| One of the GREATEST!!! (review from amazon.com) |
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| I recently rediscovered this CD in my music collection and found it had the same power and brilliance I felt it had so many years ago. This is without question one of the greatest CD's ever recorded. A masterwork!!!
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| Excellent remastering job, beautiful sound (review from amazon.com) |
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| As other reviewers have discussed and debated the merits of Pirates' songs and Rickie Lee's vocals, I will limit these comments to the quality of MoFi's remaster. The album itself was beautifully recorded, with veteran Warner Brothers producers (Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman et al) Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman at the helm and a number of skilled engineers, such as Elliot Scheiner, at the board. Many of the backing musicians, such as Randy Brecker (of BS&T and jazz fame), Victor Feldman, Steve Gadd (of "Aja" fame) and Chuck Rainey, were (and remain) the finest studio and touring musicians in the U.S. and were also used by Steely Dan; indeed, Donald Fagen himself also appears on the album. In short, this remaster is the closest to quality vinyl that I have heard, it is a notable and significant improvement over the regular "redbook" CD and it does real justice to the album's stellar production and the high quality of the songwriting and performances. The differences are readily notable from the first song, "We Belong Together," in which Gadd's drums finally regain their depth and power, and similarly for the joyous bouncing bass on "Woody and Dutch . . ." For those who don't have an SACD player, don't worry. I played this MoFI version on both regular redbook and SACD playback and I prefer the regular version, as it sounds a bit warmer and less harsh but with all of the sonic detail intact. If you do have at least a decent playback stereo system and get a thrill out of clearly hearing individual instruments and how they interweave and combine in the final mixdown, and (of course) if you enjoy Rickie Lee's music, then I would recommend reaching deep in the pocket and spending the requisite dollars for this MoFi hybrid SACD remaster. BTW, the "mini-LP cover" packaging is made of high quality, thick cardboard and the booklet is nicely manufactured as well.
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| ANOTHER OF GOD'S BLESSINGS - A MANIFESTO (review from amazon.com) |
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| Rickie Lee Jones astounded me beyond belief with this CD. I didn't think she could come up with a better CD than her first and she did - she is one of the most talented people on earth. No question - undisputed. Her voice is as good as Mariah's (though most have no clue) - no disrespect Mariah you're my 2nd favorite - but Rickie plays the piano, guitar among many other instruments and her voice can match ANYONES - if you have heard "Coolsville" or "Company" you already know from her debut CD. She has depth and a street reality that you know is real. She is a muse. She is an angel. This CD I used to play on hot summer nights with candles lit and the wind blowin' through the window - kicking back with some wine. She is my favorite -this CD is so good it's beyond a masterpiece it's a MANIFESTO. Again, you must give it repeated listens because Rickie is so crafty with her songwriting you don't realize how brilliant she is with just a listen or two. She draws you in - with creative lyrics, wonderfully but complex song structures - so you have to immerse yourself and then you will become hooked. FOREVER. FOREVER. She is probably the most vital female artist out TODAY as well as when she put this out. Her records are an adventureous journey and I loved this ride - took it over and over again!
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| Buried treasure of the future (review from amazon.com) |
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| Much has been written about how the music industry has changed. How the era of the MP3 and music downloads has killed the concept of the Album. Truthfully, I'd say in many cases that this is not a big loss. Here however is an example of collection that really and truly deserves to be heard as a whole. It is cinematic and emotional and requires attention, though in some ways it is more like a great book than a great movie.
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| Times have changed (review from amazon.com) |
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After not hearing this album for over 20 years, I bought a new CD copy of it just last week, hoping that despite the passage of time, some of the thrill I got when playing it to death all those years ago would be there. And some of it is, but not as much as I'd hoped. Rickie Lee Jones has grown tremendously as an artist over the past 29 years; THE EVENING OF MY BEST DAY and THE SERMON ON EXPOSITION BLVD, her last two albums, show her taking chances and having those chances pay off in a big way musically. PIRATES, by comparison, mostly sounds...tame. "Skeletons," "Traces Of The Western Slopes" and "Woody and Dutch On The Slow Train To Peking" still get under my skin, especially "Skeletons," but most of the rest sounds about as dated as Tom Waits' albums prior to SWORDFISHTROMBONES. The album certainly makes me nostalgic for my youth, but taken as a whole it doesn't pull at my heartstrings in the same way it once did.
Hey, it happens.
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