I have it as it appears on the original German CD pressing of the "Word Up" album. The album is a clean, cold, hard digital recording, perfect for the sound the band was going for in the mid-80s. I do think this CD sounds good. The worst version I have ever heard is on the Cameo Greatest hits that came out around 2001. There, it is all muffled, fuzzy, and dull.
Grant, is that the Cameo 2CD "Anthology" set you're talking about? Someone gave me a copy of that a while back and I got rid of it. I wasn't happy with how it sounded. I think all of Cameo's albums, starting with "Style" in 1983 were all digital recordings. The Cameo Funk Essentials CD that came out in 1993 and it's volume 2 follow up in 1996 I have found to sound best. Only minor downer is that the first volume doesn't have the original mix of "She's Strange". It's got the inferior "Rap Version" that appeared on the B-Side of the 12" remix.
1) No. There was a single disc greatest hits issued a few years ago with terrible sound. The cover has a pink background with a mugshot of Larry Blackmon on the froeground with his shades on. 2) Yes, all of their recordings, starting with style are indeed full digital recordings. They were among the first R&B artists besides Stevie Wonder and Nile Rodgers to go digital. 3) Many years ago, I made my own comprehensive 2-hour Cameo best-of on a DAT using all original mixes. I never did transfer it to CD-R. Now I can't because the converter stopped working, or something. I should redo the whole thing for CD-R one of these days.
I missed that compilation, I guess that's a good thing! I've noticed starting with the "Style" album some major changes to their sound. Particularly in the low end. Cameo's records always had great sounding bass and drums, and recording everything digital changed that. Everything sounded kind of edgy and brittle, especially the drums. Larry Blackmon switched from using an acoustic kit to a Simmons electronic kit and various other drum machines.
