Travel reversals

In what has been an adventurous week perhaps the song that's been sticking in my head all week being hummed has been this 1977 offering by the Steve Miller Band which the single has minor lyric change to comply with then radio station policies on cuss words.

The songs kind of apt because that big issue of the week is foreign travel and specifically travel to Spain which hasn't been banned but people are being told they have to stay at home for fourteen days because of Covid outbreaks in  Madrid, Barcelona and around the "Costas" which are on the coast of the Catalonia area of Spain.

You may recall the outrage when fourteen day quarantines were suggest on travel due to this jolly norty Covid being World-Wide and easy to spread from country to country and how we made a bit of list of countries that we may be able to travel to.

Thing was, there always was this caveat that infection rates in those countries went up it would be reviewed which is just what has happened and the travel industry is howling with protests saying how people would lose jobs and businesses being lost.

No one can say it may not happen and nobody wants people to go through that but public health - our public health as Britons comes first - and if we start to have massive infections again then even more jobs and businesses will be lost never mind the impact on the health service and loss of lives which has not been inconsiderable so far.

While I have understanding for individuals own circumstances, we just have to accept such things will happen unless and until we have a vaccine ready to protect all of us.
 
All our lives matter.

George Benson and Poco

This week I'm looking at a few albums, some I had in July but with being very poorly I never got around to writing about and another that's on just out this week.
Some groups wrote the template of whole genres and one example is The Byrds to which there has been the odd entry on this blog about for forging Country-Rock with the seminal album  the Sweetheart of the Rodeo in 1968.
That lead to an explosion of acts of which one the most famous is of course the Eagles who started out as Linda Ronstadt's backing group but in many ways the template they used comes from another group,forgotten by most.
Poco were formed before the Eagles being part formed of members of Buffalo Springfield upon that bands dissolution such as Richie Furey and Jim Messina, had one soon to Eagle and one Ex Eagle in the line up too and were fairly popular in North America not being off the radio or in our tape player.

 This is a pairing of their 1974 albums Seven which was more hard rock influenced and Cantamos which saw a return to Country-rock

 In 2013 the now defunct label Audio Fidelity issued on super audio cd their debut album which remains a fine example of late sixties country-rock. I originally hadn't picked it up but was able to get a still sealed example without paying the silly money sharks collect from collectors.

 An interesting coupling on regular cd was issued in 2006 of 1971's Delivering album which was recorded at Boston's Music Hall and New York Felt Forum and 1973's Crazy Eyes that features ex Byrd Chris Hillman on guitar.

This 1971 studio album was remastered in 2013 by Vic Anesini and issued on IconClassic via Sony/Bmg.

An interesting guy is George Benson who meanders around jazz-funk and smooth soul whose vocal performances had held in enraptured over the years when I've hear them on radio.

 Like many artists of his longevity he's been on a number of labels and this 1973 release was originally on CTI records and issued on CD4 record and Q8 quadrophonic tape briefly.
This week it's all out again on Super audio cd which I'm pleased about as I love it's proto smooth jazz sound

In 2014 Audio Fidelity re-issued his 1976 Breezin' album complete with a 5.1 multi channel remix on the sacd layer which was one his best albums for Warner Bros which was where he was headed after 1975. The album featured This Masquerade is noted for the lush piano introduction and solo by Jorge Dalto and most of the album is instrumental in nature.
Talking of his Warners Output to which it is generally true to say he's more famous for has been re-issued on regular cd and at least in  Europe can be had on two complementary 5 regular cd sets rather cheaply.

This issued in 2010 contains Breezin';Weekend in L.A.;Give Me The Night;Tenderly and Big Boss Band.
Weekend is a great originally double lp live album that shows off his guitar playing abilities well.
Give Me The Night was produced by Quincy Jones with input too from the late Rod Templeton (Ex Heatwave) and stylistically borrows a bit from Michael Jackson's Off The Wall and later Thriller sets and Quincy's own The Dude for the more vocal soul numbers.
1990's Big Boss Band is a more straightahead big band jazz album.

This five pack issued 2013 contains the following albums:
In Flight;Living Inside Your Love;In Your Eyes;20/20 and Twice The Love covering the 70's through 80's.
As with most sets like this the discs come in single card covers replicating front and rear jacket art and nothing else but on the other hand take up little space and are inexpensive just about £11.99 each per set so is a cheap way of replacing any worn tapes like I had.

