Search - Jack Bruce :: Songs for a Tailor

'Songs'...forever

Jason A. Levine | Seattle, WA USA | 05/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is quite simply one of the best reissues I've heard in recent years. A remastering job that is faithful to the original, but at the same time showcases the subtleties and nuances of a performance that was both masterful and highly innovative. In short - if you've ever heard "Songs For A Tailor", you've *never* heard it like this! Kick Drums thump, the bass is upfront, wailing, and Jack's voice, well, it's as pristine as it ever was. The true beauty of this remastered edition can be showcased in three major areas: 1) Vocal clarity and space. The voices and reverbs are pristine, defined, and you hear every echo. 2) Bass without BOOM. The problem with many remasters is that they squash the heck out of it to make it sound modern, ignoring dynamics and essentially destroying the original. Not the case here, as *every* simple crescendo has been preserved, albeit a little louder at the finish, and a little more present. Check out the drums on 'He The Richmond' and 'Weird of Hermiston' - brilliantly analog, digitally restored. 3) Nice bonus tracks. The demo of "Ministry" is by far the best of four, but the 'aborted' mixes are very cool, and sound great. Without a doubt, a beautiful reissue of a timeless classic. They're 'Songs for' you and me - 'Songs', forever."

FORGET CREAM , LISTEN TO THIS INSTEAD

A C SHIELDS | melbourne , australia | 04/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A lot of us enjoyed Jack's fine playing and singing with Cream , but for a truer idea of what he was capable of , this album is the place to start . It has the weird lyrics because it's the same lyricist , Pete Brown , but although you may not be singing along , you have to admit it must have been hard to write musical settings that fitted those words . Jack did that very well and got other great players to help him put it across . An interesting and fine record - it will take you somewhere else entirely . For all the full price rubbish we have pushed in our faces , these records are even sweeter to discover and/or rediscover ."

This one deserves six stars

C. Caney | New York, ny United States | 03/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Take away the soaring vocals, upfront melodic bass lines and that penchant for unusual, catchy songs and Cream is just another power trio with a wailing guitarist. Jack Bruce added all those elements that made Cream one of the all time great bands and they're here in abundance on his first solo album. For anyone who wore out the grooves in their 1969 vinyl the remix on this CD is superb. Jack's bass is carefully mixed to be upfront like the original without that obnoxious thudding that plagues most bass-centric recordings today. For anyone who never heard Jack's solo efforts, check this out. There's an incredibly broad musical range here from blusey romps like 'Ministry of Bag' and 'Never Tell your Mother..'to soundscapes like 'Theme for an Imaginary Western' and 'To Isengard' to remarkable oddities like 'Boston Ball Game' and 'Rope Ladder to the Moon'. The songs are superb, the arrangements perfect, the performances of virtuoso sidemen like Chris Speeding, Jon Hiseman and Dick Heckstall Smith are memorable and the remix itself is magnificent. Maybe Songs For a Tailor will finally take it's place among the most important rock albums ever made."