SneakDEEP Preview & Glaring Omission 22

Date:    Thu, 25 Jan 1996 10:47:11 +0500
From:    xyx  
Subject: DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 22(?)

  As of 9:30 EST, RSweener has received 1,984 e-mails from people (and
12 monkeys) wanting to purchase his lone copy of "Guitars Kissing and the
Contemporary Fix." Rumor has it that one overzealous fan, upon hearing it
had been sold within a millisecond of his posting, had burgled Rick's home
and made off with it, thereby leaving 1,983 pathetic souls sitting
transfixed in front of their PCs awaiting an e-mail that will never come.
  Granted, this edition of THE DEEP will not rid the 1,983 of their worried
blues, but.....

"20/20 VISION"  2CD Red Sky (1016/17) 1989 & 1991 compilation
 Another fine compilation from the Dylan-only label and one that easily
takes the cake for most eclectic track listing. 30 tracks in all (16
for 1989 and 14 for 1991) with over 152 minutes of music from 13
different venues. Sound quality is consistent thoughout and ranges
from excellent to very good, which is quite surprising considering the
number of sources - suffice it to say that Red Sky has very good tape
connections. There are no less than 15 cover tunes, many of which I'm sure
Bob has played only a few times (if that many), and several originals that
receive infrequent airings. The tracks are so eclectic and interesting
I feel I'd be doing an injustice by not listing them, so here goes (with
brief commentary on some, *means exceptional IMO):

1989
AndItStonedMe(Van)
TomorrowLong Time*
Tears ofRage
ImInTheMoodForLove (really cool)
EMorningRain
InthePines
HarderTheyCome (lame)
BabyLetMeFollowYouDown (acoustic and a pure delight-highlight of the set for me)
QueenJane*
RankStrangers
YouDontKnowMe
WhenDidULeaveHeaven*
PeggyO
LegendinMyTime
Visions (less than 4 min and rushed)

1991: 
HomewardBound(play this loud to rile your neighbors - it's rough!!)
LakesofPontchar*
TrailBuffalo
BabyBlue*
20/20Vision
FriendofDevil
Confidential
Masterpiece
Hattie
OneTooManyMornings(oh, yeah)
RovingGambler (superb)
OneIrishRover(another highlight)
SimpleTwist
 
As you can see, the mix of trax is wide and even
the ones that don't work are at least interesting. High marks for this
set and, to reiterate, sound quality is consistently good throughout.

"THE DAY I SAVED THE PLANET AT THE HARD ROCK HOTEL" 1CD (DIYE58) 
Las Vegas, NV  May 12/13, 1995
Another misstep from oft-times "lame" label DIYE (Diamonds in Your Ear)
which attempts to merge two nights into one show. Someone forgot to tell
them, though, that you can't fit one Dylan show onto 1CD and if you are
going to do a compilation it is best to include songs that are
somewhat unique, not the ones played at every show. So what do we get:
Crash,Just LikeWoman,Silvio,TBlues,ThinMan,MrTMan/Silvio. Having said that,
they do at least include the rarely-played-in-95 GatesofEden/LayLady
Lay/DontThinkTwice/RealYouatLast. Having Gates and LayLady does not
salvage the disk, however, as the quality is only marginally good (a
little echoey and flat although very listenable), resulting in a less
than worthwhile set, IMO. Take a pass, it's simply average, though not
a total waste of time.

Peace - xyx

Date:    Thu, 25 Jan 1996 12:28:12 +0500
From:    xyx  
Subject: DEEP BENEATH...vol 22 addendum

 One more thing on "20/20 Vision" - for those who are not familiar with
BD live material circa 1989 and 1991, be forewarned. It is a far cry
from the polish and sheen, so to speak, of BD live circa 1994 and 1995.
The voice is rougher and the arrangements are not as tight. Basically, the
sound is less refined and it would seem that BD was not investing as much
care then as now. This does not detract from the attractiveness of the
set, it is just to caution those who are intrigued by the track list and
are not aware of the differences in "sound" between then and now. If
'95 could be characterized as "sugar and spice," then 88-92 would be
"rocks and gravel" (or "ragged and dirty").

Peace - xyx

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