The Animals - Retrospective 1964-1970 (2004) [SACD]

Retrospective is a compilation album of The Animals, released by ABKCO in 2004 as Hybrid SACD.

Retrospective looks like just another greatest-hits compilation recycling the same old tracks already easily available elsewhere. Yawn! Yet, on closer inspection, there’s a big difference with this particular set. These 22 tracks are taken from the ABKCO masters and utilize Direct Stream Digital (DSD), containing both CD and Super Audio CD layers. ABKCO initially previewed this technology with much fanfare on the Rolling Stones’ reissues of 2003. That excellence is again applied here and the material undeniably sparkles. The first incarnation of the band with Mickie Most’s production is represented by what have to be the cleanest recordings heard yet of favorites like “House of the Rising Sun,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” and “Don’t Bring Me Down.” However, it’s the psychedelic phase of the band, when they became Eric Burdon & the Animals, that the DSD really kicks. Every nuance present, and sometimes hidden, on a song like “San Franciscan Nights,” or “Monterey,” in which the horns noticeably jump out at you, or the battle sequence on “Sky Pilot,” is incredibly vivid whether you’re using high-tech gear or an average playback unit. Even if you’ve heard these tracks a zillion times, this ABKCO release gets you as close to hearing studio playback as you’re likely to get!

 

1. House Of The Rising Sun - 4:29
2. I’m Crying - 2:47
3. Baby Let Me Take You Home - 2:20
4. Gonna Send You Back To Walker - 2:28
5. Boom Boom - 3:18
6. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood - 2:28
7. Bring It On Home To Me - 2:42
8. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - 3:13
9. It’s My Life - 3:06
10. Don’t Bring Me Down - 3:15
11. See See Rider - 4:00
12. Inside - Looking Out - 3:47
13. Hey Gyp - 3:47
14. Help Me Girl - 2:39
15. When I Was Young - 3:00
16. A Girl Named Sandoz - 3:04
17. San Franciscan Nights - 3:20
18. Monterey - 4:19
19. Anything - 3:22
20. Sky Pilot - 7:30
21. White Houses - 3:50
22. Spill the Wine - 4:04

Big Brother And The Holding Company - Cheap Thrills (1968) [2016 SACD]

In many facets, Big Brother and the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills is the quintessential album to spring from the outcome of the Summer of Love. Best known as Janis Joplin's major-label debut, the 1968 set arrived when the countercultural movement was in full swing and before co-optation, drugs, and violence signaled the fall of the era. Ranked #338 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, it puts a female singer in the prominent position traditionally given to a male and showcases a band pouring a potent cocktail of fiery psychedelic, blues, and folk sounds that informed the unfettered creativity of the San Francisco scene. Produced by John Simon, Cheap Thrills also features one of the most iconic and elaborate album covers in history.

 

    Janis Joplin – vocals

    Sam Andrew – guitar, bass on "Oh, Sweet Mary", vocals

    James Gurley – guitar

    Peter Albin – bass, lead guitar on "Oh, Sweet Mary", lead acoustic guitar on "Turtle Blues".

    Dave Getz – drums

1. Combination Of The Two 05:48

2. I Need A Man To Love 04:56

3. Summertime 04:03

4. Piece Of My Heart 04:20

5. Turtle Blues 04:24

6. Oh, Sweet Mary 04:17

7. Ball And Chain 09:34

The Band - Stage Fright (1970/2014) [SACD ISO]

Stage Fright is the third studio album by Canadian-American group The Band released in 1970. Much more of a rock album than its predecessors, it was a departure from their previous two efforts in that its tone was darker and featured less of the harmony vocal blend that had been a centerpiece of those two albums. It also included the last two recordings by the Band of new songs credited to pianist Richard Manuel; both were co-written with guitarist Robbie Robertson, who would continue to be the group's dominant lyricist until the group disbanded in 1976. Nonetheless, the tradition of switching instruments that had begun on the previous album continued here, with each musician contributing instrumental parts on at least two different instruments.

 

Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun: The Filmore East First Show 12-31-1969 (2016) [SACD ISO]

Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show is a live album by Jimi Hendrix, featuring songs recorded during the first set at the Fillmore East in New York City on December 31, 1969. Hendrix is backed by Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, a lineup frequently referred to as the Band of Gypsys. Except for “Hear My Train A Comin'” and “Lover Man”, the eleven songs represent new material that had not been performed by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
The album further documents Hendrix’s four sets on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with the Band of Gypsys. It adds to the previously released material on Band of Gypsys (1970), Band of Gypsys 2 (1986), Live at the Fillmore East (1999), and West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology (2010). All of the tracks, except for “Hear My Train A Comin'”, “Changes” and “Izabella”, appear for the first time on an official release.

