Capitulated & ordered from Amazon UK. I'm at the age where if I love the music, providence & has the stuff I want, I buy it. Looks like a beautiful set. Unless the SACDs & the BD don't have content that is on the CDs, the CDs & vinyl will be untouched like other sets I have. This is a unicorn release. Worth the fare.
Gene is featured in the new issue of Mojo MOJO 312 – November 2019: The Who — Mojo Also, those Heavy Nuggets free CDs that the magazine have done are always worth a listen. It's where I first heard the mighty Leafhound.
I think it's the single CD edition for me. The 2003 bonus tracks I rarely listen to. If there was a stand-alone hybrid SACD release I would buy it. No Other is one of those albums where listening to alternate/early versions would spoil my enjoyment of it. Same with Dylan's John Wesley Harding, or pretty much everything by The Beatles. I guess I'm greedy - I want more previously unheard songs by Gene! Whatever happened to the rumour that No Other was originally meant to be a double album, with more songs on it? Did that get squashed? Seems odd that the only non-album song is Train Leaves Here This Morning. Even odder that they kept working on it - I'd assumed with the 2003 release it just a one-off warm-up.
I’ve heard a few different reasons. One was coked out days prevented anything from getting done, which ran into major over budget issues. Two: Sly Stone was using the sessions and put it on Gene’s tab, which ran it into major over budget issues.
The special issue of Echoes has an interview with Sid Griffin and John Wood, co-producers of the outtakes that explains what they are and why there aren't any 'new' songs: Echoes is pleased to bring you the inside scoop on 4AD RECORDS’ forthcoming release of Gene Clark's finest work:
So it looks like the 2003 bonuses are not being repeated here? I think one reason I never listened to them much is that, like Sid Griffin says, they were the type of alt. versions that are not too far removed from the official versions. Whereas it sounds like what's in store for us with this new reissue is some radically different treatments of the songs.
From what it sounds like, they are completely different arrangements from the album and what had been released previously. Two sample tracks from 4AD of Silver Raven and From A Silver Phial are available on YouTube, Spotify and iTunes.
Amazon Canada has a listing for the SACD on it's own: https://www.amazon.ca/No-Other-SACD...rds=gene+clark+no+other&qid=1569302974&sr=8-1 Doesn't look like there's any bonus tracks and no mention of it being a hybrid.
But if you actually investigate that listing, the single CD is pictured plain as day in the included photos.
It certainly does but I swear when I looked at it yesterday it was the SACD. Maybe I imagined it. Weird that the description still says it's an SACD. I guess someone made an error.
Someone further up said he was in for the "non-existent 3 disc" edition (or similar words) - i.e. the remastered album + 2 discs of alternate takes. Truth be told, that's what we all would prefer, isn't it? CD or Hybrid SACD. And once upon a time, in another decade, that's what we would have got - and been happy with. It's not the money - it's the clutter. And the sense of waste. I don't want blu-ray + vinyl + hybrid SACD all containing the same thing. I love Gene's music - I just listened to the first half of Sings For You and it's absolutely beautiful. A single CD and it comes in a simple digipak.
Rolling Stone just posted two more alternate takes: Hear Previously Unheard Outtakes From Gene Clark’s ‘No Other’
Just yesterday at my local used vinyl store there were two copies of No Other, both at $45. Looking forward to this reissue especially the 5.1 surround sound version.
I've heard 4 or 5 of the alternate takes so far, and they're all wonderful. Sid Griffin did a fantastic job sorting out the best ones for release and he gives a great explanation of how he went about it in the latest issue of Uncut, which has a large feature on the deluxe reissue. Griffin, who has been a fan a lot longer than me and actually had Clark guest on his first album with the Long Ryders, shares my feeling that while the No Other songs are undeniably great, the production on the album is overbaked with unnecessary backup singers and instrumentation. It's always been the hardest Gene album for me to listen to. It's fantastic that so many alternates are going to be released and we finally get to hear these songs unencumbered by all the bogus bells and whistles. The ones I've heard so far are all more fresh and compelling than the finished masters because they feel real, even if they have a few rough edges. All you really need are Gene's words, guitar and voice and a little sympathetic backup and you have all the power necessary.
Mazzy got a question for you. Is there such a thing as 4k HD Blu-Ray audio? Wouldn't think 4k HD would matter in regard to audio but don't know. If it exists would it be superior to standard Blu-Ray audio?
I do not know the answer to that. Someone here into high rex audio and playback gear should be able to answer your questions. Although I have a handful of 5.1 audio BRs and DVDs, I rarely play them after the first couple of listens. It's fun but a gimmick IMHO.
