Customer Reviews

Keasbey Nights

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've read some reviews of this album that say it's an exact duplicate of the original Keasbey Nights. These people obviously either don't listen well, or they don't understand music. There are so many differences, and I still find some when I listen to the album for the 100th time. The horn lines are nearly all more intricate, the bass on this album is absolutely astounding, there are lyrical alterations, and the solos are beautifully done.

Someone else said that Tomas needs to realize that music is for fans to listen to. What? No, it isn't. Making music is a way of expressing ones self, and if other people buy it, it's an added bonus. If you listen to the final track, it was either he re-record it with SM, or they (the label) re-release it with no real changes. But even that shouldn't have to be explained, because no musician should be making music to make fans happy. That would be like an author writing a book that he doesn't like, or a visual artist making a drawing/painting that they wouldn't purchase themselves. Artists are in NO way using their talent just to please the masses. If they are, they aren't true artists, plain and simple.

I fully recommend this album. I still listen to the original, and you can't compare the two and say which is better, because it wouldn't be fair to either record, because they're both wonderfully good.

The mastermind behind the original Keasbey Nights, an album hailed as one of the best ska albums of all time, Tomas Kalnoky, has re-recorded the album with his new comrades who make up Streetlight Manifesto.
Many people will be criticizing him for touching up a record that many love for its raw and unpolished sound, but that's not what Tomas wanted. According to the interview at the end of the record (spoken by computerized voices of the Hawking type) they wanted to 'get it right for once'. All of the tracks have something different, some of them much more noticeable than others, with added verses, horn parts, etc.
Now for tracks.

1. Dear Sergio: The added verse (The one from BOTAR) adds a lot to the song and seems much like a epilogue to an old fan favorite. The chorus is also much better on this version. 9/10
2. Sick and Sad: As much as I liked the original, this one was so much better. A much better guitar, horn parts that are punctuated, especially the bone, and vocals that are much cleaner make this track one of the best on the album. 10/10
3. Keasbey Nights: Sounds much like the original but the bari sax gives it more backbone. 8/10
4. Day in Day out: Greatly improved from the first album. This is the first track where you can really tell the change in Kalnoky's voice from eight years, losing some of the raspiness. The background vocals that were added to the chorus really give it a lot of flaver. 10/10
5. Walking Away: Cleaner bassline at the beginning sets the stake high for the rest of the song but it does not dissappoint. The solos are all different which was a nice surprise hearing the talent of the musicians. 9/10
6. Giving up, Giving in: Fuller guitar, being the main force of this song as there are no horns, bring this track out and show that Kalnoky isn't limited to playing lightspeed upstrokes. 7/10
7. On and On and On: One of my favorites from both albums. One of the best moments of the original album was the last 45 seconds of this song, so i was really hoping for an improvement on this one. By golly i was so pleased when i heard it break out at about 2:24. 9/10
8. Riding the 4th wave: Major changes to this song with just about every solo changed and an acoustic guitar added to the originally flute-solo intro. 8/10
9. This one goes out to..: A once-overshadowed song becomes one of the prominent tracks on this album thanks to the superb horn section - four guys can do a lot with experience. Vocals are still stronger than ever, not to mention a dynamite Sax solo that makes this song. 10/10
10. Supernothing: Sounds basically the same with some minor changes, mostly the tweaked horn harmonies. 8/10
11. 9mm and a three piece suit: While this song is still amazing and was one of their most popular, it is being overshadowed by the improvements to other tracks while generally leaving this one as it was besides cleaning up the bass and bone. I do like the rddddddddd noise though. 8/10
12. Kristina she don't know i exist: After hearing Walking Away's new solos all i could expect was that this song, chock full of them, would also have new ones, and i was right. Fun. 7/10
13. As the footsteps die out forever: I wasn't too happy with the quality of musicianship on the last album and this song really epitomizes how they are much better at playing now, especially if you listen to one right after the other. 9/10
14. 1234 1234: The best part about the track is the interview at the end, as the song (which ends at about 3:50) is basically the same. 8/10

Average: 8.6
Buy this album. You will not want to skip any track, period.

Altho Keasby was an amazingly stellar Third wave ska album, Tomas Kalnoky's voice is probably the first thing I noticed, but outside of that the music is much reworked. And the fact is that all the musicians in Streetlight Manifesto are at least twice the muscians in Catch 22. This new album was Kalnoky's way to advert Catch 22 from re-releasing Keasby untouched because if there is one thing he hates about music is when a band re-releases an album un re-recorded with just some remade cover art, as a ploy to make more money, also he hopes no one will realize that they are esentially "paying $13 for an album they already own" he stated Toung in cheek. If you listen to all the talking at the end of 1234, 1234 they have the full reason why this album was released, as well as a computer voice (the same voice the rest of the ending talking was in so i'm assuming that it is Kalnoky's) Said over and over again "Weither or not a single record is sold, we're going to keep doing what we do." I rest my case and no matter what anyone says Thomas Kalnoky will keep redefining the ska industry in my opinion.

Post script.

If i could give this record more than 5 starts i would, but in all honestly i just have to say this album, although post 3rd wave on it's current, may just bring about a 4th wave, in spiring older ska band to get back together and reworking albums that are already great. but that's just my opinion and if you say anything different that's called your opinion and you are entitled to it no matter how wrong you are.

