Showing posts with label SACD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SACD. Show all posts

1/12/2018

Classic Rock/Progressive Rock Review: Styx-Pieces of Eight-SACD Ltd. Numbered Ed.

Release Date: September 29, 2017
Label: Audio Fidelity

Styx has always been one of my favorite bands, they still are and always will be. So, what is it like to be a lifetime fan of a band and you are still listening to their music? It holds some meaning for folks like myself. The music never sounds old or outdated and you are not expecting anything different…well sometimes it does happen. 

Consider this point, what is like for a music fan to hear the music they have been listening to for the last 30 to 40 years and suddenly it all sounds crisper, brighter, and clearer than ever before? Well, I can tell you it can be a revelatory experience to hear this music in the SACD format. 

The SACD release by Audio Fidelity last September of Pieces of Eight rocks and I heard things I have never heard before. This is what this format is intended to accomplish. I am here to tell you the job was well done (again) by Audio Fidelity. I am little late to the party but nevertheless I am reporting in to all of the respective lifetime rockers and audiophiles.

Pieces of Eight was a multiplatinum release and with good reason. The music offered radio friendly rock at the time and it was also a nod to the progressive elements of the band. The prog sounds came through loud and clear for this listener, however when I first heard it as a teenager I thought it just rocked. Which it did and still does, I just became older and more educated somewhere along the way.

Pieces of Eight is a very strong release right up there with the high echelon of prog rock releases like Grand Illusion but it rocked a bit harder. So, dare I say more metal this time around? It is there, all of it in its raging glory - rock, metal and prog. Anyone that liked to crank up the tunes can appreciate all of those genres coming together in an explosion of sound. 

That felt good to get all that off my chest and let y’all know how I really feel about this music. So, get yourself a copy before they run out again, even if you have all the other formats, you need to hear this SACD!

5/5 Stars

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
January 11, 2018

Founder of:

Review Provided By Prog Rock Music Talk

Tracks: 
01. Great White Hope
02. I'm O.K.
03. Sing for the Day
04. The Message
05. Lords of the Ring
06. Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
07. Queen of Spades
08. Renegade
09. Pieces of Eight
10. Aku-Aku


1/11/2018

Classic Rock/Progressive Rock Review: Styx-Pieces of Eight-SACD Ltd. Numbered Ed.

Release Date: September 29, 2017
Label: Audio Fidelity

Styx has always been one of my favorite bands, they still are and always will be. So, what is it like to be a lifetime fan of a band and you are still listening to their music? It holds some meaning for folks like myself. The music never sounds old or outdated and you are not expecting anything different…well sometimes it does happen. 

Consider this point, what is like for a music fan to hear the music they have been listening to for the last 30 to 40 years and suddenly it all sounds crisper, brighter, and clearer than ever before? Well, I can tell you it can be a revelatory experience to hear this music in the SACD format. 

The SACD release by Audio Fidelity last September of Pieces of Eight rocks and I heard things I have never heard before. This is what this format is intended to accomplish. I am here to tell you the job was well done (again) by Audio Fidelity. I am little late to the party but nevertheless I am reporting in to all of the respective lifetime rockers and audiophiles.

Pieces of Eight was a multiplatinum release and with good reason. The music offered radio friendly rock at the time and it was also a nod to the progressive elements of the band. The prog sounds came through loud and clear for this listener, however when I first heard it as a teenager I thought it just rocked. Which it did and still does, I just became older and more educated somewhere along the way.

Pieces of Eight is a very strong release right up there with the high echelon of prog rock releases like Grand Illusion but it rocked a bit harder. So, dare I say more metal this time around? It is there, all of it in its raging glory - rock, metal and prog. Anyone that liked to crank up the tunes can appreciate all of those genres coming together in an explosion of sound. 

That felt good to get all that off my chest and let y’all know how I really feel about this music. So, get yourself a copy before they run out again, even if you have all the other formats, you need to hear this SACD!

5/5 Stars

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
January 11, 2018

Founder of:

Review Provided By Prog Rock Music Talk

Tracks: 
01. Great White Hope
02. I'm O.K.
03. Sing for the Day
04. The Message
05. Lords of the Ring
06. Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
07. Queen of Spades
08. Renegade
09. Pieces of Eight
10. Aku-Aku


6/25/2017

New Age Instrumental Review: Fiona Joy - Into The Mist (Audiophile Edition-SACD)

Release Date: June 2, 2017
Label: Blue Coast Records

Fiona Joy brings her magnificent solo piano work to the world once again. On her recent release and 10th studio recording, Into The Mist, she reaffirms the status gained over the years. Fiona and her piano create some of the more prolific music an instrumental artist of her leanings could possible produce year after year.

This is a difference this time however, this is an SACD and special audiophile edition. It was recorded live to Direct Stream Digital 256 Quad DSD. Using the 1885 Steinway Piano, Fiona brings the listener closer to the live off the floor experience. It is referred to as a nearly holographic experience in the liner notes. I must agree with that assessment. It is a rarity to hear a new age instrumental album in this format and it certainly was an indulgence.

The thing about this recording is that the flow is seamless and seemingly effortless. Of course, anyone that truly appreciates how difficult it is to be a professional musician and create an album can look at the big picture. At least I have come to realize and appreciate that more with each passing year. One track invites the next and by the time it is done, and way too soon, it was like listening to one progressive composition.

So, with those thoughts in place it is not hard for me to garner great appreciation for solo artists such as Fiona Joy. What makes her art so pronounced and prolific is the fact that it is just her and the piano. It is like the merging of a soul with an inanimate object that suddenly comes to life. Her quintessential life force and spirituality shines brightly through the ivory keys. It becomes up close and personal in the SACD format, almost as if the artist is in the same room performing. These attributes make it so crystal clear in sound as well is the fact that it’s only the piano with no accompaniment or additional audio enhancements.

