Various Artists: The Motown Box - Disc 2 of 4 CD Track Listing

A list by checkmate

Various Artists The Motown Box - Disc 2 of 4 (2005)
The Motown Box - Disc 2 of 4\n2005 Shout! Factory\n\nOriginally Released August 2, 2005\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: With a plethora of outstanding box sets, anthologies, and budget-line compilations flooding the market from Motown, to pinpoint a definitive collection that is both economically feasible and a thorough introductory primer can be a challenging affair. While this Motown box seems like a four-disc collection most die-hard enthusiasts will have in their collection (especially with such a simple, forthright title), Motown Box is actually a quiet treasure in the label's already vast and intimidating modern digital catalog. Unlike many of the other box sets, this is the first to feature stereo mixes exclusively, with a few tracks mixed by the godfather of the (re)mix himself, Tom Moulton. All of the familiar chart-topping anthems that made Motown the soul juggernaut that it is make their appearance here, concentrating predominantly on the label's early years through the late '60s. But what makes this such a captivating collection is the nuances, though subtle, that can be found with close attention and listening. It's a bit like looking at a treasured and long recognized jewel from a different angle under a different light; just the mere repositioning can bring about new quirks that weren't present in mono form. The first three discs are essential Motown 101, but the fourth disc is the one collectors should jump to first. New mixes of rare material from minor (but equally important) artists like Chris Clark and the woefully underrated Andantes are spread about B-sides from some of the label's larger names. It's a box set that really is a win-win situation for the most casual of fans and die-hard devotees. -- Rob Theakston\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nMono is the place to start (and maybe stop), April 27, 2006\nReviewer: Michael Weston (Chicago, IL United States)\nThis box makes great listening on its own, but if you directly compare it to the Hitsville USA box of mono masters, the differences are quite dramatic. The stereo sound is softer, smoother and more colorful, but the mono tracks have a punch and intensity that the stereo tracks only occasionally match. I don't think anything has been botched here- the stereo mixes (where unaltered) are very similar to my LP box of stereo Motown hits- it's simply the best their equipment could do back then. Some of the remixes appear to have been done with a genuine effort to match the organic power of the mono tracks, and the results are fascinating. But I'd say the Hitsville USA has it where it matters- it swings harder, is more authentic, and costs less. Get over mono-phobia- Hitsville USA is the mandatory purchase. \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nSet your control to "Stereo", November 24, 2005\nReviewer: T. A. Shepherd "tas50l" (Palmdale, Ca. 93550)\nEver since I heard the stereo version of The Supremes' "Nothing But Heartaches" in the Summer of Love from their Greatest Hits album (I had purchased "More Hits By The Supremes" in mono in the summer of '65) I wondered if their were any more stereo surprises because usually the stereo LP versions were so much shorter than the 45s. When they finally started mastering the single versions on countless of anthologies, I felt vindicated. \n\nWhile collecting some of the individual artists albums (most recently The Millennium Collection by Kim Weston), I was greatly impressed with some of the full-length stereo versions, especially the duets with Marvin Gaye and "Helpless". Then, the latest anthologies by The Temptations and The Miracles with their many extended stereo mixes more than made my decade! \n\nThis latest collection of Motown re-mixes is remarkable because it shows our old favorites in a new setting. I understand the first reviewer's frustration in that some of the vocals or instrumentation is hard to hear (for instance, Joe Swift's "what key, what key?" question during the latter part of "Fingertips"). One has to come to grips with the fact that if the piano track is brought up, the reeds may not be so audible. The purpose of this set is not to bring the original product as we heard it on AM radio, but to present it in a different light. The constant cluck cluck cluck of the guitar in "Dancing In The Street", the banjo-like rhythm guitar in "Helpless" (heard on "The Best Of Kim Weston" and not here, unfortunately) and even things we've never heard like the alternate vocal of "I Hear A Symphony". The only waste of time on this set was "This Old Heart Of Mine", which was not an extended mix at all. The full length stereo version has always existed on the title album and on Rhino's "Isley Brothers' Story, Vol. 1. What is not credited as being an extended stereo mix is "Heaven Must Have Sent You" by The fabulous Elgins. I've never heard this version. The real surprises are "Reach Out, I'll Be There" and "The Tracks Of My Tears" which both flesh out to four minutes! \n\nSo, will these new stereo mixes ever take the place of the originals? Well, no, but they do justice to already great sounding records and it is nice to have multiple mixes of them.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA disapointing Motown collection - Get Hitsville USA instead., October 6, 2005\nReviewer: Somewhere in Texas (Planet Texas) \nI had high hopes that we would finally have great sounding true stereo remixes of many mono-only or poorly mixed stereo Motown singles. But depsite wonderful artwork and packaging this box set is a huge disapointment. \n\nTom Moulton has done outstanding work in the past (Jamie Records Kit Kats compilation). But despite many tracks now having extended endings, vocal workouts and different elements that are facinating to die-hard fans, these new remixes lack the punch, detail, guts and especally the vocal/instrumental balances of the original single versions. These new remixes never attempt to sonicaly dupilcate the EQ, compression or the wide stereo separation of the original mixes. Many tracks are mixed bone dry as a modern hip-hop recording - and many elements (background vocals, strings) have been smothered with digital delay when they should have been mixed hard left, center or hard right for a classic sounding 60's stereo mix. \n\nWhat made the Motown sound great wasnt just the great performers, songwriters and the Funk Brothers - the original Hitsville USA studios had custom made tube tape recorders, control