Laura Nyro - More Than a New Discovery

2008 release, a reissue of the album which introduced the wonderful talent of Laura Nyro to the world! More Than A New Discovery (AKA The First Songs) is informed by the styles of Laura's youth. She had just turned 19 when she recorded the album in early 1966, and the songs retain a youthful exuberance and glisten with beautiful Pop melodies and then-fashionable, sturdy '60s NY arrangements. Laura's lyrics are as poetically-charged and mature as at her peak, from the wise 'And When I Die' to the observational approach of 'Buy and Sell'. Musically, the album was obviously tailored to fit the prevailing landscape of '60s female Pop singers and it often has the same soulful atmosphere of Dusty Springfield and Evie Sands or the brash, bravura Pop of Barbra Streisand, who was to take 'Stoney End' to the charts three years later. Rev-Ola. Album Description

wonderfully gifted

Laura Nyro was a wonderfully gifted songwriter. She possessed a winsome voice that still stands out. No one can match her singing. After all these years, I'm still blown away by "Blowin' Away." "Buy and Sell," is still intriguing. "And When I Die" was penned at the age of thirteen. Beyond the lyrics, who understands Aaron Copeland at thirteen? I am glad you are recognizing this great American talent, her work should not be obscure. June 6, 2008

$30? Ha-ha-ha! But this is really great music by an interesting singer/songwriter

I guess I gave it one star to drive home even further the point that this reissue is pointless. I agree with the other reviewers and feel fortunate that I long ago found the CD of the Columbia reissue of this album, "The First Songs," in a used CD store and got it for about $8. Same great songs as on this overpriced lunker for 1/4 the price. May 23, 2008

A big disappointment

I have to agree with the others who have reviewed this CD -- it is a big disappointment. It's not that it looks or sounds bad; it's actually a nice remastering job.

But where are the bonus tracks?

All the other Laura Nyro albums that have been remastered and reissued have contained bonus tracks, and that's what I was most looking forward to about this release. Even if there are no extra tracks or demos in the vaults, we know there are at least two songs that could have been included: the single versions of "Stoney End" and "Wedding Bell Blues." The single version of "Stoney End" is quite different -- different vocals, different lyrics in places, and only released in mono. "Wedding Bell Blues" is a different mix than the album version.

I'm not all that concerned with the original track order -- that's easy to fix in iTunes. But a record company has no excuse for not checking the running order before manufacturing the discs.

It's just a shame that we didn't get the "definitive" edition of this album. Priced at $10, this would be a nice addition to anyone's music collection, but not for $19 and certainly not for $30... March 3, 2008

RevOla did indeed mess up

I'm a huge Laura Nyro fan, and love this album, so this review address the CD and it's problems, not the content.

Where to begin? RevOla did screw up here, but not quite to the extent that the previous reviewer has stated.

Let's start with the positives --
1)The restoration of the original packaging is top notch. No complaints there.
2) The sound quality is significantly different from "The First Songs" CD. When "More Than A New Discovery" was re-issued as "The First Songs" in 1973, I vaguely remember reading that it had been subjected to not only a title and cover change, but a remix. There is a credit on "The First Songs" for Production Supervision: Rich Chiaro that isn't on any other version of the album. I think that he might have supervised the remix. The RevOla CD seems to confirm that memory: the distortion that plagued Laura's vocals on "The First Songs" CD has been significantly diminished (thank God), but the sound quality itself is also quite changed. There is a lot more reverb and echo on the both voice and instruments, and it really now sounds like the early stereo recordings of the `60's with a great deal of separation between instruments. Not much seems to be placed into the center of the sound spectrum. There is also a slight, though not upsetting amount of hiss back - but with it comes more dynamic range on the instruments. It's a fair trade off. This is what RevOla probably means by the Sound Restoration credit. It's a matter of taste to what you prefer, but I like the less distorted, more narrow sound spectrum of this release.

The screw up -
Although they promote a restoration to the original running order starting with Goodbye Joe and ending with California Shoeshine Boys, the disc itself adheres to "The First Songs" running order, starting with Wedding Bell Blues and ending with And When I Die. Whoops!

I'm going to write to RevOla to see what they plan to do about rectifying this issue. If I send this disc back to Amazon UK (where I purchased it), I'll only get back a disc with the same problem. This is a manufacturing defect, not a shipping problem. I'll let you all know how they respond. I also notice a new listing for what looks to be a non-import version with a March street date. Now I'm confused.

I hope this information is helpful to people considering purchasing this CD.
February 21, 2008

Do it right or not at all!

Rev-Ola really screwed this one up. We now have the original artwork and title, but the tracklisting doesn't match the CD. We get tracks 6-12 first (side two of the LP) and then tracks 1-5 last (side one). It credits the "sound recreation" to some joker, but I'll be damned if this CD sounds any better than the old "First Songs" CD I replaced it with. What a waste of $30! February 11, 2008

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