Into The Mist settles in and takes up all of your personal space in the most positive and enlightening way. This music is meant exactly for that - its vibrations, waves of colors and emotions that are interpreted through the fingers of one talented lady.

I cannot say too much more; this is a must have recording for anyone that appreciates new age instrumental music influenced by contemporary classical. It is a perfect 5/5 stars.

5/5 Stars

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
June 24, 2017
Founder of:

Review Provided By New Age Music Reviews

Tracks:
 

01. A Walk in the Park
02. Moon over the Lotus Pond
03. Opus: Into the Mist, Pt. 1
04. Opus: Mist Rising, Pt. 2
05. Opus: Mist Before Dawn, Pt. 3
06. Through Cloud
07. Feeling Sunshine
08. Grey Sky Morning
09. Galloping
10. The Void

 



Classic Rock Legends Spirit's Self-Titled Debut Album To Be Released On Limited Edition Hybrid SACD!


Includes 4 BONUS Tracks!

Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing Spirit's Spirit on limited edition hybrid SACD, which includes 4 bonus tracks! Spirit's 1968 debut album spent more than six months on the Billboard album charts and received heavy airplay on underground FM radio. Their music was part of the core, essence, and heartbeat of  the hippie, psychedelic, counter culture movement. The album is timeless, as fresh today as when it first appeared.

The band could play more styles than almost any other group. On Spirit they unveiled a mélange of rock, jazz, blues, folk-rock, and even a bit of classical and Indian music. The music is experimental. The vocals flow as easily as the instrumentals. Spirit struck a careful balance between disciplined studio chops, jazz improvisation, and driving rock and roll. Guitar prodigy Randy California is a clear standout, but the other band members are superb as well; John Locke's shimmering keyboards, Mark Andes' subsonic wall of bass, and Ed Cassidy's precision drumming. Big credit has to go to lead singer Jay Ferguson, whose phrasing is always just right with a wonderful spontaneous feel. The Marty Paich string arrangements are sublime.

The songs tackled unusual lyrical themes, like “Fresh Garbage” and “Mechanical World” while “Uncle Jack” showed some solid psych-pop instincts. And, it has long been debated if Led Zeppelin lifted the opening guitar lines of Spirit's “Taurus” for their own much more famous “Stairway to Heaven.”

This is an essential album if ever there was one, and it would prove impossible to trace any musical time line without the inclusion of Spirit, and in particular, this body of work.

“A true touchstone to the late sixties and the music of the times.”

TRACKS
Fresh-Garbage                
Uncle Jack                    
Mechanical World          
Taurus                            
Girl In Your Eye                
Straight Arrow                
Topanga Windows              
Gramophone Man              
Water Woman                    
The Great Canyon Fire In General
Elijah                            

BONUS TRACKS
Veruska                        
Free Spirit                      
If I Had a Woman            
Elijah (alternate take)  

Produced by Lou Adler
Mastered by Steve Hoffman
SACD Authoring by Stephen Marsh at Marsh Mastering

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net



Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

2/28/2017

Grand Funk's all the girls in the world Beware!!! Released On Limited Edition Hybrid SACD


A rock/pop/R&B mainstream hit album... includes the HITS “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “Bad Time”

Camarillo, CA - Grand Funk Railroad fans rejoice! Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity has released Grand Funk's hit album all the girls in the world Beware!!! on Limited Edition Hybrid SACD. all the girls in the world Beware!!! is Grand Funk Railroad's ninth studio album. The 1974 album was the group's second album released that year.

First there was the heavy metal power trio, then the powerful hard rock quartet and then after years of loud, in-your-face rock albums and tours, Mark Farner, Don Brewer, Mel Schacher and Craig Frost went into the studio and made an album that has a lot more R&B and a lot less rock than ever before and way ahead of its time.

" 'all the Girls' was a bit of an experiment for Grand Funk. Disco had raised it's ugly head in 1974 and if you wanted radio airplay you needed to go in that direction. Grand Funk, not being a 'Disco Act', decided to do R&B which was really what GFR was all about. R&B pumped up on steroids. Enlisting veteran producer Jimmy Ienner, I think Grand Funk came up with the best rendition of the soul classic 'Some Kinda Wonderful' in history. Still played today in heavy rotation and probably every wedding reception in the world. Once again Audio Fidelity has done a great job on this SACD Hybrid. ENJOY!" - Don Brewer

The album's combination of high-gloss production and the band's energy resulted in some impressive hits: “Some Kind of Wonderful” is an exuberant, organ-drenched soul song that highlights the group's strong harmonies while “Bad Time” mixes a delicate, string-laden melody with a pulsing beat from the rhythm section to create a one-of-a-kind power ballad. all the girls in the world Beware!!! has many inventive moments. The seven-minute “Good & Evil” is fascinating for Brewer's strange, processed lead vocal. “Look At Granny Run Run” is sheer R&B fun and “Memories” is a serious stab at out-and-out balladry.

all the girls in the world Beware!!! was recorded at the Swamp, a studio owned by Mark Farner and located on his farm in Parshallville, MI. The recording sessions were engineered by Shelly Yakus with assistance from Kevin Ayers and Rod O'Brien. The album's producer was Jimmy Ienner, who had also worked with artists such as Three Dog Night, The Raspberries and the Bay City Rollers. All but two of the songs on the album were written by members of the band. Grand Funk Railroad continued to move further into the pop/rock mainstream with this hit album. In support of the release, the band embarked on an immensely successful worldwide tour in early 1975.

The album's artwork included taking the faces of the band members and manipulating them onto the bodies of famous body builders Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbo. The body builder photos are used on the front and back of the booklet. The center spread art is a Neal Adams illustration of the body builders surrounded by a crowd of young female fans.

