This edition was almost flawless
dneaeade | Paris, France | 07/21/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Now that I have finally received my remastered 2 cd edition of Kim Wilde's Another Step, I think it is time to make a review of it.
I believe, some fans will be interested to know some details like the timing of the songs, especially the special tracks like the B-sides or the remixes that Amazon didn't include, so here they are : Songs about love 4:55, Loving you 4:56, Hold back 3:57, Another step 7 inch 3:30, Say you really want me 7 inch U.K. 4:03, 7 inch U.S. 3:30, extended version 6:34, the video remix 9:46, david todd remix 5:44, radio edit 5:09, instrumental 4:22, urban version 3:57, Megamix (hangin'on+step+really want me) 8:05 and now here's my judgement of it.
First and foremost, the booklet is truly marvelous, it contains an amazing picture of Kim Wilde I've never seen before and the lyrics of all the songs, including the B-sides with finally a readable font and not the original one who looked like a really bad written and undecipherable manuscript, kudos for that.
It also features all 3 covers of the album : the drawn map one, the new map one and the sexy one and all the covers of all the singles and 12 inches with European, American and Japanese different covers for Schoolgirl (2 covers) You keep me hangin'on (6 covers), Another step single (4 covers) & Say you really want me (nothing less than 8 different covers !) and the always insightful 3-page essai written by Steve Thorpe who tells us all about the original release dates, chart scores and meaningful anecdotes of the 80's.
And finally, THE SOUND is amazing here. You can definitively shelve your previous cd edition because you won't be needing it anymore since this one almost recaptures the lost energy and power of vinyl records, especially when you listen to the drums. For all the hi-fi systems, it's Christmas in July !
But as I've said it in the title, there is a BUT because there is a flaw, but a very little one. For the Say you really want me (urban version) that I personally have never heard of before - so it must be a very rare remix and the extra-track Songs about love (original b-side of the European only single Schoolgirl) the source can't be an original tape recording because it's obvious, especially in the end that those 2 tracks have been recorded from a vinyl record source and for Songs about love, even my own 7 inch single from 1986 is less damaged than the one they have used, so it saddens me a little because this was almost the perfect edition (this explains my 4 stars only rating).
I can't believe MCA records U.K. couldn't have come up with a better source than this one, especially for this b-side, but as I've said it, it's a very minor flaw, because the sound of even those tracks is amazing but none the less, it spoils a little my pleasure as a true Kim Wilde fan, but since the sound of all the other tracks is wonderful, I'm inclined to forgive them anyway because I'm hoping they will also release a 2-cd edition of Close, Love moves and Love is and also because having the amazing WCH club mix of You keep me hangin' on and 9 different mixes of Say you really want me on CD is like a dream come true.
And one thing is for sure, if I ever lose all editions of this album or if they are stolen from me, I would surely buy this edition again instead of the original one because Cherry red records have made a very good job with it, that's for sure, so, well done guys and see you soon, I hope.
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