The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding The production … glows with an analog warmth absent from many of the early 80s albums that inspired the project. It doesn’t hurt that Greg Calbi mastered the album at Sterling Sound.
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane Anyone who’s only heard an original U.S. pressing of Aladdin Sane can be excused for walking away unimpressed. The pressing is decidedly anemic, and a number of tracks sound downright shrill and unpleasant. EMI’s all-analog Millennium U.K. remaster by Peter Mew addresses a number of the upper-register issues but still lacks punch.
Elvis Costello - Almost Blue Sourcing from the original analog master tapes, Wunderlich eliminates the U.K. edition’s grain and opens up the soundstage a touch. The downside? Some of the original pressing’s upper-midrange energy goes missing. While Pete Thomas’ kick drum feels even more forceful on the remaster, Bruce Thomas’ bass melodies are less prominent. I lean toward the original, but those with brighter systems could easily favor the Mobile Fidelity. Call it a tie.
Joni Mitchell - Blue RTI’s flawless pressing delivers the full measure of Gray and Hoffman’s restoration so that fans can finally hear an analog version of Blue that matches Mitchell’s monumental achievement.
The Black Keys - Brothers When listening to this album I think of this band or music: Brothers reminds me of the best Howlin’ Wolf records as well as Tom Waits’ Island releases. I would listen to this album while: Put Brothers on for late-night drinking, smoking, and, well,…you know. Music from this album would be a great soundtrack to […]
ZZ Top - Cinco: The First Five LPs Each album’s cover looks identical to that of the original and the RTI-pressed 180-gram LPs are all quiet and ruler flat. While an accompanying extras booklet would’ve been nice, the bulk of the budget went where it belongs—the music. Retailing for under $115, it constitutes a bargain.
Tom Waits - Closing Time Anti-’s 2018 reissue of Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan’s remaster is simply the worst version of the album I’ve ever heard.
Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark Unless you’re a hipster looking back through a particularly ironic rearview mirror, you’ll likely concede 1974 was a very silly time for pop culture. For every Diamond Dogs or Band on the Run, hundreds of songs such as “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” as well as some of the most awful television shows ever produced appeared. All of which helps make Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark an important album.
George Harrison - Early Takes Volume 1 While the Beatles’ legacy is pretty much settled for most music lovers, some still argue about which member was the best. While The Early Takes Volume 1 likely won’t move those needles, it is essential for fans of the late singer/guitarist. Initially released as a companion piece to Martin Scorsese’s archive-mining documentary Living in the Material World, the archival set presents an intimate portrait of Harrison’s pure talents.
The Black Keys - El Camino Recorded at Auerbach’s Nashville studio on a 1969 Quad-8 mixing console, El Camino turns on a dime. Each track offers a unique experience. “Lonely Boy” is lean, mean, and bright, while “Gold on the Ceiling” brings to life a glam-rock giant stomping through a sprawling soundscape. Elsewhere, the metal crunch of tunes such as “Money Maker” abet punky, soul-inflected cuts like “Hell of a Season.”
The White Stripes - Elephant Third Man Records’ reissue removes some of the XL LP’s graininess and places the listener a couple of rows away from the stage. I listened to the Third Man Records pressing all the way through without pausing, but needed to take breaks with the XL edition. Both versions rock, so which is “better” comes down to personal taste.
The Police - Every Move You Make: The Studio Recordings The music on Every Move You Make: The Studio Recordings forms a complex tapestry of jazz, prog rock, and reggae held together by world-class musicianship and some of the most distinctive pop melodies of the past 40 years. While the Police’s success can still be measured in massive album sales, the overall improvement in sound quality to the group’s records offered by the LPs in this box set provides a clearer picture of each member’s contributions and underlines why the band remains unique.
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Exodus The power of Bob Marley and the Wailer’s ninth studio album is rooted in suffering and a need for change. Released just six months after Marley and his wife Rita were wounded in an assassination attempt in his native Jamaica, much of the material was written in London, where Marley had gone to escape political violence. The iconic title track’s pulsing beats and churning drive come courtesy of a newly formed Wailers lineup that included brothers Carlton and Aston “Family Man” Barnett on drums and bass, respectively.
