Customer Reviews

Endless Flight (Original Recording Remastered)

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

 

 

There are some great songs on this album but I was really disappointed with the remastering. The sound has been puffed up too much. There was a noticeable increase in tape hiss due to the excessive top and bottom end EQ. Too much was done during mastering and we're left with something that doesn't resemble the original sound.

Remember when you were a kid and used to press silly putty onto comic strips? The first thing you'd do is stretch the picture so the character's faces were distorted and elongated. That is what this remastering sounds like. The sound is stretched and distorted away from the original mixes. It's like the audio version of watching a 4:3 show on an HDTV... Stretch-O-Vision(tm).

Friday Music has been releasing a lot of great stuff. It's unfortunate Joe Reagoso has taken this heavy handed approach to mastering.

When this album was released in 1977, I asked my Mom to buy it for me when I was 12. I loved the monster single "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" and I wanted the album when I heard that the LP had a longer version than the radio cut. I had no idea then that this album would be something that I would long for on compact disc more than 30 years later.

From start to finish, this album is Leo's masterpiece that boosted him to fame in the United States. Prior to this, he was only known in the US for the single "Long Tall Glasses" as well as penning the Three Dog Night hit "Must Let The Show Go On." "Endless Flight" is a well-produced package, where every song is memorable. It is the kind of album that you pull out of your collection to listen to in its entirety. Each song compliments the next. There is no "filler" on this collection.

The album starts off with "Hold On To My Love," an upbeat pop opener with a very catchy hook. Then comes the smash hit disco single "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing." What better of a song could he release at a time when the Bee Gees were kings. It had the disco-stomping beat, the falsetto vocals and a chorus that shot it up the charts. Leo flew to the US and made the rounds performing this song on the many variety shows of the time.

A progressive version of the Supreme's hit "Reflections" follows the hit single, then the album slows down for the chart-topping ballad "When I Need You," an adult contemporary favorite for the older audience. "No Business Like Love Business" picks up the pace and ends the first side of the LP.

"I Hear The Laughter" is a well-arranged, well sung soulful track, followed by the soft-sounding "Magdalena." "How Much Love" was the third single released from the album that didn't chart well like the previous two, however it is a powerful upbeat pop piano song reminiscent of Elton John's material. "I Think We Fell In Love Too Fast" keeps the pop pace steady, until the album's finale "Endless Flight," the title track, which is an incredible song.

All-in-all, I highly recommend this album. From start to finish, it is a 70's pop masterpiece!

Track Listings
Side One
1. Hold on to My Love
2. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
3. Reflections
4. When I Need You
5. No Business Like Love Business
Side Two
1. I Hear the Laughter
2. Magdalena - Danny O'Keefe
3. How Much Love
4. I Think We Fell in Love Too Fast
5. Endless Flight