Space Escapade CD, Les Baxter, Mini Review

They did a nice job with the cover art. Crisp image.

Well-written liner notes, although no new information.

30 tracks, 1-12 are Space Escapade, the others are singles and B-sides. A lot of bang for the buck.

Space Escapade on its own is an essential Les Baxter album.

The CD uses the mono version, which utilized different mic placement and contains overdubs not on the stereo. These overdubs are good in places but overbearing in others. Ideally, I would have liked a CD with both mono and stereo versions, but I'm happy with this, believe me.

Nice job of mastering, Lord knows what they mastered it from. If it's from vinyl, you wouldn't guess it. It's a little light on the bass; you may need to adjust your hi-fi.

The 18 bonus tracks are all over the map, from schmaltz to exotica. Some of these have surfaced elsewhere, but a few were new to me. I was especially happy with "Cherchez la Femme" and "Rush Hour Romance," both of which have that happy, uptempo, pizzicato string, happy housewife/bustling metropolis sound.

I must be getting old; I'm starting to like the schmaltzy stuff more and more. :wink:

Overall, a great value and a hell of a lot cheaper than what the vinyl goes for on eBay. Definitely worth your while if you're into Les Baxter.

[ Edited by: OnyaBirri 2009-06-24 21:31 ]

I am a total Les Baxter fan....

Do you have his live album, taken from a TV show? Cool version of Quiet Village on it!