Stealers Wheel - Ferguslie Park Remastering engineer Kevin Gray took a half-inch 30 ips safety copy of the original stereo master tape and produced a full-throated, emotionally engaging version of Egan and Rafferty’s vision.
Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like A Wheel The 1975 U.S. pressing used as a comparison for this review sounds full, three-dimensional, and dynamic—which makes the stunning improvements wrought by engineer Krieg Wunderlich on the 2017 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab remaster all the more noteworthy.
Elton John - Honky Chateau Ludwig’s decision to bring greater clarity to the recording benefits cuts like “Mona Lisas and Madhatters” but causes others (such as “Honky Cat”) to sound forward and bright. The original U.K. pressing gets the balance just right. However, if you’re looking for a clean, flat copy that still possesses plenty of flesh and blood, the Mercury reissue will do the trick.
Patti Smith - Horses While I prefer the original pressing’s sonics, finding a near-mint copy with a decent cover costs well in excess of $50. Because the remaster is considerably less expensive and free of the occasional wow and flutter on the original, the Speakers Corner LP makes for an easy recommendation.
David Bowie - Hunky Dory Bottom line: The 2015 remaster of Hunky Dory emerges as the version to buy unless you’re lucky enough to find a pricey U.K. original in good shape.
Radiohead - Kid A Kid A also demands to be heard on vinyl. No digital converter I’ve encountered and no download I’ve sampled conveys the natural quality present on both the original 10-inch Parlophone release and current XL Records version.
The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me Alas, the 2013 Rhino edition of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me serves as a prime example of how the soul of a recording can get lost in the reissue process. Compared to the original U.K. pressing (direct metal-mastered at the Town House), Rhino’s 2LP set sounds compressed and one-dimensional.
Hole - Live Through This Remastered for vinyl at Gateway Mastering and cut at Capitol Records, the LP eliminates much of the CD’s digital grain, gives added weight to the bottom end, and substantially opens up as the volume gets increased. Manufactured at the Record Industry plant in the Netherlands, my review disc is reasonably quiet, flat, and free of pops. If you’re a fan of Live Through This, you owe it yourself to buy the vinyl.
Joe Jackson - Look Sharp On Joe Jackson’s personal website, he writes that Look Sharp “positively reeks of London 1978-79.” He’s absolutely right, but that’s what a classic record does— captures a slice of history and allows listeners to dive deep inside the instant when the music was made. From the cynical media takedown “Sunday Papers” to the rock-steady ska of “Fools in Love,” Look Sharp is a quintessential example of new-wave, a genre for folks bored with the mainstream…
Elton John - Madman Across the Water It is a vast improvement over the flawed sonics of the original U.K. pressing. Although working in the digital domain, Ludwig cleans up the murkiness while preserving the analog warmth of the master tapes. The LP places John’s vocals more forward in the mix than Hoffman’s release, and Ludwig gives the bass frequencies more gravitas.
Joshua Hedley - Mr. Jukebox Sonically, Mr. Jukebox ranks as one of most rewarding new vinyl releases I’ve heard in 2018. The pressing is absolutely quiet, the dynamics lively, and the imaging sumptuously holographic.
Tom Waits - Mule Variations Tom Waits’ 12th studio album and most commercially successful work since 1985’s Rain Dogs sounds like a front-porch jam session on a sweaty night in the Delta that also sees Captain Beefheart and Harold Arlen drop on by for a visit. The vocalist’s ability to sell more than a million copies of a double album that spans the expanse of American popular music all the way to early 20th-century German avant-garde epitomizes his genius.
The Band - Music From Big Pink The Band’s debut is not a recording for casual listeners. Like all great works of art, it requires repeated examination and suspended judgment before its full measure can be appreciated. In the half century since the songs on Music from Big Pink were conceived in the solitude of New York’s Hudson Valley, a library of words have been devoted to the music’s impact and importance as a sacred text in the genre now known as Americana.
