Still Life (Talking) [Original recording remastered]

Pat Metheny | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 20, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 1987
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000CZ0Q5W
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,436 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #87 in Music > Jazz > Brazilian Jazz

Editorial Reviews

*Artist: PAT METHENY GROUP *Genre: Jazz Music *Release Date: 7-FEB-2006

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Five star album, lousy remaster., April 7, 2008

By 

J. Stimson (Sunnyvale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Still Life (Talking) (Audio CD)

This is one of Pat Metheny's best. I have the original CD release and have used it as a reference when auditioning audio equipment. The original recording really is great. So what could the studio possibly do to improve it when remastering?

Apparently the studio thought that it was important that this recording sound good when listening to it in the car, because they boosted the average sound level by compressing the loud parts. Sure, when comparing the two versions with the volume knob at the same setting, the quiet parts of the remastered version sound clearer and more distinct. But that's because the quiet parts are louder. Unfortunately for the remastering engineer it's not possible to make the louder parts louder, too. The result is the loss of dynamic range, and occasional clipping. 5 of the 7 tracks hit the maximum level on the remastered CD. Only 1 does on the original.

So what about those quiet parts where the remastered version seems to sound clearer? When the volume level is compensated for the difference in average levels, the original sounds almost identical to the remastered version in those quiet parts. Too bad -- the original is just as clear as the remastered version and has greater dynamics. If you want compression, a lot of consumer playback equipment has a compression circuit, often called "loudness". That will make the quiet parts louder so just about everything is the same volume, which should be great for listening in your car.

I'll be keeping the original and flipping the remastered version.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, June 7, 2006

By 

Kirk McKenna Jr. "kirkmckenna" (Medina, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Still Life (Talking) (Audio CD)

I am not a big fan of Pat Metheny -- I don't know much about his other CDs, but I have to say that I absolutely love this one. The song Last Train Home is probably one of my favorite songs of all time. There is just something about it that takes my breath away. The same can also be said of the other songs on the disc as well. I highly recommend this CD.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one is so good it should be in the Smithsonian!, December 17, 2009

By 

B. Allen (southern CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Still Life (Talking) (Audio CD)

To say that this is a landmark album is not, in my opinion, an overstatement in any way. This album was pivotal for PMG. It marked their departure from the stricture of ECM's somewhat repressive "get in, lay down the tracks and get out" recording practices and their debut on David Geffen's label. One of the first and few jazz bands to record for Geffen, PMG were catapulted, almost overnight, onto a much larger stage to rave reviews and sold out tour dates. If I were to voice a criticism of this album it would be that it just isn't long enough. This is the musical equivalent of the perfect summer sunset at the beach. You just don't want it to end. It's just that good!

It is 1987 and once again, nearly a decade after my conversion as a Jazz fan with the first "Group" album, I am rendered speechless and I feel a chill run down my spine. Just like the first time that saw Vincent van Gogh's "Irises" in a museum instead of a book, I am amazed. From the anticipatory departure of Minuano to the mystery and sensuousness of "So It May Secretly Begin," through the Evocative chugging, throbbing emotion of "Last Train Home" then the controlled blast of "Third Wind" and eventually settling down to the last flickering embers of "In Her Family." The experience was visceral and revelatory. I instantly replayed the entire album. I've been hitting the replay button on this one now for over twenty years. It is still the only album that I must listen to at least two or three times before I can move on to something else. I defy you to listen to this album once and not be compelled to hear it again immediately, if for no other reason than simply to listen, in shear amazement, to the blistering (yet somehow cool and understated) solo of "Third Wind." I'm listening to to it now as I write this and once again the hair on the back of my neck is standing up. This band is so tight it almost makes your ears pop!

I still play this for my few uninitiated friends who love to make fun of that "jazz stuff" that I listen to. I crank the volume as my captive listener is assailed with yet another of my "crazy jazz tunes." They smile and nod wearily. They indulge me as they would an overly enthusiastic child, but slowly, as Pat's irrepressibly buoyant and joyful fret work begins to cast it's melodic spell (you can almost hear him smiling as he plays) a change starts to come over them. Lyle's shimmering piano solos transcend their patronization. Paul Wertico and Steve Rodby loosen their resistance with their tight rhythms. Armando Marcal shakes the bones of all those wonderful percussive toys and David Blamires and Mark Ledford contribute their remarkable vocal work... and then... it happens; I watch bemused as the once reticent listener, almost against their will, begins to be seduced by this wonderful music. I watch as their toe or finger starts to tap, their head starts to bob slightly, almost absentmindedly and then, as "Last Train Home" rolls into the station, it's all over but the shouting. Forget about it... By the time "In Her Family" comes to an end I'm indulging their new found enthusiasm for jazz with a smile and a nod.

This is one for the books my friends.