boards, compressors/limiters, EQ and REAL reverb chambers (not the cheap sounding digital reverb/delay these remixes use) that made those records jump out of speakers. Remove the processing and you lose much of what made these records so special. \n\nThe remix of "Jimmy Mack" is so punchless compared to the mono single version, it almost sounds like a re-recorded K-tel version. The long awaited single mix of "My Girl" has the string section mixed far too low. This box is proof some classic recordings should be left alone and not tampered with until the right technology comes along. \n\nAnother big gripe is the 4th disc - why have only 12 tracks, when there was plenty of room to add hard to find classics like the Andantes "(It's Like a) Nightmare" and Frank Wilson - "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)". These tracks still havent been reissued in the USA, only overseas. Many American Motown fans have NEVER heard these great tracks before, and its a shame such a highly promoted box set via PBS doesnt have them. \n\nIf you are learning about the Motown Sound, I heartly reccomend getting the still-in-print "Hitsville U.S.A." box sets instead of this one. These boxes contain the definative single mixes that Berry Gordy and his company wanted you to hear, and you should hear them first over the stereo mixes most oldies stations play. Those two box sets do a better job anthologizing the true "Sound Of Young America" than this one.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nOn one hand..amazing..on the other hand, frustrating, August 11, 2005\nReviewer: B. Margolis (Minneapolis, MN United States)\nI had been eagerly waiting this reissue, since I'm a stereo freak, and unlike some of the Top 40 Purists, I love extra verses and elements that were recorded but not included at the time. But now that I've sampled the set, I hafta admit that some of the remixes are mighty disappointing. \n\nSorry to say that Tom Moulton, the fellow who remixed many of the extended versions, buried the lead vocals on many of the remixes, and upset some of the most essential balances that the original recording demanded. \n\nFor example: \nTo my ears, both "Shop Around" and "Do You Love Me" have a remix style that's much more a 2000 mixing style and quite out of place on a 1960's Detroit recording. The vocals sound like they were dropped in the middle over the backing track mixdown. So, in my opinion, the vocals don't sound like they belong to the same recording. \n\nLikewise, "Please Mr. Postman"'s drums are buried....not the crisp powerful drums on the original version. \n\nOn "Shotgun", the vocals are also really buried down deep. \n\nThe Temptations' "Since I Lost My Baby" is a better example...it's first-time stereo mix sounds great to me. \n\nPart of Martha & The Vandellas' "Jimmy Mack"'s original charm was how flat the recording was. The remixing introduced some echo and/or ambience that was never there. \n\nIt's great include added material edited out at the time (missing strings or added verses and longer endings), but the body of the recording should have more echoed the sound found on the original. (For example, Bob Irwin at Sundazed - another noted remix producer - certainly understands this and his remixes are much closer to the original sound than is found here.) \n\nI'm disappointed that it was not possible to correct the distorted electric piano on Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", and I guess that The Spinners' amazing "Truly Yours" could not've found a place onto this box...after all, its stereo mix is not so well known and would've really enchanced the track selection. \n\nOn the final disc, the two things that annoy me the most is that on The Temptations' amazing "You'll Lose A Previous Love", you mixed down Melvin Franklin's bass voice so far down that it's immediately missed. That was one of the coolest things about the original stereo mix. (Let's not forget that the backing vocals on The Isley Bros' "This Old Heart Of Mine" is also nearly hidden...it too was my favorite part of that song.) \n\nFinally, one of my all-time favorite Motown tracks, Brenda Holloway's "Just Look What You've Done" is really a mess. Both the drums, bass and lead vocals are in the middle and buried so far down that it's hard to believe that it got included. This is one of the prime Motown singles with the true shotgun beat, and by burying it, it makes this remix virtually unlistenable. \n\nThe majority of the boxset is fine, but I have to say that when remixing classics like these Motown hits, the remix producer has to be sooooooo very careful not to rewrite history and take some of the elements that makes these records great out of these remixes. \n\nI would've headphoned each of these remixes before approving them and made the above corrections. \n\nI am well aware that the original stereo mixes were tinny, sloppy and often faded short, but making some of these sound like a Bruce Springteen backing track is not the answer, either. (I'm not a fan of the current spread across the channel/live style of remixing....) \n\nI'm happy to have this set, and highly recommend it too, but am also disappointed that many of these do not resemble how these tracks should've sounded after being remixed. \n\nHalf.com Album Notes\nGiven the tremendous volume, range, and generally superior quality of Motown's output throughout the 1960s, it is difficult to find a satisfyingly comprehensive collection, and fans are easily in danger of finding themselves neck-deep in the sea of compilations flooding the market. The four-disc HITSVILLE U.S.A. box and THE MOTOWN STORY, VOL. 1: THE SIXTIES are good bets, but 2005's beautifully compiled four-disc THE MOTOWN BOX matches--and arguably surpasses--those collections.\nIn addition to containing nearly every essential chart hit by the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Martha & the Vandellas, and Little Stevie Wonder--not to mention classics by the likes of Mary Wells, the Elgins, the Spinners, and the Marvellettes--THE MOTOWN BOX boasts extended stereo remixes of the majority of singles. Audiophiles used to the mono mixes will relish the rich sound here, and Motown fanatics will have to own the fourth disc, which contains rarities and B-sides. These bonuses heighten the appeal on this already outstanding and thorough collection of some of the best pop music of the 20th century.
This misc cd contains 20 tracks and runs 61min 2sec.
Freedb: 2f0e4c14
Buy: from Amazon.com

Categories

Latest lists

Various Artists: The Motown Box - Disc 2 of 4 CD Track Listing

Category

Tags

cyList

Legal