Received my copy of the Polarity Corrected version of xtc’s “Skylarking“. I am literally gasping at how different it sounds and how much better. I always thought it sounded muddy…subdued. Well, as popular as the album was when it was released, if this version had come out then (as it was supposed to), you’d all know who xtc is! It’s glorious, beautiful, and heartbreaking. It rocks, it soars. The production is “Pet Sounds”/ “Sgt. Pepper’s”/ “Quadrophenia”-esque. And, keep in mind, I was never a fan of this album. But you can HEAR the craft in the songwriting and instrumentation now. I feel bad for Mr.Partridge… knowing something was wrong with the original and not having anyone believe you. Imagine if “Raging Bull” came out in color and everyone kept saying to Scorsese, “it’s fine…what are you talking about?! But mostly I feel bad for me. I missed out on how incredible this record is. It WAS a worthy successor to (and maybe even surpassed) “English Settlement” and “Mummer”. We just didn’t know it!

Originally written on 10/1/2014