Seventies favourites

While arrangements for going away are working their way through I did have a couple more discs this month I'd like to devote a little space to.

 Argent were a British Progressive rock group formed from the ashes of the Nice and this package comprises of 1970's Ring Of Hands which was their debut, 1973's In Deep home of God Gave Rock and Roll To You and 1974's Nexus  with In Deep also presented in Quadraphonic surround sound thanks to the super audio cd player.

Missing just All Together Now with its Hold Your Head High, its nearly all the essential albums  in a nice well mastered bundle.

There's usually a corner of the collection marked for those it was uncool to like but when the mice were away and so were your friends you'd enjoy them.

The Australian singer Helen Reddy was one bursting  on to the seen when feminism and female solo artists were both on rise and I often borrowed the Grumps discs cos uncool amongst my friends she was, I liked her.
 

This two one one super audio issued early this year has two of her most important albums, 1972's I am Woman a manifesto in a song and a cover of This Masquerade popularized by the Carpenters and 1973's Long Hard Climb, home of Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress) and Delta Dawn.

Interestingly these albums were mixed for Quadraphonic sound but only issued on so-so US Capitol Q8 tapes and so this super audio cd twofer holds for the first time those mixes in real hifi.

A flashback to early 70's sounding better than ever.

70's

Stravinsky on super audio cd

Seeing we are into the new year, we resume the ongoing series around classical music on super audio cd staying very much with one letter-S.
Igor Stravinsky was a Russian composer that really pushed the boundaries of what had been accepted in European classical music, never more so than in his ballet scores of which Le Sacre du Printemps that actually caused a riot in Paris on its début.
The Firebird (L 'Oiseau de fue) was written for the 1910 Paris ballet season and is based around the Russian folk tales of the Firebird and the blessings and curses it brings to its owner.
It was first performed at Opéra de Paris June 25 1910  where it was an instance with public and critics a like.

 For orchestral concerts, a reduced version, the Firebird Suite was devised in 1919 and recordings of both abound.
For a long time the 1959 Mercury recording issued on cd in 1992 and briefly on super audio cd in the early 2000's have been the 'to go' version for recording quality and interpration.
More recently Sweden's BIS label issued this modern stereo and multi-channel  version which comes extremely close to matching that making for a modern replacement in Super Audio (as well as regular cd) with the improvements high resolution digital recording can bring.
It is coupled with orchestrations by Stravinsky of works originally by Chopin,Sibelius and Tchaikovsky.
While during the nineteen-sixties increasingly stereo recordings and matching equipment superseded monaural high fidelity, in the recording studios and research centres people were looking toward  not just sounds from left and right but also how to transmit the ambience of a concert hall into a living room for greater realism.
This lead to "Quadraphonic sound" with two speakers left and right behind you as well as the by now standard front left and right to send that additional sonic signature (and in popular music, effects too).
As was the requirements of that era the results were recorded for lp record and tape and an artist and composer who featured was  Pierre Boulez with the New York Philharmonic conducting the works of Stravinsky.

 From those sessions the British company Dutton Vocalian have re-issued in stereo and quadraphonic two lps in that series Petrushka with David Jacobs on piano originally issued in 1972 and the Pulcinella suite from 1978 on a single Super Audio cd that plays for just under 80 minutes.
These interpretations have stood the test of time and in this disc that also plays on regular cd too, Michael Dutton's mastering from the original analogue tapes affords the best sound these recordings have ever had .
I personally found both of these discs hugely enjoyable for the playing as well as sound.

Jean Sibelius

The history of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius's and my encounters with recordings of his works goes back to records from the 1960's and 1970's by the Austrian conductor Herbert von Kajaran for EMI and DG and in the early days of cd collecting,  I bought a four cd set by Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra but felt much of that didn't get that deep into the compositions.

It also sounded very lean and flat.

For Christmas I got a new five disc set but on super audio cd that also plays on regular players of the six symphonies by the pioneering  orchestra owned  label Lso Live from MDT Classics in Derby.

 This replaced the six symphonies and added a part choral work Kullervo which usually occupies a whole disc plus The Oceanides and Pohojola's Daughter that had been issued over a few years on individual discs.

Coming in this form, it was also discounted meaning for little over £20 I could get a complete set in the very finest quality.

 Taking a look at it, what we have is a box with the discs in individual sleeves and a booklet but also included for those who have home theatre blu ray systems is audio only blu ray so if they don't have super audio cd equipment they can play them back in high resolution surround sound.

