Eye Records 2 CD Label : “Eye” Records Catalogue : #67-68 2Disc Length : 74:20 / 74:45 Source : Audience Recording Date/Venue : Empire Polo Field (Main Stage), Indio 26th April 2008 Sound Quality : EX- Year Of Release : 2008 |
Comments
Fink's
Comments (rates this release 4.5/5.0)
It should come as no surprise to anyone that this has been sourced
from the freely circulating original release 'Coachella The Coolest Place On
Earth'. "Eye" Records have had a stab at audio mastering to justify you spending
your hard earned cash on it, thrown on some bonus material (I say bonus, but the
quality of some of the bonus recordings is anything but a bonus), dressed it all
up in some pretty packaging, and given it a simplistic title. Normally, I'm no
fan of labels ripping off free releases, however very occasionally there is an
event which really deserves a pressed release - ethics of pressing a fan release
aside, I believe the Coachella Festival deserved it. As of August 2008 there are
4 releases circulating of the show all sourced from the same recording. The
original release 'Coachella The Coolest Place On Earth', 4DaFunk's 'Purple
Storm In The Coachella Valley', Sabotage's 'The
New Golden Age', and this one. There's no doubt that this release is
superior to the original, however I'd really struggle to find the better version
of the remaining three, and I'd say all are of an equally high standard and it's
down to personal taste as to which you hunt down.
As to the bonus material included, there are some nice little oddities, but the
quality of the recordings leaves a fair amount to be desired on a few, and
presumably they have been included purely for the sake of completeness. The
Tamar / Prince Atlanta show is circulating in it's complete form, so we'll skip
past that one (although it's one of the highlights of the entire release, and
shouldn't be overlooked). Prince's guest appearance with Maceo is something of a
rarity and a welcome inclusion, and it's not a bad recording by any means.
Unfortunately the next two bonus tracks (both the Stevie Wonder appearance and
the guesting with the Escovedo family) are woeful and suffer from crowd
screaming, shouting and interference - nice rarities to have, but not for their
audio quality. The release ends with two soundboard broadcasts in the shape of
The Time's live appearance at The Grammy's with Rihanna (yawn), and Prince's
Coachella plug on The Tonight Show.
The release includes a 14 page booklet with various reports of the Coachella gig
and numerous pics from the show along with The Tonight Show appearance and
various others from the period. Overall this is a pretty solid, impressive
release if we look past the fact the main show has been swiped from a fan
release. Sure, it's not cool. Sure, it's a disgrace that "Eye" couldn't source
their own material and can profit from someone else's work without even
crediting their source on the artwork, but this it's par for the course -
unfortunately. If you don't like it, there's always the 4DaFunk release which
lacks the bonus material, but is of equal excellence in terms of the Coachella
recording.