subota, 28.11.2009.
Rod Stewart - Never a Dull Moment (1972) (Audio Fidelity Remaster)
US only 24 kt gold-disc pressing. Limited and numbered edition!
I received my copy of the Audio Fidelity remaster of Rod Stewart's 'Never a Dull Moment' today. I give this item only 2 stars due to the poor packaging. Normally, this is not something I care too much about. But, in this case, I feel that it does have an impact. The CD itself is in a slimline case with the spindle on the front, rather than the back side. The disc it put in backwards to make the title visible. The actual cover is separate and is over sized in the respect that it would not fit into any jewel case, let alone the backwards slimline provided. While the idea may have been to reproduce the original album packaging (can't say, since I never owned the original vinyl), I don't feel it adds any value. Overall, it looks like perhaps this is some kind of packaging experiment that gave no consideration to practicality. I prefer to be able to store my discs with their packaging and with the disc right-side up and on the right side of the case when it is a single disc. The cover does have a pocket that may be intended as storage for the disc, I don't really know. I do know that I'm not going to store this kind of disc in such a way as to invite damage. As to the remaster, it's not bad, but nothing to write home about either (as I have found with many of the Audio Fidelity titles). Like others I have purchased, it requires a bit more volume to really bring the low end out. So, two stars from this customer. A passable remaster and, in my opinion, some unfortunate packaging decisions...D. Frye
Essentially a harder-rocking reprise of Every Picture Tells a Story, Never a Dull Moment never quite reaches the heights of its predecessor, but it's a wonderful, multi-faceted record in its own right. Opening with the touching, autobiographical rocker "True Blue," which finds Rod Stewart trying to come to grips with his newfound stardom but concluding that he'd "rather be back home," the record is the last of Stewart's series of epic fusions of hard rock and folk. It's possible to hear Stewart go for superstardom with the hard-rocking kick and fat electric guitars of the album, but the songs still cut to the core. "You Wear It Well" is a "Maggie May" rewrite on the surface, but it develops into a touching song about being emotionally inarticulate. Similarly, "Lost Paraguayos" is funny, driving folk-rock, and it's hard not to be swept away when the Stonesy hard rocker "Italian Girls" soars into a mandolin-driven coda. The covers -- whether a soulful reading of Jimi Hendrix's "Angel," an empathetic version of Dylan's "Mama, You Been on My Mind," or a stunning interpretation of Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind" -- are equally effective, making Never a Dull Moment a masterful record. He never got quite this good ever again...S.Erlewine
Rod Stewart - Never a Dull Moment (1972) (Audio Fidelity Remaster 2009)
Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 78 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs
Tracklist:
01 True Blue 3:35
02 Lost Paraguayos 3:59
03 Mama, You Been on My Mind 4:29
04 Italian Girls 4:57
05 Angel 4:06
06 Interludings 0:40
07 You Wear It Well 4:26
08 I'd Rather Go Blind 3:53
09 Twistin' the Night Away 3:13
