The Yardbirds' Debut Album Has Just Gotten a Whole Lot Bette
Frederick Baptist | Singapore | 10/08/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The rock and roll genre owes a great deal to this British band which gave the world guitar greats such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page although only Jeff Beck is listed on the albums as a permanent fixture officially together with the rest of the band which includes Keith Relf on vocals, Paul Samwell-Smith on bass, Jim McCarty on drums and Chris Dreja on rhythm guitar. Eric Clapton decided the band was too much into pop for his liking and although he played on some of the tracks on this album, he left the band just before it hit the charts. Although the rest of the band turned to Jimmy Page as a replacement, Jimmy was earning serious "bread" as a session musician and so recommended his buddy Jeff Beck instead. This didn't stop Page from "guesting" on tracks of future albums and his work with Beck on the track "Stroll On" or "Train Kept a Rollin'" on the next album "Having a Rave Up" is a classic standard of early rock guitar genius. The squeels, grunts etc that they got out of their guitars have to be heard to be understood as they defy verbal explanation.
As a guitarist myself who learned a great deal from Beck I have a personal soft spot in my heart for this band. Beck's solos on tracks like: "A Certain Girl", "I'm Not Talking" and "I Ain't Done Wrong" are licks I learned note for note when I first started playing. Clapton does great solos on "I Ain't Got You", "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" and "Got to Hurry" but it was the simplicity and raw aggression of Jeff's solo's that I prefered to learn. I just loved the way he could make simple things sound hard and his inspired use of feedback which was unavoidable at the time given the state of the equipment in those days and yet instead of fighting it he used it to his own sonic advantage.
Now this album has gotten a pretty good remastering treatment and sounds as good as it ever could given the deteriorated state of the original masters and also includes 7 bonus tracks consisting alternate takes of the main tracks. The mini-lp replica sleeve design is first class and is as good as I've ever seen them done. The cardboard is thick and of good quality and the design very faithfully resembles the original lp. Also included is a 24-page booklet which includes all the lyrics in both English and Japanese.
The volume levels are high and yet the sound isn't muddy although some of the master tape limitations are fairly obvious and yet this is a definite improvement in sound quality as compared to the other pre-remastered versions that are out there. Overall, the sound quality has been remastered very well for a decent sound. For fans of mid-60's blues rock, this is a worthy addition to your sonic library. For guitarists seeking to learn blues rock this is essential listening.
Recommended."
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1