TRACKS
1  Responsibility        
2  Runnin'      
3  Life
4  Look At Granny Run Run
5  Memories  
6  All The Girls In The World Beware          
7  Wild          
8  Good & Evil          
9  Bad Time  
10 Some Kind Of Wonderful

Produced by Jimmy Ienner
Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio / SACD Authoring: Stephen Marsh at Marsh Mastering

Grand Funk Railroad's official website: http://grandfunkrailroad.com/
Mark Farner's official website: http://www.markfarner.com/

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

1/02/2017

Audio Fidelity To Release Grand Funk's Shinin' On in Original 3-D Art Package on Limited Edition Hybrid SACD


Includes a BONUS pair of 3-D Glasses!

Camarillo, CA - Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing Grand Funk's widely popular classic rock album Shinin' On on limited edition hybrid SACD. Riding high off the success of their 1973 We're An American Band hit album and tour Grand Funk retained the extraordinary Todd Rundgren to produce Shinin' On, the band's eighth album.

Don Brewer, Mark Farner, Mel Schacher and Craig Frost took the band to another level. The songs are tight, the vocals are excellent and the group is in top form. Shinin' On is pure Grand Funk and considered a favorite among many fans and critics.

Shinin' On's best songs are the tracks that became the hit single releases: the SACD opens with the dynamic title track augmented by Craig Frost's keyboard work and pumped-up behind Don Brewer’s aggressive vocals the track infuses its hard-driving, spacey rock groove with some surprisingly ethereal vocal harmonies. The cover of the Carole King and Gerry Goffin penned “The Loco-Motion” turned this dance classic on its ear with a stomping beat and a screeching guitar lead from Mark Farner that shot the chuggin' pop remake straight to #1 on the Billboard singles chart and helped drive gigantic album sales.

Closing-out the album is Grand Funk's amped-up blues rocker “Little Johnny Hooker” which features Farner's powerful and driving guitar work.

The original album was packaged in a cosmic 3-D sleeve that had a pair of 3-D glasses embedded in the front cover to best appreciate the dramatic art work. Each Audio Fidelity Shinin' On SACD slip case will include a pair of 3-D glasses so the brilliant art work can be viewed as originally intended.

Another legendary hard-rocking album from Mark, Don, Mel and Craig – Grand Funk! So pump up the volume, break out those classic 3-D glasses and keep on shinin' on!

TRACKS
Shinin' On
To Get Back In
The Loco-Motion
Carry Me Through
Please Me
Mr. Pretty Boy
Gettin' Over You
Little Johnny Hooker

Produced by Todd Rundgren
Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
SACD Authoring: Stephen Marsh at Marsh Mastering

Release date: January 27, 2017

Grand Funk Railroad's official website: http://grandfunkrailroad.com/
Mark Farner's official website: http://www.markfarner.com/

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

10/31/2016

Audio Fidelity To Release Legendary Santana Live Album “Lotus” 2-CD On Limited Edition Hybrid SACD


“...one of the greatest live albums ever recorded and one of the supreme achievements in guitar playing.”

Camarillo, CA – Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing Santana's critically acclaimed live album Lotus on limited edition hybrid SACD. Lotus is a 1974 live album by Santana, recorded at the Osaka Koseinenkin Hall, Osaka, Japan in 1973. It was originally released in 1974 as a triple vinyl LP in Japan only. The first U.S. release was in 1991 as a 2-CD set. It features the “New Santana Band” and combines that group's jazz and spiritual influences. Some of the band's biggest hits are performed, such as “Black Magic Woman” and “Oye Como Va,” but it is the extended, intense instrumentals that are the order of the day such as the breathtaking “Incident at Neshabur,” “Every Step of the Way,” and “Toussaint L'Overture.”

Carlos' superpowered guitar is mesmerizing, the entire atmosphere is otherworldly, beautiful, modern jazzy and most of all, electrifying. His guitar tone is perfect, each solo has a central rhythmic and melodic structure that was used to express in a moment what can never be repeated. The greatness of Lotus is its ability to take all of Carlos' beautiful melodies and expand them each into a whole new creation.

Santana fans know there are “several different Santanas.” This was the MILES Santana, the COLTRANE Santana. This is intense and awe-inspiring music played with so much mind-numbing passion. Carlos' guitar speaks notes on this recording that are nothing short of extraordinary. He manages to imbue a vibration that cuts right through your soul. Even on the familiar hits, the jazz fusion makes its way into the notes and Carlos delivers a new message. This was the top of Santana's spiritual-fusion era. Lotus is the Live Santana album that gives other Live albums a bad name. Spectacular, breathtaking, emotional, spiritual...and it rocks!

Disc one
Going Home
A-1 Funk
Every Step of the Way
Black Magic Woman
Gypsy Queen
Oye Como Va
Yours Is the Light
Batuka
Xibaba (She-Ba-Ba)
Stone Flower (Introduction)
Waiting
Castillos de Arena Part 1 (Sand Castle)
Free Angela
Samba de Sausalito

Disc two
Mantra
Kyoto (Drum Solo)
Castillos de Arena Part 2 (Sand Castle)
Incident at Neshabur
Se a Cabo
Samba Pa Ti
Mr. Udo
Toussaint L'Overture

Produced by The New Santana Band
Mastered by Steve Hoffman and Stephen Marsh at Marsh Mastering
SACD Authoring: Stephen Marsh at Marsh Mastering

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Audio Fidelity To Release Legendary Santana Live Album “Lotus” 2-CD On Limited Edition Hybrid SACD


“...one of the greatest live albums ever recorded and one of the supreme achievements in guitar playing.”

