The Who - John Entwistle Albums

LPs (vinyl) Sampled: Polydor (UK), Demon (UK), USA (Decca), USA (MCA), Polydor: (Australia, Colombia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain), Italy (Earmark),

CDs Sampled: Castle Music (UK - 2005), Repertoire (Germany), Sundazed (USA), Sanctuary (USA - 2005), Strange Days (Japan), Edsel (UK)

LP Comments: Most of the Polydor LPs have a heavier and grittier feel vs. the Decca (USA). The Polydor LPs are also mixed differently (except South Africa) - For example, the USA version's "My Size" has cool, wandering guitar parts and a slightly longer intro. "What Are We Doing Here?" on the Polydor versions (except South Africa) has a different vocal and a more acoustic sound. There are also some less noticeable remixing parts of the album. The 2007 Italy (Earmark) LP appears to be based on the USA mix of the album and is not only sonically excellent, but has very high quality vinyl.

This album is a "tough call" since its sort of a "mix and match" situation. I like the grittier sound of the European versions - but also like some of the mix variations on the USA version. I give a slight vinyl quality edge to the Polydor (Germany). However, the Polydor (UK) LP is better than the German LP sonically (the German version sounds slightly duller in comparison). The Decca (USA) <sonically> sounds fine too, with the various differences noted above. The Australia copy sounds inferior to any of the other pressings I've heard - but has a nice, laminated cover.

Note: I have about 5 copies of the UK LP, all of which have the "acoustic", "What Are We Doing Here?" I have been told that there are some UK copies which have the USA version.

CD comments: For the initial 1997 CD release, John did something peculiar. He released the original USA LP version in Europe and the original European LP version in the USA (with the exception of "What Are We Doing Here?" (see below). The 2005 (UK - Castle & USA Sanctuary) versions are based on the original USA mix. The Castle (UK), Sanctuary (USA) and Repertoire (Germany) versions sound equally excellent (both 2005 UK Castle and 2005 USA Sanctuary are virtually identical). The Strange Days (Japan) CD is based on the 2005 UK & USA CDs, but the sound quality is slightly weaker. It really should boil down to which mix you prefer, and bonus tracks - which are extensive on the 2005/2006 releases.

Note: The sound quality varies a bit on the 2005 CD's bonus tracks. This is probably due to varying tape sources. Nothing bad, but just worth noting.

The CD releases also includes the previously unreleased "Cinnamon Girl". I had initially suggested to John to add this as a bonus track for the album's CD release and his response was, "I don't like bonus tracks. I only write enough songs for an album. If you like the song, get it on a bootleg." Fortunately, I asked enough people in his "inner circle" to bug him about it and thankfully he gave in. It's a great cover version.

Summary: The CD versions are great and sound just as good or better than the original LP releases. I like the 2005 versions for the extensive bonus tracks only. The original USA version of "What Are We Doing Here?" can only be found on the USA Sundazed CD (as a bonus track). No other CDs have this version of the song.

Other Comments: After this album was initially released in Europe, John Entwistle became dissatisfied with parts of it and made changes for the USA version. Most notably is a the wandering guitars (switching between right channel and left channel) on "My Size" and a different version of "What Are We Doing Here?"

At some point there were many "unsold" copies of the USA Decca LP and were put back in the bins with an MCA sticker and catalog #, but were actually original Decca pressings. These versions have a plain white inner sleeve vs. the original one (which had the artwork and lyrics).

LP: My Size, Pick Me Up (Big Chicken), What Are We Doing Here?, What Kind Of People Are They?, Heaven And Hell, Ted End, You're Mine, No. 29 (External Youth), I Believe In Everything

CD (Repertoire): My Size, Pick Me Up (Big Chicken), What Are We Doing Here?, What Kind Of People Are They?, Heaven And Hell, Ted End, You're Mine, No. 29 (External Youth), I Believe In Everything, Cinnamon Girl

CD (Sundazed): My Size, Pick Me Up (Big Chicken), What Are We Doing Here?, What Kind Of People Are They?, Heaven And Hell, Ted End, You're Mine, No. 29 (External Youth), I Believe In Everything, Cinnamon Girl, What Are We Doing Here? (Original UK mix)

CD (Castle Music (UK), Sanctuary (USA), Strange Days (Japan), Edsel (UK)): My Size, Pick Me Up (Big Chicken), What Are We Doing Here?, What Kind Of People Are They?, Heaven And Hell, Ted End, You're Mine, No. 29 (External Youth), I Believe In Everything, Cinnamon Girl, It's Hard To Write A Love Song (demo - no relationship to the song on "Mad Dog"), The Haunted Can Be Free (demo), World Behind My Face (demo), My Size (early take), What Kind Of People Are They (demo), Pick Me Up (Big Chicken) (demo), No. 29 (demo), Ted End (demo)

LPs (vinyl) Sampled: Polydor (UK), Demon (UK), Decca (USA), Polydor (Germany), CBS/Sony (Japan), Polydor (Spain)

CDs Sampled: Repertoire (Germany), Sundazed (USA), Castle Music (UK - 2005), Sanctuary (USA - 2005), Strange Days (Japan - 2006), Strange Days (Japan - 2008), Edsel (UK)

LP Comments: The Polydor (UK) & CBS/Sony (Japan) has better vinyl quality, but the Decca (USA) has a better overall frequency response, especially in the highs, as well as an overall warmer sound.

CD Comments: The Sundazed (USA) has a slight edge over the Repertoire (Germany). However, the Castle Music (UK), Sanctuary (USA) and Strange Days (Japan) (note: the latter 3 CDs sound virtually identical) capture the bottom end of the original LP, but unfortunately goes very overboard with the loudness and treble. While there's no distortion, the treble has to be turned way down to make this CD sound properly.

Summary: The best overall sound for this album comes from the Decca (USA) LP. While the sound is very clean on Sundazed (USA) and Repertoire (Germany) CD versions, they are completely missing the familiar, heavy "bottom end" that is very present on the LP versions. What's particularly interesting about that is, two different people mastered the 2 CD versions - Bob Pridden for the Repertoire (Germany) version and Bob Irwin for the Sundazed (USA) version. However, neither of them captures the original feel of the LP, which makes this CD release a bit disappointing. The Castle Music (UK)/Sanctuary (USA)/Strange Days (Japan) CDs would sound great, had there not been too much treble and unnecessary compression.

Other Comments: Just for the fun of it, I dubbed an unplayed, Decca LP copy directly to CD. The results were great. I'm not quite sure why the feel of this album was changed so drastically when they mastered it to CD ...

The latter two bonus tracks on the Castle Music (UK), Sanctuary (USA) & Strange Days (Japan) seem to be a bit out of place. Back On The Road (demo) and Countryside Boogie (demo) [also known as "Wild Horses"] seem to be later recordings, apparently intended (and recorded for) "Too Late The Hero". "Back On The Road" was later re-recorded again for submission to "Face Dances" and "Countryside Boogie" was submitted for "It's Hard". "Back On The Road" was finally re-recorded once again, and included as a track on the "Van Pires" album.

LPs & CDs (Repertoire and Sundazed): Ten Little Friends, Apron Strings, I Feel Better, Thinkin' It Over, Who Cares?, I Wonder, I Was Just Being Friendly, The Window Shopper, I Found Out, Nightmare (Please Wake Me Up)

CD (Castle Music (UK), Sanctuary (USA), Strange Days (Japan), Edsel (UK)): Ten Little Friends, Apron Strings, I Feel Better, Thinkin' It Over, Who Cares?, I Wonder, I Was Just Being Friendly, The Window Shopper, I Found Out, Nightmare (Please Wake Me Up), I Wonder (demo), All Dressed Up (demo), Back On The Road (demo), Countryside Boogie (demo)

LPs (vinyl) Sampled: Polydor (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain), MCA (USA, Canada), Demon (UK),

CDs Sampled: Castle Music (UK), Repertoire (Germany), Sanctuary (USA), Strange Days (Japan), Edsel (UK)

LP Comments: The Polydor (UK) has better vinyl and sound quality than the other LP versions. One interesting alternative and tradeoff is between the UK LP and the Germany LP. While the LP had deep, rich bass, the Germany LP has more detail. Some folks might prefer that...

CD Comments: The Repertoire (Germany) has excellent sound quality. The Castle (UK), Sanctuary (USA) & Strange Days (Japan) sound "clean", but has too much compression and never reaches the potential of the Repertoire CD or LP versions.

Summary: The Repertoire CDs sounds excellent, so either this or the Polydor (UK) LP are fine choices in terms of sound quality. If you want the bonus tracks, the Sanctuary (USA) CD is your best choice.

Other Comments: An interesting facet of this album is that the LP covers are different between the UK and USA. Both reverse the outside and the inside covers from each other. The CD versions use the UK cover.

Track Listing: Gimme That Rock'n Roll, Mr. Bass Man, Do The Dangle, Hound Dog, Made In Japan, My Wife, Roller Skate Kate, Peg Leg Peggy, Lucille, Big Black Cadillac

Bonus Tracks (Castle Music (UK), Sanctuary (USA), Edsel (UK)): BP Big Gallon Jingle (100 Miles of Motorway) (demo), BP Big Gallon Jingle (100 Miles of Motorway) (with voiceover) (demo), Made In Japan (early take), Peg Leg Peggy (early take)

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