Status Quo: Perfect Remedy deluxe edition

"Perfect Remedy - The Perfect Edition"

Jokingly, I've given each of these deluxe editions a humorous title. "Perfect Remedy" is far from a perfect album, and even the deluxe edition is far from perfect (more on that later), however I think the expanded deluxe edition adds a lot of value, even if you think the original album doesn't amount to much.

The first disc is taken up with the remaster of the main album, as usual done by Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham. According to producer Pip Williams, "Perfect Remedy" wasn't fully finished when it was released. The mix has always seemed a bit "tinny", and the remastering goes some way to rectify that, without compressing it quite as much as Tim Turan did in 2006 (although the new version is also a lot louder than the original – not one for purists, I'd say). Of course, it doesn't improve the quality of some of the dodgy songs on there; "Address Book", "Going Down for the First Time" or "Tommy's in Love" are probably the main reasons why "Perfect Remedy" has such a bad reputation. One does wonder why they were considered good enough for the LP, especially when there was obviously better material available.

Disc 2 opens with the tracks that had already graced the 2006 remaster… with two exceptions. The first three songs are non-album tracks that appeared on the b-sides of "Not at All" and "Little Dreamer" – two of them, the Rossi/Bown collaboration "Rotten to the Bone" and especially the funky Parfitt/Williams tune "Doing It All For You" (electric piano & slap bass on a Quo record!) would've improved the original album quite a bit.. The remixed and edited version of "The Power of Rock" was lined up as the third single, but the new manager David Walker put an end to that – the version eventually slipped out as the b-side to the "Anniversary Waltz" singles. The song was inspired by Quo's own past, but also by John Farnham's recent hit "You're the Voice". Tantalizingly, John "Rhino" Edwards mentioned the fact that Quo had worked on a cover of that song (written by Manfred Mann's Earth Band vocalist Chris Thompson), but ditched it when the original became a chart hit.

"The Anniversary Waltz", the medley of various rock'n'roll classics performed in Quo's signature rock style, had also been on the 2006 remaster… but only in the form of the 7" version, aka "Part One". The follow-up single, "Part Two", was absent, but both parts have been included on various compilations through the years. What has been curiously absent from Quo releases, though, is the 12" version, which clocks in at over ten minutes and basically is the ultimate "Anniversary Waltz". Interestingly enough, what was released as "Part One" is actually the second (not first!) part of the full 12" version and vice-versa. So while you won't find the 7" versions on here, the 12" makes its first appearance on CD ever since 1990!

It might be argued that the track doesn't really belong to the Perfect Remedy era, and was only included on the 2006 remaster because there was space for it, whereas "Rock 'Til You Drop" was already filled to the brim. Sonically, it's closer to the RTYD album, as the band ditched Pip Williams' clean production style and went for a much more direct and driving live rock sound. With hindsight, maybe it would've been better to actually move it to the RTYD deluxe edition, but we'll get back to that topic soon…

Following this are two outtakes from the "Perfect Remedy" sessions, although one of them ("Fighting for Love") is actually an early version of "The Power of Rock". However, "Blondes Don't Lie" (what a typical Parfitt title!) is an actual outtake written by Rick Parfitt and Pip Williams, who had formed a pretty prolific writing team at the time, starting with Rick's unreleased solo album "Recorded Delivery" and across songs such as "Overdose" (from "In the Army Now"), "Ain't Complaining", "One for the Money" up to 1991's "One Man Band" and "Good Sign" – interestingly, since Pip did not produce the "Rock 'Til You Drop" album. Unfortunately, it was discovered too late that there is another outtake, plus a few demos. Things like this have plagued the reissue series almost from the beginning. But who knows, maybe a place for these tracks can be found in the future.

The next entry is decidedly weird. Apparently, the Spanish record company thought it was a good idea to chop up parts of "Anniversary Waltz" and Quo's older hits. The result is interesting from a curiosity standpoint, but both the "Christmas Cake Mix" (found on the "In the Army Now" deluxe) and the "Brit Awards Medley" (on the upcoming "Rock 'Til You Drop") do this thing much better. (Incidentally, according to www.the-makers-of.com David J. Oxley's book "Tune to the Music" incorrectly claims that these are early versions recorded by Quo themselves. Far from it, they're so-so edited mishmash medleys.) Sadly, there are some errors on the tracklistings; the last track of the 12" version is "Great Balls of Fire", whereas the 2nd Spanish Promo Version inserts "What You're Proposing" in the middle.

A mispressed version of the "Anniversary Waltz" 12" single included both "Little Lady (Live at the N.E.C. 1989)" and "Paper Plane (Live at Bray Studios 1990)", both of which make their official CD debut here. "Paper Plane" has added crowd noise to make it sound like a live recording, but you can easily tell that it wasn't recorded live because nobody sings the parts that typically are sung by the crowd ("we all make mistakes forgive me"). Again, one could also group this re-recording of one of Quo's biggest classics with "Rock 'Til You Drop" as it would've fit right in (apart from the fake live sound, obviously).

The rest of the 2 bonus discs is taken up with the concert recording from the N.E.C. 1989. As mentioned above, some tracks appeared here and there, most notably "Dirty Water" which was the b-side of "The Anniversary Waltz Part Two" and also included on the 2006 remaster of "Perfect Remedy".

Quo fans will know the gig well; it was released on VHS as "Rockin' All Over the Years" and parts of it were later also included on the DVD "XS All Areas". This is the same edit as on VHS, which misses some songs (notably "Rain" and the "Roadhouse Blues" part of the "Roadhouse Medley", despite what is said on the sleeve, as well as the jam encores), but still works well as a listening experience. I've already seen some people moaning that the gig starts late into disc 2, and I can understand it… it's a valid complaint. But even the VHS version of the concert is too long to include on one CD, and a precedent had already been set with the deluxe edition of "Never Too Late".

In spite of the somewhat indecisive studio output, the so-called "new" line-up really became a great live band around this point. It wasn't as heavy as the classic line-up, but it had punch and drive (drummer Jeff Rich was often held responsible for the high tempo during the era, although that's simplifying the issue). Even the songs from "Perfect Remedy" sound really good live! "The Power of Rock" especially so; if you thought the album version sounded quite good, the live version is a full-blown Monster. What a shame the song was dropped shortly afterwards, never to be played again.

Some months after this N.E.C. recording, the band played one of its best gigs at the day-long Knebworth charity festival. It would've been surplus to requirements to include that one-hour show here, but I wouldn't be surprised if the full recording appeared somewhere too (so far, three songs can be found on the 2-CD Knebworth album; four on the video which is also available as a SD Blu-Ray). Interestingly enough, Quo continue to support Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy (the cause for the Knebworth festival) to this day.

There was another track that eventually dropped, still included in the testpressing I have... but for a change, I'm not unhappy about it missing. At all. :)

The recording from the previous night at the N.E.C. also exists, and might see a release in the future at some point. It's astounding just how many professional recordings there are from 1989/1990: The two nights at the N.E.C., a FM broadcast recorded in Glasgow, the Knebworth festival set and the "Anniversary Waltz" recording from Butlin's Minehead (where it had all started back in the 60s)!

Finally, the appealing artwork (conceived by keyboard player Andy Bown, drawn by Karl Lloyd) was one of the best things about "Perfect Remedy", and this is amplified here with the single covers printed on the folds of the digipack. Very nice!

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