4. "Jacob’s Ladder" Yes, the Huey Lewis cover. But Hornsby wrote it. The 2021 RAR reveals the subtle syncopation between Molo’s drums and Hornsby’s left hand. Previously buried in the mix, the accordion track (played by Hornsby) now sits perfectly in the stereo field.
5. "The End of the Innocence" Wait—this is the famous Don Henley song. Why is it on a Bruce Hornsby album? Because Hornsby wrote the piano and chord structure. The 1988 recording here is a solo piano demo. The RAR 2021 pressing illuminates the harmonic complexity of this demo. You hear the squeak of the piano stool. You hear Hornsby humming the melody before he sings it. It’s a ghost track that explains the birth of a standard.
6. "Defenders of the Flag" Perhaps Hornsby’s most misunderstood song (a critique of blind nationalism). In the 2021 remaster, the low-end is massive. Joe Puerta’s bass playing—usually subtle—propels the track like a motorik funk engine. The digital versions always made this sound tinny; the RAR vinyl fixes that. The 2021 RAR reveals the subtle syncopation between
7. "Scenes from the Southside" (Title Track) The nine-minute suite. On CD, it felt long. On the 2021 RAR, it feels architectural. The improvisational midsection where the piano quotes "Stars and Stripes Forever" has a satirical bite that the 80s production softened. The run-out groove on Side B is etched with the phrase: "Virginia is for lovers... of ragtime."
Listening to the 2021 RAR edition is like wiping fog off a window. The original 1988 pressing was muddy; the CD was thin. This version has weight. "The End of the Innocence" Wait—this is the
In the pantheon of 1980s pop-rock, few debut albums were as inescapable as Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s The Way It Is. Powered by its title track—a bona fide anthem that fused MTV pop with socially conscious lyrics—the band faced the classic "sophomore slump" hurdle. In 1988, they answered with Scenes from the Southside.
While the 1988 release is a staple of late-80s radio, the 2021 reissue (part of a wider campaign by Audiophile remastering teams) invites listeners to strip away the radio static and rediscover the album as a cohesive, richly textured masterpiece of American songwriting. buried in the 1990s reissues
Upon unpacking the RAR, listeners reported hearing the album for the first time. The banjo rolls on "The Wild Frontier" breathed with space. George Marinelli’s guitar fills on "The Valley Road" had a sharp, metallic bite that had been smoothed over in subsequent remasters. Joe Puerta’s fretless bass, buried in the 1990s reissues, now pulsed clearly underneath Hornsby’s left-hand piano patterns.
One user on the Steve Hoffman forums wrote: “I’ve owned this album on cassette, CD, and vinyl. I’ve streamed it on three platforms. Nothing—and I mean nothing—sounds like this 2021 RAR. It’s like someone peeled a blanket off the speakers.”
Another noted the timing: “2021 was the year of lockdown blues. Hearing ‘The Way It Is’s lesser-known sibling in such stark clarity felt like a reunion with an old friend who finally decided to tell you the truth.”