Steve Winwood / Arc Of A Diver two-disc deluxe edition
Universal Music will reissue Steve Winwood‘s Arc Of A Diver, on 24 September as a two-CD deluxe edition.
The album was Winwood’s second solo record, and provided him with a US top ten hit (his first) in the form of While You See A Chance. The singer is, of course, a talented multi-instrumentalist and played everything on this album.
The bonus material is slight but well chosen – it includes a BBC Radio 2 documentary about the album and some rare radio edits of the album tracks.
Pre-order Arc Of A Diver Deluxe here (US) or here (UK).
Track listing and details below:
Track listing
Disc 1
- 1. While You See A Chance
- 2. Arc Of A Diver
- 3. Second-Hand Woman
- 4. Slowdown Sundown
- 5. Spanish Dancer
- 6. Night Train
- 7. Dust
Disc 2
- 1. Arc Of A Diver – The Steve Winwood Story (BBC Radio 2 documentary – original programme ran for 60 minutes)
- 2. Arc Of A Diver – 4.14 (edited US single version)
- 3. Night Train – 6.30 (Instrumental Version from UK 12” single – previously unreleased on CD. This version has extra guitar and keyboards and is much longer)
- 4. Spanish Dancer – 6.08 (radio edit 2010 version)
When the hell is back in the high life going to be reissued its his best album??
I just received my copy from Amazon UK today. My booklet is also missing lyrics in the same spot. On top of that it’s the same dodgy, fold-over style digi-pak (like the Suede remasters) that guarantees a crushed and twisted spine upon delivery. I have yet to receive one intact.
Had a quick pass on the music. Relieving to find that the music doesn’t seem to be too tinny and compressed.
“Arc of a Nose Dive” morelike :o( …. today I received “Arc of a Diver” re-issue from Amazon UK …. sadly a fine example of a shoddy re-issue
The first inside page of the card digipack has the tracks listed in the trademark wiggley “Arc” font … except it looks like they used a low-res jpg as its pixle’d text (prob looks fine on an iPhone or whatever pocket sized device they quickly proofed it on)
The booklet contains a nice little essay from David Hepworth, followed by the lyrics – except the lyrics for tracks 3 & 4 “Second Hand Woman” & “Slowdown Sundown” are missing (except for the final 2 lines of the latter on the page following the lyrics for tracks 1 & 2 …. so before the lyrics of “Spanish Dancer” you get the end of Slowdown … so I am guessing that means its probably also missing pages from the Hepworth text which would be on the other side of the booklet page
I’m not sure, I will want to listen to a 60 min BBC audio documentary many times, but will give that the benefit of the doubt …. there must have been some live/promo stuff in the Island vaults that would have made for a more interesting package
Regarding the quality of this – I really do think that for an artist of Winwoods status, Universal have done a poor job … the Revolutions box was fantastic – well considered and lovingly packaged.
I am drawn to the expectancy surrounding the release of archive material from Jess Roden (a peer of Winwood during his days at Island Records) .,, this release is being independently curated by “Hidden Masters” http://www.HiddenMasters.net, who I believe to be focussing on the quality of packaging and content in a similar way to the approach taken by Genesis Publishing …. although as a Jess fan, am hoping that the procing structure is slightly more pocket-friendly.
As for Arc – I am returning my copy to Amazon for replacement … I wouldn’t normally bother, but I love Winwood’s recorded output & his live shows … and unlike many from that era, he is still active and still playing amazing live shows and making great music …. so, come on Universal – the recording industry maybe in turmoil, but really you should protect & present your assets far better than this.
btw – great blog – its beenwonderful to find you here Paul, I’ll be a regular visitor, but hopefully won’t spout this much stuff again :o)
All the best, Julian
Come on “…High Life”!!
It’s in dire need of a remaster. Brilliant music, great production….just beef it up and cut through a bit of that 80’s sheen.
And I’ll have a 5.1 mix while you’re at it too, hahahaha.
I agree but wishing for remasters these days can be dicey. Has anyone heard the Robert Palmer remasters? Completely awful and over-compressed. Sent me running back to the original Island pressings and I found that they weren’t so bad after all. The loudness wars continue…
Good news about this but when oh when will we see a decent release of ‘Talking Back to the Night’ in the UK???!!!
If you buy it from Amazon.Co.Uk, it’s boatloads cheaper than on Amazon. Just an FYI for those of you (like me) who will be purchasing this.
This so-called deluxe edition is also missing the edited version of “While You See A Chance”. I think that the bonus tracks should have been placed on the first disc and packaged with a bonus DVD of the BBC documentary.
It’s a BBC Radio documentary. Not television.
Ah. You are right. Thanks for pointing that out.
Wow, finally some Winwood stuff. My only squabble is that the A-side version of Night Train from that UK 12″ is also different from the album version, so that could have been included as well. But I’ll take what I can get.
Hopefully High Life and Roll With It aren’t far behind. There are a lot of 12″ mixes and dubs from these two albums.
Nice. I’ll be picking this up when it pops up at the right price.
His solo debut from ’77 is long overdue a reissue too. It’s been out of print for some time now, I believe.