I was asked to join LOOB when I was sixteen. Two weeks after my first rehearsal we were in an 8-track studio recording this demo. The basic tracks and overdubs were recorded at Legend Studios in East Setauket, and were finished up in Kenny Kamen's basement studio.
The first session at Legend Studios was on April 12, 1986 and yielded Ted's song "Can't Say No" as well as "I Cried" and "Feast Of Reason", two songs that LOOB had already recorded a year earlier. In August, we went back in and recorded the newly-written (and superior) "Above The Grass, Under The Moon" and "Heart And Mind". I remember the drumset at Legend was a huge double-bass affair, with tons of cymbals - cymbals I used liberally on these tracks! After initially cutting a vocal track himself, Ted turned the vocal duties of "Can't Say No" over to Ward, who did a great job with it. The standout element of this track for me though has always been Hubie's guitar performance. Hubie (in the early days) was usually wary of playing lead for some reason (probably in response to all the guitar excesses that were going on at the time!) - whenever he'd start to play a lead, we'd go "yeah!" (you can hear this on some early tapes) and then he'd immediately stop, with a mischievous grin!
Once in a while, we'd do "Above The Grass And Under The Moon" in rehearsal and even did it as a trio on the radio once, but that song needs Ward! "Heart And Mind" is another song I used to love playing but for some reason we didn't play that too much after this incarnation. I remember when I got my copy of the demo, "Heart And Mind" was left off of it....so I had to call WUSB and request it!
Once we finished this demo, we hardly saw each other until the following summer! (Ward was at NYU, Ted was upstate in Fredonia). I think we had one rehearsal during that time, in Hubie's parents' basement! Another one and only!
Life Out Of Balance 8-track demo
Above The Grass, Under The Moon
Heart And Mind
Can't Say No
I Cried
Feast Of Reason
Ward Regan - vocal
Hubie Poole - guitar, vocal
Ted Schreiber - bass, 12-string acoustic, vocal
Michael Goodman - drums
recorded at Legend Studios, engineered by Bob (can't remember his last name!), finished at Ken Kamen's basement studio in Sound Beach.
mp3 @320
https://www.mediafire.com/?f2lh2ec0vy22q59
