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The Essential Bangles

The Bangles - The Essential Bangles Audio CD

A fair review of the The Bangles "The Essential Bangles" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Bangles reviews here, or go back to the The Bangles tabs.

Band: The Bangles
Title: The Essential Bangles
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-03-30
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Manic Monday 2: Walking Down Your Street 3: I Got Nothing 4: If She Knew What She Wants 5: Eternal Flame 6: Getting Out of Hand - The Bangs 7: I'll Set You Free 8: Walk Like an Egyptian 9: What I Meant to Say 10: I'm in Line 11: Be With You 12: In Your Room 13: Hero Takes a Fall 14: Hazy Shade of Winter 15: Following

TEXTBOOK CASE OF LOUDNESS COMPRESSION
In that article, there is also a link to an excellent You Tube audio/video demonstration of this reprehensible practice, which is being propagated by bean-counter record company executives. If you're not familiar with the term "loudness compression", go to Wikipedia and search "loudness wars".

The technical explanation of loudness compression is the application of an increasingly high ratio of compression to the dynamic range of a particular recording, and then increasing the gain of the recording, until the peaks have reached maximum. In layman's terms, what this means is there are no longer any quiet or loud passages in the recording, EVERYTHING is at the same volume.

Basically, the iPod is responsible for the proliferation of this practice. When music is played back thru iPod earbuds in any environment where there is ambient noise present, by having the volume artificially jacked across the entire music spectrum, you can hear the content more clearly. However, when you listen to the same recording thru a home audio system, it sounds like the music is coming thru a megaphone.

This "remaster" is a classic example of this insidious process. The original dynamic range of this record has been totally obliterated, and the vocals are nearly buried by the instruments. It's just AWFUL, and quickly tiring, to listen to.

There is a superior 2007 2CD Bangles compilation, containing almost every album and non-album track (see my review), which has been mastered with the correct dynamic range of the original recordings. I highly suggest acquisition of that set over this audio travesty.

Confusing

As stated before, "Going Down to Liverpool" is missing. Instead of a pure greatest hits package (which has already been done), or a collectors disc to clean up the odds and ends from the Bangles discography which haven't been released on disc yet, this set offers falls short on both. And that fact alone would make the "average" fan opt for the 1990 Greatest Hits package. Which I would recommend over this if the goal was to have all the singles.

On the other hand, if Sony/Columbia wanted to satisfy the die-hards they would have cleaned the closet and gave us all those rarities. While its great to have "What I Meant To Say", why would they exclude "Getting Out of Hand" while its B-side "Call On Me" is presented? Very odd. What's even more frustrating is that only one cut from the Bangles 1982 EP is featured ("I'm In Line", probably the weakest track. ) If they wanted a singles compilation, they should have included "Real World" instead, which was released as a remixed 12-inch. "I Got Nothing" is a pleasant surprise, however it's been dramatically remixed so anyone who wants the original still has to hunt down "The Goonies" soundtrack.

For an odds and ends disc other possiblities would have been "Mary Street", "Want You", "How Is the Air Up There", the rare "Bitchin' Summer (Speedway)" instrumental and the mega-rare live version of "Hero Takes a Fall". And while "I'll Be Your Mirror" and "I'll Keep It With Mine" are solo Susanna songs, they were made during her Bangles tenure. We also know that a live version of "Tell Me" was recorded in 1985 but is still sitting in the can. Let's not also forget "Get The Girl", the 1999 "Spy Who Shagged Me" cut, and the UK B-side edit of "In Your Room". Bonus or hidden tracks could have included the No Magazine ad (set to the tune of "Getting Out of Hand") and Michael's spoken word "El Polo Loco".

So you see there was enough obscure material for a 2-disc Bangles anthology which would have kept everyone happy.

How much better is the remastering?
However the CD case says "AAD" which means it was recorded analog, mixed analog, and transferred digitally. For those of you who own this CD, may I please ask for an ear comparison between this "remastered" version and the 1990 Bangles Greatest Hits CD? I have the 1990 Greatest Hits, which doesn't sound bad to my ear. Is this new version ADD? (And I'm not asking about attention deficit disorder) In summation, how does the audio sound head-to-head with the 1990 Best-of? Already having these songs across several CDs, some of us would appreciate an opinionated appraisal of the sound quality vs earlier releases. Thanks. Rock on Bangles! I'll always love the electric inflection that pulses in Susanna Hoffs's singing voice. It's something really special. . . (I wish her vocals had been more prominent in the Doll Revolution songs rather than having her share singing duties) Thanks again!.

FYI
I see people are blaming Sony for the final tracklist. . . . . . . if you want to blame anyone for the 15 wonderful songs that are on here, blame the Bangles, they hand-picked them for this release as mentioned on the official Bangles website.

The songs are pretty Essential, though I wish Sony had done a 2-Disc Essential for the Bangles as they've done with a host of other artists.

I wish that we could have gotten maybe another two or three songs on here as "Going Down to Liverpool" SHOULD have been included. It was originally supposed to be on this release when it was first scheduled to come out in 2003, but then the tracklist was changed so it wouldn't be just a Greatest Hits repackage(which it almost was, though we still get 11 out of the 14 songs on Greatest, the tracks that didn't carry over are the aforementioned "Liverpool," "Everything I Wanted," and "Where Were You When I Needed You. ")

All-in-all though the tracks we do get are awesome, particularly the previously unreleased "I Got Nothing" mix that is on this disc. This is NOT the same song that was on the Goonies soundtrack despite what the liner notes may say. "Getting Out of Hand" on an official US released CD is also a bonus, because it was a rare track at one point, though it can now be found on a new RHINO boxset as well. "I'm In Line," another rarity is great here, though I prefer "The Real World" from the EP more, but hey. . . . the Bangles chose these songs.

All five of their top 10 hits are represented here as well.

The only thing that was underrepresented was "All Over the Place," which is now out of print. . . . I keep hoping they'll release a remastered version of it with bonus tracks or something, but alas. . . . .

Recommended if you are either a die-hard Bangles fan who has to have EVERY release(like me) OR if you don't have the Greatest Hits yet.

.

Yet ANOTHER compilation
This one differs in that it has Im In Line and Getting Out of Hand -- 2 wonderful early Bangle (minus Michael Steele) songs. There must be at least 20 Bangle compilations out there, and this isn't better than any of them. It also has What I Meant to Say (Eternal Flame B-side) and I Got Nothing (from the Goonies soundtrack) 2 tracks that have been very difficult to get anywhere until now. But quite frankly, these two songs are mediocre and really shouldn't be on any "Essential Bangles" compilations -- only die-hard Bangle fans will be elated to have them on CD. To make this a five star album they should have included Going Down to Liverpool, How is the Air Up There from the Bangles EP and something from Doll Revolution, like Ride the Ride. .

You can see a complete list of all The Bangles discography, or go back to the The Bangles tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.