The fourth in Matador's series of deluxe editions of the five classic Pavement albums is a rather joyous pop explosion after the complications of "Wowee Zowee". The double CD set, again packaged in an embossed slipcase wit... more »h gorgeous 62-page perfect-bound booklet, contains the remastered original twelve-song album, ten non-album B-sides, ten outtakes, and fourteen live radio session takes, along with full-color poster and postcard.« less
The fourth in Matador's series of deluxe editions of the five classic Pavement albums is a rather joyous pop explosion after the complications of "Wowee Zowee". The double CD set, again packaged in an embossed slipcase with gorgeous 62-page perfect-bound booklet, contains the remastered original twelve-song album, ten non-album B-sides, ten outtakes, and fourteen live radio session takes, along with full-color poster and postcard.
CD Reviews
Greatness
Anaximander | Texas | 12/10/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you are a big Pavement fan, you should definately pick up this one. The price is good, the extras plentiful and the remastered sound excellent. If you are new to Pavement and don't own it yet, then buy this expanded edition immediately! The original album has aged very well. From the opener Stereo to closer Fin, it may be their most consistent effort, though not necessarily their most brilliant. It is sort of like a refined version of Wowee Zowee with the most difficult and sloppy parts removed, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective. Either way, I love it for the quality of the melodies, the guitar parts, and the hilarious non-sensical lyrics. The extra songs on this expanded version are hit and miss as is to be expected, but they put this album in its proper context and actually improve the overall impact of the album. I'm not a Pavement B-sides collector so I'd never heard the extra tunes before - taken as a whole the extra songs seem more light-hearted and upbeat than the somewhat deliberate and mellow songs on the original album. There are many good ones here, including Roll With the Wind, And then (the Hexx), Slowly Typed (coutryfied version), No Tan Lines, and the Killing Moon, among others. In short, Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition is an example of how delux reissues should be done."
Good Value, Lousy Mastering
Fritz Gerlich | admin@audioetc.info | 12/28/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I don't know why other reviewers think this sounds good, there is clipping, distortion, and hyper compression. In short, there are all the tell tale signs of loud mastering (see "loudness war" at wikipedia). For those that don't know, most pop rock offerings today try to be as loud as possible so that they will not be out volumed during ipod shuffle play. They do this by making the average volume approach peak volume. This means whispers become as loud as shouts. The end result is degraded sound quality and if you listen to the 1997 version alongside this one on a decent stereo or decent set of headphones, matching the volume levels, you will notice the difference. The new one lacks punch, has poor sounding cymbal crashes, no dynamics, and intermittent distortion. Overall, a poor job of mastering, but it's a good 40% louder than the 1997 version. So if you're thinking of buying this because you want the best sounding version of BTC, don't.
However, there are quite a few extras that are worth listening too, especially if you were lucky enough to score the edition that came with the live LP. I received two discs and one LP for 19.99, great deal. And if you are a long term fan this set is really something you should pick up. The booklet is 60+ pages and contains a few written pieces and lots of great pictures. The quality of the printing and paper isn't up to the previous standards of the last three sets, but compared to what one usually gets with remasters, it's great. The bonus material includes alternate mixes and versions, bbc live in studio material, b-sides, compilation tracks, and outtakes. The extra material is not as strong as say the Slanted & Enchanted luxe & redux stuff, but it is still worth while.
So five stars for the set and 1.5 stars for the mastering = 3.25 overall."
An old family favorite...
McSpunkle | USA | 01/14/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I admit, when Brighten The Corners first came out, I didn't really dig it that much. Wowie Zowie had embedded itsself into my brain (I still consider it their masterpiece- although a very psychotic masterpiece) and I guess I wanted more of that Pavement. Instead it consisted of more fully realized songs, shinier production and most of it pretty mellow. Sure, I liked certain cuts, but I put it away for a long time. Of course I eventually realized its greatness. What's wrong with mellow?
If you're checking out this reissue, you probably know the album, so I'll get to the extras (32 of 'em!). First off, the original album has only twelve songs but they recorded about twice as many. Some were released as b-sides, including "Harness Your Hopes" and "No Tan Lines" which are a few of Pavements best songs, though they never made it to an album (along with "Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence" which can be found on the Crooked Rain reissue). "Wanna Mess You Around" is a stab of garage punk which would sit nicely next to "Serpentine Pad".
