Still So Far To Go... The Best Of Chris Rea Remastered

Even though the booklet is sorta lacking...yes it shows that most of these tracks are indeed 2009 REMASTERS but not when they were originally recorded or what albums they are from, nor does it have any liner notes/essay to read, or show a complete discography...BUT there are a few nice pics and paintings, and you see that Chris looks in fine health...better than he's looked in years, lean and muscular...BUT the discs are filled to the brim and the remastering is UNREAL, loud and clear. 34 tracks total, the songs spanning 1978 to 2009 (2 then-new songs, the (sorta) title track and "Valentino"), the rest 2009 REMASTERS (NOT 2009 RERECORDINGS as someone in another review accused Chris and Rhino UK of, WRONG), and what really grabs you aside from his "crying" slide guitar and his awesome and distinctive, gravelly soulful voice (which is still quite intact today), is Chris' vivid SONGWRITING, wow, full of clear imagery and a mastery of distinct melodic catchy pop hooks...not too unlike the late great Gerry Rafferty, mixed with Mark Knopfler, Bryan Ferry, Boz Scaggs and even Seal. No one else I can think of mixes melodic pop/powerpop with blues guitar and continental European style and rhythms. Eric Clapton doesn't come close.Now, people have complained about this set...the use of 1988 rerecordings he did for his collection "New Light Through Old Windows", and I completely understand why (6 are here and they are 2009 remasters of them, and "On The Beach" is that version but in a 3:46 single edit, not the 6+ minute full version)...many prefer the originals, and ya know what??? You're all crazy!! I can't BELIEVE people prefer some of the originals when the 1988 versions are IMPROVEMENTS...I know (and I'm one of them) people think re-recordings are usually inferior to the originals, BUT this is probably the only exception to the rule. See, I've just been acquiring Chris' back catalogue, and I popped on many of these titles last night, and the differences are quite jarring...for example, I can't believe people prefer the original 1983 "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" to the 1988 version!!! First off, as great as Chris' 1983 album "Water Sign" is as a whole, the production IS quite dated and it's only a DEMO, and the original version of that song is like cheesy disco, but in a good way, haha...there is even the line in that version of "I've been going through the European discos", like huh??? I haven't heard these albums in about 15 years, so I forgot what these albums were like...and I can completely understand why Chris would want to revisit these songs (which I'm sure he's proud of WRITING), but utterly CRINGE when he hears the RECORDINGS and dated, cheap, cheesy productions...now, there are some tracks where the originals are just as good, and one is "Candles", but that's not on here. I really think the 1988 versions are mostly improved, or at least matched like on "Steel River". There were 2 versions of "New Light" released in 1988, the 10-track Geffen version with the blue/grey curtains cover and different fatter guitar mix of the 1988 "Let's Dance" rerecording, burying the piano track, and the best, most superior version of "Josephine" (as far as I know, the only place you can find it, on the Geffen CD, it's like a fatter blues-infused remix of the 1985 CD version on "Shamrock Diaries"), but it left off the rerecordings of "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" (weird, maybe they wanted to give Chris exposure not reliant on that song in the US as it was a huge hit here and wanted people to forget??), "Shamrock Diaries" and the new recording "Driving Home For Christmas", and the other version is the 13-track import with the window painting, later released here on Atco when he moved over from Geffen when that label was sold to Universal in 1990, and he stayed in the Warner label system via his UK label Magnet who was sold to Warners/EastWest, and Atco was the US arm...so they put out "Auberge" in 1991 and reissued "The Road To Hell" (with the original, and more famous UK cover) and "New Light", again with the UK cover and mix...anyhoo, why people prefer the originals when many of them sound quite dated today is beyond me, like why???? Chris just extended the life of those songs with those awesome 1988 versions!! I also noticed that the versions of "Let's Dance" and "Josephine" on this new double are remasters of the 1988 import/Atco mixes, not the fatter, superior Geffen mixes, but they sound killer fine regardless...this remastering job, whoever did it, should get a medal, it's so good!!!Throughout the rest of it, you get single versions and at least 1 song per album, with exception, like nothing from 2000's "King Of The Beach", and nada from 1980's "Tennis", there are some singles missing, and it would have been nice to have that Elton duet "If You Were Me", and as I hate having multiple collections from an artist, I have to get the US version of "Espresso Logic"...speaking of that album, "Julia", that album's biggest single (#18 UK) about his younger daughter, the melody/guitar riffs on the verses were ripped off by Sheryl Crow on her 2008 song "Love Is Free" from her album "Detours", not sure if that was intentional, but I noticed it right away.But this collection is so good and has enough highlights that you may not feel a need to buy Chris' vast catalogue if you don't choose to do so...many collections you do, not this one...but I do as I want more and everything, but casual fans might feel this is good enough...it even gets a toe in the water of his post-2002 blues period and even a song from his current band The Hofner Bluenotes...so it covers all the bases and even spotlights songs you may have forgotten about or never heard before and becomes a new favourite.I would have to say Chris Rea is an unheralded musical GENIUS and this 2CD set gives an ample number of examples as to why that is.Period.

First of all, the mastering here is excellent throughout. And, almost every big hit is here,with almost every album represented, from Rea's late-70's debut to his latest recordings.The track listing does not include dates or album sources, and there are no liner notesor mastering and producer credits.My only complaint is that on the pre-1988 songs, the 1988 re-recordings are used, unlessone was not made. So, we get the original hit recordings of "Diamonds" (1979) and "Loving You" (1982),but we get the 1988 re-make of "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" instead of the original 1978 hit.The 1988 re-recordings (6 are included here), made for NEW LIGHT THROUGH OLD WINDOWS- THE BEST OF CHRIS REA,have been re-used on several compilations over the years. This would have been a perfectcollection for fans and collectors if they had used the original hit versions on those 6 cuts.Chris Rea has done 24 studio albums, and released about 60 singles, so this doesn't get themall, but it's got 32 of his biggest and best, and 2 new songs as well.TRACK LISTING DETAILS for Still So Far To Go...The Best Of Chris Rea (2009)Fool (If You Think It's Over) (1988 re-recording)---(original on Whatever Happened To Benny Santini - 1978)On The Beach (1988 re-recording) (original on On The Beach - 1986)Let's Dance (1988 re-recording) (original on Dancing With Strangers - 1987)Diamonds (single edit) (from Deltics - 1979)Loving You (from Chris Rea - 1982)I Can Hear Your Heartbeat (1988 re-recording) (original on Water Sign - 1983)I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It (from Wired To The Moon - 1984)Stainsby Girls (1988 re-recording) (original from Shamrock Diaries - 1985)Josephine (1988 re-recording) (original from Shamrock Diaries - 1985)It's All Gone (from On The Beach - 1986)Loving You Again (from Dancing With Strangers - 1987)Joys Of Christmas (from Dancing With Strangers - 1987)Driving Home For Christmas (from New Light Through Old Windows - 1988)Working On It (from New Light Through Old Windows - 1988)Tell Me There's A Heaven (from The Road To Hell - 1989)Heaven (from Auberge - 1990)Looking For The Summer (from Auberge - 1990)Come So Far, Yet Still So Far To Go (NEW SONG - 2009 - released as new single)The Road To Hell - Part 2 (from The Road To Hell - 1989)Auberge (from Auberge - 1991)Winter Song (from a single - 1991 , and later added to Auberge)Nothing To Fear (from God's Great Banana Skin - 1992)God's Great Banana Skin (from God's Great Banana Skin - 1992)Julia (from Espresso Logic - 1993)You Can Go Your Own Way (from The Best Of Chris Rea - 1994)When The Grey Skies Turn To Blue (from La Passione - 1996)The Blue Café (from The Blue Café - 1998)New Times Square (from The Road To Hell: Part 2 - 1999)Stony Road (from Dancing Down The Stony Road - 2002)Easy Rider (from Dancing Down The Stony Road - 2002)Blue Street (from Blue Street (Five Guitars) - 2003)Somewhere Between Highway 61 & 49 (from Blue Guitars - 2005)The Shadow Of A Fool (from The Return Of The Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes - 2008)Valentino (NEW SONG -2009)

Just discovered Chis Rea by accident. Many, many years ago, heard "Down on the Beach," recorded it, and had no idea who sang this song, but fell in love with it. By lucky chance, was listening to a radio station that played it for a bumper song, and mentioned Chris Rea, and that he had many good tunes, and to check him out. Boy, was I lucky to have heard that, otherwise, I'd never known who Chris Rea was. So I checked him out on youtube, and fell in love with him. Where was this guy all those years that there wasn't any music I liked, (disco, punk, rap, etc.) So, all those wonderful songs on youtube introduced me to Chris Rea, and I bought this CD, and just totally love it, it's definately one of my favorites that I can listen to over and over and never get tired of. What a musical talent, he not only has a sexy voice, but writes his own music, and lyrics, plays his own guitar. Now how many musicians can do that? One of the comments on youtube was "he's the only guy I know that can replay his old songs and make them sound even better." I disagree, I love his old songs just as much as the newer remakes, they're all wonderful!

Chris Rea made some great music, and I have a soft spot for the albums Watersign and Shamrock Diaries.This is an excellent collection of tracks, but several of them are alternate versions, I believe from the "new light through old windows" or something like that.They aren't bad at all, I just prefer the original versions.Still a very good collection though.