Space Escapade [Import]

Les Baxter | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 19, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: El Records
• ASIN: B001UJSTNA
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,833 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Shooting Star

2. Moonscape

3. Mr. Robot

4. The City

5. A Distant Star

6. The Commuter

7. Winds of Sirius

8. The Other Side of the Moon

9. Somewhere in Space

10. Earth Light

11. The Lady Is Blue

12. Saturday Night on Saturn

13. Cornflakes

14. Toy Tiger {From the Private War of Major Benson}

15. Havana

16. The Trouble with Harry

17. Sinner Man

18. The Left Arm of Buddha

19. The Clown on the Eiffel Tower

20. Melodia Loca (The Chilean Drive-You-Crazy Song)

See all 30 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY ON CD!!!!!!!!, May 20, 2009

By 

G. Verdusco "aufweedys" (CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Space Escapade (Audio CD)

FINALLY on CD after all these years, Space Escapade FINALLY gets proper attention on this fine edition from El Records. I am a huge Baxter fan/collector and can tell you that they have done a fine job. Let's breakdown the this edition piece by piece. First off, the cd booklet looks fantastic....they obviously got the rights to the real artwork because it's flawless! The back of the original album jacket is on the back of the booklet and has been reproduced clearly and beautifully. There is an 8 page booklet inside featuring a few rarely seen Baxter photos and a nice essay on his 50's recordings.
Ok, now to the music. As you know, a couple of tracks from Space Escapade were featured on a couple of the 90's Capitol Ultra Lounge cd releases taken from the masters, so I was curious to see how the quality holds up to those....(i.e. some Baxter cd releases have been put out by other companies in the past and were just bad LP transfers). There is a differnce that is neither good or bad depending on what side of the mono/stereo fence you're on. The Ultra Lounge releases are in clear stereo. The new Space Escapade by El is the mono mix, but clearly taken from some sort of master. It sounds crystal clear and beautiful, but IS in mono, so, when played side by side with the Ultra Lounge 2 songs, sounds a bit "smaller" purely because of mono vs. stereo mixes. Some might view this as a good thing since the mono version came first anyways. All in all, it sounds wonderful and is nice to finally see a proper release with great artwork. The bonus tracks are wonderful as well with some real rare Baxter gems none of us have heard before. I give this 4 stars because it is a very very good release. But, I think everyone would agree that 5 stars would be in order if Capitol would get off their behinds and put this out ultra-proper, meaning a deluxe edition straight from the source with proper recording and log dates inside the booklet with alternate shots from the album cover (the way they used a few of them inside the Space Capades Ultra Lounge CD). Overall, if you are a Baxter fan and already have the LP they way I have for years, or you are just getting into the exotica/space music of yesteryear, BUY THIS NOW!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One giant leap for mankind!, May 19, 2009

By 

Ben Glenn (The nation's capital) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Space Escapade (Audio CD)

...and, by that title, not only do I mean that Baxter created a musical masterwork...but that the reissuers-that-be finally have excavated SPACE ESCAPADE from the Capitol vaults. A giant leap for lovers of this genre, indeed! The marvelous thing about Les Baxter is that, while the themes may be whimsical/campy/fun-loving...first, he was "in on the 'joke'" (just look at the the all-time-great cover art of "Space Escapade"); and, second, Baxter was a true virtuoso: his magnificent orchestrations -- the result of years of serious study and classical training -- are without peer. "Space Escapade" is an American classic, to be revered and cherished. Thank goodness that we have the recordings of the wonderful Les Baxter for letting us explore his, and our, musical dreamscapes.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mono????, May 23, 2009

By 

Thomas M. Lawcock - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Space Escapade (Audio CD)

No where is the fact that this issue is in MONO is reflected in the product description? Sounds nice but MONO??
I think I'll stick to the version I pulled off my LP and cleaned up. GanymedeTest and Measurement has a wonderful product called Wave Corrector that drops out the pops clicks and rumbles and makes the "cleaned" lp version much preferable to this. C'mon, the stereo tapes are out there.... get it out on stereo, it adds SOOO much to the ambience.