Some of the stuff that didn't make the cut has never been released, like an early creeping version of "The Hexx" and psychedelic instrumental "Beautiful As A Butterfly", had all of these been included on Brighten The Corners, it would have been a completely different beast, more akin to their earlier more chaotic sound.
Disc two features the best radio sessions I've heard from Pavement (they get quite zany), including their excellent cover of "The Killing Moon", a cover of Faust's "It's A Rainy Day Sunshine Girl" and a crazy version of "Grave Architecture" with some hilarious backing vocals by (I'm guessing) Bob Nastanovich. "Chevy" is a trippier version of "Old To Begin" that sounds like Malkmus either hadn't written the lyrics yet, or forgot every one of 'em and made up new ones on the spot.
A few other oddities included are their tribute to The Clean ("Oddity"), an extended live version of "Type Slowly" (with a kind of The Doors' "The End" guitar thing going on) that makes me really appreciate a song I never cared much for, and their performances from Space Ghost Coast To Coast from 1997 (throughout the episode Space Ghost only refers to them as The Beatles).
I'd say of all the Pavement deluxe editions so far, this one has the best extras. Even the most diehard Pavement freak probably hasn't heard all of these tracks. The original album I'd probably give three & a half stars, the extras push it to five.
"
Pavement's best gets the treat.
Joao Nunes | Portugal | 12/27/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"These Pavement double-disc deluxe editions that are being released by Matador every 2 years are among the best reissues that I know. The gorgeous packaging, the brilliant design work, the massive booklets stuffed with interesting liner notes and photos, and the tons of extra-tracks set a new standard to the so-called deluxe editions. Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition (love the weird sub-titles!) maintains the level.
This is my favourite Pavement album and ever since these deluxe-editions started coming out I had been waiting for its turn.
Brighten The Corners is Pavement's strongest and most consistent album. All these are good "proper" songs. There is no fooling around with thrown away ideas or silly jams. I understand that those are natural ingredients of the Pavement sound, but Wowee Zowee surely needed a bit more editing and quality control. And don't get it wrong, this is far from shinny and polished, this is still 100% low-fi indie rock as according to Pavement. The band still indulges here and there but overall things are much more in control.
Highlights include the college rock hit 'Stereo' with its bumpy bass line and explosive chorus, the catchy 'Shady Lane' and - a personal favourite and my favourite Scott Kannberg song - the chiming urgent 'Date with IKEA' with its byrdsian guitar all over. The album has a double grand finale with two slow-moving ballads 'Starlings Of The Slipstream' and 'Fin' that feature extended epic guitar abuse by Malkmus with loads of feedback and over-bent strings.
Of the 30-plus bonus tracks you can expect the usual treat. Excellent, interesting, funny, pointless, we get a bit of everything. But there are some standout tracks. The embryonic 'The Hexx', then called 'And Then', is as much powerful as it is underdeveloped. The instrumental 'Beautiful As A Batterfly', 'Westie Can Drum', 'Harness Your Hopes', 'Destroy Mater Dei', 'The Classical'.... are all great additions to this album.
The 50-page booklet features a long essay that deals more with the importance of nonsense lyrics in rock songs and, particularly, in Pavement. It's a very interesting text that runs for several pages until it arrives at Brighten The Corners just at closing time. But I miss a bit of historic context in the liner notes - the recording process, what the band was going through.
For the first time in these re-issues, there are no words by Stephen Malkmus or any of the band members or people involved on the making of the record. This brings back the idea that this album is so under-appreciated, probably even by the band - something that really puzzles me."
What about the voice of Geddy Lee?
Daniel E. Fox | Phoenix, AZ | 12/28/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have bought every Pavement reissue so far despite owning all of the original CD's. I think this speaks to the high quality of these re-releases...you get a LOT for your money (an entire disc of b-sides, live versions, outtakes, etc...plus extensive liner notes, pictures, etc.). As for Brighten the Corners itself, "Stereo" and "Shady Lane" remain one of my very favorite album-opening combos ever. There are a lot of good Malkmus slow jams on this album ("Type Slowly" being a classic) and "Date with IKEA," Spiral Stairs's moment to shine (a great tune!) This is a really solid Pavement album and as I said earlier, the B-sides and other extras only further illuminate what geniuses these guys were/are. I keep hoping for a Pavement reunion (although Malkmus's last very solid solo album helped satiate that need)...until then, one more reissue to go!"
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1