The Motown Years Part 2

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John
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The Motown Years Part 2

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The Motown Years - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
A review I sent to the UK Appreciation Society for their newsletter

Towards the end of the Philips era there was a good deal of experimentation and the group's music became much more sophisticated and mature. This quality was carries through into the Motown era and although commercial success at the time proved elusive, this was one of the most creative and stimulating periods in the Four Seasons catalogue.

This double album gives us all the material released by Motown, plus the bonus of some variation on the originals. The unedited versions of Charisma and Listen To Yesterday are splendid and the latter in particular is lifted to a new level by the tremendous final section.

If there is any defect at all with this set it is in terms of sound quality. At the time Chameleon was released Bob Gaudio commented that he had a dreadful time trying to get what he had on tape onto record because of the limitations of vinyl. The vinyl album is actually pretty good, so he got it well enough, but here on CD we should have all that quality and more.

We do have the extraordinary detail of Cd and some things are audible for the first time. But in some way this recording quality is the second level, not up with the very best. It feels compressed and slightly metallic. This won't worry us in the car or on the iPod, but it does worry me on high-end HiFi of the traditional sort. It's not quite there. Nearly, but not quite.

Still, let's not be churlish! It's been released and in almost every respect it's splendid!
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