R.I.P Audio Fidelity cds

On May 18th in answer to much speculation on the Steve Hoffman Audiophile Forum, an open letter from Audio Fidelity's president Marshall Blonstein was published where upon he outlined the closure of his re-issue label Audio Fidelity originally famed for its gold plated discs and lately its hybrid super audio discs.
The company was formed in 2005 from ashes of DCC which he also had an involvement in which ceased operations in 2001 and utilized the services of mastering engineers Steve Hoffman, Kevin Gray and Steven Marsh who owned a mastering facility.
To be honest this didn't surprise me too much as they had not new titles out nor announcements for over a year which is never a good sign especially as members of Mr Hoffman's forums are very much the prime target for the discs, people who are looking for best sounding cds (or records) of certain 'classic' albums.
Another reason was to do with the hit and miss nature of a number of their titles some sounding little better than original cds from the 80's, others having in explicable errors such as clicks or having mysteriously the highest and lowest volume passages reduced which is the opposite a person spending around $29.99 wants.
Moreover even the presentation suffered from poor quality scans from 'borrowed' lps with no posters with the disc itself in a blurry looking templated slipcase which when compared to budget regular cds looked embarrassing and cheap.
Compared to people like Mobile Fidelity who used sharp images on a mini lp form with booklets that you'd feel proud to own and whose work is often to a high standard, they looked poor so it was hardly surprising I bought more Mobile Fidelity titles because I felt confident placing a pre-order.
In truth I feel they were uncompetitive being pitched at the premium cd market who understandably are also interesting in how something looks as its absolute sound quality so while I enjoyed a number I bought such as the Styx, Rush, Phil Collins, EWF and certain Billy Joel titles I don't feel mournful.
They just lack the quality of the DCC discs from 1992-1999 a number of us bought.

Alpha by Asia is now on SACD

Followers of the other blog tm will be aware I actually won't be around when I normally post but away on one of my middle/little weekends away so as I'll be through the door at about Twenty past Seven tomorrow morning which is why the post is today.
That's so I can get the links posted out.
In the past I have written a bit on both blogs about speciality remastered editions of albums and today I will return to an artist I last wrote about here on June 16 2010 which is a mighty long time ago and before we worked through what this blog was about.
Asia, the group were a supergroup formed musicians associated with deeply unpopular at the time progressive rock bands of the nineteen-seventies and comprised of Carl Palmer of Emerson Lake and Palmer, John Wetton from King Crimson, Steve Howe and Geoff Downes from Yes.
In 1982 they issued the album Asia yielding hit 45's in the form of Only Time Will Tell and Heat Of The Moment that was re-issued on 24 Gold cd in 2010 and reviewed here: Asia 24kt AF Gold cd

After touring to great acclaim with Asia, the band booked time in the studio to record the follow up Alpha which was released as I well recall in July of 1983 with the lead off 45 being the opening cut, Don't Cry with non album b side Daylight making the US Billboard top ten.

Single and album art was by Roger Dean.
A second 45 was issued The Smile Has Left Your Eye but while the album sold well, it didn't sell nearly as well as the debut did plus in some circles the highly produced heavily synthesizer lead production garnered criticism. The repercussion of all of this was John Wetton was edged out of the group.
Personally I put more score on the reverb heavy production which even on the lp version I bought cut using the true master tapes and pressed in the Netherlands was for the time loud and unrelenting. As well while the first lp side wasn't as immediately grabbing the quality of the songs is certainly quite high not least in My Own Time (I'll Do What I Want)
The original cd issues of this were no where near as satisfactory as the lp where the remastered version sandwiched with bonus tracks on Anthologia - the 20th anniversary Geffen Years compilation  were even louder!
On September 15th 2017, Audio Fidelity issued a sacd also playable on regular cd remastered version mastered by Kevin Gray which while not perfect (only remixing it could cure some of the issues) offers better bass extension and improved dynamics.
In my opinion at last we have a listenable version for regular and super audio cd players of this ignored album.  

Legends (Get it on)

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.

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

The last time I touched Styx was on May 10th 2010 when I wrote about the 24 kt edition of The Grand Illusion on Audio Fidelity Here

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.

Wings gold

The origins of this entry go back quite a number of years when pre internet you found out about new titles being issued either in magazines such as Hifi World or by visiting your local record or cd stores when we had them(!).

Generally there are two types of record companies, those who are large, issue titles to the mainstream generally with little special care about sound quality and sources and those who issue limited runs of titles where they do track down the best sounding copies of each album and carefully transfer it to record or as with these titles, cd.

Many early cds didn't sound too good through a combination of not being careful over sources and also the technology that takes analogue sound to digital didn't sound as smooth as the format was and is capable of. Its that that lead me to start getting these Gold cds by the now defunct company DCC classics from the early 1990's onward.

Way way back in the 1970's the albums (and 45's) by Paul McCartney first came to my attention and this album Band On The Run was a favourite of mine owning it on the awesomely clunky 8 track form and fittingly this album with it's hit 45's such as the title track, Jet and as on this  US edition only Helen Wheels was the first I bought.

Apart from having the U.S. extra track which oddly enough I do prefer as with the rest of the series it has a very smooth rich sound while not fooling me to say an lp issue, does at least sound less 'digital' to the ears.It also has a poster.

Arriving soon to me is Red Rose Speedway, the home of My Love a song that can be considered a 'standard' which will be a bit smoother than my 1987 UK edition and also has the reggae based b side to Hi Hi Hi,  C Moon, which inexplicably was left off the mainstream UK cds bonus tracks. It's a song I rather like. 

