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4.4
Average of 22 reviews
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Incredible!!! Fantastic remix, sounds amazing. Crisp and clear. Well-balanced audio. A ton of effort went into this remix. The sound quality is just sooo fantastic! The new track sequence is perfect. No regrets getting this new version, even with the original in my collection. If I had to pick just one, this one would win by a mile.
The Band's '70s album is quite pleasant. It features some solid tracks and great performances. The 1980 reissue/pressing is pretty good too. Worth checking out.
This copy is fantastic! The stereo soundstage is amazing. Mastering is top-notch. Bass is smooth and deep with a pleasant resonance, and the highs are crisp and clear. That tambourine and hi-hat really shine. Vocals are front and center, with harmonies beautifully surrounding them. The record is perfectly flat, no harshness or distortion, and dead silent in the quiet parts. Absolutely wonderful!
There's a certain distance that should exist between an artist and their music during the creative process ... otherwise, the music can feel too "in the moment." Being "in the moment" can sometimes create a disjointed, unsettling vibe, as the artist hasn't had enough time to fully process and incorporate the material into their life. Sure, this spontaneity can work well, especially in the lyrics, but more often than not, the art comes out raw and unrefined ... which can be uncomfortable, even if it's incredibly insightful for both the listener and the artist. This was certainly the case with the album "Stage Fright," which is raw with emotion and exquisitely insightful. There are many reasons this can happen, and with The Band, it was likely due to "Stage Fright" being their third album, following two major successful releases that had been communally addressed and understood ... but here, The Band was facing themselves for the first time, writing from the heart, which can be both terrifying and satisfying at the same time. Robbie Robertson initially intended to create a lighter, airier album than their previous release, "The Band," but found his music taking a darker, more introspective turn. The Band had great album success, but for the most part, terrible live performances ... which left both the group and their fans confused, especially considering their previous success on the road with Ronnie Hawkins. Robertson later said, “... this album ‘Stage Fright’ started to seep through the floor. I found myself writing songs that I couldn’t help but write. After the fact, I think we could sense what the album was saying, but by then we had already been blinded by the light. Favoring to stay away from the typical angst-ridden singer/songwriter style, I surprised even myself by writing several songs which, in veiled ways, spoke of personal concerns and problems within the group.” At first glance, or listen, several of the songs have a marvelous feel, a nice rock n’ roll beat that gets your toes tapping ... it was these songs that inspired Patti Smith [yes, the singer, who would become famous for her introspective album "Horses"] to write in Circus Magazine, “The feel of ‘Stage Fright’ is pretty positive ... the album is designed to make you feel good, ... and was recorded in friendship.” It would have been easy to make this assumption based on the sound and a couple of the songs, but with lines like ...I’ve seen a young boy on the run,And I’ve seen other children having fun.Police siren, flashing light,And I wonder who went down tonight.People, people, where do you go,Before you believe in what you know?... it was clear that The Band had been affected by the War in Vietnam, the protest movement, drugs, and the killings at Kent State. Another issue with this release was the use of two producers, Todd Rundgren [who also did the original engineering] and Glyn Johns, with whom The Band had worked at the Isle of Wight Festival. These two entered into a sort of competition to see who could best produce the songs, rather than collaborating and assisting each other and The Band. The result was that after several listens, it's easy to discern which person produced which songs, and this didn't lead to a cohesive texture for “Stage Fright.” Without considering the context and relationship of the rest of the songs on the album, this release didn't fare as well as the first two outings by The Band. That being said, looking back in time with today's ears, aware of the history of not only The Band, but of the social events of the day ... this is a knockout album. The song “Stage Fright” has to be the all-time best song about live performing, “The Shape I’m In” is relentless in its style and grace, “The WS Walcott Medicine Show” is right out of some pulp novel left on a train station bench, and “Daniel and the Sacred Harp” will tear your soul apart. As for the process of remastering and adding outtakes ... this aspect of music leaves me a bit befuddled at times. While on the one hand I want to listen to the material as I remember it, and on the other, if things are done correctly, the enhanced sound quality and production can add a great deal. The addition of outtakes are fun to hear the first couple of times, but it usually becomes clear why these tracks never made it to the original album, and to that end the record is just too weighted with material ... but hey, I’ll take the outtakes and just skip over them when I’m listening. I guess what I’m trying to say in a polite manner is that I’d buy the remastered album because it sounds better, but I feel like I’m being sold a bill of goods with the extra material, material that I believe has or will show up on future boxed sets. Never the less, this is a fine addition, and worth your while ... matter of fact, I picked up my copy at the grocery store for three dollars. I ask you, “does it get much better than that?” All in all, considering everything that was going on with and around The Band, this album not only stands the test of time, but must be considered an essential element of any serious record collector’s musical anthology.
Perhaps the final "solid" record by The Band. That said, this album has way more downs than ups.
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| Date | Lowest price | Average price |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Mar 2025 | £20.00 | €56.40 |
| 30 Apr 2025 | £20.00 | €21.99 |
| 28 May 2025 | £20.00 | €54.62 |
| 30 Jun 2025 | £20.00 | €20.99 |
| 31 Jul 2025 | €20.00 | €22.24 |
| 29 Aug 2025 | £20.00 | €20.99 |
| 30 Sept 2025 | £20.00 | €63.83 |
| 31 Oct 2025 | £20.00 | €22.49 |
| 30 Nov 2025 | £20.00 | €22.49 |
| 31 Dec 2025 | £20.00 | €22.16 |
| 31 Jan 2026 | £20.00 | €21.00 |
| 28 Feb 2026 | £20.00 | €22.12 |
| 7 Mar 2026 | £20.00 | €21.99 |