Fugees Bootleg Versions CD

Fugees (Refugee Camp): Lauryn Hill, Wyclef, Prakazrel.
Additional personnel: Steve Marley, Steady Rider (vocals); Earl Smith, Ian Coleman (guitar); Mallory William (piano); Taro McLaugnlin (organ); Glenn Brownie (bass); Wilburn Cole (drums); Sharon Marley, Eric Newell, Pamela Hall (background vocals).
Producers include: Clark Kent, Wyclef, Prakazrel, Salaam Remi.
Personnel: Lauryn Hill (vocals, background vocals); Stephen Marley, Wyclef Jean (vocals); Mallory Williams (piano); Taro McLaughnlin (organ); Wilburn Cole (drums); Pam Hall, Sharon Marley (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Clark Kent; Warren Riker.
Recording information: Air Studios, London, England; Flight Time; Masterfonics, Nashville, TN; Studio 4, Conshohocken, PA; The Crib and Soundworks, NY.
Photographers: Daniel Moss; Dorothy Low.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Richard White; John Carr.
Released several months after the Fugees became stars, Bootleg Versions is an EP of remixes from the Fugees' two albums, Blunted on Reality and The Score. ~ Leo Stanley
Released several months after the Fugees became stars, Bootleg Versions is an EP of remixes from the Fugees' two albums, Blunted on Reality and The Score. None of the new mixes have the spark or fire of the originals, yet some of the reworking will be of interest to hardcore fans. By and large, however, it doesn't add any new dimension the Fugees' music. ~ Leo Stanley
This eight-track EP compresses the Fugees' two-album output for the heads who may only know 1996's THE SCORE, and spotlights the aspects that have led to their mega-platinum success--lyrical compassion, new-school-plus-one production, Lauryn Hill's mad mic skills. And for those who already knew these beats backward and forward, the remixes take the songs to a new level.
Clark Kent's take on "Ready Or Not" (now based on a loop of the Modern Jazz Quartet's "Django") makes the track completely over, while a re-recorded "No Woman No Cry" (complete with Marley offspring on vocals and Wailers guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith on six-string skank) pulls longingly on the heartstrings. But the EP's most fun moments come during the taped phone conversations dispersed throughout--particularly the one in which a music executive moans about the band bootlegging its own records and giving them away.

Refugee Camp

Entertainment Weekly (1/10/97, p.58) - "...Fugees followers may miss the thrill of a brand-new release--seven of the eight titles will be familiar; including callbacks from the band's first, less popular album. But the one new tune, 'Don't Cry, Dry Your Eyes,' should make their next record a much-anticipated one." - Rating: B