Camarillo, CA – Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing Santana's critically acclaimed live album Lotus on limited edition hybrid SACD. Lotus is a 1974 live album by Santana, recorded at the Osaka Koseinenkin Hall, Osaka, Japan in 1973. It was originally released in 1974 as a triple vinyl LP in Japan only. The first U.S. release was in 1991 as a 2-CD set. It features the “New Santana Band” and combines that group's jazz and spiritual influences. Some of the band's biggest hits are performed, such as “Black Magic Woman” and “Oye Como Va,” but it is the extended, intense instrumentals that are the order of the day such as the breathtaking “Incident at Neshabur,” “Every Step of the Way,” and “Toussaint L'Overture.”

Carlos' superpowered guitar is mesmerizing, the entire atmosphere is otherworldly, beautiful, modern jazzy and most of all, electrifying. His guitar tone is perfect, each solo has a central rhythmic and melodic structure that was used to express in a moment what can never be repeated. The greatness of Lotus is its ability to take all of Carlos' beautiful melodies and expand them each into a whole new creation.

Santana fans know there are “several different Santanas.” This was the MILES Santana, the COLTRANE Santana. This is intense and awe-inspiring music played with so much mind-numbing passion. Carlos' guitar speaks notes on this recording that are nothing short of extraordinary. He manages to imbue a vibration that cuts right through your soul. Even on the familiar hits, the jazz fusion makes its way into the notes and Carlos delivers a new message. This was the top of Santana's spiritual-fusion era. Lotus is the Live Santana album that gives other Live albums a bad name. Spectacular, breathtaking, emotional, spiritual...and it rocks!

Disc one
Going Home
A-1 Funk
Every Step of the Way
Black Magic Woman
Gypsy Queen
Oye Como Va
Yours Is the Light
Batuka
Xibaba (She-Ba-Ba)
Stone Flower (Introduction)
Waiting
Castillos de Arena Part 1 (Sand Castle)
Free Angela
Samba de Sausalito

Disc two
Mantra
Kyoto (Drum Solo)
Castillos de Arena Part 2 (Sand Castle)
Incident at Neshabur
Se a Cabo
Samba Pa Ti
Mr. Udo
Toussaint L'Overture

Produced by The New Santana Band
Mastered by Steve Hoffman and Stephen Marsh at Marsh Mastering
SACD Authoring: Stephen Marsh at Marsh Mastering

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

10/19/2016

Audio Fidelity To Release Two Jazz-Fusion Classics on Hybrid SACD By Weather Report and Return To Forever


Camarillo, CA - Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing Weather Report, “Tale Spinnin'” and Return to Forever, “Musicmagic” on Hybrid SACD. Both recordings are considered essentials from the jazz fusion era of the mid-'70s.

Recorded in early 1975, “Tale Spinnin'”, Weather Report's fifth studio album is filled with sunny textures of Latin and African flavors. The album stands with anything recorded during the period for the range of fresh, intriguing originals by the band's co-founders and principle composers, the keyboardist Joe Zawinul and the saxophonist Wayne Shorter.

Zawinul's pioneering interest in world music is in full evidence with the exotic percussion, wordless vocals, sandy sound effects and Middle Eastern and North African musical spices. His synthesizer sophistication is growing along with the available technology of the day. Wayne Shorter's work on soprano sax is more animated than on their previous albums and Alphonso Johnson puts his melodic bass more to the fore.

“Musicmagic” is Return to Forever's final studio album and one of the best jazz recordings released in the fusion genre. The album contains the final line-up of the band with only founders Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke returning from the earlier recordings. This 1977 release was the first Return to Forever album in five years to contain vocals, performed here by Gayle Moran and Stanley Clarke. This album also marked the return of original member Joe Farrell on saxophone and flute, along with several new members making up a killer five-piece horn section.

The sound is remarkably more orchestral than anything the group had previously done, a cross between fusion, jazz vocals, big band and grassroots accoustic jazz. Musicmagic celebrates the pure joy of music.

Both releases are mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and the SACD Authoring was done by Stephen Marsh at Marsh Mastering.

Weather Report “Tale Spinnin'”
Produced by Wayne Shorter, Josef Zawinul

TRACKS:
1-Man in the Green Shirt
2-Lusitanos
3-Between the Thighs
4-Badia
5-Freezing Fire
6-Five Short Stories

Return To Forever “Musicmagic”
Produced by Chick Corea - Co-produced by Stanley Clarke

TRACKS:
1-The Musician
2-Hello Again
3-Musicmagic
4-So Long Mickey Mouse
5-Do You Ever
6-The Endless Night

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

6/01/2016

Rage Against the Machine Debut Album To Be Released On Limited Edition Hybrid SACD


“The first album to successfully merge the sounds of rap and heavy metal”

Camarillo, CA – Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing the critically acclaimed debut album by Rage Against the Machine on limited edition Hybrid SACD. Rage Against the Machine's first album is a mix of punk, metal, hardcore and politically resonate rap. Every song is full of energy with smart lyrics and plenty of slam-dancing potential. In 1992, the band released its self-titled debut album, which became a commercial and critical success. The album went to #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, and #45 on the Billboard 200 chart. Rolling Stone magazine named it as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2001, Q magazine named it as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time.

This album is relentless, from the opening track “Bombtrack” all the way to the last blast of “Freedom,” every tune is a highly explosive ball of energy, none of which is clearly superior to any of the others. The lyrics, while full of blunt and pure anger, are very passionate and well-written in the sense that they actually stand for something.

This album like no other changed the landscape of '90s music. The “guilty parties”: Zack de la Rocha's vitriolic and angst-ridden words fueled by the heaviest rhythm section on the planet featuring drummer Brad Wilk and the exciting and dynamic bass of Timmy C and of course, RATM's signature sound, Tom Morello's belligerent, aggressive guitar riffs and turntable-esque noise that make this the best debut album of all-time.

The “Know Your Enemy” track features Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan on “additional vocals” and also features Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins on trashcan percussion. The liner notes claim, “No samples, keyboards or synthesizers used in the making of this recording.” This is, and always will be, considered Rage Against the Machine's most important work.

