Most High official UK release

[Eddie Edwards <eddie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Most High" was released officially in the UK today.  Picked it up for
one pound ninety nine at Virgin on the way home from work.

Track listing:

1. Most High (4:25)
2. Upon A Golden Horse (3:57)
3. The Window (6:05)

Written by Page/Plant/Jones/Lee
except 3 written by Page/Plant/Jones/Lee/Andrews

Produced by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant

1 Recorded and mixed by Steve Albini
2 Recorded by Steve Albini, mixed by Charlie Jones and Phil Andrews
3 Recorded and mixed by Charlie Jones and Phil Andrews

In the door, shoes off, CD in player, press "repeat play".  I must have
been listening to some pretty rough boots lately because I thought my
advance copy of the album sounded good, but this official release leaves
it standing.  Obviously some advance copies may be better than mine, but
do not even consider judging the production quality of the album until
you have heard the real thing.

The album version of "Most High" clocks in at 5:35 so this version on
the single was obviously an edit of some sort.  Actually, it's quite a
bit different.  The introduction is shorter and there is a chunk cut out
of the main instrumental, but the biggest difference is at the end.
After the fourth verse, the album version goes straight into an extended
coda, but the single has a couple of bars of this then a repeat of the
third verse, then finally a reduced coda section with different ad-lib
vocals.

"Upon A Golden Horse" is the same length as the album version but this
is substantially different too.  The strings, which enter at the first
bridge section and play a prominent part in the remainder of the song,
have been removed completely for this single release.  This gives the
song a completely different feel, more straightforward and perhaps more
accessible to the single-buying public, whoever they might be.  Apart
from that, I think it's the same take as on the album.  The brief guitar
solo (the only one on this CD single) reminds me a little of Jimmy's
days with The Firm.

The final track, "The Window", is not on the album.  It begins with
sustained keyboards and a pulsating bass rhythm which builds and is
joined after a few bars by the drums.  This gives way to a very
threatening guitar chord, followed by the opening lines "Watching
through the window, oh, staring at the rain".  There is not much melody
to grab onto in this song, but Robert is using his voice as part of the
eerie instrumentation, making greater use of falsetto than ever before.
There is no guitar solo but Pagey plays some captivating stuff,
somewhere between riff and rhythm, in the very low registers.  An
adventurous and experimental track.

- -- 
Eddie Edwards

The Garden Tapes - a study of The Song Remains The Same
http://www.olkil.demon.co.uk/lzgarden/contents.htm
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