 

1. Power of Soul 05:30

2. Lover Man 03:14

3. Hear My Train a Comin’ 09:06

4. Changes 05:58

5. Izabella 03:29

6. Machine Gun 08:54

7. Stop 05:30

8. Ezy Rider 05:55

9. Bleeding Heart 06:38

10. Earth Blues 06:24

11. Burning Desire 09:40

Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado (1974/2022) [SACD ISO]

Electric Light Orchestra leader Jeff Lynne did more than figuratively reach for the sky on Eldorado. Daring to be bold, and creating imaginative worlds that invite the listener to escape the mundane, the visionary composer-musician achieved a multidisciplinary fantasia and, in the process, a prog-rock landmark. Nearly 50 years later, the concept album's brilliance can be experienced like never before in cinematic fashion.

 

Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978) [SACD ISO]

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll may be singer Ronnie James Dio's last album with Rainbow, but at least he went out on a high note. While the material is not quite as strong as on the previous studio effort, Rising, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll maintains the momentum the band had built up. "Kill the King" had been previously heard on the live On Stage record, but here it sounds more fully realized. Also, the title track from the album stands as one of the best songs the band did, not to mention a noble sentiment. The chugging "L.A. Connection" is another highlight. As with all of their first four albums, this one was produced by Martin Birch (who produced everyone from Blue Öyster Cult to Wayne County), and he really knows how to get the best out of the band by this point. The result is that the songs couldn't sound any better, so even if some of the material isn't quite up to their best, the album is still very cohesive, steady, and, ultimately, satisfying. This would turn out to be the last great album Rainbow would ever make, although they did enjoy a great deal of chart success in the post-Dio era. 

 

Blood Sweat & Tears - Bloodlines (2017) [4 x SACD ISO]

Remastered from the original master tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound. Set comes in a custom-designed deluxe hinged LP sized box and includes an in-depth essay booklet by lead singer David Clayton-Thomas.

Analogue Productions box set tells the story behind the groundbreaking horn band!

Four SACD set includes

Child Is Father To The Man
Blood, Sweat & Tears Self-Titled
Blood, Sweat & Tears 3
Blood, Sweat & Tears 4 

 

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (1965 - 2015 Remaster) [SACD ISO]

Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released in August 1965 by Columbia Records. On his previous album, Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan devoted Side One of the album to songs accompanied by an electric rock band, and Side Two to solo acoustic numbers. For Highway 61 Revisited, Dylan used rock backing on every track, except for the closing 11-minute acoustic song, “Desolation Row”. Critics have written that Dylan’s ability to combine driving, complex, blues-based rock music with the power of poetry, made Highway 61 Revisited one of the most influential albums ever recorded.

 

 

Rainbow – Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975/2014) [SACD ISO]

Perhaps the first example of “dragon rock” — a style perfected by bands like Iron Maiden and Dio in the early to mid-’80s — was Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, a rather pretentious 1975 collection from the guitarist’s first post-Deep Purple project. Fittingly enough, a young Ronnie James Dio provides the goblin-like frontman presence required by the increasingly Baroque Blackmore. 

 

Rolling Stones - Singles Collection - The London Years (3 CD, 2005) [SACD ISO]

Singles Collection: The London Years was released by former manager Allen Klein's ABKCO Records (who usurped control of the band's Decca/London material in 1970) after the band's departure from Decca and Klein.

The set is a triple album of every Rolling Stones single—and their B-Sides—mostly in their original mono mixes (at least as of the 2002 reissue), in both the UK and US encompassing their entire era with Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States—hence the album's title.

The original collection was produced by Andrew Loog Oldham, and digitally compiled and prepared under his supervision by P. D. Rain and Jody Klein.

With a range from 1963 to 1971, the set begins with their very first UK single, Chuck Berry's "Come On", and runs to Sticky Fingers' "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses" (which Allen Klein shares release rights with The Rolling Stones).

