Pre-Owned Early Years: Lili Marlene (CD 0743625515022) by Anne Shelton

0743625515022. Pre-owned: Good condition. CD. This CD is a bit of a disappointment in terms of quality -- either the sources simply weren't there, or someone at ASV/Living Era was asleep at the switch during the mastering process on some of the tracks. The body of music covers the highlights of Anne Shelton's period of greatest popularity in Britain, from 1940 through 1944, and a lot of it does sound quite good -- but "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)" has far more noise on it, especially at the high end and on crescendos, than we're accustomed to hearing on ASV's releases. If one is able to get past that sonic flaw, which -- to be fair -- is intermittent, then this is a decent representation of some of Shelton's best work. And just to show how uneven this release is, "Blueberry Hill," which follows "Fools Rush In," sounds sensational, like it was recorded on tape in the '60s in terms of quality; but then "Only Forever" follows with a fair amount of surface noise. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi