Customer Rating:  
Summary: Not one of Van's better albums, that's for sure
Comment: Despite my Van Fandom (and I am a Van Fan, lest anyone think otherwise - Astral Weeks, Moondance, Saint Dominic's Preview, Tupelo Honey and the criminally underrated Veedon Fleece are all classics in my book, combinations of brilliant singing, great songwriting, and unforgettable genre crossbreeding), I could never really get into Wavelength. Van sounds like he's off the top of his game here. A couple of these tracks really cook, and only one is bad, but overall, Wavelength leaves much to be desired.
First off, the good. The title cut is the only real Van classic found in the track list. It was a small hit, and deservedly so. Like with most of Van's best work, here he mixes genres you wouldn't otherwise hear together - in this case, R&B and arena rock. It shouldn't work, but it does, and fantastically. "Natalia" and "Kingdom Hall" are pretty good as well, in the same way that something like "Slim Slow Slider" or "These Dreams of You" would be considered pretty good. And "Beautiful Obsession" has some of Van's strongest vocals, although "Santa Fe" (attached to it) is a lush but dull synthscape.
It's a shame about the rest, it really is. Van's in great voice throughout, even on the album's worst track, the seven-minute calypso experiment "Venice U.S.A.," which is loaded with annoying gimmicks such as a prominent accordion and sappy backup vocalists. But his songwriting took a huge hit (and not just here - the fragments of 1977's A Period of Transition I've heard are similarly decent but uninspired), and the overall sound isn't very interesting. It's a conventional pop record, and it seems that for the first time in his career Van wrote an album for somebody besides himself. I couldn't tell you how "Checkin' it Out," "Hungry for Your Love," or "Lifelines" went just by looking at the tracklist, and usually that isn't a good sign.
Then there's the issue of the album-closing "Take it Where You Find It." It could have worked. It has fine singing, and a lot of nice acoustic guitar playing. But in the end, it's just a long, dull song. The singing and acoustic work can't carry it through its nine minute length. Unlike Van's other extended works, it doesn't really have a clear direction or a good atmosphere. Whatever mood it could've had is broken by the "lost dreams and found dreams in America" part, a lame lyric by itself accompanied by a brass pad fanfare. It's not a bad song, but in the end, I could've done without it.
Wavelength is pretty far from being Van's worst album. I can't really say I regret spending my ten bucks on it, because there's some good stuff here. So if you're curious, pick it up. But don't expect much.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of those that grows and grows on you
Comment: This was pretty much sneered at in the British music press back in '78 when it was released. 'Too American' they wrote, 'Too MOR', 'Too mediocre'. Well there is nothing mediocre about an album that seems to sound better and even fresher than it did when it was made, 30 years later. It has such a warm and happy vibe to it and feels much lighter than his masterpiece albums of the era, and this has to be because at last the man was beginning to lighten up and not take the false and shallow music industry so seriously, following a pretty rankorous parting with his label and a solid 3 year exile from making music in the mid '70s.
A lovely and catchy album.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The usuual Van the Man
Comment: Typically Van Morrison, good music, hard to understand words. But at the price I was willing to try it. I still think Van Morrison is good, don't get me wrong, but because of his vocalization (hard to understand words because of his singing style) he is still not as good as some of the other vocalists available. He is an exceptional musician, and if you don't believe me, just look at his credits for instruments he plays. I did like the album, but rated it 3 because of the vocal "problem".
Customer Rating:
Summary: THE EMPEROR'S NEW, AND ONLY PARTIALLY-REMASTERED, CLOTHING
Comment:
Polygram ceased production of its portion of Van-The-Man's catalog, resulting in 29 titles, two-thirds of his entire recorded output, remaining frustratingly unavailable for the past several years. Even more regrettably, sixteen of those OOP titles had been fabulously remastered and re-released in 1998. Accordingly, prices for these had soared, especially for the remastered titles.
Then, in late 2007, The Announcement! All 29 OOP titles would be re-released in 2008! With new remastering! Extra tracks! Even mini-sleeve editions from Japan!
Well, fellow audiophiles and mini-sleeve aficionados, the hyperbole is unfortunately only half-true: Those 16 1998 remastered titles? Except for the bonus tracks, the 2008 re-releases are the EXACT same remasters, right down to the `98 silkscreen scheme on each disc, and the `98 booklets, with only minimally text-modified for the bonus material and production credits.
The `98 mastering work was performed by Ian Cooper at Metropolis Mastering in London. The `08 booklets credit another Metropolis engineer, Tim Young, for the new editions. However, the only effort Mr. Young expended on the sixteen 1998 titles was to sonically match the minute bonus content to the pre-existing `98 mastering.
