the important thing is the music into the record. This is beautiful, moving and of course A MUST HAVE if you like Prefab Sprout. The return has been a surprise for me and now I am delighted.

Thanks Paddy and keep up the good work (included recording quality). Your records deserve reference recording techniques.

Love

Paddy's comeback has been unbelievably good. 12 wonderful songs, mixture of Andromeda Heights and Jordan, the comeback. He keeps being one the most intelligent and sensitive music writers of all times. The twelve songs are magic and lyric. I miss Wendy in the background chorus but it is just a question of nostalgy.

Only one slightly negative point, the recording. It is not bad in general but, I cannot understand why most recordings nowadays are registered so loud. It's not necessary doing so and Paddy, who was very comitted in his recordings quality, have missed this in "Let's change the world with music".

Whatever it is, the important thing is the music into the record. This is beautiful, moving and of course A MUST HAVE if you like Prefab Sprout. The return has been a surprise for me and now I am delighted.

Thanks Paddy and keep up the good work (included recording quality). Your records deserve reference recording techniques.

This is a work of genius by the greatest songwriter of his generation, Paddy McAloon. These songs are beautifully melodic, with intelligent, penetrating lyrics sung by a man whose phrasing rivals that of Sinatra. "Here comes the last of the great romantics/Not tortured/Not racked/Illusions intact... undiscouraged by the facts..." This is music as it should be - inspirational, instructive, full of humor and wit. This is music that is life affirming. Buy this CD, let it enrich your life, and share it with your friends.

This is the Prefab album I've been waiting years to hear! Simply fantastic in every way. The lyrics are poignant, the arrangements are spartan but effective, and Paddy's voice is wonderful as ever. If you are a Sprout fan and don't have this yet: WHY NOT? This one makes up for lost time in a very big way. Here's hoping Paddy will release more fine efforts like this in the years to come. Very highly recommended!

Paddy McAloon has a box of unreleased recordings under his bed, and this release was one of them. I would like to hear the rest of them, so I have to chime in here. I'm AMAZED that all of these reviews are not five stars. The quality of the songwriting on this CD is absolutely stunning. The recording quality is very good for a demo, which is what it is. I'm beginning to think there are quite a few Prefab Sprout "fans" who really don't "get" Paddy, and are just waiting for him to re-release "Steve McQueen" over and over again. Paddy McAloon is not a rock star, he's a genre-jumping songwriter who can make a darn good, complete sounding album all by himself.

Soon as you listen to the first couple of tracks you realize how much you have missed Prefab Sprouts wonderful music.

This CD was never original released which is really hard to believe, but what a great surprise and treat it is to listen to some of best sounds out there.

Highly recommended.

It's incredible to realize that the corporate heads at the record company did not recognize the potential in this beautiful and very, very good music. It's a damn shame because it undoubtly LCTWWM would've been the triumphant and masterful followup to Jordan: The Comeback itself.

For not being a polished recording, rarely have the Sprouts come close to achieving such an emotional depth over the course of an album.

My beef with the record is Paddy McAloon interjected his current self via vocal overdubs into the old mix (perhaps for cohesiveness and a more finished sounding project, which is understandable). One moment you hear younger Paddy's subtle and boyishly earnest young voice and then a slightly gruff and almost indulgent over-earnestess of his older sounding voice creep in and trying to pass off the vocal take as existing on the same plane in time and space. The effect is like a fresco painter trying to match colors and fill in pieces that have fallen off the wall hoping no one will notice. Of course we notice. The ambiguity between it being packaged and sold as a new recording culled from old recordings is a strategy you wouldn't expect from a band as great as Prefab Sprout.

In other words, perhaps the lesson of this regrettably aborted project could be this: changing the world with music starts when both record companies and artist resist meddling.

Prefab Sprout stand the test of time. The vocals are still superb! Paddy's vocals as fresh as they did with the Swoon album. I'm very glad I purchased this CD. Earth:The Story So Far Video is fantastic as well.