Expanded Edition Bonus Material

Too Late (Eric Woolfson Rough Guide Vocal)
During the recording process, before a lyric was completed, Eric would record a guide vocal of the basic melody, which in this case consists mainly of “La La’s”. This was useful to all involved including Alan and the arranger to get some idea of a song’s melody content. Even at early stages like this, the guide vocal would influence the structure and arrangement and the choice of the final vocalist. Eric would also use such a vocal as an aid to lyric writing, during the course of which he would often change the tune to fit with his eventually chosen words, hence the differences between this and the final version. It’s interesting that the intro heard on this version was completely discarded.

Standing On Higher Ground/ Losing Proposition (Vocal Experiments)
This is an example of an attempt at combining two different songs, one of which was dropped in the course of the recordings. Eric was trying an experiment by mirroring Gaudi’s own approach which was to have, in many cases, different themes intertwined in a complex pattern. It is interesting that the final chorus line had already been sung by Geoff Barradale. His ad libs at the end were replaced by other multi layered parts with Chris Rainbow joining Geoff on the final version. Incidentally Geoff Barradale at the time of this re-release, manages the phenomenally successful band The Arctic Monkeys.

Money Talks (Chris Rainbow/ Percussion Overdubs)
A typical example of a Chris Rainbow multi-tracked overdub with a section of percussion - combined here for a reason that nobody remembers!

Money Talks (Rough Mix Backing Track)
When the basic backing is recorded, a rough mix of the backing instruments would be done as in this example. There were several uses for this:
a) as an aid to lyric writing
b) as a guide for other musicians who had yet to add their overdubs
c) as a track for vocalists to practice
d) when a potential lead vocalist had not been identified, to use as a creative tool in imagining what kind of voice might suit the track
Very often when a final lead vocal is completed, it can change the perceived feel of the track and it’s only by comparing the basic track (only normally heard in the control room) to the final vocal mix that the differences can be appreciated.

Closer to Heaven (Sax/ Chris Rainbow Overdub Section)
An excellent example of “Rainbow magic”, together with the brilliant sax solo work of Richard Cottle (brother of bass player Laurie “Lol” Cottle also playing on this album). Richard’s main contribution to the album was as an electronic keyboard virtuoso, but he also excels on saxophone as he demonstrated on many of the Projects.

Paseo De Gracia (Rough Mix)
The final mix is usually a lengthy process, but one often needs a version for rough compilation or presentation purposes and this is an example of a mix which was fairly quickly put together and later improved upon for the final version. The choir heard clearly on this version on the extended fade was ultimately excluded on the master.

La Sagrada Familia (Rough Mix)
Another rough mix of a track which turned out to be one of the most challenging and complicated mixes to achieve the optimum sound balance with so many elements involved. This mix is noticeably ‘dryer’, i.e. less echo or reverb, but most of the constituent elements of the master are showcased here in a rough form.

Visit the shop