“Distinctly groundbreaking and original...a landmark in musical history.”

Track list:

1. BOMBTRACK
2. KILLING IN THE NAME
3. TAKE THE POWER BACK
4. SETTLE FOR NOTHING
5. BULLET IN THE HEAD
6. KNOW YOUR ENEMY
7. WAKE UP
8. FISTFUL OF STEEL
9. TOWNSHIP REBELLION
10. FREEDOM

Produced by: Garth Richardson, Rage Against the Machine
Mastered by Steve Hoffman and Stephen Marsh at Marsh Mastering

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

2/12/2016

Audio Fidelity To Release “The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 Bob Dylan Live 1964 Concert at Philharmonic Hall” on Hybrid Multichannel 5.0 SACD


“As eminently listenable as it is historically important!”

Camarillo, CA - Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing “The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 Bob Dylan Live 1964 Concert at Philharmonic Hall” on Hybrid multichannel 5.0 SACD.

This 5.0 SurroundSound mix of Bob Dylan's October 31, 1964 “Halloween” show at New York's Philharmonic Hall is a complete recording and has never been released in this format until now. This 2-CD Audio Fidelity collection presents the entire concert from the original Columbia Records (SONY) master tapes. The package also includes a 56-page book filled with historical photographs and informative notes. The Halloween concert of 1964 had been previously bootlegged on vinyl and CD, but those releases were incomplete and taken from poor dubs off the soundboard tapes.

This 1964 concert is the first all acoustic live performance to enter Bob Dylan's discography. This recording certainly has its share of firsts and highlights, including the only known live version of “Spanish Harlem Incident,” the premiere of the songs “Gates of Eden” and “If You Gotta Go, Go Now.”

Here is Dylan as an eager-to-please 23 year old with nothing between him and his audience but a guitar and a harmonica. His voice is in top form throughout the 19 song set and when Joan Baez joins him on stage the voltage only increases.

In marked contrast to the tight-lipped living legend of the mid-'70s, here is Dylan as entertainer, joking and bantering with the crowd and he proves to be a very masterful performer.

While much has been made of the later electric performance of the 1960s, it is here that you can see how good Dylan really was. He shows all the budding facets of his art up to this time, from the protest songs, the more introspective material and the radical new direction he was pursuing.

Of course, as with all Audio Fidelity hybrid multichannel releases the SACD is compatible on all standard players and includes the 2-track stereo mix layer as well.

2-CD set/5.0 SurroundSound/includes 56-page book
Mastered by Steve Hoffman and Stephen Marsh at Stephen Marsh Mastering

Disc one
1. The Times They Are a-Changin' 3:29
2. Spanish Harlem Incident 3:07
3. Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues 4:06
4. To Ramona 6:01
5. Who Killed Davey Moore? 4:46
6. Gates of Eden 8:32
7. If You Gotta Go, Go Now (Or Else You Got to Stay All Night) 4:06
8. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) 11:26
9. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) 4:01
10. Mr. Tambourine Man 6:33
11. A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall 7:44

Disc two
1. Talkin' World War III Blues 5:52
2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 4:34
3. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll 6:57
4. Mama, You Been on My Mind 3:35
5. Silver Dagger 3:47
6. With God on Our Side 6:17
7. It Ain't Me, Babe 5:11
8. All I Really Want to Do 4:01

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com 

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

12/19/2015

Audio Fidelity To Release “Colors of the day - The Best of Judy Collins” on Quad 4.0 Hybrid SACD


“This is Collins at her finest.”

Camarillo, CA – Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing the ultimate “best of” collection by folk legend Judy Collins on Quad 4.0 Hybrid SACD. Colors of the day - The Best of Judy Collins first arrived in record stores in 1972. The recording features Collins' earliest, most time-honored recordings. The song that propelled the album sales was her number one hit, “Both Sides Now,” an alluring Joni Mitchell tune that dominated the charts for months.

Collins' voice is remarkably beautiful, her phrasing, her ability to enunciate and her vocal range place her in a category by herself. Her amazing talent is on full display in this excellent collection that includes Collins' explorations into folk-pop, country-pop (“Someday Soon,” an Ian Tyson classic), British folk (“Sunny Goodge Street,” The Beatles “In My Life”), and gospel (“Amazing Grace”) that clearly show her eclecticism.

The thoughtfully programmed collection includes the Leonard Cohen classic, “Suzanne.” Cohen's haunting and evocative lyrics are masterfully interpreted by Collins who was an early champion of his amazingly poetic folk songs. Some of the record's finest moments are from her exquisite 1968 album Who Knows Where the Time Goes including that album's title track. Also included are two of her lovely autobiographical compositions, “My Father” and “Albatross.”

“This anthology brings the 'best-of' collection to a new art form.”

Track listing:
Someday Soon
Since You Asked
Both Sides Now
Sons Of
Suzanne
Farewell to Tarwathie
Who Knows Where the Time Goes
Sunny Goodge Street
My Father
Albatross
In My Life
Amazing Grace

Produced by Mark Abramson, David Anderle
Mastered: Stereo CD, SACD mastering and 4.0
Analog to Hi Definition DSD Digital Transfer: Steve Hoffman and Stephen Marsh

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

11/16/2015

Audio Fidelity To Release Alice Cooper's “Muscle of Love” On 4.0 Quad SACD


“Alice returns to a pure rock sound...one of his most revered albums ever.”

Alice Cooper fans rejoice! Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing the final Alice Cooper group album on 4.0 Quad SACD. Muscle of Love is the seventh studio album by Alice Cooper and it was the last album to feature the entire original band, and it was a true grand finale at that. Cooper stated in an interview at the time that the album marked a return to fundamentals. “It's not complicated in any sense...It's very basic rock & roll throughout.”

