'Bandstand' was the sixth and penultimate long player from Family. Originally released in 1972, it was probably their most commercially successful album and opened with their hit single 'Burlesque'.
Now, like many other albums of that era, it has been given the 40th anniversary deluxe treatment. In this case, that apparently means it has been newly remastered and features a second disc containing four previously unissued demo tracks from those sessions. It all comes to us courtesy of Snapper Records who have also been responsible for the recently issued ultimate box set, 'Once Upon A Time'. (For more on that see my earlier post from 26 November 2012). This is a little confusing as the remastered album is included within the box set, yet these demo tracks are not. Which effectively means that anyone who stumps up the rather exorbitant cost of £125.00 for the box set, will still have to purchase this anniversary re-issue in order to get their hands on these four tracks. Hmmmm!
Anyway, on to the main purpose of this post which is not to have a pop at the box set, but rather to review the remastered version of 'Bandstand'.
Rather than do a track by track review of an album you may already be familiar with, I will simply say that I personally find the new master absolutely wonderful. I have compared it with my original CD version issued in 1988 (SEE CD 241) and in my view this new version possesses far greater clarity and depth of sound. I am so impressed that I have found myself playing it several times this week despite being extremely familiar with the album.
I will now move on to the bonus demo tracks which take up all of the second CD.
First comes a version of 'My Friend The Sun' which starts off sounding very similar to the released version but at the end of the first chorus features some lovely acoustic guitar and then has some delightful harmony vocals in the second chorus. The violin (or is it synthesiser?) in the instrumental break and during the final verse is also much more prominent in this version. Very well worth having.
Next up, comes 'Glove' which begins with John Wetton's five note bass intro and then carries on pretty much the same as the released version until the tempo and volume pick up with the line "she said walking...". At this point, the vocals are very different to the released version and then just where the original version settles down to the opening tempo, the demo features a short instrumental passage of fuzzy bass and thumping drums. Where the guitar solo comes in on the original there is just a bass, drum and organ backing with the organ particularly prominent on the demo. In fact where your attention might focus on the piano, guitar and the lovely Del Newman orchestration of the original, the demo forces you to focus more on Rob Townsend's drumming, which I have to say is superb. Overall I would say that this is definitely another track worth having and I'm not sure whether I prefer this or the original.
The third demo is 'Coronation' which differs from the released version right from the start. It features different vocals and nice piano very high up in the mix. While the piano chords survived onto the released version, the tinkling piano runs were replaced by Poli Palmer's vibes. Nothing wrong with that, but I actually like both. Unfortunately it goes badly downhill during the second chorus when John Wetton joins Chappo on vocals with the line "coronation jug of mine" (thankfully replaced by "mug" on the released version). His singing is so off key that it is really quite painful. And he seems to affect Chappo as even he is off key for the final chorus. Also, the instrumental section is far superior on the released version. But that's only what you would expect isn't it?
The final track on this 'bonus' disc is a demo version of 'Bolero Babe'. Where the released version fades in very gradually and features much synthesiser knob twiddling from Palmer, the demo begins with the rhythm played by Wetton on bass and he is then joined by some squawky soprano saxophone (credited to Roger Chapman). Eventually, where the vocals would normally appear, the melody is played entirely on saxophone. It should be pointed out that this demo is entirely instrumental - something that's not made clear on the album cover. It's pleasant enough but not a patch on the final version.
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Whether you want to invest in this reissue is I guess very much down to personal choice. If you don't own the album then I wouldn't hesitate. It is one of the band's finest works without a doubt. If like me you owned the original album then I would say it is probably worth upgrading for this fine remaster. Personally I enjoy hearing good quality demo versions as they give you an insight into how a song has developed but as I said earlier, this is a matter of personal taste.
Whatever you decide, I have no regrets about purchasing this deluxe edition. It has made me listen again to a great album by a fabulous band. And I'm loving it!
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