Search - Babys :: Head First

Great Album but..........

Ricky | 09/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Picked this up on ebay for around $50.00 new. I know it's too much but it doesn't appear it's getting any cheaper so I took the dive. Like many, I wore out the vinyl album and have missed these tunes for many years. First off this was not pushed out by Chrysalis but by a company called One Way Records.........who claims the original recordings are "Re-Mastered". Although I applaud One Way for getting the Baby's library to CD and ultimate release, do not buy this CD with the expectations that the sound is going to wow you because it will not. Like the original vinyl, the backbone of the sound.........Tony Brock on drums and John Waite on bass still sounds like they were recorded under water and for this reason I am dissapointed in this CD. In fact I will go out on a limb and claim the vinyl version of this recording is much better than the CD pressing.



The liner notes are interesting in the sense the interviewer was actually able to get the lads to speak fondly about each other......but realizing it was 2001 when he interviewed them it makes some sense. Back then there was an effort under way to bring the boys back together which subsequently ended quite badly. Interviewing these guys today would result in a far different view/opinion of each other.....primarily in the case of John Waite......whose rep has suffered quite a bit over the years. I especially like the piece where he talks about it being his idea to stop playing bass.....which wasn't the case at all. He was forced to stop by Chrysalis in fact. But enough about that stuff..........what about the music?



In a nutshell.......one of the best rock albums of all-time is how I would rate this one. Wally Stocker is brilliant throughout and John's vocals were never better. If there was one guy I wish I could sound like as a singer it would be John Waite. With any type of personality this guy could have owned the music industry. I just wish Tony's drumming could have been more in the forefront as he is a fantastic drummer.........oh well. Finally, I also bought "On the Edge" and it also has the "re-master" stamp all over it and it too sounds muddled based on expectations."