The two best-known tracks are undoubtedly the Top 20 anthem “Teenage Lament '74,” which features none other than Liza Minnelli, Ronnie Spector, Labelle and the Pointer Sisters on backing vocals, and the rollicking title track. But other tracks are just as good - the Led Zep-stomping opener, “Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo),” the gentle “Hard Hearted Alice” (a precursor to Cooper's future ballad-oriented direction), the raging “Working Up a Sweat,” and “Man with the Golden Gun.”

The 1973 return to the band's more hard rock roots was a successful creative choice and catapulted Muscle Of Love into Billboard's Top 10 Album Chart. That sound, complete with the prog-rock/heavy metal workouts, has proven over the years to be a significant piece of the Alice Cooper legacy.

“One of the best albums of the genre...a hard rock classic!”

INCLUDES: Miniature replica of the Institute of Nude Wrestling book cover

TRACKS:
1. Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo)
2. Never Been Sold Before
3. Hard Hearted Alice
4. Crazy Little Child
5. Working Up a Sweat
6. Muscle of Love
7. Man with the Golden Gun
8. Teenage Lament '74
9. Woman Machine

Produced by Jack Richardson, Jack Douglas
Mastered: Stereo CD, SACD & 4.0 Analog to High Definition DSD Digital Transfer: Steve Hoffman & Stephen Marsh

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net
Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

10/14/2015

CRUISING, the Controversial Cult Classic Film Soundtrack Available on Compact Disc for the First Time


“One of the rockingest movies ever...the music here is dark, dirty and seedy.”

Camarillo, CA - Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing the original motion picture soundtrack to Cruising, the 1980 William Friedkin film starring Al Pacino. The controversial movie has become an underground cult classic and the release of the dynamic soundtrack featuring performances by Willy DeVille, John Hiatt, Rough Trade, The Cripples, Mutiny and their left field opus “Lump,” The Germs and others has been long-awaited.

The film, considered a snapshot of pre-AIDS gay life, is about a series of violent New York murders in which the victims all frequent clandestine Manhattan leather bars in which gay men gather to dance, drink, do drugs and make pairings while enveloped in an S&M world of leather, boots, whips and chains. When Friedkin announced plans to set a movie in that milieu, and to film it primarily on location, the New York gay community rose up in protest. Cruising, they said, would present a distorted view of gay life. Upon the film's release gay activists had public protests against the film. However, critical opinion of it has warmed over the years as the film has been reassessed and the demand for the music continued to grow.

One of the best parts of the film is the amazingly gritty soundtrack. The music was scored and compiled by the late Jack Nitzsche, one of the most prolific film orchestrators in Hollywood during that period. Nitzsche was best known for being Phil Spector's arranger (and shared credit as the co-creator of “The Wall of Sound”). He won an Academy Award for Best Song for co-writing with Will Jennings and Buffy Sainte-Marie “Up Where We Belong” from 1982's An Officer and a Gentleman. Jack also worked with Neil Young on “Harvest” and was a keyboard player on many mid-1960s albums by The Rolling Stones.

Friedkin and Nitzsche had collaborated earlier on The Exorcist. Among many film successes he composed the unusual score for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Nitzsche can currently be seen at work in the studio in The Wrecking Crew documentary making rounds on movie theater and cable TV screens.

Most of the songs on the Cruising soundtrack are a mix of rock, glam and disco music. The tracks are much more violent and full of an anxious energy. The tracks complement the action and the S&M bar setting extremely well and offer a glimpse of an un-idealized 70's scene. It is not the flourishing, feverish, disco epics that have come to stereotype gay musical tastes though there is some serious dance floor stomping here as well as several raw and spirited tracks by various punk, P.Funk, rock, pop and soul artists.

Nitzsche was excited about working with the proto punk Germs as well as Willy DeVille and as a result of this record went on to produce some of their best material including three Willy DeVille albums beginning in the late 1970s: Cabretta (1977), Return to Magenta (1978), and Coup de Grâce (1981). Nitzsche said that DeVille was the best singer he had ever worked with and that talent is on display in this original motion picture soundtrack.

Tracks:

1) Willy DeVille - Heat Of The Moment
2) The Cripples - Loneliness
3) John Hiatt - Spy Boy
4) Madelynn Von Ritz - When I Close My Eyes I See Blood
5) Mutiny - Lump
6) Rough Trade - Shakedown
7) Willy DeVille - Pullin' My String
8) Germs - Lions Share
9) The Cripples - Hypnotize
10) Willy DeVille - It's So Easy

Produced by Jack Nitzsche
Mastered for this SACD by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio

Every leather-styled package includes a 12-page booklet with complete credits and dramatic photo stills from the movie.

First time ever available on CD!

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

9/11/2015

Audio Fidelity To Release Loggins and Messina Classic Rock Gem On 4.0 Quad SACD


“So much great music packed into one album!”

Camarillo, CA – Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity is releasing Loggins and Messina's critically acclaimed self-titled album on 4.0 Quad SACD. While Loggins and Messina created many fine albums this one stands out as most representative of their impact. In the early '70s the duo pioneered true country/rock and showcased it with style and near-flawless performances.

The eponymously titled 1972 Loggins and Messina album built on the strengths of their debut outing, “Sittin' In.” The same mix of short catchy country-folk-pop gems with longer intricately layered and meaningful ballads bordering on jazz and edgy rock powered its success. The album reached #16 on the Billboard charts and “Your Mama Don't Dance” charted at #4. The epic “Angry Eyes” became an instant FM radio staple reaching the top of the college radio and AOR charts.

This Loggins and Messina album has many varied textures and arrangements. A little bit of country, a number of quality ballads and some good old rock 'n' roll. Their backup band was anchored by multi-instrumentalist Al Garth, and also featured keyboardist Michael Omartian and Poco steel guitarist Rusty Young.

