Odessey & Oracle: Deluxe Edition [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered]

The Zombies | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 29, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Label: Fuel 2000
• ASIN: B0002BO0US
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,763 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Care of Cell 44

2. A Rose for Emily

3. Maybe After He's Gone

4. Beechwood Park

5. Brief Candles

6. Hung up on a Dream

7. Changes

8. I Want Her She Wants Me

9. This Will Be Our Year [Mono Mix]

10. Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)

11. Friends of Mine

12. Time of the Season

13. I'll Call You Mine [Stereo Mix No. 1][*]

14. Imagine the Swan [Stereo Mix No. 1][*]

15. Conversation Off Floral Street [*]

16. If It Don't Work Out [Overdubbed][*]

17. Don't Cry for Me [Overdubbed][*]

18. Smokey Day [*]

19. She Loves the Way They Love Her [*]

20. Time of the Season [UK Mono Mix][*]

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Popular Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 29-JUN-2004

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Let me tell you why I won't be buying this remaster, August 12, 2004

By 

Jeffrey Hubbard (Murray, UT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Odessey & Oracle: Deluxe Edition (Audio CD)

First, off, let me say that I couldn't be a bigger fan of "Odessey and Oracle." I have the '98 30th Anniversary edition, and I love it to death. If this remaster is your best shot at getting the album, buy it, by all means. It's a very nearly perfect record, easily one of the best of the sixties.

Having said that, the clips that I've listened to of the bonus tracks sound completely out of character with the album at hand. Most of them sound much more like a group trying to ape the Rolling Stones' sound circa "Flowers" or "Between the Buttons," and while that's not a bad thing, necessarily, I simply don't think that they achieve anything near the craft or individuality of the album itself. For that reason, I doubt I'd even listen to them much.

Moreover, the previous issue included, as part of the stereo version of the original album, the stereo take of "This Will Be Our Year," certainly one of the highlights of an album full of them. Personally, I greatly prefer that version, which, for technical reasons, does not include the horn charts of the finished version. In my opinion, the horns do nothing for the song, and in some parts, they are downright obtrusive. If the new master included, even as a bonus cut, the "sans horns" version of that tune, I might consider it. As is, no thanks.

And, again, I just don't think that these bonus tracks, which were recorded apparently somewhat piece-meal for a follow-up album that was never released, really add to the value of the album.

Okay, that's it. Like I said, if this is the version that you can find, don't hesitate to get this amazing album in any form that you can. Me, I'm sticking with my tried and true Big Beat version. Like the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds," to which this record is often compared, bonus cuts are relatively beside the point. This record is a perfect, unique entity, and recordings made by the band shortly thereafter are simply superfluous.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take an "Odessey", December 31, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Odessey & Oracle: Deluxe Edition (Audio CD)

Many bands (the Beatles, the Beach Boys) at least dabbled in psychedelica, but the Zombies are often overlooked. For the 30th anniversary of "Odessey and Oracles," the Zombies' best album was rereleased in a new form, proving that their enchanting psychedelic pop has aged exceeedingly well.

The Zombies were unusually good at taking perky, sweet, lush music and wrapping it around a more serious song, such as the upbeat "Care of Cell 44" (guy writing to his jailed girlfriend), or the lovely "A Rose For Emily," a poignant little song that tells of a lonely woman doomed to stay lonely. "And as the years go by/she will grow old and die/The roses in her garden fade away/Not one left for her grave..."

But the Zombies aren't all sadness wrapped in happy music. There are perky songs about being happy in love, losing a love and hoping she'll return, and reminiscing about "golden days and golden summer nights." The album ends on a reassuring note with the laid-back "Time of the Season," which sounds like the ultimate hippie anthem.

I have no memories of the 60s, since I was only born in the eighties. But "Odessey and Oracle" gives a rosy glow to that era,. Psychedelic flair minus the hazy, and every song is a gem. Though "Time of the Season" was the sleeper hit from the album, it's not the best or catchiest song on here -- it's just one of many excellent ones.

Rod Argent was definitely an outstanding songwriter. He was able to create atmospheric and beautiful songs with very simple writing ("Brief candles in her mind/bright and tiny gems of memory"). Perhaps his finest moment here is "I knew he when summer was her crown/and autumn sad/how brown her eyes," as a kick-off to a colorful look at a woman compared to all the seasons.

Colin Blunstone's vocals were well-suited to the music: a bit husky, quite pleasant and mellow. The music itself was generally based on guitar, gentle drums, pretty piano, and wavering Mellotron, with a bit of accordian coming in in one song. There's a rich interweaving of many instruments, in all sorts of pop music. Some is almost classical in tone, some is uptempo stuff that is perfect for the radio.

The Zombies were in peak form in "Odessey and Oracle," churning out some of the purest pop music ever. As sweet and exquisite as it was in the 1960s.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY!!!!!, June 30, 2004

By 

Karen E. Kelly (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Odessey & Oracle: Deluxe Edition (Audio CD)

I've been wanting this album or about a year now, but i can't get the import. so i've been patienty looking and waiting for this album, and it finally came. It is finally available in the U.S for the first time in 15 years(according to the sticker). And i must say, it was well worth the wait. This album is amazing. I bought it only having heard Time of the Season, and even though there are no other songs on this album like it, i love every single song. in my opinion you can't go wrong with this cd. I love it. Also, i like this reissue better than the 30th anniversary edition because I, personally, don't need the mono and stereo mix of the album, just one is fine for me. and on this copy you only get the stereo, and then you get 10 bonus tracks. I'd rather more bous tracks than another a different mix of the album i already heard. But that's just me.