The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols Compared to the appropriately grungy, roiling energy heard on the 1977 U.S. pressing, the 2016 remaster sounds like a flat, antiseptic MP3 emanating from cheap micro speakers. The red-label 1978 U.K. repress on Virgin sounds decidedly less muddy than the U.S. version yet still manages to preserve the original recording’s bass and midrange impact. So never mind buying this bungled reissue. Even the mid-80s compact disc sounds closer to the real thing.
Joe Jackson - Night and Day Like those of many talented musicians, Joe Jackson’s greatest strengths as a songwriter intertwine with his musical shortcomings. It’s difficult to find a better example of such a paradox than Night and Day. While Jackson’s well-known ability to tap into cultural zeitgeists is on full display, so is his occasional tendency to mimic the authentic article. Night and Day contains enough flash to justify the price of admission, but it could’ve been more memorable.
Radiohead - OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997-2017 Too bad XL Records didn’t contract with a pressing plant with quality control worthy of Radiohead’s watershed work.
David Rawlings - Poor David’s Almanack Mastered by Stephen Marcussen and pressed on quiet, flat discs, Poor David’s Almanack has vocal-chorus swells that sound muddy when compared to the nuances heard on the digital copy. Bass notes on the digital edition are also considerably punchier.
Diana Krall - Quiet Nights Diana Krall’s Quiet Nights is an assortment of bossa nova classics and Great American Songbook selections encased in a luxurious studio-production package. On Carlos Antonio Jobim’s “Boy From Ipanema” and Cole Porter’s “Every Time We Say Goodbye,” her honeyed vocals, closed mic’d pianos’ rich tonality, and longtime rhythm section’s solid backbone have never sounded better.
Ramones - Ramones Sourced from Sean Magee’s 2016 high-resolution stereo remaster, the lacquers for the vinyl were cut at half-speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. It reveals more of the recording’s midrange energy than the ‘76 edition.
Mary Gauthier - Rifles and Rosary Beads Rifles and Rosary Beads is the fruit of Americana icon Mary Gauthier’s years-long work for the non-profit group SongwritingWith:Soldiers. Penned by military veterans and their families, the album’s lyrics serve as a jolting reminder of war’s devastating toll on the men and women who serve and fight. Pain and struggle can produce powerful art, and the work here is no exception.
Ramones - Rocket To Russia … the LP fails to match the solid midrange and sonic balance of Greg Calbi’s master of the Sire original. While the Rhino pressing is quiet and the packaging authentic, it just doesn’t rock like a U.S. original.
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours When it comes to the analog magic all vinyl fans crave, there’s no finer example of Rumours. It is the gold standard.
Ashley Monroe - Sparrow Ashley Monroe’s fourth studio effort firmly places the singer/songwriter in a small constellation of country stars who are producing new music likely to stand the test of time. She accomplishes the challenging feat with a set of vivid portraits of real people struggling with ordinary problems.
Stealers Wheel - Stealers Wheel The glory of Intervention Records’ reissue of Stealers Wheel owes to the recovered depth of Tony Williams’ bass lines, renewed heft in Rod Coombes’ drumming, and a more realistic presentation of Egan and Rafferty’s vocal interplay. By comparison, the midrange and upper register on an original U.K. pressing and a white-label promotional disc sound pushed forward with the bass dialed back.
Superorganism - Superorganism London-based collective Superorganism bows as a rare group whose self-titled debut lives up to fan hype and rewards repeated play. Hailing from the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and South Korea, the collective’s eight members met through various online forums before joining forces at a two-story row house/studio in the Lower Clapton neighborhood of East […]
The Band - The Band While there’s a tad less low-end transparency in the presentation of Helm’s kick drum compared to the “RL” original, Mobile Fidelity’s treatment clearly bests Capitol’s 2015 decent albeit considerably flatter digital remaster. Listeners who can find a rare copy of Ludwig’s version may find it difficult to persuade others that the Mobile Fidelity edition isn’t as good in its own right, especially when you factor in the ultra-flat, dead-quiet pressing.
