Description
LONGEST & RESTORED EDITION(2CD)
East Afton Farm, Isle of Wight, UK 29th August 1970 STEREO SBD
★UPGRADE!!!
☆The Who’s explosive performances during the “TOMMY” era come to mind! And even during that “TOMMY” era, the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was the hottest performance, surpassing that of Leeds! Wait, you’re saying, “But the Isle of Wight was an official performance?” No, this title album surpasses that official performance. The sound quality and length are unmatched by any current official CD, making this a must-listen! Just like the 55th Anniversary Leeds Performance album we released earlier this year, this album is sure to be a huge hit. Get your copy now before it sells out!
This latest release, a literal restoration of The Who’s historic live recordings, features the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival performance, which has been praised as rivaling the University of Leeds performance, and even surpassing it in overall performance intensity! “Well, surely there’s an official Isle of Wight performance?” you might say. However, the official Isle of Wight recording currently in circulation can’t be called the definitive release. The main problem is that there are far too many cuts. The entire concert could have been captured on two discs without all the fuss, but for some reason, the disc ended up being overly intrusive, with minor edits added here and there.
Among them, the two worst edits are the shortened versions of Pete’s guitar solos on “Young Man Blues” and “Water.” The latter is particularly bad, and just when you think Pete’s starting to play, it goes back to Roger’s song, resulting in a weak edit. Perhaps this was done to avoid feedback during the solo, but even so, it’s too much of a cut.
A similarly unnatural cut occurs between “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “Summertime Blues.” The latter is edited to suddenly begin while the cheers are rising from the end of the former. And “The Acid Queen,” which marks the end of the disc, also fades in or starts unnaturally. There are also various noises and skips throughout the performance.
In addition to the content issues mentioned above, the official Isle of Wight also has problems with the sound quality. The current 2009 remaster has a flashy and overbearing feel, like a typical seaweed waveform.
In this respect, the Isle of Wight’s first official release, in 1996, ironically sounded much more natural, thanks to the fact that it was mastered in a different era than 2009. However, the unnecessary shortening edits mentioned at the beginning had already been implemented at this point, so the content was still lacking.
However, strangely enough, the video version released at the same time did not have such unnecessary editing, and yet the sound quality was natural. If that is the case, it is possible to release a true complete version of the Isle of Wight by combining these two.
Just like with other classics like the nearly sold-out “LIVE AT LEEDS: 55TH ANNIVERSARY ULTIMATE EDITION” and the smash hit “DEFINITIVE CHARLTON 1974: FINEST & LONGEST,” this album has been thoroughly restored. While simply filling in the cuts from the audio of the footage is easy enough, this album also eliminates the need for smooth transitions between each edit and the incongruity of sound quality that can arise from editing multiple sound sources, resulting in an extremely natural finish.
And yet the overall sound quality is natural. The 2009 Isle of Wight remaster is still available for easy listening, but when faced with the finished product, you may be stunned by the overly flashy sound processing, and in the end, you may never want to listen to it again.
The Who’s Isle of Wight festival appearance came amid the culmination of the success of their two consecutive albums, “TOMMY” and “LIVE AT LEEDS.” Unlike the previous year, “TOMMY” was performed live in nearly its entirety. In fact, this performance is of historical value, as it was the last recorded recording of the full version of “TOMMY” while Keith was still alive. It’s unacceptable that the official release, which cut up so much of the multi-track recording of such an important live performance, was so drastic that it was completely ignored. This release finally puts all those complaints to rest. This is the Isle of Wight “LONGEST & RESTORED EDITION”! The ultimate live performance in its finest form!
Disc:1 (62:35)
1. Introduction
2. Heaven And Hell
3. I Can’t Explain
4. Young Man Blues
5. I Don’t Even Know Myself
6. Water
7. Overture
8. It’s A Boy
9. 1921
10. Amazing Journey
11. Sparks
12. Eyesight To The Blind (The Hawker)
13. Christmas
14. The Acid Queen
15. Pinball Wizard
Disc:2 (51:38)
1. Do You Think It’s Alright
2. Fiddle About
3. Tommy Can You Hear Me
4. There’s A Doctor
5. Go To The Mirror!
6. Smash The Mirror
7. Miracle Cure
8. I’m Free
9. Tommy’s Holiday Camp
10. We’re Not Gonna Take It
11. Summertime Blues
12. Shakin’ All Over / Spoonful / Twist And Shout
13. Substitute
14. My Generation
15. Naked Eye
16. Magic Bus
STEREO SOUNDBOARD RECORDING
