Customer Reviews

East Side Story

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"East Side Story" is the greatest album of Squeeze's long, distinguished career. It was their fourth album, and they were on an amazing trajectory, with each album revealing growing craftsmanship and confidence, culminating in this masterpiece in 1981. Difford's wry lyrics remained fascinating, but it was Tilbrook's growth as the music-writing half of the team that was leading them into astounding new realms of creativity. He seemed to be able to absorb all musical styles and spit them out in wildly diverse gem after gem. The songs were becoming ever more melodically complex, but without sacrificing the catchiness that it essential to this sort of pop music. (On later albums he would sometimes be guilty of going too far with the melodic complexity, but no sign of that yet in 1981). In addition, Tilbrook had blossomed into a wonderful vocalist, and his guitar leads had become models of dazzling efficiency. (I defy anyone to name a more exquisitely consise guitar solo than the 12-second masterpiece in the middle of "In Quintessence".) New keyboardist Paul Carrack (of pub-rockers Ace and "How Long" fame) is a smoother fit for Difford and Tilbrook than his predecessor Jools Holland, and his lead vocal showcase, "Tempted", became Squeeze's biggest hit to date. Among the other highlights: the achingly lovely ballad "Labelled With Love", here given a gentle country treatment, but you could just as easily imagine this song sung by a crooner like Sinatra or Tony Bennett (assuming the crooner could pull off Difford's lyrics); the rockabilly "Messed Around", which sounds like it's straight out of Elvis' Sun Sessions; the more typical Squeeze pop-rock gems "Is That Love", "Someone Else's Bell", and of course "In Quintessence"; and the amazing "Mumbo Jumbo", wherein Tilbrook combines 3 or 4 great melodies into a single three-minute classic. Elsewhere there are Beatles-inspired orchestrations and dark sonic experiments. Squeeze hit their peak here, and their albums of the past 20 years have often come close to the heights reached on "East Side Story", without ever topping it. This album is an absolute must-own for any Squeeze fan.

Make no mistake, East Side Story is the band's early masterpiece. While Sweets was far more experimental (as was Cool for Cats), the band's fourth album focused on songcraft. Originally intended as a double album (with hopes for Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Dave Edmunds and someone else who I can't recall at the moment), East Side Story is the band's most perfectly formed album.

Every track belongs here and the arrangements from the startling guitar break on Inquintessence to the organ hook that opens Tempted are brilliant. This is an album that's crying out for a second disc of live material from the same album. The two bonus tracks are a mixed bag. One's quite good and the other is just a so-so remake of an oldie.

The American Beat version reportedly has better dynamics and is a flat transfer of the original release but I don't have it nor have I heard it for comparison. It doesn't have any bonus tracks.

By the way, this is exactly the same remaster that was used for the box set Six of One that is now out of print.

This is without question my favorite album by my favorite band - SQUEEZE. Each track is incredibly different yet the album flows like no other. From the straight ahead pop of "In Quintessence" to the Patsy Cline-ish "Labelled With Love", every song is a gem. Glenn Tilbrook's voice and lead guitar are in fine form, and Chris Difford adds his usual dark edge and humor to the record. Strangely enough, "Tempted" is probably my least favorite cut from the record - I've always though it sounded better in concert with Glenn singing rather than Paul Carrack. Gilson Lavis and John Bentley provide a stellar rhythm section - check out the bass playing on "Someone Else's Heart", and the drum fills on "Mumbo Jumbo". I love this record - I wore out the grooves on the album, and the CD still gets regular airplay in my house. Just a batch of great songs - not a clunker in the bunch....check it out!

While I have to believe that Argy-Bargy is the better album, East Side Story is a classic that deserves the highest rating.

Really fun, with great songs (the original release of Tempted), this album is a must-have for any serious collector of British rock.

Sometimes a little on the odd side, this album is great fun to listen to.

When I first bought "East Side Story" in 1981, it didn't leave my turn table for over a month. Living in a city which at the time was starving for new music, being hung up on the tired 70's rock and disco, this album was a breath of fresh air. "In Quintessesnce", "Piccadilly", "Is That Love" to name a few of this album's many great cuts are excellent pop songs. It is a shame that "Tempted" is the cut that received all the airplay from the album, because there are at least a half a dozen superior songs on "East Side Story". While some times dark and moody, this album contains some of pop's great lyrics and melodies. Based on this release, as song writers, Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook were considered by some to be the next Lennon and McCartney. While an unfair comparison from either perspective, Tilbrook's sweet vocals and catchy melodies when merged with Difford's insightful lyrics created many songs to rival some of the Beatles best mid-sixties work. This is a must CD for anyone interested the late seventies/early eighties New Wave sound. Other great Squeeze releases include, "Cool for Cats", "Argybargy", and "Sweets from a Stranger".

