AMAZINGLY GOOD White Hot Stamper sound on side two – WOW! I cannot recall ever hearing Dionne sound better than she does on this side two. Her voice is so clear and present, so natural and real, the truest way to describe the sound here is simply to say that the sound is natural, natural in a way that not three out of a hundred female vocal recordings sound.
But side one is a DISASTER — veiled, smeary and murky, with noisy vinyl thrown in for good measure.
Thank goodness we are the kind of record dealers / audiophiles who know that the two sides of a record often sound vastly different, otherwise why would we ever have bothered to play side two?
We recently reviewed a Dionne Warwick record for the site and had this to say, comments that apply equally well to this album.
Just played a Linda Ronstadt album that she did with Nelson Riddle earlier today and I can tell you one thing, the sound of that album and this one are on opposite sides of the recording spectrum in terms of naturalness. On a scale of one to a hundred, Linda scores about a two, and Dionne scores 90, maybe more. It’s a JOY to hear a record with this kind of sound.
Play this one for your audiophile friends who own and respect the recordings of Dianna Krall, Patricia Barber and the like. Be sure to repeat the phrase “boy, they don’t make ’em like they used to” whenever there is a pause in the music or conversation.
You might also want to ask them if they think the invention of digital reverb was such a good idea after all.
If they’re good analog buddies that you want to keep being your buddies you might not want to say anything at all. Just keep quiet and let their own ears shame them. This is the record that can do it.
TRACK LISTING
Side One
A House is Not a Home
People
They Long to be Close to You
The Last One to be Loved
Land of Make Believe
Reach Out for Me
Side Two
You’ll Never Get to Heaven
Walk on By
Wishin’ and Hopin’
I Smiled Yesterday
Get Rid of Him
Make the Night a Little Longer
AMG Review
Make Way For is Dionne Warwick’s third long-player for Scepter Records. The album would eventually be her first to make the charts and was undoubtedly propelled by the hits “Walk on By,” “You’ll Never Get to Heaven,” and “Wishin’ and Hopin'” — all of which became key components of Warwick’s performance repertoire.