Customer Reviews

Wheatfield Soul / Artificial Paradise

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a longtime GW fan, I care little about the aesthetics of which LP should have been matched with another LP. These were two of my favorite vinyls from one of my favorite bands, and it doesn't overly challenge my IQ to still think of them as separate entities which happen to be on one CD for my convenience.

I have enjoyed the contents on this disk very much. One of classic rock's most eclectic and under-rated bands ever shows the breadth and depth of their musical journey, from their debut RCA release of Wheatfield Soul, to their more musically-accomplished but less pensive Artifical Paradise from 1973.

You rockers who long for something more, its not too late to hop on board. There is a reason why this band remains unduly popular among musicians, radio and music industry personnel.

Well, I will have to echo the other reviewers as to how excited that I was when these essential Guess Who albums finally came out on CD. They were the best rock band ever from Canada, and I think that Burton Cummings has one of the most beautiful voices in the history of rock. Now, as far as these reissues go, I got 3 of the 4 all at once and I am not convinced that was such a good idea. The artwork is really nice, but nothing mind-blowing. Basically, you get pretty much all of the artwork from the original LP issues with song lyrics, but nothing more....no extended liner notes, interviews, or any sort of extra pictures (which is always kind of neat to get). That's ok though, because the booklets are laid out nicely. NOW, the issue of the mastering: I don't have super high-end equipment, but I don't exactly have garbage either and I can see where the other reviewers are coming from with the issue of the sound. I don't think that it is as horrible as the first reviewers wrote, but there is most certainly something not right with the low end here. You do have to crank up the bass or push in that loudness button to get the low end, and then is does sound like there could have been some more definition. The high end is pretty up there as well (maybe a little too much). I could see that if you do have really high-end audio gear, these would kinda sound like you know what. If you don't, you can probably live with it, seeing how long we all have waited for these. I would like to hear the old CD issues of these and compare the mastering with them. If anyone out there can do this, let us know what you think. All and all, it is a bit disappointing and I really wish they could have done a better job with the sound, but I think that it is still great to have these wonderful albums.

I'm baffled at some of the bad ratings. These were two brilliant Guess Who albums (as opposed to a lame album coupled with a great album). This contains plenty of brilliant moments, some of which were, until now, rarely available.

Myself, like many Guess Who fans have waited years for this day to come. The day being when one of my personal favorites, "Artificial Paradise" would finally come out on cd. Well, all I have to say is don't discard your vinyl copy just yet. I can't believe how badly they butchered not only this one, but all 4 of these so called "remastered" Guess Who cd's in this series. There is absolutely no dynamic range, the highs are over exaggerated & totally un-natural sounding, & what little low end (bass) there is sounds boomy and un-defined (when I first played the cd, I thought I forgot to turn on my subwoofer, but it was on)The packaging & artwork is great. They tried to use as much of the original album artwork as possible, but thats about the only positive thing I can say. If you have good, clean copies of the vinyl: KEEP THEM & PUT THEM IN A SAFE SPOT ! Find someone that still has a good turntable & cartridge along with a home audio component cd burner and have them transferred to cd that way, you'll be much happier with the results ! Also, don't discard the original single album cd versions of #10, Road Food, Wheatfield soul & So long Bannatyne. They are totally superior to these.

I agree with several points from many of the reviews here. I've been a Guess Who fan ever since Shakin' All Over...and it makes very little sense to me to pair up albums way out of synch with each other. Both Wheatfield Soul and Artificial Paradise were fine albums, but they were at almost opposite ends of the band's career...Randy Bachman and Kurt Winter: two very talented but very different guitarists from one another. It was inspiring to see Randy do Kurt's guitar work seeing them live in 2000 and 2002 and was a testament to how good Bachman is. But I agree totally, put Artificial Paradise and #10 together and Canned Wheat with Wheatfield Soul, and give the catalog the respect and the better audio it deserves. I myself did the DIY thing on Artificial Paradise, Flavours & Power in the Music (Cool Edit is a wonderful tool for cleaning up old vinyl albums), and wish RCA would have given them individual releases. I also agree with Cummings, that the two final RCA albums really weren't the Guess Who as we knew them before. Aside from the stray track (like Hamba Gahle), Artificial Paradise just might be one of the band's finest moments for sheer diversity, power and just plain great rock & roll, to take nothing away from Wheatfield Soul or any other Guess Who albums for that matter. I myself snapped up all the early 90s RCA Canada reissues and those, to me, did the best job of preserving the character (not to mention the graphics) of the original works. Also of interest are the early works, which Randy Bachman has had a huge part in bringing out: This Time Long Ago, which features several Wheatfield Soul tracks in their early stages....and Let's Go (drawn from their CBC-TV series of the same name, with several covers of classic tunes and their earliest self-composed works previously only available on a double-band LP called A Wild Pair, the other side being Ottawa's Staccatos, which you know better as The Five Man Electrical Band). As for Artificial Paradise: if you have the vinyl and a CD burner...go for it! This is great stuff, and it deserves better treatment.

