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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
5 stars for a great album; one star for a POOR re-master., April 18, 2005
This is one of my all-time favorite albums; it certainly brings back lots of memories of 1984. My favorite track would have to be "The Heart of Rock and Roll," followed closely by "I Want a New Drug" and "If This is It," which, coincidentally, were the three biggest singles.
However, this "re-mastered" edition, which was released in 1999, is very, very poor. I purchased this edition in the summer of 2003, at which time I was taking an internship in audio engineering. This "24-bit re-master" is an engineer's worst nightmare.
For starters, it does NOT sound like it was mastered from the original tapes at 24 bits. It sounds like it was mastered from a second-generation tape. Secondly, the volume is quite low compared to other 20- and- 24-bit re-masters I've heard. And thirdly, the engineer who re-mastered this disc has taken some pretty tasteless liberties with the bass and treble.
On most of the tracks, there is too much low end bass, which makes them sound muddy and overbearing. There is also a lack of treble (high-end), making this an extremely poorly-balanced re-master. The best example of this is track #4, "I Want a New Drug." The bass drum pounds and pounds away, ready to break my car stereo speakers at any given moment. The high-end is very muddy as well. And the following track, "Walking On a Thin Line," opens with a synthesizer bassline that is overbearing in its intensity and muddy in its clarity.
At first, I thought that this was intentional, but after downloading mp3s of each track, presumably ripped from the original CD release, I can safely say that this release was severely botched up. The mp3s, particularly "I Want a New Drug," sound much more balanced out and tighter.
Again, a great album, but a very poor re-master. To think that this edition was intended to replace the original CD release is unthinkable.
Also, Chrysalis/Capitol Records missed an opportunity to include the extended 12" remix of "I Want a New Drug," as well as the very rare 12" remix of the first single, "Heart and Soul." I would have listened to those more than once, which is more than I can say for the existing bonus tracks, which consist of alternate session takes for "The Heart of Rock and Roll" and "Walking on a Thin Line," respectively, as well as live, concert versions of "If This is It," "Heart and Soul," and "I Want a New Drug."
It's a shame that the album's 20th anniversary has come and gone; they should have made an effort to release a better-sounding edition.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sports Scores, April 27, 2001
Huey Lewis & The News enjoyed a moderate hit with their previous album, Picture This. From that album, no one could have predicted what a major smash hit their follow up, Sports would be. The album spawned four top ten hits, went to number one, spent almost a year in the top ten and over three years in the top 200. Part of the band's appeal lays in the fact that they seem like just an average bunch of guys who could live in your neighborhood or play on your local softball team. The songs on Sports are straight ahead, no nonsense songs that full of picture perfect harmonies and appealing hooks. "The Heart of Rock 'N' Roll" opens up the album and sets the tone with its roll call of towns and its catchy chorus. "Heart & Soul" is a jumping song with it's pounding guitars and punchy lyrics. "Bad Is Bad" shows off the band's slick harmonies in a southern fried soul style song. "I Want A New Drug" maybe the band's most recognizable song and is just about as perfect a pop song as you can record. "Walking On A Thin Line" tackles the serious subject of Vietnam Vets dealing with coming home from the war, but does so in a manner that is not self righteous or aggrandizing. "Finally Found A Home" has a swift and pulsating pace while "If This Is It" is a bright and sunny track remiscant of The Beach Boys. "You Crack Me Up" is a frenzied number and "Honky Tonk Blues" is a cover of a Hank Williams song in which the band lets loose. The additional tracks are all fine, but the original nine tracks that made up Sports stand out on their own. The album has sold over ten million copies and is one the finest albums that was released in the 80's.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Huey Lewis, August 12, 2004
Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83,I think they really came into their own, commercial and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far much more bitter, cynical sense of humour.
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