 While looking at how to take the core of my Sibelius collection to super audio cd for it's greatly superior sound, I spotted a recent record that was an ideal add on to that five disc set by Chandos.

It's a superb recording by the acclaimed violinist Jennifer Pike of his Violin Concerto that comes with six short works, "Tone Poems" that includes favourites like Finlandia, Valse Triste and the Karelia Suite on one very well filled disc.

The Bergen Philharmonic are noted for their recordings by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg but conducted by Andrew Davis are well in their element.

Finally to replace an older disc I had, I got this newer recording by Finland's Lahti Symphony Orchestra of the Lemminkainen Suite from which the "Swan of Tuonela" comes from coupled with the Wood-Nymph on BIS.

This resetting and upgrading in terms of sound and performances of Sibelius's work coupled with addition of a number of new compositions to my library has added to my appreciation of this composers work.

A batch of Classical Super Audio cds

We are cycling towards the end of the month so I thought I'd post an update on my collection of classical music Super Audio cds which all can be played on regular cd players too.

One thing you have to recognize is because the format is so much capable of more natural sound doesn't mean you'll ditch any or all your existing recordings as there always two elements involved: the performance and the sound.

Ever since the days of the lp record that elusive balance of the two is what as collectors of recordings we've looking for and there exists from those early mono taped performances from the early nineteen-fifties to the turn of this decade many excellent performances that may not be on sacd and some where for technical reasons they may be little point in issuing them.

This said there are increasing numbers of  excellent recordings from the analogue tape era being freshly mastered and new recordings critically acclaimed so you may be able to 'upgrade' which is where we start.

For a good while I had been looking for a great fairly modern recording of Bartok's ground breaking Concerto For Orchestra which I remember well as a handed down Mercury mono lp record when I was in my early teens where I spied this.

It's reissue of the original Quadraphonic (surround sound) lps from the Deutsche Grammophon catalogue of the nineteen-seventies that only got issued in Japan but whose stereo mixes were issued in North America and Europe that were much admired.

 Arriving only toward the end of last week is a acclaimed recording of Schubert's String Quintet in C Major D 956 from 2011 by the much loved Tokyo String Quartet who have performed in North America and Europe.

Schubert's "The Trout" quintet has been a favourite of mine for a long while and recently I bought this excellent modern recording which will go with my regular cd sets of string quartets and symphonies by him.

This one can be filed under 'filling a hole' as in the years of building my classical music collection I hadn't gotten around to getting a complete set of Beethoven's String Quartets and this set of recordings from 2005 through 2008 is one of the best recorded.

I was able to get this 8 sacd set in stone mint condition used for half the regular price which made it quite bargain.

Mozart and I got back a long time, to the period I often borrowed pre-recorded tapes from the municipal library and most of my Mozart collection goes back to around 1991 on cd buying the many discs in the Mozart Masterpieces set.

Included in that was the debut recording of a then 14 year old Anne-Sophie Mutter with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with its then larger than life conductor, Herbert von Karajan of the 3rd and 5th Violin Concertos to which I had added two slightly later recordings on EMI by her of numbers 1, 2 and 4.

This set recorded in 2011 by PentaTone records is widely regarded as one of the finest coming with the very best sound available and even features a dvd where you see Julia rehearsing.
x

The Cars on cd

It's 2016 and so a series of high quality reissues continues to trundle its way out in drips and drabs of the output of the influential Boston New Wave group The Cars whose music I've had on most formats since the late 1970's.
The Cars - 2016 SACD

 

This originally came out in 1978 being recorded in England where the singles My Best Friends Girl and Just What I Needed were quite popular even coming in picture discs.

This album has had two known remasterings on cd, the okay 1999 HDCD US only and the 1993 limited gold remaster by Steve Hoffman for the now defunct DCC Records which was pretty decent owning both.

The new one by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs of Chicago,Ill., on super audio cd playable on regular players too, has brought out more fine detail hidden in the original recordings without sounding overly bright.

This like most recent Mfsl cds is packaged in mini lp form replicating the feel of a vinyl album with the disc in a soft cloth inner.

Candy-O - Gold regular cd 2011

 




















It had been a long time in the making near enough 22 months since I ordered this cd when it's release was announced in 2009 but on September 13th it finally came out on gold mini lp style cd and 180 gram vinyl.  

 I first remember buying this in 1979 being mightily impressed with the debut album released June 1978 and it's clutch of singles that charted well in the UK. 

The lead off single on this album was Let's Go a perky little 'new wave' number with It's all I Can Do being the second going from memory. 

