John Sykes/Loveland Rough Mix

The ballad album “LOVELAND” is a burst of genius songwriter talent. A delicious collection of alternative versions of the dreamed-out “Don’t Say Goodbye with John Lennon’s voice” has been decided to be released. This work contains 11 takes of super-excellent rough mix demos. This studio album mainly features songs from “LOVELAND” with a bonus take of “OUT OF MY TREE”. John Sykes’ treasure track collection “HIDDEN TREASURES 1985-2021” will be permanently preserved, but this work is a different album with no overlaps. Even if you say “demo” in one bite, the quality varies greatly depending on the production stage, but in this case, it is “completely official class just before the finish”. Although all the takes are different from the final album tracks, the sound quality and degree of completion are not inferior at all, and they are all different versions that do not feel out of place when mixed with the regular album. Of course, even if they are comparable in quality to the official ones, it is interesting because of the differences. Now, let’s introduce the two albums individually. Main: LOVELAND Rough Mix (5 songs, 6 takes) The original “Don’t Say Goodbye” with John Lennon’s voice The main feature of this work is a different version of the ballad album “LOVELAND”. The first to appear is the biggest attraction, “Don’t Say Goodbye (Cancelled Master with John Lennon)”. It is a masterpiece among masterpieces that was the core of the “LOVELAND” project, but it was also a tragic song that was not officially released in its original form. Originally, Sykes wrote the song inspired by the “Imagine” documentary video, and Lennon’s voice (from the movie “Imagine”) was sampled in the song. However, this became a problem just before the release. A version without Lennon’s voice was quickly produced and released. And one of the songs in this work is the “Lennon’s voice version” that was originally supposed to be included in the album. Moreover, it is the leaked master of the finished version that has already been finalized. You can listen to the “original official track”. The long version of “Don’t Hurt Me This Way” is followed by “Don’t Hurt Me This Way (Long Version)” which is also a special treasure. As you know, this is a self-remake of the 1982 single “Please Don’t Leave Me”, but this take is a longer version [5:08] than the official track [4:48]. The difference is the ending. In the album version, it fades out during Phil’s vocals, but this version includes the coda after he finishes singing. By the way, the original 1982 version also has three types: “single version”, “edit version”, and “instrumental version”, and the 1997 version also has two types: “album version” and “long version (this work)”. There are a total of five versions of the studio version of the masterpiece “Please Don’t Leave”. The three songs “Thank You For The Love”, “Till The Day I Die” and “I’ll Be Waiting” are quite close to the final version, but when compared, they are different versions with different mix balances and tones of instruments. And “Don’t Say Goodbye (Demo Version)” is completely different at first listen. The first song “Cancelled Master” was a different mix that removed Lennon’s voice, but this is an early version with a different performance itself. However, even though it is an early version, the arrangement is already well-crafted, and the decorations such as strings and SEs are perfect. Lennon’s voice is also included in the middle of the song. Bonus: OUT OF MY TREE Rough Mix (5 songs) This work also includes five different takes of the previous work “OUT OF MY TREE”. This is also a rough mix with a sound and completion comparable to the final album. “Do Or Die” and “Soul Stealer” have vivid counts, and “Standing At The Crossroads” is a long version with many refrains of edending in addition to counts. “If You Ever Need Love” also has a distinctive ending, and the strings that faded out smoothly in the final version are drawn out for a long time. The most different of these is “She’s All Action”. There is one more bass phrase from the intro, but the backing vocals are even louder. In the final version, two Sykes sing in a dialogue, but in this album there is only one. It is a much cleaner song with a different impression. A collection of the finest demos of “LOVELAND” and “OUT OF MY TREE”. This is a collection of alternate versions of treasures, such as “Don’t Say Goodbye” with John Lennon’s voice, which was shelved just before the official release, and a long version of “Standing At The Crossroads”. 1. Don’t Say Goodbye (Cancelled Master with John Lennon) 2. Don’t Hurt Me This Way (Long Version) 3. Thank You For The Love 4. Till The Day I Die 5. I’ll Be Waiting 6. Don’t Say Goodbye (Demo Version) Bonus: ‘Out Of My Tree’ Rough Mix 7. Do Or Die 8. Soul Stealer 9. She’s All Action 10. Standing At The Crossroads (Long Version) 11. If You Ever Need Love STEREO SOUNDBOARD RECORDING