Search - The Allman Brothers Band :: Eat a Peach

DISAPPOINTING REMASTERS 2007 JAPANESE VERSION.

RafuXo | Brazil, SC Joinville | 09/30/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I am a long time fan of this band, but I'm disappointed with quality of this Japanese 2007 Reissue. Other Universal titles as Lynyrd Skynyrd for example the sound is very superior than ABB 2007 reissue.

The Package is excellent, lyrics both English and Japanese, but the quality of sound could be better. 2 Stars.

"

What a Waste! Great Opportunity Spurned!

Frederick Baptist | Singapore | 11/10/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Few bands could have gone through the challenges this band has and still come out swinging (Def Leppard is one that comes to mind). It makes one wonder just how much better they could have been had both Duane Allman and Berry Oakley made it to middle age instead of dying so tragically so early on and in such similar circumstances too.



Still, Dickey Betts pulls off the guitar parts very admirably by himself on most of the tracks although Duanne is still on a few of the tracks such as the massive (34 minutes long) "Mountain Jam" and on one of the most beautiful solo acoustic guitar pieces I have ever heard, "Little Martha." I have a soft spot for "Melissa" as it's my wife's name but I still think that Dickie overdid the guitar fills too much and even "spoiled" the song taking away from its potential as being a really good tender ballad. Either the guitar fills should have been reduced in volume into the background or Dickie should have practised some restraint or Greg Allman's vocal should have been removed altogether to make this just an instrumental piece like "Little Martha." I personally would have gone with the second option as not all of Dickie's fills were bad but he just plain overdid it. As a guitarist myself, I know how hard it is to just bury your ego, step back and let the rest of the band do their stuff and yet many times, less is more. Angus Young from AC/DC said it best when he said we are called the "lead" guitarist and not the "loud" guitarist. This coming from one of the best ever lead rock guitarists who ever lived. Still, this is a great eulogy and elegy to the great Duanne Allman.



This mlps version of the album though is a vast disappointment as the sound quality is very poor and is certainly not remastered. The old adage of judging the book by its cover certainly holds true here and therein lies the great waste. As far as mlps designs go, the packaging is first class as the gatefold design and workmanship plus the super quality cardboard used makes this one of the best mlps' that I've ever seen. An inner sleeve with all the lyrics in English and Japanese is included however, the most important part of the whole package, the cd sound quality, has been left unchanged making this version of the classic album a huge disappointment for the audiophile. Such a well done mlps design surely deserves a much better remastered sound quality to accompany it. The powers that be have let a great opportunity to produce a high-class reissue version of the album go by. Unless you are a great mlps design fan alone, I don't know why you would want to pay serious bucks for great-looking cardboard when there is no improvement sound-wise to the cd that you already own.



If you consider that Duane Allman together with Eric Clapton were probably the greatest blues guitarists of their time when Duane died (just hear their work together on Derek and the Dominoes' "Layla")the loss is truly great and one cannot but wonder at what might have been.



Alas, we'll never know but get this and "Brothers and Sisters" if you want to get the best of the Allman Brothers' work. If you are a guitarist and want to learn what great blues and slide work sounds like, get these two as well as the "Live at Fillmore East" albums as essential listening material.



Just don't get these mlps versions which sound exactly the same sound quality-wise as the versions you already have and hence waste a lot of money for good mlps design alone."