by jcg » Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:37 pm
Believe it or not, the replacement CDs got delayed??!?!?!?! I finally just blew my stack, jumped into my car and drove over to Amoeba Records on Sunset Blvd and JUST BOUGHT IT! A surreal and ultimately rewarding end to a long very strange trip. Sorry about all the ranting in prior posts, but I've been like a crackhead waiting for these CDs (I had preordered 1 copy for me and another as a present)! I got the Email, when I got home, that the replacements had shipped overnight UPS. So I ended up buying 3 copies!
First of all, the remastering is STAGGERING. I had the first issue CD of CE and found its sound lacking; especially in "I'll Be Home" where the opening piano and Cass' opening refrains sounded like they were recorded in another room. The immediacy of Cass' voice on the new CD is beyond words, at times bordering on a haunting! It sounds like she's singing into my ear! Bravo! Whoever did the remastering deserves a hefty raise!
The liner notes from Owen and Richard are touching, heartfelt, and contribute to the over-all classy presentation. It's great to see that Cass' legacy is in such able and loving hands.
The one bummer is that it makes me realize how sad and how wrong that this talent left us so early. This is not a negative criticism, It's just that the CD so thoroughly conveys her sweet spirit, that it makes glaringly obvious it's utter absence in this cynical ProTools-driven techno age. There simply is no one who delivers a song like Cass. Her siren song is sorely needed today.
The nightmare of actually obtaining the disc has, thankfully, not colored how impressed I am with the final product. Great job from everyone involved! And if buying that extra CD pushed us one unit closer to getting the rest of our grande dame's output released, then it was my pleasure!!!!
JC