The Loggins and Messina album became the true introduction of the band, Loggins and Messina, not as soloists playing together, but rather as a duo that offered pure genius in their music.

“Exceptional harmonies and insightful lyrics...The cream Of The Classic Rock crop.”

Tracks
1. Good Friend
2. Whiskey
3. Your Mama Don't Dance
4. Long Tail Cat
5. Golden Ribbons
6. Thinking of You
7. Just Before the News
8. Till the Ends Meet
9. Holiday Hotel
10. Lady of My Heart
11. Angry Eyes

Produced by Jim Messina, Kenny Loggins
Mastered for this release by Steve Hoffman at Stephen Marsh Mastering

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

8/19/2015

Audio Fidelity To Release Guitar Innovator Michael Hedges “Aerial Boundaries” on Limited Edition SACD


“The acoustic guitar re-invented...a musical flight of fancy!”

Camarillo, CA – Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing guitar innovator Michael Hedges critically acclaimed album Aerial Boundaries on a limited edition hybrid SACD! This will be the first time that the celebrated album has been made available on the SACD format.  It is important to note the "hybrid" SACD is compatible with all standard CD players and no special audio equipment is needed to enjoy the brilliant, remastered sound of unquestionably one of the most groundbreaking albums in acoustic guitar history.

Aerial Boundaries is the record that presented Michael Hedges to the world as the ultimate acoustic guitar visionary, stretching the limits of the instrument to accommodate his uncanny musical ideas. There are moments on the record where it seems impossible that so much music is coming from one man and his guitar. The liner notes inside the SACD booklet assures the listener that the guitar is the origin for every sound heard...attacking his instrument, snapping strings, banging on the fingerboard with his right hand.

The songs on Aerial Boundaries are all beautiful and haunting and it is this emphasis on composition over technique that makes this such an important recording. Hedges' tracks feature layer upon layer of musical complexity and every performance expands the dynamic range of the instrument. Stirring, complex compositions like “Rickover's Dream,” “Spare Change,” and an ingenious instrumental take of Neil Young's “After the Gold Rush” are on full display. Hedges could be seductively quiet and suddenly explosive...slow or fast, timid or thunderous.

“There was simply no one like him,” Bonnie Raitt said of Michael Hedges following his untimely death in 1997, “a very gifted performer, arranger and composer whose music sounded like nothing that had come before it." Aerial Boundaries remains the late composer-guitarist's seminal work, and its innovations in technique, tuning, tone, and intensity remain key texts in modern acoustic circles. Hedges electronically manipulated some of the guitar sounds to an almost unrecognizable point and still managed to create music of untarnished beauty and so very rich in classical harmony.

Aerial Boundaries is also available from Audio Fidelity on a deluxe 180g high quality vinyl pressing.

Tracks:
1. Aerial Boundaries
2. Bensusan
3. Rickover's Dream
4. Ragamuffin
5. After the Gold Rush
6. Hot Type
7. Spare Change
8. Ménage à Trois
9. The Magic Farmer

Produced by Will Ackerman, Michael Hedges, Steven Miller

Engineered by Steven Miller, Oliver Di Cicco, Bill Mueller, Michael Hedges

Mastered for this release by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

7/20/2015

Audio Fidelity To Release Mahavishnu Orchestra's “Birds Of Fire” On Limited Edition 4.0 Quad SACD


“...sets out to further define and refine its blistering jazz-rock direction.”

Camarillo, CA - Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity is releasing the classic fusion album Birds of Fire by the Mahavishnu Orchestra as a limited edition Hybrid 4.0 Quad SACD. Birds of Fire is Mahavishnu Orchestra's second album. It was released in the first half of 1973 and is the last studio album released by the original Mahavishnu Orchestra line-up before the group dissolved. The album became a major crossover hit, rising to number 15 on the pop album charts, and it remains the key item in the slim discography of the first Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Although it has much of the screaming rock energy of the band's first album, Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire is audibly more varied in texture, even more tightly organized, and more musical in content. A remarkable example of precisely choreographed, high-speed solo trading - with John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, and Jan Hammer all of one mind, supported by Billy Cobham's machine-gun drumming and Rick Laird's dancing bass.

Birds of Fire consists solely of compositions by John McLaughlin. This includes the track “Miles Beyond (Miles Davis)”, which McLaughlin dedicated to his friend and former bandleader. The SACD booklet features a poem entitled “Revelation” by Sri Chinmoy.

1. BIRDS OF FIRE
2. MILES BEYOND (Miles Davis)
3. CELESTIAL TERRESTRIAL COMMUTERS
4. SAPPHIRE BULLETS OF PURE LOVE
5. THOUSAND ISLAND PARK
6. HOPE
7. ONE WORD
8. SANCTUARY
9. OPEN COUNTRY JOY
10. RESOLUTION

Produced by The Mahavishnu Orchestra
Stereo CD & SACD mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
4.0 Analog to Hi Def DSD Digital Transfer:Gus Skinas
Quadraphonic Sound Supervision: Harold J. Kleiner
Quadraphonic Re-Mix Engineer: Don Young

Audio Fidelity’s Hybrid Super Audio CDs offer three layers on the same disc
o    Single layer  2-channel stereo
o    Dual-layer  - SACD
o    As an added bonus Surround Sound 4.0 all in one disc
Every Audio Fidelity Hybrid MULTICHANNEL Surround Sound SACD is compatible with all standard CD players.

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net
Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Audio Fidelity To Release Mahavishnu Orchestra's “Birds Of Fire” On Limited Edition 4.0 Quad SACD


“...sets out to further define and refine its blistering jazz-rock direction.”