Radiohead - The Bends Not surprisingly, the record’s stature has steadily ascended over the past two decades. Songs like “High and Dry” and “Fake Plastic Trees” helped shape a generation of British bands.
The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin In the early 60s, the amalgamation of traditional country music and rock n’ roll represented a bridge too far. Hippies playing pedal-steel guitars seemed as unlikely as hearing Marshall stacks playing in the Vatican. Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, and Roger McGuinn deserve the credit for busting such taboos on the Byrds’ 1968 landmark Sweetheart of the Rodeo.
Gillian Welch - The Harrow And The Harvest The result is an LP whose sonics are now as transparent and organic as the material deserves. The Harrow and the Harvest ranks asone of the most relaxed and natural recordings I’ve heard.
Tom Waits - The Heart Of A Saturday Night The Heart of Saturday Night is equal to and in some ways superior to a comparison 1976 U.S. analog pressing.
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars This 2015 Parlophone LP shares the same dead wax information and the vinyl appears to be the same as the 100% analog-mastered 2012 40th Anniversary EMI edition. On both pressings upper-register detail boasts greater clarity, and the bass is improved, but the overall presentation is slightly flatter and less emotionally engaging than on the U.K. original.
Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get Naturally, I was skeptical about what more could be done to improve it. After listening extensively to Analogue Productions’ 2016 reissue, I admit remastering engineer Kevin Gray has hit another sonic home run. His “do no harm” restoration approach helps explain why this graveyard-quiet, 200-gram pressing is a gift to Barnstorm fans.
Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection Bob Ludwig remastered the 2017 reissue in the digital domain from files sourced from the original analog master tapes. Sean Magee cut from Ludwig’s mastered files at Abby Road. It sounds more dynamic and less murky than the original U.S. release. Compared with the outstanding U.K. original pressing, Ludwig’s edition also features greater clarity and instrumental separation but lacks a bit of the original’s warmth and seductive midrange.
The Black Keys - Turn Blue Turn Blue marks another shift in the Black Keys’ musical direction. On their eighth album together, members Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney mine 60s-tinted psychedelic rock and fortify such influences with their trademark guitar and drums rumble. Whereas the duo’s Brothers and El Camino are made for big speakers, Auerbach has called Turn Blue a […]
The Steve Miller Band - Ultimate Hits Steve Miller Band’s string of radio hits from the mid-to-late 70s continues to dominate FM radio stations and jukeboxes across America. Any performer who can hit the bullseye of our collective subconscious in such a manner deserves serious props. Of course, Miller’s music is not about the brain’s left hemisphere. Rather, it’s more about the […]
Old Crow Medicine Show - Volunteer The 180-gram LP is ruler flat and dead quiet. Cobb’s production sounds even better on vinyl than on the very respectable CD version. Because Old Crow Medicine Show doesn’t employ a drummer, accurately capturing Morgan Jahnig’s bass is critical to the presentation. Engineer Eddie Spear has done a fine job of integrating the full dynamic range of Jahnig’s work with the forceful playing of his five bandmates.
The White Stripes - White Blood Cells Given Third Man Records’ commitment to analog, it surprised me when my review disc had two identical Side B labels. Things didn’t improve when I dropped the needle and discovered each side marred by nasty pops. A clearly visible divot (bubble) also appears on the beginning of side one.
The Who - Who’s Next Fans looking for a fresh copy of this classic shouldn’t allow themselves to be fooled by the 2015 Geffen Records reissue. While the lacquers are cut by Ron McMaster and the pressing flat and relatively quiet, the music sounds dull and empty when compared to an expensive U.K. Track Record original.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Your Funeral … My Trial Nonetheless, the original pressing wins out for being slightly more holographic and emotionally compelling—and for providing more analog warmth and stage dimension. It also comes with lyrics, a vintage pornographic sketch, and helpful liner notes on the insert sleeves.
