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Review  of Remastered  Hot August Night 

 by Karin Thieme©

 I  received the new HAN. It blew me! It is just gorgeous. 

The sound is really crystal-clear. I think it is even
better than it is on the gold CDs from MFSL. I have never heard Cherry Cherry that way, and the slightest details are to be heard clearly, like Neil's groaning (hope this is the right word) stool on Red Red Wine .Just gorgeous. Now about the new added tracks.

First of all I regret that they didn't include "Gitchy  Goomy." I do have this bootleg recording of the song taken on August 26th at the Greek in1972, and it is so wonderful as Neil sings it like a lullaby, just his voice and the Ovation guitar. 

But we cannot have  it all.

 Therefore, it is nice that three new tracks were included at all.

Kentucky Woman is a really nice track, but nothing really special as to me it sounds almost the same as they play it today like on the Tennessee Moon video, a bit more country fied today, but not so much different from this old 1972 version. But this one is full of energy.

But "Walk On Water" and Stones really knocked me out! I always appreciate Walk On Water with the initials WOW - and that's what it is: just wow.

 I couldn't imagine how it would sound when the background chorus is missing on the live take. 

But I really do not miss it much. As on the
whole CD, the sound is so rich, so powerful. And when I listen to Dennis St. John's drums I regret it even more that he is no longer playing for Neil. 

He is just gorgeous on both tracks: WOW and Stones. And Neil's
voice is so rich and full on both these tracks, too. 

Just beautiful. WOW has all the raw power that was so typical for Neil's 1972 concerts and that I loved so much. 

He lost this trait after the sabbatical and became
the polished Diamond so familiar to us since the Love At The Greek
concerts. The TYA concert in Sydney has still some of these 1972-like raw edges in some parts.

Now to Stones. When I had it on the stereo the first time, it turned
back times for me to June 10th in 1972, my first Neil concert. I saw him in my mind, standing there on the dark stage in his red velvet shirt and black pants, his Ovation slung around, the long hair down to his shoulders, tall and thin, and his rich voice filling the hall. 

One of the most beautiful renditions he did that night at the Circus Krone in Munich was his rendition of Stones - and this take on the new HAN totally reminds me of this. It is just wonderful. I could listen to it over and over again. I guess it is one of the most beautiful live recordings we have of Neil. This one alone makes the CD worth buying.

And again, Dennis St. John's drum work is just gorgeous. He almost caresses his bass drum during the first bars, when Neil gently plays the first chords on his Ovation and starts to wrap his lyrics around the music. It is hard for me to describe this, but this is exactly what I feel about it. I would have never believed that this one song would bring back so many memories about my first concert so strongly. 

It was even more strong at night when I listened to it again, when it was 2 o'clock Sunday morning, everything was all dark and quiet and I had my earphones on. This one song Stones reflects all the charisma and extraordinary performing abilities that made Neil the most outstanding performer of all times - in my very own opinion.