MIKE + THE MECHANICS
The Living Years – Super Deluxe 30th Anniversary edition BMG Four-disc vinyl/CD repackaging for Rutherford project’s 1988 breakthrough.
The chief USP of this 30th anniversary edition of Mike + The Mechanics’ massively successful second album is that, unlike the 25th anniversary edition that came out four years ago (bit of a production delay on that occasion), this one is available on vinyl. And not just any old flimsy platter but a double-LP version with remastered live tracks included, plus a two-CD version thrown in just in case vinyl goes back out of fashion again next year and those much-maligned shiny silver things begin to catch our eye once more.
Despite the rather dubious marketing announcements surrounding this release (“available on vinyl for the first time ever” – what a surprise for the millions who bought the LP in 1988), there’s no new material included here, but if you’re revisiting the album for the first time since the 1980s the 2014 remastering still sounds good and the 30-year-old material has held up well, despite the quintessentially
80s production. Gated drums, squelchy bass, tinny synths and anaemic ‘Sussudio’-style funk rock touches abound. Yet it’s a testament to the sheer strength of songwriting that it can’t smother the heart of the music.
Even the uneven lyrics aren’t a dealbreaker, although it’s interesting to note that the same man – BA Robertson – wrote the bland truisms of Nobody’s Perfect
(key sentiment: ‘We are what we are’) and then on the very next track, the timelessly resonant, heartbreaking lyric of The Living Years.
There are punchy live renditions of several tracks from this album and previous hits including Silent Running and A Call To Arms, but most intriguing is the 2014 reimagining of The Living Years, with current M+TM frontman Andrew Roachford making a strong fist of emulating Paul Carrack’s original vocal, and an African choir offering extra anthemic swell. To these ears, the original is still the best, but at least they’ve done something creative with it.