Anyone who has spoken to me for more than about 10 minutes knows of the love I have for Op Ivy. I'm sure many other people out there feel as I do. They must, because soon after Lookout put the beloved CD out to pasture the world went haywire. There were copies of the lookout CD, the CD mind you, being put on Gemm.com for like 60 bucks. People were heartbroken. Where would people turn for their Op Ivy fix? Would illegal downloading be considered justified in this situation? I ever heard rumors of al queda being involved. All I know is we were in a precarious position for awhile. And now Hellcat Records has alleviated this by releasing a remastered version of the original. Now for as much ass as the Lookout one kicks, the sound has always be reminiscent of a being recorded in a tin foil room with bajos. The remastered one has a little bit more bottom end. I'm sure you audiophiles out there could describe this better than I, but that's how I see it. But it doesn't have so much bottom end it muddles things or dullens the sound.
Other than that, this is an exact copy of the lookout one. The insert is the same, the art is the same. The only thing different is its now in digipak form. Which is fancy talk for cardboard cases which doesn't hold up worth a damn. At least they don't, if you are as hardcore as I am. For those who don't know what this band was about, they were simply the best band to ever combine ska elements into punk rock since the Clash.
Its 27 tracks of pure- well for lack of a better word- Energy. It's angry, it's fun, it's poetic. Every tune on here is a keeper. Not many bands can put out that sort of quality. I only wish they would include "hedgecore" and "face that screams" on a proper release. These could really use a remaster since they are of semi poor quality.
With the album now in the control of Hellcat/Epitaph I only hope we don't start seeing these tunes turn up in Tony Hawks Pro Skater 230, and in artfully edited videos on MTV . . . You know during that 4 minutes they play videos. But, even if they use these songs to sell guns to babies. It still wouldn't change this as some of the best music one could listen to.