Camarillo, CA - Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity is releasing the classic fusion album Birds of Fire by the Mahavishnu Orchestra as a limited edition Hybrid 4.0 Quad SACD. Birds of Fire is Mahavishnu Orchestra's second album. It was released in the first half of 1973 and is the last studio album released by the original Mahavishnu Orchestra line-up before the group dissolved. The album became a major crossover hit, rising to number 15 on the pop album charts, and it remains the key item in the slim discography of the first Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Although it has much of the screaming rock energy of the band's first album, Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire is audibly more varied in texture, even more tightly organized, and more musical in content. A remarkable example of precisely choreographed, high-speed solo trading - with John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, and Jan Hammer all of one mind, supported by Billy Cobham's machine-gun drumming and Rick Laird's dancing bass.

Birds of Fire consists solely of compositions by John McLaughlin. This includes the track “Miles Beyond (Miles Davis)”, which McLaughlin dedicated to his friend and former bandleader. The SACD booklet features a poem entitled “Revelation” by Sri Chinmoy.

1. BIRDS OF FIRE
2. MILES BEYOND (Miles Davis)
3. CELESTIAL TERRESTRIAL COMMUTERS
4. SAPPHIRE BULLETS OF PURE LOVE
5. THOUSAND ISLAND PARK
6. HOPE
7. ONE WORD
8. SANCTUARY
9. OPEN COUNTRY JOY
10. RESOLUTION

Produced by The Mahavishnu Orchestra
Stereo CD & SACD mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
4.0 Analog to Hi Def DSD Digital Transfer:Gus Skinas
Quadraphonic Sound Supervision: Harold J. Kleiner
Quadraphonic Re-Mix Engineer: Don Young

Audio Fidelity’s Hybrid Super Audio CDs offer three layers on the same disc
o    Single layer  2-channel stereo
o    Dual-layer  - SACD
o    As an added bonus Surround Sound 4.0 all in one disc
Every Audio Fidelity Hybrid MULTICHANNEL Surround Sound SACD is compatible with all standard CD players.

For more information: www.audiofidelity.net
Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

5/28/2015

Audio Fidelity To Release B.B. King & Eric Clapton “Riding With The King” On Limited Edition Numbered Hybrid SACD


Two Masters Produce a Contemporary Blues Gem!

Camarillo, CA - In honor of the recent passing of blues guitar legend B.B. King, Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing B.B. King & Eric Clapton “Riding With The King” on Limited Hybrid SACD. This SACD should satisfy fans of King, Clapton and blues purists alike. “Riding With The King” was Eric Clapton's and B.B. King's first collaborative recording and it went on to win the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. The album reached #1 on Billboard's Top Blues Albums.

They first performed together in 1967 when Clapton was 22 and a member of Cream. Clapton looked up to King and had always wanted to make an album with him. At the time of recording Clapton was 55 and King 74. Clapton arranged the session using many of his regular musicians, picked the songs, and co-produced with his partner Simon Climie. While this would appear to be a Clapton album recorded with King, Clapton gave King center-stage.

The set list includes lots of vintage King specialties, “Ten Long Years,” “Three O'Clock Blues,” “Days of Old,” “When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer,” as well as standards like “Hold On I'm Coming” and “Come Rain or Come Shine,” with some specially written and appropriate new material. King takes Clapton deeper into blues territory than he has ever gone alone and these two artists play the blues with conviction. There may never be another album that links the Delta Blues to modern rock with such style, grace, enthusiasm, and honesty.

Tracks
1 Riding With the King
2 Ten Long Years
3 Key to the Highway
4 Marry You
5 Three O'Clock Blues
6 Help the Poor
7 I Wanna Be
8 Worried Life Blues
9 Days of Old
10 When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer
11 Hold On, I'm Coming
12 Come Rain or Come Shine

Produced by Eric Clapton, Simon Climie
Mastered by Steve Hoffman at Stephen Marsh Mastering

For more information: https://audiofidelity.net/product/bb-king-eric-clapton-riding-king

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

4/17/2015

Audio Fidelity To Release “The Best Of The Doors” On Quadraphonic 4.0 Multichannel Hybrid SACD


Available in multichannel for the first time since 1970!  

Camarillo, CA – Much to the excitement of Doors fans and music fans worldwide, Marshall Blonstein's Audio Fidelity will be releasing “The Best Of The Doors -1973” On Quadraphonic 4.0 Multichannel Hybrid SACD! The 2-channel stereo and DSD layers of the hybrid SACD were remastered from the original 2-track tapes which are available for the first time since 1970. The 4.0 Quad layer mirrors the earlier CD-4 QuadraDisc format, Quadraphonic 8-Track and reel-to-reel tape. “The Best of The Doors -1973” compilation album was also released in standard Stereo.
 
The Doors were among the most controversial, influential and unique rock acts of the 1960's and beyond. After the death of Jim Morrison in 1971, the remaining members, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973.
 
Each of the tracks on “The Best Of The Doors-1973” have been taken primarily from the original two-track masters of the eight albums recorded by the band between 1967 and 1971. Three of the band's studio albums, “The Doors” (1967), “L.A. Woman” (1971), and “Strange Days” (1967), were featured in the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The popular rock magazine also listed The Doors as “One of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time!” As a matter of fact The Doors have been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines and in 1993 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1 Who Do You Love
2 Soul Kitchen
3 Hello, I Love You
4 People Are Strange
5 *Riders On The Storm
6 Touch Me
7 *Love Her Madly
8 Love Me Two Times
9 Take It As It Comes
10 Moonlight Drive
11 Light My Fire

Producer – Paul A. Rothchild
Producer – *Bruce Botnick and The Doors

Worldwide Management: Jeffrey Jampol for JAM, Inc.
Associate Manager: Kenny Nemes for JAM, Inc.

Mastered for this release by Steve Hoffman at Stephen Marsh Mastering
For more information: https://audiofidelity.net/
The Doors web Site: www.thedoors.com
Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com