David Bowie - Young Americans (W/Dvd) (Spec)
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Free Music Notes for Young Americans (W/Dvd) (Spec)
Free Music Review: No surround problems at all
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem with this surround mix. It doesn't jump out at you like others I've heard (particularly on some of the Depeche Mode Special Editions), but it's perfectly adequate without distracting too much from the straightforward soul, rock and dance/disco sounds that Bowie explores on this album. I completely disagree with what another reviewer wrote about the mix on Fame; that song is a real treat in surround. It's no drastic reinvention or alteration - just Fame nicely spread across all 5 speakers in your surround setup like any fan would expect, and like any great song, it makes me want to crank the volume as much as possible even if it means pissing off the neighbors. Thank god I'm not in an apartment.
That being said, as everyone knows Young Americans finds Bowie comfortably entering his blue-eyed soul period. Back when it was released, this must have thrown everyone for a loop. But looking back, consider this a warmup for what eventually would become the perfect distillation of Bowie's unique sound with funk and soul: Station to Station. Young Americans isn't quite as good as that disc, but it certainly holds its own in the Bowie catalog. There are no weak tracks here, and besides the obvious hits, check out Bowie's wild, soulful take on Lennon's Across the Universe (way better than it should be), as well as the great bonus cut It's Gonna Be Me. The remastering does a nice job bringing out how tight the background singers and musicians were on all these tracks, which again shows new life in full suround on the bonus disc. In an age where honing music to perfection is the norm, it's nice to hear the raw skill of these musicians and singers behind Bowie's impassioned vocals.
If anything, buy this set simply for the bonus videos. Besides two excellent live performances, Young Americans and 1984, from the Dick Cavett show, you get a full one-on-one session between Cavett and Bowie. Talk about intense - here's Bowie playing nervously with his cane, wiping his nose, and obviously a bit too young to take much of it too seriously. Besides the apparent side effects of coke, he's as amused at our reactions to him as we are to his ever-changing personnas. Frtunately, Cavett doesn't take him too seriously either, and the two strike a fun and easy rapport. This is priceless stuff - with the only thing missing being a reunion between the two to offer some commentary. Guess I can wish.
Let's hope this special edition is just the start of the entire Bowie catalog being released in this format. I know Bowie fans have been inundated with rereleases and remasters, and it's gotten a bit ridiculous. But if surround-sound, videos and vintage interviews are part of the offering, I'll sell my set of Virgin remasters and come along for the ride.
Free Music Review: 5.1 channels of gross
Hit: 4 Stars
I love this album. The original stereo mix is great. Great songs, great performances, great sound. I'm not even going to get into that. My review is for those of you strictly curious about the 5.1 mix.
The 5.1 mix, in short, is awful. If you've ever thought to yourself, "Boy, I wish that bongo drum was loud as hell" or "Why can't those backup singers sound like they're singing in a garage down the road?" then maybe you'll like this. The strut and soul of these songs is lost in the obnoxious frills of this surround mix. There are constant issues with the reverb on both lead and backup vocals. I'm sure the original tracks are hard to deal with, but the effects that make this album sound like a classic piece of coked-out 70's soul only sound awkward when shifting around in the stereo field at any instant. The only track that I find even interesting to hear in 5.1 is "Win". The worst tragedy of this remix is "Fame". It sounds so dry and brittle that I can't even handle it. This isn't "Fame". This is something else... Then again "Fascination" sucks pretty bad too. Man, what a waste of money.
The Dick Cavette show stuff is great though. Bowie just can't quit fidgeting with that cane.
(...)
Free Music Review: More on the sound quality
Hit: 4 Stars
Since a lot of the comments here are regarding the sound quality, I thought I'd chime in too. I don't have a surround setup so these comments are just regarding the stereo CD. A careful comparison with the Ryko CD reveals the stereo "stage" is different on this new release. For instance, on "Win" on the Ryko release, the guitar is off to the far left, the sax to the far right, just like the original RCA LP. On this new release, the instruments are much more towards the center, creating a narrower soundstage. Furthermore, the sax seems to drift from right to left at some points. This leads me to believe the stereo disc is mixed down from the surround version, which I imagine has some of the instruments moving around at points. While the sound quality is overall quite good, I would prefer the stereo imaging mimic the original, not change things. The original LP did have a bit of an exaggerated stereo effect, but that's the way it was recorded.Free Music Review: mastering issues?
Hit: 4 Stars
young americans as an album is great - my reason for this review is to find out if i'm just hearing things or if there are a couple mistakes on the standard cd of this album (not the 5.1 mix)
at 3:45 in the song young americans, the background singers seem to drop completely out of the mix for a full second in the right speaker. also, maybe 5 to 10 seconds or so before this, there is a click that kind of sounds like skip in the cd but its not - these aren't huge things but for an audiophile, they're distracting at the least, esp. with headphones - can anyone else verify that this is on all of the copies of the special edition album? its not just mine, right?
Free Music Review: Worst Bowie album ever
Hit: 1 Stars
How does one go from Ziggy to this crap. If I wanted to listen to soul music I would have pulled out my mowtown collection. I actually had the displeasure of seeing this tour live. Cant tell you how disappointed I was as I had no idea he was going to do this garbage. This album never should have been made. Wish I could rate it less than 1 star. I'm afraid it was all down hill for Bowie after he lost the brilliant Mick Ronson.
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