Customer Reviews

Its Like You Never Left/Dave Mason

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It's refreshing to see a release like this-not some slapdash cheapo CD, but two great albums lovingly remastered, with all the liner notes, lyrics and photos. This excellent music is deserving of the royal treatment. Other major record companies, take note: this is what we want.

Just a few hours ago I was reorganizing my ancient vinyl collection and ran across the Dave Mason section. The two LPs represented in this CD reissue are at the heart of that group, and in case you're not very familiar with Mason, let me take a moment here while you click on some of the tune samples as you read along.

Mason is best remembered as a onetime member of Steve Winwood's early-70s band Traffic, and for his late-70s hit "We Just Disagree." In between those moments of notoriety, he released some of the finest, smoothest, most grown-up rock'n'roll music ever made, always laced with a healthy helping of his wonderfully understated but rich guitar.

Listen to what a silky voice this guy had at his peak, and make no mistake, this was his peak period. "Baby...Please" is an uptempo piece with a churning, urgent undercurrent that fits the lyric, and is followed by "Every Woman," one of the loveliest romantic pieces around. ...P>Any pop/rock fan other than the metal-only crowd will enjoy this collection. If the samples sound good to you, I assure you the rest of the set will sound just as good if not better. Enjoy.

I have always thought "It's Like You Never Left" was a fabulous Dave Mason album, with strong melodies and great singing and playing. I've loved it since the days I played it on the radio as a college DJ. For years, I've been waiting for it to be released on CD. Here it finally is, and it sounds as terrific as ever.

The biggest surprise for me was the other album included here, "Dave Mason." It is as good as "Never Left," and includes a second great version of "Every Woman."

For the Dave Mason fan, this double-album CD is indispensable.

How did Dave Mason manage to squeeze two albums onto only one CD? Well, it's easy when both recordings lack instrumental and lyrical substance. Lacking are the sort of epic rock numbers Mason laid down in 1970 when 'Alone Together' became the artist's standard bearer, songs such as 'Only You Know and I Know', 'Waiting On You', and 'Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave'. While Mason is also a master of the soft, acoustic ballad, also highlighted on 'Alone Together' by numbers such as 'Just a Song', Mason relegated far too much of his creative energy to that genre by the time 'It's Like You Never Left' was recorded in 1973, and 'Dave Mason' followed in 1974.

That's not to say there isn't some excellent songwriting, classic performances, heralded guests, and even an occasional foray into searing hard rock interspersed over the 19 tracks. In fact, you could put together one pretty awesome CD with 'Baby...Please' and the short version of 'Every Woman' (both featuring Graham Nash on back up vocals), two songs featuring an appealing George Harrison-like slide guitar sound ('If You've Got Love' and 'Show Me Some Affection'), the closers from each album (the jazz-fusion title track from 'It's Like You Never Left', and the rocking 'You Can't Take It When You Go'), two covers from 'Dave Mason', 'Bring It On Home To Me' (a Mason in-concert staple) and the searing classic 'All Along the Watchtower'. 'Headkeeper' again features Graham Nash and some decent lead guitar chops from Mason, and 'The Lonely One' simmers like an offspring of 'Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave', and features a unique harmonica from Stevie Wonder, an instrument not often heard on Dave Mason recordings.

Many of the remaining tracks, including 'Maybe', 'Silent Partner', 'Get Ahold On Love', the expanded version of 'Every Woman' (better instrumentally, but sans Nash's irreplacable vocal contribution), 'Harmony & Melody', and 'Relation Ships' blend into the soft-rock sonic landscape all too readily, and offer even less distinction lyrically. At times the lyrics are simply confusing, such as on 'Silent Partner' where we are confronted with "Paranoia is the voyeur", or simply empty, such as on 'Misty Morning Stranger' when Mason admits, "It's hard to explain what I'm feeling". 'Misty Morning Stranger' offers the diversion of a brassy foundation and electric guitar finish, while 'Side Tracked' is unique as a bluesy electric jam, but it's not enough to overcome the soft-pop feel of the majority of the double disc.