So, in this first 7-CD set (Tupelo Honey, It's Too Late To Stop Now, Wavelength, Into The Music, A Sense Of Wonder, Avalon Sunset and Back On Top) of four 2008 scheduled catalog re-releases, only Avalon Sunset and Back On Top have been newly-remastered. As the Japan `sleeve version of Back On Top was delayed until April, I haven't had the opportunity to A/B that disc. The result of remastering the 20-year-old Avalon Sunset could certainly be more pronounced than redoing 1999's Back On Top, so that remains to be quantified. The Japanese also floated something called "high-quality SHM-CD format" on the mini-sleeve versions (which are always my CD's of choice), but I can't discern any audible improvement in that department, either.
(Although I have referred to my A/B set-up in other Amazon reviews, due to the subject matter herein, I should probably reiterate that my comparisons are made on two Sony XA7 transports, simultaneously running into a Camelot Uther DAC via matching Acoustic Zen coax cables, and monitored thru Sennheiser 590's).
This same existing-remaster+bonus-tracks scenario will apply for the other 1998-remastered titles to be released later this year: Saint Dominic's Preview, Hard Nose Down The Highway, Veedon Fleece, Period Of Transition, Beautiful Vision, Inarticulate Speech, Common One, Live/Belfast, No Guru, Poetic Champions Compose and Irish Heartbeat.
Don't get me wrong, these all sound glorious. Yes, it is wonderful to have these fantastic recordings readily available once more, and again, yes, it's great to finally have a newly-remastered Avalon Sunset. By the end of 2008, it will also be especially joyous to own the other 13 never-before remastered titles.
However, speaking for myself, who already owned all the remastered `98's, the mastering sleight-of-hand was NOT appreciated, especially at mini-sleeve premium prices. There is also Polygram's deplorable Enron-like tactic of taking the entire series out of production for an extended period of time to create demand, years longer than just the clearing of the older releases in the retail channel via sell-off would have required. As a retailer acquaintance once sagely observed: "Nobody wants to buy anything until it's deleted", a lesson the financially-struggling Universal Music Group (Polygram's odious parent) is obviously applying in spades here. The record labels bemoan the loss of CD sales, but it is exactly this kind of manipulative marketing ka-ka that provides impetus to consumer alienation.
So, if like me, you already owned the `98's, the only decision in reinvesting in the `08's are the a.) meager-two-tracks-per-disc "bonus" material, and b.) to-buy-or-not-to-buy the more expensive Japan `sleeve editions. The bonus tracks could have been released as a separate set (A "Philosopher's Stone Volume 2", perhaps?), but then, of course, Polygram wouldn't net the possible re-sale of 16 additional CD's per VanFan.
As for the desirability of the bonus tracks themselves, I'll leave it to others to opine on whether the return on such a substantial reinvestment is either a worthwhile, or foolhardy, expense.
WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI-LP-SLEEVE" CD?
Have you ever lamented the loss of one of the 20th Century's great art forms, the 12" vinyl LP jacket? Then "mini-LP-sleeve" CD's may be for you.
Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. The disc is packaged inside a 13.5MM X 13.5MM cardboard-sleeve, precision-miniature replica of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Also, everything else packaged with the original LP is precisely replicated and included, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and die cuts. An English-language lyric sheet is also included, even if the original LP did not have printed lyrics.
Then, there's the sonic quality: Often (but not always), mini-sleeves have Japan-dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2 or K2HD, and/or HDCD), and can often (but not always) be superior to the audio on the same title anywhere else in the world. There also may be bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.
Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "OBI" ("oh-bee"), a Japan-language promotional strip. The OBI often also lists the original album's release date, the Japan street date of that particular disc, the catalog number, and mastering info. Bonus tracks are always only listed on the OBI, maintaining the integrity of the original LP artwork.
The enthusiasm of mini-sleeve collecting must be tempered, however, with avoiding fake copies of Japan `sleeves manufactured in Russia and distributed throughout the world, primarily on eBay. They are inferior in quality, worthless in collectable value, a total waste of money, and should be avoided at all costs.
Also, there are older Japan mini-sleeve releases that have been supplanted with newer ones, usually with updated audio (such as JVC-Japan replacing older K2-mastered titles with new K2HD mastered releases).
All mini-sleeve releases are limited edition, but re-pressings/re-issues are becoming more common with some of the Japanese companies (but, again, not always). Mini-sleeve collecting can get expensive quickly, so, if you're a novice, it is highly advisable to seek the advice of an experienced `sleeve collector!
Customer Rating:
Summary: FANTASTIC JAPANESE VERSION
Comment: ...Really without words! really a wonderful japanese reissue! In this time in SHM-CD, a new format, better than any other US reissue! buy this instead the US 2008 version!
The Price is Y2.800 japanese yene, aprox. USD30.00. all on HMV, or CD-JAPAN, amazon the price is a absurd!
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