 In case any doesn't know the model in the body stocking is Candy Moore. 

This new issue to me has judged the sound of the percussion about right as one of the signature sounds of producer Roy Thomas Baker's work is the forward highly miked drum sound that is hard to pull off without sounding harsh .

The original cd, a red coloured top one from the early 80's was generally a very pleasant sounding one easily one the best Cars cds of the time but suffered from quite a lot of his and also has a haze over the upper treble suggesting to me this was a few generations removed from the original master tape.

I'd say this new version marries the better tapes and attack  with the better rendering of the drums as well as that general listenable nature and certainly is the best cd version I've ever heard.

Strongly recommended.

 Heartbeat City - July 2016 MFSL SACD (Playable on regular cd players too)

This was in many respects the last good Cars album and a staple of FM radio featuring the smash 45's Drive, You Might Think and Magic. It sure wasn't off my tape player having back the original on chromedioxide tape - that happened to sound rather good back then but both it and the original target cd always sounded a bit bright which took away the edge from Ric Ocasek's vocals.

How the audio spectrum has been equalized to bring forward some of the bass  and smooth out the higher notes has made it more enjoyable to listen to.

 This one arrived August 19th.

The main difference I would say is it doesn't have the softened high notes of the AF so the slight rasp in the vocals is present without the very bright splashy symbols of the original but has a really warm midband projecting the vocals clearly as if you were in the studio booth hearing the session.

In that way it's more truthful to the original lp but really builds what was captured on tape. The infamous gaps between songs appear to be correct on this issue although I did and remain convinced too much was made of that issue.

I prefer this sacd for the sound and love the mini lp presentation.

The Cars Greatest Hits - DCC CD GZS 1123 1996

Shortly afterwards I was able to get this CD also re-mastered by Steve Hoffman with a 19.99% reduction at a price I could just about afford as it's been out of print for just over a decade

This also uses the "original mastertapes" and is quite useful having all the top 40 45's from the first five albums on as Steve only tackled Heartbeat City for AF and The Cars S/T for DCC which is well out of print commanding three figure prices.

It does sound really good although I should note Steve used the album versions of I'm Not The Only One - a 1986 '45 and Heartbeat City rather than the remixes done by Elektra - the bands label - for the original Greatest Hits lp/cd.

Panorama - US Elektra 1999 HDCD

A real step up from my regular German cd and the home of the single Touch and Go, Misfit Kid and You Wear These Eyes.

I also got the Joe Gastwirt HDCD U.S. only re-master of the bands 1980 Panorama album which in Europe remains in a murky sounding version with very little top response. This had to be imported.

While in every respect the finest version of this album remains the US original lp, the re-master is a considerable improvement obviously sourced from a good quality tape for anyone needing a cd.

The only negative is it is slightly bright on my system - with tone controls you need to turn the treble back to about 11 o'clock.


Shake It Up - Gold regular cd 2009

In November of 2009 Mofi issued this remastered version of the bands fifth album Shake It Up in goldplated UDII form with a mini lp style package which is the home of Victim Of Love, I'm Not The One, Since You're Gone and the title track

Remastered by Rob LoVerde this is the best CD I've ever heard of this title and although it's a limited edition it is highly recommended.
CD catalogue number UDCD788

I have the first five studio albums on lps mainly bought from new between  1979 through 85 too which have their own sound and gain from their bigger size when it comes to looking at the artwork..

Billy Joel and Streetlife Serenade

If you read the previous editions of teen beat and the predecessors, you may of gotten the idea I do rather like Billy Joel and over the last five years a whole batch of his albums have had so-called 'audiophile' editions promising and delivering the best possible  sound from the Master Tapes.

 In 1974 he recorded a second album in Los Angeles whose songs referenced  both Surburbia and the Inner City.

Billy has publicly expressed his feeling the album as released didn't realize his intention and like with The Piano Man and Cold Spring Harbor, he re-recorded some of the songs live for the 'Songs In The Attic' album released in 1981.

The song most remember from this is album is 'The Entertainer' a #34 single hit, where he expresses his disapproval of how 'Piano Man' had been severely edited for single release inserting the sarcastic response "If you're gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05".

Personally I like this albums wider musical range.

What's nice about this edition is the Mastering Engineer, Kevin Gray has prepared it from from the original mastertapes as mixed from the multi-track session rather than a copy of that so it's a clear sounding as possible and has the widest range between the quiet and loud passages.

The original recording to my ears was very well captured.

As well back in 1974, a four channel mix was made for the SQ quadraphonic record designed to reproduced over four speakers in the corners of your listening area and that mix is added as a extra to the Super Audio cd layer for those with players that support that format.

