This album has accumulated quite a history (which is entirely my fault) The original Prime Mover album was released in 1988 on Sparrow Records. It was re-done in 1998 as Prime Mover II, and now we have the (final) version: Prime Mover (Redux), completed in 2008. The original notes for Prime mover II explain why the album was re-recorded in the first place: Though any artist probably has some regrets about a portion of their recorded work, this one was the focus of most of mine. Unfortunately, it was done in a hurry, on a very low budget, and under a cloud of disappointment about the demise of AD. The thought occurred to me - they re-make movies, why not albums? Were it not for the fact that I believed the album was redeemable, and that these songs deserved a better fate, I would have left it as is. I believe the results justify the amount of effort that has been put into this collection of songs - it no longer occupies the position of my least favorite post-Kansas work, and I now have no regrets, rather a sense of fulfillment. Thanks so much to Warren Ham - he still kills me. This time I think we got it right. What was done: All of the re-recording was done on two EMU Darwins, two ADAT XT's, and an Apple Macintosh G3 using Digital Performer software. The original Prime Mover was recorded on 24 track analog tape, and was transferred to digital. Unfortunately, one of the two-inch master tape reels had deteriorated so badly that it was unusable. Those songs were completely redone from scratch, which had not been my original intention. Generally speaking, there is little left of the original tracks, except for some of the lead vocals and certain of the guitar solos. All of them have, of course, been re-mixed and re-mastered. The most significant change in the songs themselves is that the drum machine was removed and replaced by drums that were played. Though they are (carefully crafted) sampled sounds, they were performed, not programmed. This has quite a dramatic effect in the feel of the material. (What were we thinking in 1988?) So why the third version of this music? Apparently we didn't get it right....so when is enough enough? The best explanation I can offer is that, with time, the technology has taken such a leap forward that it became obvious to me that I could greatly improve both the quality of the recording, and in many cases the performances. First, all of the PMII tracks were transferred into my 24-bit Workstation. Of course, once I got rolling, some of the songs were completely transformed by adding new tracks and replacing many of the originals. In a couple of cases, some of the guitar tracks I had done for PMII were missing, and one of Warren's harmonica tracks, so we had no choice but to play them again. Most of the drums were re-played and greatly improved with the wonderful BFD2 program. The sampled brass and woodwind sounds were, for the most part, replaced by real players and instruments, as was the bass guitar. There are quite a few additional background vocals. Wherever possible and appropriate, reality has replaced facsimile. I hope the listener can appreciate all the meticulous time that went into this project.....I think I am finished with it.
P**R
3rd Time's a Charm!
This will be a brief review: the music for this has always been good to great. However, as Kerry himself indicates, he worked with a limited budget at a time when production values left much to be desired. The second attempt was an improvement, but not enough to interest me. The third attempt, however, is fantastic. Bringing this music forward and limiting computer instrumentation could not have been a better decision. This is easily (now) his best solo work and on par with his best music in his time with Kansas (including the great music on the more recent Kansas album Somewhere to Elsewhere.If you enjoy Kerry's solo music, Christian rock in general, or even early 80s Kansas, do yourself a huge favor and get this disc. You will be glad you did!
C**R
Great Release!
Kerry seemed to have found his niche with this album. There are so much great melody hooks and nice progressive elements throughout this 1 hour + recording. He added five more songs from the original 1988 Prime Mover album. This added material makes Prime Mover Redux a much better 2008 version from the original.
M**R
better than the original version that was released in 1988
kerry livgren did a great job rerecording this. he brought in other musicians to help out, and it sounds more like a band effort. he added more songs that were not on the original release and he spent more time on it. a real big improvement.
R**E
Kerry is prime
Kerry's music is getting better
C**S
‘Prime Mover Redux’: Guilding the lily 100 times and ruining one of the best albums I ever heard
Kerry Livgren/AD’s final album as a band was ‘Prime Mover’. As a young Christian and a great fan of serious rock music, ‘Prime Mover’ was a work of brilliance! The rock sensibilities from Kerry’s original band Kansas made this album far better and deeper than the work of both Christian and secular artists of the time (way back in the last century, to a year called 1988).I had the album on cassette back when I was young. I fell back in love with the music that affected my past, recently. I got the ‘Prime Mover Redux’ CD! I was shocked when I heard it! ALL the clean, powerful songs I loved 30 years ago were buried under ridiculous tons of classical instruments and extra vocal crap! Why guild the lily when you can guild it 7,8 or even 10 times over?It’s like getting the perfect steak and having the chef cover it in onions, grape jelly, peanut butter, chocolate syrup and sprinkles! The pure original work I loved was covered by tons of unnecessary crap!I was lucky to find a used CD of the original ‘Prime Mover’. It cost a lot, but hearing those songs as originally recorded is priceless!
R**N
Brilliant the Second Time as Well
Kerry Livgren's music is quite enjoyable and well crafted. The lyrics are well written and are theologically sound. Most importantly is his desire to bring Glory to God, Father, Son, and Spirit, with the talent he has been given.
G**D
Pretty good CD
The CD was pretty good. It had some good guitar work by Livgren. It included some flute work, which I could have done without. Overall, it is a pretty good CD.
D**S
The best of all
I must say PM(Redux) is the the best sounding of all the prime mover projects. I own all of them and have to say I was very reluctent to buy a third copy. I took a chance and bought it anyway and was very pleased with the overall remix and recording process. If you have either of the first two cd's I would highly recommend this version, I believe you would thoughrly enjoy it!
