I've been listening more thoroughly to the first couple Enz albums recently and really hearing the changes in their various re-recordings. I know I have my personal preferences but I was wondering what this forum thought in general. Was it worth re-recording so much of their early catalog?

I'm aware that many fans of the early Enz stuff can be very defensive of Mental Notes and don't think the Enz should have re-recorded any of it. Personally, I find it to be more of a mixed bag. For me it has to do with whether or not the band was still "feeling" the songs at the time of their re-recording. For example, I think the Rear Enz re-recording of "Late in Rome" felt totally soulless simply because the re-recording took place probably a decade after the song was originally written and recorded. However, many of the Second Thoughts tracks were re-recorded at a time when the band was still really feeling those songs and I think that some of the re-recordings reflect that.

What do you think?

(Also, I know there are probably third and fourth recorded versions of many of these songs out there but I'm sticking with what has been officially released.)