Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting (20th Anniversary Edition) (2010)

If you're already a Concrete Blonde fan looking to upgrade your original release, you're already sold on the merits of this band and album and need only know that the re-mastering here sounds fantastic. The volume is louder but the sonics remain full-bodied, with solid lower frequencies and clearer highs. This album now sits much more nicely along their other works, so a definite thumbs up on the remastering effort.

The other reason for fans to upgrade is the generous offering of six bonus tracks, but the die-hards will quickly spot that four of these six bonus tracks including all of the live tracks were previously released and easily found on the "Still In Hollywood" compilation from 1994. Only "I Want You" (the b-side to "Joey") and the French version of the title cut are hard to come by, so those are good to see, but I do wish the powers that be here could have given the long-time fans something new instead of serving up 4 tracks from a previous compilation. Or at least instead of serving up the same live version of "Roses Grow" again (the studio version of which appears on "Free"), how about the acoustic version of "Joey", also from "Still In Hollywood"? That not only makes more sense due to the fact that it's an alternate version of an original "Bloodletting" track, but it's also more likely to pull more fans into buying this re-release. So... for me the bonus tracks are a mixed bag, but all in all they're worthwhile -- particularly if you don't own "Still In Hollywood -- and a welcome addition to this new release. Also included is a full color booklet with a short essay, full lyrics and some photos of the band.