Artificial Paradise was the Guess Who album that looked like a Publisher's Clearinghouse envelope you'd get in the mail. The artwork was amazing, as are the bizarre photos of the band with masks on (and in some cases in drag!) Musically, the band or their managers had decided that Cummings would share vocals with Billy Wallace & Don McDougall. McDougall has two fine songs on the album Samantha's Living Room - a country ballad with pedal steel and the jazzy Lost and found town. Wallace had a voice similar to Cummings but raspy, and he sings lead on Bye Bye Babe, Rock and Roller Steam and All Hashed Out with Cummings - three great rockers. Orly is a pop ditty aimed for the single market, Follow your daughter home is a weak re-write of CCR's Salior's Lament - albeit with a flute solo instead of John Fogarty's saxophone. Hamba Gahle is simply dreadful. The high points of A.P. are Show Biz Shoes - a Cummings classic - the lyrics are hysterical, Cummings screaming/angry delivery is fabulous - he never was in better form. Ditto for All Hashed Out - with Kurt Winter's blistering guitar solo. Overall Artificial Paradise is a great album. Wheatfield Soul? There's only one clinker here - Love and the yellow rose. Friend's of Mine is one of my favorites - a homage to the Doors' When the Music's Over. I also love Wednesday in your garden - a soft, jazzy song with vibes in it - pretty nice song. When you touch me is a great 3 minute rocker. These two albums are worth getting - just one or two mistakes among them - but it would be nice if they were paired with albums that were released at the same time - perhaps #10 with Artificial Paradise, Wheatfield Soul with Canned Wheat, and please open up those vaults and give us some of the Guess Who's outakes, alternate versions etc. Still, I'd recommend this two-fer for the Cummings-Winter-Bachman fans.

Packaging - cool, authentic reproduction of original albums
Sound Quality - remastered, faithful to original releases (no apparent re-edits, newly introduced fades, etc.)
Bonus - complete Artificial Paradise album never available on cd until now
Two very cool Guess Who albums from different lineups (Bachman/Cummings/Kale/Peterson) & (Cummings/McDougall/Peterson/Wallace/Winter) - both feature outstanding original material and several overlooked gems. If you haven't picked this one up, do it now!

for certain people with certain tastes. its not rap, its not jazz, its not pure rock n' roll, its uniquely the GW. I've always liked their sound. These albums sublimely demonstate the chemistry of the Winnepeg outfit. Try some tea with it. - Its excellent.

As others have noted here, the early Guess Who Wheatfield Soul isn't a good pairing with Artificial Paradise. The first album has a couple of big numbers; their monster hit "These Eyes" and the meandering Doors-inspired "Friends of Mine". The rest of the album shows the band finding their way, still somewhat scattered, going after different styles, but without a unique sound of their own yet. Burton Cummings hadn't quite emerged as the dominant man in the group either.

Artificial Paradise, several years and many albums later is a great find for those only familiar with The Guess Who's "best of" material. Don McDougall and Bill Wallace had both recently joined the band, and between the two of them took the lead vocals on half the songs here. This was not unprecedented, since Greg Leskiw had sung three numbers in his time with the band, but never more than one per album. The opening song "Bye Bye Babe" should have been a Canadian rock anthem, the same applies to "Rock and Roller Steam". They have a fresh hard-driving sound to them, and Kurt Winter's lead guitar is a highlight of both.

"Follow Your Daughter Home" and "Orly" were the singles from here, both a bit offbeat (calypso beat in the first and a fiddle solo in the second). Despite not singing all the songs, Cummings is in great form here, especially with his piano playing which adds so much to every song. McDougall's two songs ("Samantha's Living Room" and "Lost and Found Town") really show off his fine singing and songwriting. Unfortunately Cummings took over the show again with the next album and this democratization of the band's sound got shunted aside. Too bad.

The sound quality of the remasters does leave a little to be desired, but it's not all that horrible. What I can't understand is, if they insisted on making these Guess Who reissues "twofers," why couldn't they have paired them in some semblance of chronological order? Why put ARTIFICIAL PARADISE together with WHEATFIELD SOUL, an album recorded four years earlier with marked difference in the group's sound and personnel? The scattershot approach taken to these Guess Who reissues isn't a mortal sin, but sure makes you wonder how seriously the label takes the band's recorded legacy. Ah, well, at least ARTIFICIAL PARADISE finally made it onto CD.