Albums Listened To Today

[analogdemon]

[I. Spaceman]

I don't know bout that left column, but the rest is sweetness.

[analogdemon]

The highlight of the day was Jaco Pastorius.  I just discovered that album yesterday digging through some old vinyl.  I put it on and it blew me away.  I'd argue that it's a contender for the best jazz album of the 1970s.

[I. Spaceman]

It's a killer, no doubt.

[Maybelline]

Arctic Monkeys. Massive buzz about them over here.. now the fastest selling album ever, I heard today. Pretty impressive - very Strokes.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

I listened to the "Friends" album four times today.

[Jason]

The highlight of the day was Jaco Pastorius.  I just discovered that album yesterday digging through some old vinyl.  I put it on and it blew me away.  I'd argue that it's a contender for the best jazz album of the 1970s.

You have my unending respect. Jaco Pastorius is GOD on the fretless.

[I. Spaceman]

I listened to the "Friends" album four times today.

And it only took 100 minutes!

[analogdemon]

You have my unending respect. Jaco Pastorius is GOD on the fretless.

No argument here.

[Aegir]

[I. Spaceman]

You breathe in, you breathe out
*repeat 62 x*

[Aegir]

And the love that loves the love that loves to love the love that loves to love the love that loves to love

[analogdemon]

[analogdemon]

[Jason]

I hope you were listening to the vinyl version of Cruising With Ruben and the Jets.

[Chance]

[analogdemon]

I hope you were listening to the vinyl version of Cruising With Ruben and the Jets.

You bet your ass.  That said however, I really don't mind the 1984 remix.  That's probably because the remix is the only version I knew until about a month ago.

[Jason]

Good man. Learn from him, Zappa fans. The vinyl of CWRATJ is the ONLY way to go.

[analogdemon]

Good man. Learn from him, Zappa fans. The vinyl of CWRATJ is the ONLY way to go.

The vinyl version is far more raw, however I do think that the 1984 remix does have its merits.

For those who don't know, Zappa used new musicians (uncredited) to re-record the drums and bass on Cruising with Ruben & the Jets and We're Only in It for the Money in 1984 (while getting his whole back catalog ready for release on CD for the first time) because he decided he didn't like the way the original bass and drum parts sounded.  He released the remixed versions of both albums in 1987 and took the original masters out of production.  Before his death, he relented on WOIIFTM and put the original 1968 Verve master back into production and deleted the remix.  He didn't do the same for CWRATJ however, so the only way to hear the original album is to get an original vinyl copy, or at least a vinyl copy that pre-dates 1984.

WOIIFTM only contained re-recorded bass and drums, but CWRATJ, in addition to re-recorded bass and drums, also has some vocal overdubs, some longer endings, etc.  It almost sounds like a completely different album.  I do prefer the sound quality of the remixed CWRATJ to the original.  The original vinyl mix sounds very muddy and raw.  Also, there are parts where Chad Wickerman's drums on the remix are pretty cool.  Everyone should hear both versions and decide for themselves.  I do find myself listening to the original vinyl more than the remix lately, probably because I'd never heard the vinyl up until a month ago.

No matter which version you listen to, the album is great though.  It's basically a Zappa doo-wop album.  Great stuff.

There are a lot of people who have wondered why Dweezil hasn't restored the original master himself.  I think the problem is that FZ never did any kind of remastering or anything else with the original CWRATJ and instead only worked with the remix.  So that would mean that Dweezil would have to do a remaster and build the album from the original multi-track masters, which would lead to endless arguments about how FZ would have done it had he lived, and quite frankly, I don't think anyone wants to go there.  There will never be another FZ, so we need to just take the music he gave us and run with it.

[I. Spaceman]

4X this:

[Evenreven]

Hahaha, that's brilliant, Ian! As for me, 4x this (seriously!):


Just bought the vinyl!

[I. Spaceman]

SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Evenreven]

How do you like "Boots", you Nancy monster-fan, you?

[I. Spaceman]

One of the few covers that outrun an already-classic original.

[Evenreven]

Powerful words, man. I can feel the earth shaking.

I've been listening a lot to their Satisfaction version lately. Utterly righteous. Easily trumps the original, too, but of course it wouldn't have been as powerful without the original permanently residing in the collective psyche. I love Beyond the Valley of A Day in the Life too. I'm on a total Rez kick.