Two higher quality compilations

Sat here, melting, drinking glass after glass of treated tap water in this weeks summer sun, thoughts roll back to hits from the past and that's what this short  entry is all about.

Its existence was met with some mirth at a certain music site where some patrons are incredibly elitist (you can only  like studio albums according to some and don't mention iTunes!) but it's a compilation with a difference for based upon a Time Life one, it makes a point of using the very best available sources so not only can I enjoy Schools Out that was (appropriately) a big hit during the summer vacation of '72 it also sounds terrific into the bargain. 

Ditto Manfred Mann Band's spirited version of the Springsteen song Blinded by the Light so by the time I'd past Freebird, not only was I hearing many of my favourite hits I was thinking back to those times.

 This like it's predecessor also has a TimeLife pedigree with 17 tracks from the mid 60's to Mid 80's featured in their full album versions remastered for regular and super audio cd on one disc from their original masters which typical doesn't happen with compulations as much as we love playing them.

This one gives us the best sounding For What It's Worth by the Buffalo Springfield, Running On Empty by Jackson Browne,  Pretenders Back on the Chain Gang and Daniel (the latter besting the DCC Greatest Hits version even) amongst others on a single 70 odd minute disc that just rolls on back the years.

The set keeps the original Time Life booklet notes and pictures.

While generally I don't buy compilations from specialty companies preferring single artist albums, I felt these two were worth getting for the sound.

We'll see just how popular this excursion into compilations has been for California's Audio Fidelity label.

I'm a sucker for a compilation well done just for that feeling - maybe you are too - and this is one I can recommend for the sound. 

Styx Paradise Theater and Pieces of Eight on SACD with The Grand Illusion

Styx is a progressive rock group that I have always liked.

Not the edition where I do a vanishing trick but the title of Styx 1977 album release featuring Come Sail Away and Little Miss America remastered by Mr Kevin Grey for Audio Fidelity.

I bought it in May 2010.

Processing a warm tonal complexion I really like it even if it's not anything really special just the job done right.

As I have commented in a few places before the Styx catalogue has been left as is from the early days of the compact disc and can be divided between the decent but nothing special and the clearly inferior to lp versions.

On January 19th 1981 the band issued the concept album Paradise Theater based on the real story of a theatre in their native Chicago which came out on laser etched lp and tape versions (8 track and cassette) which topped the US album chart and featured four forty-fives, Rockin' The Paradise, Too Much Time On My Hands, The Best Of Times that charted at #3 and Nothing Ever Goes As Planned.

It was an album I bought near date of release and always loved for the musicianship and story telling in a song.

This new Super Audio cd also playable on regular cd edition sounds quite a bit clear with more definition than the original disc.

Another album of theirs whose cd version left a fair bit to be desired was Pieces Of Eight  based around the story of a boxing bout which on cd sounded thin and splashy

ln September 2017 this disc that featured the 45 Blue Collar Man, Renegade and The Great White Hope was issued on Super audio cd also playable in regular cd having been mastered by Kevin Gray from the A&M master tapes.

This edition is a lot better than the 1987 original cd.

Magazine

A few days ago a replacement copy of a much loved Heart album arrived.

The first thing to note is that 'sash' on the top left hand corner as it was announced recently by the President of Audio Fidelity that they would no longer be manufacturing 24Kt gold cds, anymore a carry over from the days of DCC, because of escalating costs and erratic supplies.

To me at least the gold plating was never an issue - it's the actual sound  from the mastering that counted - but I guess the gold plating did suggest 'Gold Standard' for some.
Instead they're using from now on exclusively a disc with a regular cd layer and a high definition super audio cd layer for special players instead.

This album came out in 1978 originally with the consent of Heart who had changed labels but they returned to alter the mix and re-record parts and is a mixture of a few new songs and older unreleased recordings with a few live tracks.

Notwithstanding it's origins, the track Heartless became a  top 30 single and the set does show clearly just how talent they had become covering Without You and I've Got The Music In Me distinctively.

I originally had the lp and bought the U.S. Capitol XDR tape re-issue in the summer of 1986.

It was issued on cd by Capitol who had acquired the rights to Mushroom Records recordings  in the late 1980's in a so-so transfer with next to no album art but this edition by Steve Hoffman for Audio Fidelity sounds very smooth and is to be much preferred today.

Billy Joel, the piano man part IV

Like me we're going on back this week in time to 1981, when I was still in high school a little older but feeling still 12 to when I first heard this album.

