LAL

[ChiqueO@aol.com]

 Sun Dec  7 13:22:25 PST 1997
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 22:10:36 -0500 (EST)
From: "Gary M. Gillman" <garyg@inforamp.net>
Subject: LAL
>I say: take
>all your 1971 SF Bargains, 1969 London Coliseum`s YMB, and even the
>Woodstock performances, and they don`t hold a candle to the original or
>expanded LAL (although careful listening has convinced me that the "new" LAL
>tracks are slightly inferior to the tunes on the original album, thus
>explaining no doubt the original track selection)......... Any thoughts? I`d
>be interested especially in the reactions of some of the younger fans on the
>list...........Gary M.

OK Gary, you asked for it...
I'm just 25 so I hope that's young enough. 
Since LAL is my FAVORITE commercial recording in the world, bar none, I'd
like to my comments on it.

Old LAL(CD): I first bought it in May 1991 or so. Although I was pretty
familiar with the Who and actually had seen them once in concert ('89
at Alpine Valley, WI), I thought I knew what to expect. I was QUITE
wrong. When reading the label, I saw songs that I knew, but didn't care
much for (SB, MG, MB) and the others. After playing it casually only once,
I quickly realized that this was not the group that I'd seen live. I felt..
enthralled. Pure energy. A melodic cacophony. Although I didn't listen to
YMB much for a long while (largely because it wasn't recorded at Leeds),
I felt more and more attracted to Substitute, Summertime Blues, and
Shakin' All Over. To me Shakin' is the best song the Who ever played.
Everyone gets in on the act, and the transition between players is 
perfect.
The pops and crackles never bothered me. To me, they only added personality.
I wished for a long time to be able to hear the full version of the 
show though. I strained to listen for dialogue at the beginning and
end of each of every song. Every so often, I'd hear something I hadn't
heard before. It never got old for me. I've listened to LAL over
1,000 times (literally). Then, finally, after almost thinking I'd heard it
all came.....

New LAL(CD) When I first heard it was coming out, I didn't believe it,
but it happened. I got my copy ASAP and played it that night, listening
carefully. I felt like I had been redeemed, although not completely.
I was glad to have so much more dialogue and songs. To me, when
one is buying a live recording, they are buying a memory of an actual
live show, not just a recording that happened to be made at a concert
hall and not a studio. I laughed at Keith's smart aleck comments and
Pete's small jokes (the black reaper, our first #4, etc...). I knew
that the entire show could not be fit onto one CD but I'm glad they
put on what they did. The revision made the songs seem compressed
to me and not as biting, but I imagine that was largely because
it was remastered digitally, and today's folks don't like the
noise and such. Myself, I love to hear the amps hum and everything
else. It makes me feel more like I am (was) there.

Total assement: LAL is the best live record in the world, bar none.
Today, I tend to listen to the old version more than the new, because
it sounds more dynamic to me. What I still have to look forward to
is listening to my original DL79175 (with all the inserts) on a 
good system. Only then, may I reach nirvana.

Charles "Chico" Kwiatkowski

NP: old LAL CD (of course)