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Hi all.
I finally recevied my copy of Hot City awhile ago and have been listening to it every now and then the last two weeks. I do agree what has already been said that it is clearly an inferior version of the album to what was eventually released as The Impossible Dream. But at the same time I am really glad to have this. It is interesting to hear early and very different versions of the two Hot City Symphony songs although these are probably the weakest of the bunch when compared to the later versions. Much better, in my mind, are the early versions of Long Hair Music, Tomahawk Kid (the woo-hoo-hoos in the beginning are genius - I cannot believe they did not keep this) and Weights Made Of Lead. Those three are on pair with the later versions but still different. And beeing first and foremost an Alex fan it is great to hear what Shel Talmy managed to do with The Man's voice on all these recordings. Just as Chris and Ted says in the linernotes, although the overall production leaves some things to be wished for Alex's voice sounds just like it always should have done but doesn't on the original SAHB albums. Great!
The linernotes are great fun and the release very, very welcome. It is a shame it comes in such a mediocre packaging. I hate the sleeve, it looks like a box of candy or something. The designer is clearly not a genius when it comes to aesthetics. The photos are great though, and new to me, giving a sense of the lunatic side of the band. Also the booklet (and all other parts of the cd) absurdly enough lacks any songwriting info. I hope this is not a not-having-to-pay-all-royalties thing. The song Ace In The Hole (which I loved to hear by the way as it is a typical example of Alex taking an old american song and getting into his shady late-night crooner-character, there are numerous examples of this throughout his career) is NOT an original but an old Tin Pan Alley song written by James Dempsey and George Mitchell in 1909. Credit where credit is due.
The song River Of Live (this masterpiece of a song) which is missing here is another reason The Impossible Dream is a much stronger album.
Finally a question. Was the song Long Hair Music really called Long HAIRED Music at this early stage or is this title something that came up recently? I always was under the impression this song's original title was Can't Get Enough.
/P
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