Decadance (2) – On And On (Fears Keep On)

How does it come that nearly every copy that is offered for sale has brown/mould marks on the sleeve? Even the sealed copies. Dead stock copies that were stored in a humid environment? Any story behind this?

A 12 inch of italo-disco greatness! Dark, intense and it electronically hits every great trait that you expect from an electronic single. All the small different sounds hit you with a hard snap to your eardrum. Even the singing takes a dark turn and it never brightens things up. If you would ask me the song is more on the verge to darkwave than Italo-disco but that is just semantics and not as important as the song. To listen is like having the night ascend far too soon and never letting go of you, glorious!

I haven't heard the original release of course, but besides that, I strongly believe that this release is the best way to enjoy this classic. For my ears, the quality is amazing. Zero surface noise, strong and warm sound, much better than any digital form out there.

in reply to the comments below: I did the mastering for this particular pressing.

Because this is in my alltime italo top 3, i tried very much to leave it alone as much as possible, so no 'modernizing' was done.
I tried to focus on making it sound a bit less harsh and enjoyable to play both in a club and at home.
I can not say with certainty where the master files came from, but they had this distortion already in it.
I frequently restore old masters from tapes for vinyl reissues, and this stuff happens a lot: tapes lay for 40 years in moldy, dusty attics and sheds, and god knows where else.
In this particular case, what doesn't help is that the track builds to a crescendo at the very end, which is exactly where the vinyl quality due to groove distortion is the absolute worst. This is a track that originally would have benefitted greatly from being pressed to play insde out. You can do a lot of magic in audio restauration these days, but there is a limit. The somewhat shady quality adds to the vibe of the track in my opinion, and it was an honour to work on it.

I doubt the distortion is any fault of new mastering. I get the feeling these guys didn't store their masters w a lot of care. If you check out some of their other releases under different names, like Wanexa 'Man from Colours' there's a part where the tape was obviously eaten up. It is what it is and there's plenty of awesome music within those mishaps.

Lyrics by Kevin MauZ (Youtube)

Do you know when the time is coming
Dark light under the horizon
When the people they come
With the glowing eyes
Look down on me

Oh I know it can be done
Will they come to teach us?
So if you want me
In your galaxy
Please me

Can you tell when the dawn is rising
From the light on the mountain
In the moon, in the fear we'll go flying
Skies look over me

God, I knew it will be done
When you cry you need us
Sir, if you here, in your Galaxy
Please believe in me

On and On
Fears go on
When ya don't understand
I will never again
Life over you

On and On
Fears keep on
When ya don't understand
I will never again
Life over you

Do you know when the time is coming?
Dark light on the horizon
When the people they come
With the glowing eyes
Look down on me

Oh I know it will be done
Will they come to teach us?
So if you are them
You come in good will
Please me

On and On
Fears go on
When ya don't understand
I will never again
Life over you

On and On
Fears keep on
When ya don't understand
I will never again
Life over you ♫

Terrible pressing. It sounds like a bad vinyl rip of the 1983 record, done with cheap and uncalibrated needle. The result - heavy distortion starting after 2 minutes.

//

Ahahaha, some dealers here are offering a near mint copy of this bad sounding repress for nearly 100 Euro? Seriously?

A true masterpiece. Just highly recommended for every Italo fan.

//

I when I heard this record for the first time nearly ten years ago. At that time I knew it has something special but I couldn't find an access to this "obscure" sound!
But now, when I heard it again, it has grown to one of my absolutely favourite Italo-Disco records! A true masterpiece!

Btw: In several forums I read the only good sounding record is the one on Proto. So don't waste your money on this reissues :)