They re-did the Catch 22 classic CD Keasbey Nights, and they made it better. Every horn solo has changed and they have all became a lot better. A bunch of bass lines have changed and they all sound way better. They added a guitar ending to As The Footsteps Die Out Forever and that makes it sound better. They have more horns on this version so the horn section has a fuller sound. They added a new verse to Dear Sergio and changed the second verse in Day In, Day Out and it makes both songs sound a lot better. The ending for 12341234 is really cool with completely different music for the ending and them explaining why they re-made this cd. Overall i think that it is worth the money, even if you already own the origional.

I really liked the original Keasbey Nights and I liked Everything Goes Numb even better. This new version is better than both in my opinion. It combines the sonic variety of Keasbey Nights with the amazing skill of Streetlight as well as a waaaaaay improved sound quality. Keasbey Nights vol 2 also flows way better as an album than the original and is much easier to listen to. I think whining about it being old material is garbage. Anyone who buys this album knows very well that it contains no new material. I can't wait to hear the next Streetlight release and a full length B.O.T.A.R album.

The original Keasbey Nights is, of course, a classic ska album, and was one of my favorites for several years. It seemed, though, that something was holding it back: namely, the poor production quality, lame solos, and less-than-stellar technique from the horn players, which is especially bothersome to one who plays an instrument. I had always thought that the potential of the album could only truly be realized if these problems were corrected, and that is exactly what Kalnoky did with this record. He never claimed it would be new material, and nobody who already owns the Catch 22 version has to buy it. Kalnoky simply wanted to polish up the great songs he wrote years ago, after experience and practice. Think of the original Keasbey as a great first draft...the ideas are all there, and you can tell it's a great work, but small errors and mistakes hold it back a little. The Streetlight version of Keasbey is like a final copy, with the great original ideas intact but with improvement of the overall work due to fine-tuning. The solos are dramatically improved, the production sounds about a thousand times better, the horn lines are more crisp and have more substance with the addition of the tenor and bari, Kalnoky's brilliant lyrics are more easy to distinguish, and the intensity and raspiness that made the original great remain intact. Don't worry, Streetlight will release new material soon, and this is not a substitute for that. It is what it is, an improved version of an already-great record that merely takes the place of a planned re-release of the old material. As a fan of both the old Catch 22 and of Streetlight Manifesto, I haven't stopped playing this record since I bought it, and the improved version puts Keasbey Nights closer to the level of Everything Goes Numb than the original version was. Many of the songs that I used to skip over because of poor production now stand out as some of my favorites on the new version. Just listen to this album with an open mind, give it a chance and a few days, and you won't be disappointed. A great record from a great band, and definitely worth the price.

I have played trombone for about 5 years now and bass guitar for 2 and I can tell you that you aren't going to find a more skilled trombonist that Streetlight has. The bass is also top notch. Throughout all the songs the basslines have been improved so they are considerably cleaner, and in most songs totally revamped. Keasby nights is a perfect example of that, they took what used to be a great bassline and made it even better. The people who are commenting on the lack of improvement and difference obviously don't know what they are listening to. By far my favorite part of this new albumn would be the new solos. Walking Away, which used to be just a good song in my mind is now my uncontested favorite song. The trumpet/trombone dueling duet thing is rediculous; it is by far the best trombone playing I have ever heard. Overall after listening to both albumns side by side, the Streetlight one sounds much richer, cleaner, and the overall musicianship is noticeably better.

to the guy who said he wished they would have changed more things...why? i can almost assure you if they changed anything extremely noticable people wouldnt like it.

anyway, The original keasbey nights was great. but i actually listen to this remake more then i listen to the original. I really like how much more refined everything sounds. I never really like 'Walking Away', on this cd its one of my favorites now. the solo's add alot.

also theres all that dialague on the last song and it explains why they would remake it

The original Keasbey was the one CD I listened the most in high school. I saw Catch 22 play when I was a freshmen in college and I was sad. I hated their new style. Then I found out about Streetlight and the drama between the two bands and it's interesting to see how that played out with this album.

It does lack some of the grit and grain from the original but in all honestly, this is how the album is supposed to sound. There are some new lyrics in a couple of the songs that make them more complete and even the solos are better; especially the one on This One Goes Out to... The horn arrangement gives it a fuller sound that the original simply lacks. I can't wait to hear these songs preformed live this summer when I see them with the incredibly awesome Aquabats!

I loved Keasbey Nights when it was released in 1998. It was a GREAT album and everytime I listened to it I loved it more and more and more. Then Tomas left and Catch 22 lost their sound. When Tomas left Catch 22 their sound left as well. Then Tomas formed Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution which only released one EP. Then after that Streetlight Manifesto was formed. Everything Goes Numb was the start of a great movement. Then in 2006 I heard word of SM redoing Keasbey Nights which puzzled me a bit but I couldn't wait. Then it finally came out and of course I bought it. Right from the start you can notice that this is not the same album at all. This album is like taking crude oil and refining it into gasoline. Catch 22's Keasbey Nights was crude oil and SM's Keasbey Nights is gasoline. This is the way Keasbey Nights was supposed to sound. Don't listen to others who say "oh this is the same damn CD as Catch 22's there's no difference here I waisted $$$ on this damn thing" f*ck them this CD is not the same. The only thing the same here is the title of the CD, the order of the songs, and the names of the songs. Besides that this is a completely different CD with some added lyrics to some of the songs. I guarantee you won't be disappointed by buying this. I sure as hell know I wasn't. I almost threw out the old Keasbey Nights after buying this it is that good.