Description
The so-called Babylon Tour, which started in 1997 and expanded to 1999 with “BRIDGES TO BABYLON”, had a saturated number of items produced reflecting the number of live shows, and it seemed that the enthusiasts were “full” before the wonderful content of the live show. Furthermore, the Stones’ activities, which restarted in 1989, were considered stable, and the album “BRIDGES TO BABYLON” itself seemed to have been overlooked before it received its due evaluation. In fact, for a while after that, the Babylon Tour was branded as an unpopular live activity of the modern Stones, but 10 years ago, Keith mentioned his attachment to “BRIDGES TO” in his autobiography, knowing that it was unpopular, and the reevaluation of the album and tour increased at a stretch. Now, “BRIDGES TO~” has been promoted to one of the masterpieces, and when “FULLY FINISHED STUDIO OUTTAKES”, which caused a big sensation last year, was released, it was the first sound source part from the same album that attracted the most attention. In this situation, the 1998 Japan tour sound source titles released in 2014 using audience recordings obtained independently in time with the timing of the Stones’ return to Japan, riding on the momentum of reevaluation at that time, were all extremely well received, and even including the subsequent restocks, they were sold out in an instant, so in a sense, they are legendary items. As I said at the beginning, the Babylon tour produced a large number of items like bamboo shoots after the rain in real time, but that is now a thing of the past. In addition, even the 1998 Japan title in 2014 has been released for 8 years. On the contrary, the current situation where there are no current editions of the 1998 Japan tour is a serious situation. Among the Stones’ Japan visit items released so far based on independently obtained sound sources, the title that was most eager to be re-released has finally been realized by brushing up by Graf Zeppelin! The 1998 visit to Japan, especially the Tokyo Dome, can be said to be the last performance that was plagued by the echo peculiar to the dome in terms of audience recording equipment (this was dramatically improved in 2003), and in fact, the items released in real time have many sound quality hindered by the dullness of the echo. In that respect, the items released in 2014 were naturally surrounded by echo, but the fact that the outline of the performance was surprisingly well captured on top of that is what distinguished it from real time items. Rather, even the echo peculiar to the Tokyo Dome had a positive effect, and the unique natural listening comfort was highly praised by enthusiasts in “TOKYO 1998 2ND NIGHT”. This day is also famous for the legendary “Star Star” happening. Graf Zeppelin, who was in charge of the brush-up this time, was surprised at the good quality of the original sound source. As expected, Taper made a name for itself with the timeless masterpieces “DOME ON WHEELS” and “TOKYO DOME 1990 1ST NIGHT: DEFINITIVE EDITION”. For the re-release, Graf Zeppelin was only fine-tuned, but the sound quality was still brighter and richer than the previous release. The sound image bias that occurred on the B stage was also firmly adjusted. This was a dilemma in the audience recording of the Babylon tour, where the B stage was first introduced, so adjustments were all the more necessary. Even so, the performance centered around Mick and the excitement of the venue on this day were truly wonderful. The fact that it was held on a Saturday paid off, and the Tokyo Dome was literally full. I, the writer of this nonsense, was also fortunate to be able to attend, and the hot excitement of the huge dome’s seats coming together, which is incomparable to the Stones’ previous two visits to Japan, is still clearly burned into my mind. So the laughter of joy that bursts out near the taper the moment the new song “Flip The Switch” starts at that time is not stressful at all. It captures the realism of the day, when not only the classic songs of the past but even the songs included in “BRIDGES TO ~” were very exciting. The reaction to the new song was different from the Stones show in Europe and the United States, and the Stones (especially Mick) were also inspired by the excitement that the Tokyo Dome was united like never before, and it can even be said that this day was one of the best nights in the history of the Stones’ Japan tour. The charm of the original sound source is that it conveys even that passion properly, and I think that this brush-up makes it feel even more real. Now I can’t help but think that the “Star Star” incident that occurred in such a situation was also due to too much momentum. No matter how many times I hear it, it’s a band that quietly matches Keith, who started playing in a key that makes me want to say, “Isn’t that Let It Rock?”, but it seems that Mick has a hard time singing with the high key. Even Ronnie, who sings with him in the chorus, seems to have a hard time…of course. Keith, the main offender of such a high-key “Star Star”, rather the high key worked to his advantage, and he played his favorite Chuck Berry phrases to his heart’s content. On the contrary, the B stage also opened with Berry’s “Little Queenie”, and here too he played his specialty phrases. The sound quality of the original recording realistically conveys the way he played with all his energy. Even so, Mick was sharp on this day. I’m sure he was surprised by the hot excitement at the Tokyo Dome that he had never experienced before. Of course, he was at full throttle from the opening, and he literally sang the B stage repertoire. Therefore, it was very cute to see him get too excited when he started singing “Tumbling Dice” and try to recover in a hurry. Nowadays, it is difficult to get excited at a concert by laughing out loud like the ones heard everywhere, so this day even feels like a precious sight. This masterpiece of a unique sound source that captured the best performance in the history of the Stones’ Japan tour has finally been brushed up! (Remaster Memo) REMASTERED BY GRAF ZEPPELIN Phase correction. The right-leaning part has been corrected considerably. The low range was quite loud, so we didn’t touch that, but slightly corrected the high range and processed it brighter within a range that didn’t feel unnatural. There is no outstanding difference, but you can definitely feel the difference. In addition, both Osaka and Tokyo seem to be good sound sources with no high-frequency band down or waviness to begin with. Live at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan 14th March 1998 TRULY PERFECT SOUND(from Original Masters)*UPGRADE Disc 1 (60:58) 1. Introduction 2. Satisfaction 3. Let’s Spend The Night Together 4. Flip The Switch 5. Gimme Shelter 6. Anybody Seen My Baby? 7. 19th Nervous Breakdown 8. Saint Of Me 9. Out Of Control 10. Star Star 11. Miss You Disc 2 (77:09) 1. Band Introductions 2. Thief In The Night 3. Wanna Hold You 4. Little Queenie 5. You Got Me Rocking 6. Like A Rolling Stone 7. Sympathy For The Devil 8. Tumbling Dice 9. Honky Tonk Women 10. Start Me Up 11. Jumping Jack Flash 12. You Can’t Always Get What You Want 13. Brown Sugar
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