Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 781 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 504 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1971-74, 2012 Epic / Sony Music Japan | EICP-20086~8
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Rock / Trumpet / Brass

Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue from Chase featuring the high-fidelity Blu-spec CD format (compatible with standard CD players) and the latest remastering. Comes with an obi reprint, a new description, and lyrics. Part of a three-album Chase Blu-spec CD cardboard sleeve reissue series featuring albums "Chase," "Ennea," and "Pure Music."

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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Chase - Chase (1971)

Chase's self-titled LP was as close to unabashed critical success as the group ever got, coming out just as Chicago and Blood, Sweat, & Tears were both at their respective peaks of popularity. There's not much here that sounds like either band – Chase had a leaner, livelier sound, with an especially frantic rhythm section. The music is heavily white soul-influenced, dressed up in strong contrapuntal figures, soaring riffs, and riveting climaxes, which may come just a little too often given the relatively modest length of the album. The record is chock-full of enjoyable moments and one unabashed hit ("Get It On"), and loaded with virtuoso playing. Lead singer Terry Richards and backing vocalists Ted Piercefield and Jerry Van Blair (who also play trumpets) are strong but not overbearing singers, and a good balance is struck between the vocalists and the band, which was a problem that Blood, Sweat, & Tears never did solve – the result is a record that's sort of a rock-influenced descendant of Stan Kenton's more experimental work of the late '40s and early '50s, which slotted in well with the progressive side of jazz-rock in 1971. "Invitation to a River," at 14 minutes and divided into five parts, may seem like the height of pretentiousness, but in 1971 audiences devoured it, and the playing, including what sound like 16th notes on the trumpets, is something to marvel at in a popular context.

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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Chase - Ennea (1972)

Chase's second album appeared with high expectations, from within and without – and high ambitions as well – so it's ironic that Ennea fell so far short in critical reception and sales. There had been some personnel changes during the recording, although the group's core sound, anchored by bassist Dennis Johnson, was as solid as ever and right where it needed to be. And lots of virtuoso playing could be heard everywhere. What was lacking was balance – the rock and jazz elements that seemed so finely tuned together on the first album don't coexist as easily on this album, and the move into more of a progressive rock mode, especially on the songs from the original LP's second side, add a third element that never seems in sync with the more traditional rock elements elsewhere on this album. It's still impressive on a technical level – a lot of those present could have used their work here to open doors for other gigs – but it doesn't seem like a coherent whole, so much as getting a long-player out because one was needed. And perhaps that's the fairest comment one can make, that Ennea is a snapshot of a band in transition (and which was soon to break up under financial pressures). The album was seriously over-pressed by Columbia, which had high expectations of matching the group's self-titled debut album; instead, copies languished by the thousands in rack-jobber bargain bins well into the late '70s, which did nothing to enhance its reputation. Ennea still has lots of good moments and some great ones – greater, at times, that anything on the first album if nowhere near as appealing and concise overall – and is still worth hearing.

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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Chase - Pure Music (1974)

It would have been interesting to see where Chase would have gone had it not been for the plane crash that killed the leader and half the band, because Pure Music represented a dramatic change in direction for the band. Where the group's first two albums were standard if scintillating jazz-rock not all that different from Blood, Sweat & Tears or Chicago, Pure Music pointed the way to fusion, with its angular guitar, keyboard pyrotechnics and reliance on instrumental jams rather than vocal-oriented songs. The two vocal selections are adequate, but it's the searing sound of the three uptempo selections that tell the tale of Pure Music. From the opening of "Weird Song No. 1," tit's obvious that this brand-new band, with the leader the only holdover from Chase and Ennea, was ready to fly in new directions. The interplay between Chase on electric trumpet and Yohn on synthesizer was echoed throughout the disc, and the trumpet section sound was bright, clear, and incredibly tight. On "Bochawa," the leader and Jay Sollenberger try to outmatch and outwit one another, and on the concluding "Close Up Tight," Chase and Yohn again go for the jugular. "Twinkles" is a chance for the listener to breathe, but for the rest of it the band is breathing fire. Heady stuff made all the more engaging as there was sadly to be no follow-up.

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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Chase - 3 Albums Mini LP Blu-spec CD Collection (1971-1974) {2012 Epic-Sony Music Japan EICP-20086~8}

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