I just received a new copy of this CD by the label American Beat, and regarding the sound quality, in a word: crap. This is not a remaster like with ArgyBargy. The first song, In Quintessence sounds as if it was mastered from a cassette as the highs dropped slightly at least twice during the course of that short opening song. If you want to own this CD, the price is not bad. But if you're a sound quality nut like me, you may want to wait around for the remaster if it ever happens. Record companies are not known for remastering an entire artist or group's catalog to completion. They often stop at some odd point, such as The Cure albums. They stopped at Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me when they should have kept going until they remastered Disintegration, which badly needs it instead of their first album or two, which was pointless. The rest of the CD sounds (quality-wise) average. Better than a mastering from the 1980's but not quite what I was looking for in terms of detail. A pity. This band and especially this album surely deserves better.

The domestic Squeeze catalog has never received the courtesy of being brought properly into the digital world by the odious conglomerate that is Universal Music USA.

This travesty is the old LP-EQ'd master from the original vinyl album release, and it sucks mightily.

There are two import CD's with far better audio of this great album:

The 1998 UK remaster, which also has two bonus tracks, and the 2007 Japan mini-sleeve remaster, which contains four additional tracks.

I mention both because the '98 UK import is still in print, readily available, and the less expensive of the two. The '07 'sleeve edition, while available as of this writing, is, as all Japan mini-sleeve CD's are, a limited-edition, and will probably sell out quickly.

So, if you are considering buying the '07 'sleeve CD, don't hesitate, because as "East Side Story" is the jewel in the Squeeze catalog, it will certainly be gone in the near future.

FYI: On 4/25/07, an eight-album, newly remastered Squeeze catalog mini-sleeve release ("Squeeze", "Cool for Cats", "Argybargy", "East Side Story", "Sweets From A Stranger", "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti", "Babylon And On", and "Frank") was issued, all of which, again, are limited editions.

WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI-LP-SLEEVE" CD?

Have you ever lamented the loss of one of the 20th Century's great art forms, the 12" vinyl LP jacket? Then "mini-LP-sleeve" CD's may be for you.

Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. The disc is packaged inside a 135MM X 135MM cardboard precision-miniature replica of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Also, anything contained in the original LP, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and/or die cuts, are precisely replicated and included. An English-language lyric sheet is always included, even if the original LP did not have printed lyrics.

Then, there's the sonic quality: Often (but not always), mini-sleeves have dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2/K2HD, and/or HDCD), and can often (but not always) be superior to the audio on the same title anywhere else in the world. There also may be bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.

Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "obi" ("oh-bee"), a removable Japan-language promotional strip. The obi lists the Japan street date of that particular release, the catalog number, the mastering info, and often the original album's release date. Bonus tracks are only listed on the obi, maintaining the integrity of the original LP artwork. The obi's are collectable, and should not be discarded.

All mini-sleeve releases are limited edition, but re-pressings/re-issues are becoming more common (again, not always). The enthusiasm of mini-sleeve collecting must be tempered, however, with avoiding fake mini-sleeves manufactured in Russia and distributed throughout the world, primarily on eBay. They are inferior in quality, worthless in collectable value, a total waste of money, and should be avoided at all costs.

I found this album on vynal at my local record store last spring. I bought it because when I was a little girl my dad used to play this album and dance around the house with me. I expected it to hold nothing more than nostalgia. It had been so many years, yet I still remembered most of the words and melodies. It's also interesting to know that this was Paul Carrack's (of Genesis fame)side project. It frustrates me that people only know tempted. In Quintessence and Piccadilly should have been hits. The album flows, while touching on different sub-genres of ska. Elvis Costello's influence is very obvious. I personally like ska because it's fun, and on this album, they're having FUN!

'East Side Story',Squeeze's fourth album is the only one to feature keyboard player Paul Carrack.This album has one big US pop hit but it's a BIG one-"Tempted" not only sets a nearly impossible standard to high songcraft for them but the soulful,gospel drenched piano and organ playing of Carrack give the catchy song a great classic 60's soul feel.The album is fairly diverse although "In Quintessence","Picadilly","Woman's World" and "Someone Else's Bell" stick very closely to Squeeze's classic economical retro 60's pop/rock style.Elvis Costello and Dave Edmunds also make a guest appearance resulting in the wistful country-western of "Labelled With Love"-the album's big British hit and (sadly) it deserved a better American fate-it's a very catchy tune."Vanity Fair" probably sparked some Beatles comparasins with it's symphony orchestra backdrop and classy lyricism and it's a valid statement.The album closes with Glen Tillbrook's catchy rockabilly of "Messin' Around".Meanwhile "Someone Else's Heart","There's No Tomorrow" and "F-Hole" are all great rock grooves with great basslines.So it being said that 'East Side Story' is not without it's adherants this would be an excellent first Squeeze CD to own if you don't have any music by them.If you already do get it anyway-it's still a classic pop album and as close to being as purely that genre as one could want.

This is the Godfather 2 to Argy bargy's Godfather 1. Tremendous follow up. In Quintessence, Someone Else's Heart, and of course, Tempted, are Squeeze at their peak. I had seen them in concert several times during the production of East Side Story, and they were at the top of their game. If you like this, "Difford and Tilbrook" has a good beat. Both albums (they were albums back when I first bought, and I still have) have a "summery" sound. Perhaps it's just me, as I began listening to each summers of 1982 and 1983 respectively!