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Re: Substitute: the songs of the Who



I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of this CD from a very helpful
and very nice record business person.

The CD is as advertised 11 songs long, with the performance of
Substitute with Kelly Jones from the RAh show repeated as a CDrom video
clip.

I've really only had a very short time to listen to the CD so please
don't take this as a review, more some initial impressions.

Of the 11 songs, 9 are rendered by the various artistes in competent but
ultimately too Who like style. The exceptions are Bowie, who performs
Pictures of Lily in Ziggy Stardust mode. In fact, his version of POL
would fit perfectly on that album.

Sheryl Crowe's version of Behind Blue Eyes follows the pattern of the
Who's performance, but the "twist" of a woman singing the song is
marked.

The CD rom video clip is purely the performance of Substitute; as with
all rock "video", it suffers from arty camera work which made me feel
quite dizzy at times!

Interestingly, the CD music track of Substitute has a lot if not all o f
the audience noise edited off.

The packaging is pretty bland. The CD has the red/white/blue roundel
pattern, the jewel case liner has a moody blue toned pic of the Who
circa 1965, the brief story of how Bobby Pridden got the idea for the
CD, and a track listing, with a quote from each artiste.

As for sound quality, Jon Astley is quoted as being involved in the
mastering. I would hate to comment on the sound quality specifically as
my music induced semi deafness isn't a good starting point!

Overall, this cannot be described as a must get, must have, drop
everything, run the shops CD. It's competent, bland and safe, with only
one song - POL - by David Bowie demonstrating some danger and risk. But
of course, that's on the strength of one listen to the whole album. 

Up to you, mes amis; yer pays yer money, and yer takes yer choice.

Cheers,

John