Squeeze Album: “Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti”

this album was a return for squeeze after a 3 year hiatus. it is a curiosity in their catalog. not great, but not bad either.

if you choose to download it, i suggest itunes. i wasn't able to download it from amazon successfully, but it exists at itunes for the exact same price.

1985 - A&M Records - Produced By Laurie Latham - Songs Include : "Big Beng" / "By Your Side" / "King George Street" / "I Learnt How To Pray" / "Last Time Forever" / "No Place Like Home" / "Heartbreaking World" / "Hits Of The Year" / "Break My Heart" / "I Won't Ever Go Drinking Again"

songs are good. singing is superb but who in the world thought they needed to add jaco pastorius to the mix. we all know wilkerson came thru timbrooks solo album and he can play great but on this platter theres no accouting for his taste and no restraint. absolutely none. its almost as if someone tried to do it as a joke to see how much bass notes they could put the album.

i have a pretty extensive knowledge of music and i know of no other pop oriented album where someone over played as much as this chap.

even though the technique is great, it is annoying beyond belief. he comepletely ruins by your side. it is a bass solo thru the whole track. i dont get it. part of being a good player is knowing when and where it is appropriate. this cat either had no idea, was pissed off and didnt care or was told by the chaps to fire away. he has great chops, but this is not a zappa or weather report album. in this case, his way over active bass playing ruins an otherwise stellar album. this really could have been a classic but the bass just swallows the record whole. jules is extremely underutilized on this record because there is no space left for him to play. frustrating album with nice tunes.

On 4/25/07, a remastered Japanese mini-sleeve of this title, part of an eight album Squeeze release ("Squeeze", "Cool for Cats", "Argybargy", "East Side Story", "Sweets From A Stranger", "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti", "Babylon And On", and "Frank") was released, so don't pay big bucks for this old, out-of-print, non-remastered version.

Link to the 2007

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WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI-LP-SLEEVE" CD?

Have you ever lamented the loss of one of the 20th Century's great art forms, the 12" vinyl LP jacket? Then "mini-LP-sleeve" CD's may be for you.

Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. The disc is packaged inside a 135MM X 135MM cardboard precision-miniature replica of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Also, anything contained in the original LP, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and/or die cuts, are precisely replicated and included. An English-language lyric sheet is always included, even if the original LP did not have printed lyrics.

Then, there's the sonic quality: Often (but not always), mini-sleeves have dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2/K2HD, and/or HDCD), and can often (but not always) be superior to the audio on the same title anywhere else in the world. There also may be bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.

Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "obi" ("oh-bee"), a removable Japan-language promotional strip. The obi lists the Japan street date of that particular release, the catalog number, the mastering info, and often the original album's release date. Bonus tracks are only listed on the obi, maintaining the integrity of the original LP artwork. The obi's are collectable, and should not be discarded.

All mini-sleeve releases are limited edition, but re-pressings/re-issues are becoming more common (again, not always). The enthusiasm of mini-sleeve collecting must be tempered, however, with avoiding fake mini-sleeves manufactured in Russia and distributed throughout the world, primarily on eBay. They are inferior in quality, worthless in collectable value, a total waste of money, and should be avoided at all costs.

Tutti is one of those rarest of comebacks in music history. After releasing several poorly written LPs like Sweets From a Stranger and East Side Story, Squeeze demonstrated their fine songwriting abilities once again. "There's no Place Like Home" is without a doubt one of the best songs ever written by Squeeze. It has that emotionally sweeping structure that so many of today's songwriters lack. Unfortunately Difford and Tillbrook became lame again after this effort, releasing albums with one or two good songs. Buy this and Argy Bargy; you won't be disappointed.