Joan Armatrading • Joan Armatrading
 ritish contralto Joan Armatrading may not be a household name to
most stateside music fans, as her popularity in the US never compared to what she achieved
in the UK. Born in 1950, she reached her peak of popularity in the 1970s, a time when the
pop charts were dominated by more testosterone-fueled music. From the British West Indies,
her family moved to the UK when she was three, where she keeps a low profile to this day.
She began her recording career in 1972, and this 1976 release was her highest-charting of 19 studio and a half-dozen live releases. But her relative obscurity (for a rock star) has more to do with her closely guarded privacy than to any lack of talent or success on stage or in the studio. Consisting entirely of songs she wrote, the music here is whip smart, catchy, and well-paced. Forty-four years on, there is nothing dated about the lyrics or arrangements. In part because of the equally intelligent arrangements, these songs about romance still resonate today. "Down To Zero" and "Love and Affection" were both hit singles from the album, but one of the secrets to this LP's success was that every cut is an exquisitely crafted jewel. Even if you do not usually follow the lyric sheet while listening to pop records, this LP will lure you into slowing down and following along. What elevates this record even more is that great music is married to magnificent sound. Glyn Johns produced the record and acted as recording engineer. Beginning in the 1960s, he recorded some of the greatest-sounding rock records. Some, like The Who’s Who’s Next, Traffic’s Traffic, Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lanes’ Rough Mix, and this Armatrading title are in a league of their own when it comes to sonic realism. All four of these albums were recorded by Johns at Olympic Studios, one of the two most important recording studios in London from the 1960s onward. Each of these records presents a soundstage that is at the same time spacious and unconstrained, and the music itself is incredibly dynamic. With original UK pressings of Joan Armatrading, it's hard to believe that a reissue could make any of them sound significantly better. But now that we have a basis of comparison with this new Intervention reissue, we can hear that there clearly was room for improvement, and the reissue is a significant sonic upgrade. Working from the best source available, a half-inch safety copy of the original stereo master tape, Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio handled the remastering, after which the LP was pressed at RTI on 180-gram vinyl. The album art was restored by Intervention's Tom Vadakan, and Stoughton used that artwork for the film-laminated, tip-on gatefold jacket. The lyrics, originally printed on the inner sleeve, are now on the inside of the gatefold. The original LP had great sound, and there was never anything that stood out as needing attention. Yet, by comparison to this reissue, some slight defects are obvious. Kevin Gray’s fresh mastering has more of everything. Those Ovation guitars have more texture; Armatrading’s and the backup singers' vocals are more completely fleshed out; already impressive dynamics have an even greater impact; and every instrument is presented in a more tangible, three-dimensional space. This is among a handful of the best-recorded rock records
in existence, and the expressive music means that you do not have to be embarrassed to
show it off, or to use it to show off your hi-fi system. Intervention Records has restored
many great titles, but none more deserving than this. |
