Various Artists - Grand 12 Inches, Vol. 4

2007 Brings the Fourth Volume in the Series of 4CD'S Sets Packed with Dance Music Classic 12" Versions for the Aficionado, Presented and Assembled by Dutch DJ Emeritus Ben Liebrand. An Audiophile as Well as a Conoisseur, Liebrand Goes to Great Lengths (In Spite of Numerous Obstacles) to Obtain and Use the Absolute Best Possible Masters for this Series! Among the Chestnuts on this Set Are a Taste of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie, Deodato - Sos Fire in the Sky, Bb&q Band - Genie, Earth Wind and Fire - System of Survival, Pointer Sisters - Automatic, the Jacksons - Walk Right Now, Jam and Spoon - Follow Me, War - Galaxy and Many More. Album Details

Classic dance music in all it's glory!

Whether you are familiar with Ben Liebrand's work as a DJ or not, this 4 CD set is a must for any serious dance music collector!
As a successful DJ in the 1980s I already owned all of these tracks on vinyl and have, in many cases, been searching for years for CD versions. Now here they all are and beautifully remastered. Ben makes every effort to track down the original tape masters, or in some cases, uses vinyl, but totally remasters each track to ensure the highest sound quality available.
This collection, like it's three predecessors, is high on my rotation playlist at home!
I have had the pleasure of contacting Ben directly and he was gentlemanly enough to take suggestions for future releases. Show some support and ensure that such high grade compilations continue to become available. September 29, 2008

I recommend

Another good compilation by Bien Liebrand. 12" of Billie Jean, Runner,and Running Away, pays the investiment. June 2, 2008

Cdbox recommended

Wow I am very happy with this 4CDbox . Great sounds, very hard to find versions.
I love the music , that box is wonderful All sounds inside.
With this purchase complete all 4 volumes of Grand 12-inches. Hopefully an edited vol 5.
Thank very much. December 29, 2007

Review #3

Great sound, very hard to find versions and the rest are songs that I've never heard. Still, a good purchase. August 2, 2007

series is running thin--not enough classics that desperately need CD releases

Personally, I was thrilled to have a couple of 12" versions on CD at last--Walk Right Now by the Jacksons, Who's Zoomin Who by Aretha and the 12" mix of System of Survival by Earth Wind & Fire. FINALLY these tracks are on CD! There were also some other surprises like the long version of Galaxy by War and the long version of Roy Ayers' Running Away. But there were also way too many tracks that are not all that hard to get on CD, like Sister Sledge, A Taste of Honey, and Chic. With so many 80s classics still not on CD, these tracks seem like a big waste of space. The inclusion of a bunch of Bobby O productions is cool, but again, most of these were already released on official Bobby O compilations. The only other bittersweet surprise here was the version of The Runner by Three Degrees. Liebrand admits on his site that he still hasn't found the full 8:10 12" version, but that this was a really good mix too. It definitely retains the sound of the original Giorgio Moroder disco production, but it would still be great to get the actual 12" version on CD at last.

Let's just hope volume 5 taps into the huge number of more mainstream 80s hits that show up on numerous compilations in their single edits but never in their 12" remix versions, because those classic 12" mixes still desperately need to be preserved on CD, and for the price of a 4 CD set like this, it's just got to pay off. June 15, 2007

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