Search - Guess Who :: Artificial Paradise

I have "mixed feelings" about these

G. Putman | Las Vegas, NV United States | 04/19/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Well, I will have to echo the other reviewers as to how excited that I was when these essential Guess Who albums finally came out on CD. They were the best rock band ever from Canada, and I think that Burton Cummings has one of the most beautiful voices in the history of rock. Now, as far as these reissues go, I got 3 of the 4 all at once and I am not convinced that was such a good idea. The artwork is really nice, but nothing mind-blowing. Basically, you get pretty much all of the artwork from the original LP issues with song lyrics, but nothing more....no extended liner notes, interviews, or any sort of extra pictures (which is always kind of neat to get). That's ok though, because the booklets are laid out nicely. NOW, the issue of the mastering: I don't have super high-end equipment, but I don't exactly have garbage either and I can see where the other reviewers are coming from with the issue of the sound. I don't think that it is as horrible as the first reviewers wrote, but there is most certainly something not right with the low end here. You do have to crank up the bass or push in that loudness button to get the low end, and then is does sound like there could have been some more definition. The high end is pretty up there as well (maybe a little too much). I could see that if you do have really high-end audio gear, these would kinda sound like you know what. If you don't, you can probably live with it, seeing how long we all have waited for these. I would like to hear the old CD issues of these and compare the mastering with them. If anyone out there can do this, let us know what you think. All and all, it is a bit disappointing and I really wish they could have done a better job with the sound, but I think that it is still great to have these wonderful albums."

Guess Who

R. A. Townsend | 05/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a longtime GW fan, I care little about the aesthetics of which LP should have been matched with another LP. These were two of my favorite vinyls from one of my favorite bands, and it doesn't overly challenge my IQ to still think of them as separate entities which happen to be on one CD for my convenience.



I have enjoyed the contents on this disk very much. One of classic rock's most eclectic and under-rated bands ever shows the breadth and depth of their musical journey, from their debut RCA release of Wheatfield Soul, to their more musically-accomplished but less pensive Artifical Paradise from 1973.



You rockers who long for something more, its not too late to hop on board. There is a reason why this band remains unduly popular among musicians, radio and music industry personnel."

There are several sticking points here...

T. LeBaron | NH | 04/30/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I agree with several points from many of the reviews here. I've been a Guess Who fan ever since Shakin' All Over...and it makes very little sense to me to pair up albums way out of synch with each other. Both Wheatfield Soul and Artificial Paradise were fine albums, but they were at almost opposite ends of the band's career...Randy Bachman and Kurt Winter: two very talented but very different guitarists from one another. It was inspiring to see Randy do Kurt's guitar work seeing them live in 2000 and 2002 and was a testament to how good Bachman is. But I agree totally, put Artificial Paradise and #10 together and Canned Wheat with Wheatfield Soul, and give the catalog the respect and the better audio it deserves. I myself did the DIY thing on Artificial Paradise, Flavours & Power in the Music (Cool Edit is a wonderful tool for cleaning up old vinyl albums), and wish RCA would have given them individual releases. I also agree with Cummings, that the two final RCA albums really weren't the Guess Who as we knew them before. Aside from the stray track (like Hamba Gahle), Artificial Paradise just might be one of the band's finest moments for sheer diversity, power and just plain great rock & roll, to take nothing away from Wheatfield Soul or any other Guess Who albums for that matter. I myself snapped up all the early 90s RCA Canada reissues and those, to me, did the best job of preserving the character (not to mention the graphics) of the original works. Also of interest are the early works, which Randy Bachman has had a huge part in bringing out: This Time Long Ago, which features several Wheatfield Soul tracks in their early stages....and Let's Go (drawn from their CBC-TV series of the same name, with several covers of classic tunes and their earliest self-composed works previously only available on a double-band LP called A Wild Pair, the other side being Ottawa's Staccatos, which you know better as The Five Man Electrical Band). As for Artificial Paradise: if you have the vinyl and a CD burner...go for it! This is great stuff, and it deserves better treatment."