The entirety of 'It's Like You Never Left' was penned by Mason, but 'Dave Mason' ironically includes several covers. In addition to Bob Dylan's 'All Along the Watchtower', the disc includes another staple from Mason's concerts, Sam Cooke's 'Bring It On Home To Me'. While it's a nice cover, well-suited to Mason's style, you have to wonder why Dave would choose this track when something meatier was lacking from the menu. The other cover, 'It Can't Make Any Difference To Me' is another perplexing choice, revealing little that is new to the Mason canon.

The 'Dave Mason' disc is unique in that it marks the beginning of the Jim Krueger era in Mason's career. Krueger became a fixture on Mason's works during the 1970's and 80's, occasionally penning a tune or vocals, and lending a great deal of exquisite guitar playing. Krueger may be a better guitarist than Mason in a technical sense, but Mason has a style and feel that is all his own, and it's missing on tracks such as 'Harmony & Melody' where Dave defers the lead to Krueger. Perhaps this was the price for bringing Krueger into the fold, but it isn't a price worth paying, IMHO.

This disc comes nicely packaged, including mini-replica's of the front and back covers from each disc, and the printed lyrics from 'It's Like You Never Left'. Although even Dave Mason fans may find themselves scanning for the best tracks, there is sufficient essential material here to render the recording a 'must-have'. For the more casual fan, only 'Alone Together' and a Mason compilation disc are required.

Another amazing release from mastering engineer Steve Hoffman! The sonics are wonderful - a must have for all who appreciate well mastered music. Not digitally too bright or overcompressed but natural sounding!

I of course realy like both of these albums, I had both of them on vinyl back in the 70's.
I also think "Alone Together" is Dave's finest hour. But "It's Like You Never Left" is a great album in it's own right. And "Dave Mason" is a very good one. The version of All Along The Watchtower rivals the one by Hendrix. Remember, Dave Mason played on the original Jimi Hendix version of the Dylan classic.
But the unbelievable added bonus here is that Steve Hoffman did the remaster work. Hoffman is the best that there is at remastering albums, hands down the best.
So sonicly this remaster is outstanding.
If you like Dave Mason, grab this before it's gone. These 2 for 1 cd's are very rarely reprinted.

What a bargain! This has to be the top double album/single CD since Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs/Twice Removed From Yesterday."

Many people think of Dave Mason, when they think of him at all, as a guy strumming acoustic guitar and playing occasional harmonica in the background of Traffic records. Maybe you remember that he wrote "Feeling Alright," but you might forget "Pearly Queen" which was a much better song. Actually, Mason was a superb singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

What else do you get? Merely both versions of the lovely "Every Woman," the laid-back, persuasive instrumental "Side Tracked," an alternate version of "Headkeeper," a great take on "All Along the Watchtower" and "It's Like You Never Left." The rest of the CD is merely very good.

It would be worth paying list for this CD for either of these albums, especially "Dave Mason," and that one would be worth buying for just two cuts: "You Can't Take It When You Go," with its remarkable swirling guitars, and "Bring It On Home" with wonderful major-key blues riffs--by the second guitarist, by the way.

I'm just sorry I've already got the "Dave Mason" album on CD--if I didn't have it, I could buy this one and save a little money as well as some space in my drawer.

On a friend's recommendation, I only recently rediscovered Dave Mason (former lead singer for Traffic). These are older cuts, from when he first went solo, but they are great, and the recording quality is excellent. If you ever liked Traffic or Dave Mason, you should add this CD to your collection. Recommended!

A great compilation of two great albums, with plenty of memories of the old days when rock/blues were still considered cool. Now, we just need to convince the makers to remaster "Dave Mason Live," and all will be well with the world. A must for those that long for the days when we could just groove to the music and let our mind float along to the tunes. Don't miss this one!!

great albums, two in one, great singer/songwriter, great acoustic guitar perfomer, and as a rock lead guitar player, one of the best of the old school, even on the same league as clapton.
So all in all, excellent choice for old classic rock hard core fans like your's trully.