I was just starting to come out a fog following the death from a sudden illness of a very close school friend who also really interested in music so among the many memorable release of that year, this one comes to mind.

Coming after the new wave inspired Glass Houses album, this was a live album of songs some of which were on his first two albums and a few others not previously recorded. 

Lesser artists might of called this "Greatest Hits Live" but Billy being Billy gave it a proper and meaningful title "Songs in the attic" because it comprised of songs he thought the original recordings didn't do justice to such as Captain Jack or had literally been in his attic untouched and unrecorded.

Unlike the majority of live albums too, this yielded two top 40 hits "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" and "She's Got A Way" aided by the fact Billy had a great great live band backing him and his piano playing being caught well by the recording equipment, something this disc re-issue (on vinyl and regular cd with super audio cd layer for suitable players) really does justice too.

The specialty record  company Mobile Fidelity have recent reissued it as part of their program of very high quality reissues licensed from Sony Music of his back catalogue.

As at the time I only had the European cassette to have an excellent cd version packaged like a lp couldn't be nicer and a pleasant reminder of those days gone by.

Going for the one

When it comes to specialty mastered cds there are two names that are heads above most others, Mobile Fidelity Labs  and Audio Fidelity, the company formed from the ashes of the former DCC label.  

Recently Audio Fidelity issued the second disc in a re-issue program by the Prog Rock group Yes following an agreement with the bands management and Wea who hold the rights to much of their catalogue.

This was one album I have strong memories of 1977 coinciding with the period I learned a lot about rock music from being in my early teens from shows such as Alan Freeman's Saturday afternoon show when he'd play an incredibly wide range of music including new releases which this album was one of.

Originally it was released on lp, cassette and 8 track cartridge which is one of the versions I had at the time and has had three previous cd issues of which the last one I bought was the 1994 remaster by Ted Jensen.

Musically it has 4 shorter tracks of which one, Wonderous Stories, was a 45 and a good showcase of Jon Anderson's voice and the much long piece Awaken that features Rick Wakeman's organ playing which was recorded separately in Switzerland.

The original recording and mix  is one dimensional and a bit shrill in high level high notes something that even the UK original lp didn't cure.

This re-master by Steve Hoffman is surprisingly effective for he managed to find the deep bass previously hidden to bring out the organ and to carefully reduce the shrillness without it sounding as if he'd removed all the high notes losing detail.

We are given to believe Yes band members are impressed with how this turned out.

As with most recordings he remasters, it has a wide dynamic range as unlike a number of remasters on mainstream labels he doesn't severely reduce it in the mistaken belief it brings out more in the mix by bring it forward.

I also acquired the earlier Close To The Edge issue Audio Fidelity put out which is a significant improvement on the 1994 and 2003 reissues.

Technically, it is a super audio cd giving higher resolution on sacd comfortable players such as many blu ray players or sacd audio players but also has a layer that plays on regular  players.

Billy Joel, the Piano Man Pt.2

This is the slightly over due part two of our music specials on Billy Joel whose music I loved growing up.

Following a bit of a gap the program resumed with 1978's fantastic 52nd Street jazz influence album with it's hit singles My Life and FM album favourites like Zanzibar which like all of  Mobile Fidelity's  issues in this series isn't just a finely mastered cd besting regular Columbia/Sony issues but also a even better sounding super audio cd that can be played on a dedicated sacd player or many Blu-Ray players that have playback built into them.

These releases use a mini lp style of presentation complete with lyric inserts which I much prefer over plastic jewel cases.

 On July 31st 2012, the specialty reissue company Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs as part of it's program of Billy Joel reissues put out a new version of Billy Joel's 'new wave' Glass Houses album from 1980, the one with 'It's Still Rock and Roll To Me' on it.

If you like Billy Joel as I do then you're no doubt familiar with numbers like 'All for Leyna' but what makes this so enjoyable is it hasn't had any extra narrowing of the quiet and loud passages applied to it so when those drums kick in you can tell! 

Plus it sounds really clear in the presence area great for Billy's voice and the percussion.

The last edition of I bought was the 1998 Sony re-master which I have on Minidisc.

This 1982 album saw Billy emulating the feel of the 60's with many a nod to Paul McCartney and featured hits such as Allentown that caught the despondency of the early 80's Reagan era America as the smokestack industries faced decline.

This new version on regular cd is the best I've ever heard this album which although recorded digitally was actually mixed to analogue tape.

It is to be hoped the 50's pastiche that is An Innocent Man gets this treatment soon.