Breakthrough Pentangle
Stephen J. Swellander | San Antonio, Texas USA | 03/14/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)
"This was the album that put Pentangle on the international map of popular music. The first song, "Light Flight," became a hit on British television, and then the folk/jazz/rock ensemble suddenly became celebrities.
This is probably their most "pop" album of their heyday in the sixties and early seventies, but it is a marvelously appealing production with fine acoustic instrumental arrangements and beautiful vocal harmonies. There is more overdubbing and layered instrumentation on Basket of Light than on Pentangle's other albums, which feature the band more the way they sounded live.
OK, most of you readers have probably owned this album before and are just wondering if there is any advantage to buying the dualdisc version. That depends on whether or not you have a multichannel sound system. The CD side is a nicely remastered version of the original stereo album with a two alternate takes of "Sally Go Round the Roses" and two previously unreleased songs. You can buy all of that on a regular CD. The DVD side of the dualdisc features the same entire album in 5.1 surround. The multichannel mix, however, is nothing revelatory. It widens the stereo field and adds some artificial ambience to the rear channels. I still have my old Tetragrammaton LP, and comparing the two, the engineers have cleaned up some hiss without hurting the dynamic range, but the multichannel mix sounds boomy--Danny Thompson's bass is tighter and cleaner in the original stereo. There are a few recording anomalies that sound like damaged tape, like at the beginning of "Hunting Song," which the souped up multichannel mix makes even more evident. Sorry surround junkies, but the guitar solo at the beginning of "Train Song" still pans between the front speakers like in the original stereo and not all around the room like it could have with more aggressive mixing. All in all, the new mix is pretty faithful to the original and doesn't sound any better. The dualdisc has video liner notes and photos (the same ones that are on the CD booklet), and since the medium is resistant to ripping, Silverline has also included mp3 files for your portable player.
Although I have been impressed with some multichannel remixes of older recordings, particularly the early Elton John albums, I prefer Basket of Light in plain stereo and find myself still reaching for the vinyl when I want to listen to it. The remastered CD is clean and warm, but there's something still appealing about hearing a stylus settle into its groove."
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1