My copy will be missing the card slip cover but as it was a lot cheaper as many of these discs usually sell for over $100 I'm not complaining about that.

At The Speed of Sound should be with me by the time this entry goes live replacing a much loathed 1989 Capitol cd that masks much detail in the quieter parts in an attempt to eliminate tape hiss. I'm so looking forward to tossing that one across the sidewalk!

This album was the home of the hit singles Let 'Em In and Silly Love Songs as well as enjoyable numbers like Cook Of The House. It was this album Wings toured with on the tour captured on Wings Over America recently re-issued.

I've a sneaking feeling many of us who around back then had at least heard this album Venus And Mars before, one of the best in the Wings catalogue with it's singles Venus &Mars/Rock Show (the single edit is on Wingspan) and Listen To What The Man Said (single mix again on Wingspan). 

One issue with this album is some heavy handed compression was locked into the mixdown tapes but although it's not entirely cured what mastering engineer Steve Hoffman did was carefully balance Venus and Mars so it's quieter than the energetic Rock Show that it segue-ways into for better effect. 

Strangely on all the mainstream releases Rock Show is noticeably less loud! It too has the original poster as featured on the lp and three bonus tracks.

I also was recently able to McCartney, his first solo album  that featured the hit 45 Maybe I'm Amazed and Teddy Boy in addition to  Ram, featuring the 45 Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey and the pro population song Too Many People  on DCC too.

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.

Yes 90125

Recently Audio Fidelity released this remastered version of the 1983 Yes album 90125 so called after the original lp catalogue number.
It's a enjoyable album in the Yes collection featuring the hits Owner Of A Lonely Heart and Leave It rather than a must have so I thought I'd get this edition to see what the fuss was about.
The main difference between this and the original is the album is badly engineered with different tonal balances on each of the many tracks before mixdown and so an attempt was made to give it more gloss. Also it lacked punchiness so the difference between the loud and quiet parts was reduced and some extra bass added.
In it's own way this stripped down version works giving a bigger soundstage at times but it's not for everyone apart from the error of not having the fade in on Cinema.

Remastered Cars: Heartbeat City & More

Audio Fidelity issue Heartbeat City



In March 2009 as part of the relaunch of Audio Fidelity the 1984 Cars album Heartbeat City got re-issued and re-mastered from the original 30IPS master tapes by Steve Hoffman. This event created an awful lot of posting on the SH.tv forum as you'd expect for the resumption of the 24karat audiophile cd format. From what Steve said this is the first time since the original lp was cut in 1984 that these tapes had been used as all the CD versions used copytapes with equalization applied to aid vinyl cutting and the best of these is the WG Target which was one of the first CD's issued around the time of the lp issue (pressing capacity was a real problem back then).


Above is my copy showing the 'Target' design.
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 target cd always sounded a bit bright which took away the edge from Ric Ocasek's vocals.
The following is from my review at SH.tv: "The equalization on this transfer is very good - those of us who lived through the era know it was a bit light of bass and that tended to emphasize the keyboard sound which could be a touch piercing. That was certainly the case on the Chrome Cassette issue and the Target cd isn't free from this either as much as I love my copy. The area around 3-5khz is much smoother to listen to at high levels and this disc is one you can crank up."

There was a storm blowing because the tapes as give to Steve had oxide free tape "leader tape" applied between the tracks so where as the songs kind of butt together on the original, this cd doesn't.
There has been much speculation concerning why it was issued like this.
Steve maintains he didn't wish to either remove them by physically cutting out the leader tape or by electronically trimming in a Digital Work Station prior to cutting the glass master for cd manufacture. His justification for the latter is he feels it would affect the sound. Several members some whom are mastering engineers themselves respectfully disagree with that idea and I would agree with them.
That said "for the most part I didn't notice them apart from a seven second countdown before You Might Think - the lead off track for side two of the lp - this might be leader tape. There is no detectable gap at all between the end of I Refuse and the start of Heartbeat City. If there was I would be having civil words."
Some did report issues with the HDCD encoding that only affects players suitable equipped (it offers potentially higher resolution).
My comments: "HDCD encoding. No chirps or pops on my NAD C541i. Several tracks do have brief periods at the fades where the lights go off but I heard no reduction in sound quality. While this is something Steve may wish to look at in the future, on my player at least this is a non issue. For reference here's a lights out list. Last four seconds: Looking For Love, Magic,Why Can't I Have You Last three seconds: It's Not The Night Last two seconds: Drive, You Might Think.I would conclude by saying I did not regret buying this Cd - it sounds great - and will be main listening copy for now on.

The Cars Greatest Hits DCC CD GZS 1123

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.
A real step up from my regular German cd.

I also got the Joe Gastwirt HDCD 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.
If you have access to an equalizer or care to burn this to a CD-R use a program - the sound effects - Equalizer function of Nero would be okay for this and take down the 5 or 6 Khz settings by about minus 1.5db for each track remembering to Apply it. That should fix it.

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.
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

Also See Cars: Candy-O entry