Customer Reviews

Six Star General

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

 

 

This CD was remastered from a vinyl master, not the original tapes. Avoid unless you are a completest.

I agree with the earlier review about the mastering. You can clearly hear vinyl noise on some tracks. Why they ripped an LP is beyond me- several of these songs turn up on Vinegar Joe compilations, which should prove that the master tapes are available. Even if they weren't, you'd expect Lemon to use a decent copy of the vinyl, without the scratches which are only too evident here

Great album that was transfered from vinyl to digital with pops and scratches intact. Avoid Lemon Records releases, quality is obviously not a concern to them.

"Six Star General" the last Vinegar Joe album clearly has been pulled from a vinyl version for at least half the tracks here (track 1 which has a pop towards the conclusion of the song and tracks 7-10 which have surface noise evident). That by itself wouldn't warrant a lesser rating from me if the mastertapes didn't exist but they do--they were used for an earlier out-of-print compilation.

What bugs me is the lack of transparency and honesty with this CD release. It doesn't have a remastering credit (which might be clue right there)and there's nothing on the outside to tell you where it was sourced from.

The booklet does a nice job of reproducing the original artwork (probably copied from the original LP artwork rather than the original transparencies), includes lyrics and a VERY brief history/discussion of the band.

This isn't the band's best album in my humble opinion--too much Brooks and too little Palmer (Brooks has a great range but the upper end of her range is shrill and difficult to listen to IMHO). Robert Palmer only contributes two original songs and does a great version of Andy Fraser's (of Free and who later went on to write Palmer's early hit "Every Kinda People")"Talkin' 'bout My Baby".

The compilation "Speed Queen of Venture" (which unfortunately is out-of-print but occasionally can be found)is a better representation of the band and has better sound quality. Why Lemon didn't the mastertapes for this is a bit of a qunadry--clearly SOME were available but it's possible that it might have been a cost issue related to baking the tapes (70's tapes are notorious for becoming unstable tape glop after a period of time and often shedding the magnetic oxide on the tapes requiring delicate handling)and restoring them.

Since we don't have any info I'm not sure about the decision to do a needle drop for this album (albeit one that often sound pretty good)but it would have been nice to have some truth in advertising about the sound quality on this one--it isn't necessarily bad just not digitally remastered from a tape source.

I love this album and wanted a copy to replace my vinyl record, but this is just a copy recorded from a vinyl record. CD's aren't supposed to have pops and crackles in it. Bloody shame as this album is an absolute cracker. Just have to keep playing the vinyl. Makes me wonder if Lemon Records are all like that, and the license from Universal Records is legit. Wished I had read the reviews before wasting my time with this copy. Will try and see if the other version available here is better.

this is a good record performed by great muscisians. they really hold back on this one as opposed to their other two albums. the highlights are anything robert palmer sings on, his voice is awesome on songs like "stay tune to yourself", "talkin bout my baby", and "fine thing". "dream my own dreams" is country rocker with a little honky tonk piano thrown in for good measure, a good track. The only downside to the record is the fact that when Elkie takes a song on by herself she really slows things down in a bad way, the only exception being the first track. Although she as amazing vocals when singin duets with robert palmer, I miss the bluesy numbers she sang on their debut. The overall feel of the record is a funky groove with a R&B feel to it. Pick it up if you like the gritty R&B side of Robert Palmer or that genre of music in general