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble discography 1983-1991 [SACD ISO]

Double Trouble is an American blues rock band from Austin, Texas, which served as the backing band for guitarist/singer Stevie Ray Vaughan. The group was active throughout the 1980s and contributed to reviving the blues, inspiring many later blues and rock musicians. Formed in Austin, Texas in 1978, the group went through several early line-up changes before settling on a power trio consisting of Vaughan, Chris Layton (drums), Tommy Shannon (bass). They became a four-piece by 1985 after adding Reese Wynans (keyboards). While with Vaughan the band was billed Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Rooted in blues and rock music, the group worked in many genres ranging from ballads to soul, often incorporating jazz and other elements.

Initially a five-piece lineup with Vaughan, Lou Ann Barton (vocals), Fredde Walden (drums), Jackie Newhouse (bass) and Johnny Reno (saxophone), they built their reputation playing clubs around Texas over a four-year period. Molded into a trio (Vaughan, Layton, Shannon), their musical potential was encouraged by producer John H. Hammond, who got the band a recording contract with Epic Records. They gained popularity after their debut album, Texas Flood, became a critical and commercial success in 1983. By the mid-1980s, they had become an international act, touring extensively around the world until August 1990, when Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash after departing East Troy, Wisconsin. 

 

John Mayall – Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966/2010) [SACD ISO]

Blues Breakers, colloquially known as The Beano Album, is the debut studio album by the English blues rock band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, originally credited to John Mayall with Eric Clapton. Produced by Mike Vernon and released in 1966 by Decca Records (UK) and London Records (US), it pioneered a guitar-dominated blues-rock sound.

David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971/2022) [SACD ISO]

David Crosby's debut solo album was the second release in a trilogy of albums (the others being Paul Kantner's Blows Against the Empire and Mickey Hart's Rolling Thunder) involving the indefinite aggregation of Bay Area friends and musical peers that informally christened itself the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra. Everyone from the members of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane to Crosby's mates in CSNY, Neil Young and Graham Nash, dropped by the studio to make significant contributions to the proceedings. (Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and Bill Kreutzman, primarily, act as the ad hoc studio band, with other notables adding bits of flavor to other individual tracks.) Crosby, however, is the obvious captain of this ship. With his ringing, velvety voice -- the epitome of hippie crooning -- and inspired songwriting, he turns If I Could Only Remember My Name into a one-shot wonder of dreamy but ominous California ambience. 

 

The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request (50th Anniversary Ed. 1967-2017) [SACD ISO]

Their Satanic Majesties Request is the sixth British and eighth American studio album by the Rolling Stones, released in December 1967 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. Recording sessions saw the band experimenting widely with a psychedelic sound in the studio, incorporating elements such as unconventional instruments, sound effects, string arrangements, and African rhythms. The album’s title is a play on the “Her Britannic Majesty requests and requires …” text that appears inside a British passport. It is the first Stones album to feature the same track listings in both its UK and US versions.

Upon its release, Satanic Majesties received mixed reactions from critics and members of the group itself. The album was criticised as being derivative of the contemporaneous work of the Beatles, particularly their June 1967 release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, with the similarities extending to the LP’s lenticular cover. In subsequent decades, however, it has gradually risen in critical reputation. Following the album’s release, the Rolling Stones abandoned their psychedelic style for a stripped-down return to their roots in blues music.

 

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced (stereo & mono versions) (1967/2020) [SACD ISO]

When first released in 1967 in the U.S., Are You Experienced turned the music world upside down as Hendrix showed everyone exactly what it meant to be "experienced." This SACD returns to the original 11-song version that was originally released in August 1967. It contains such eternal classics as "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", "The Wind Cries Mary", "Fire" and the title song, whose backward drum and guitar tracks and otherworldly guitar work still sound innovative almost a half-century later.

 

Paul Simon - Still Crazy After All These Years (1975/2021) [SACD ISO]

Still Crazy After All These Years is the fourth solo studio album by Paul Simon. Recorded and released in 1975, the album produced four U.S. Top 40 hits and won two Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1976. Mastered by Shawn R. Britton at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, Sebastopol, CA on the GAIN HD system.

 

Yes - High Vibration SACD Box (2013) [16 Discs Box Set] (Hi-RES & SACD ISO)

 

High Vibration is a limited edition 16 SACD box set, featuring the 13 albums released by English prog rock supergroup Yes, between 1968 and 1987, including live album "Yessongs". A unique 12-track bonus SACD features rare selections such "Owner of a Lonely Heart (Move Yourself Mix)" from 1991 and 1972's "Total Mass Retain (Single version)" is also included. Everything has been newly remastered in Japan by Isao Kikuchi, and comes with a 200-page book (mostly on japanese language). The audio quality of these 2013 remasters are far superior to previous releases and for the first time allow the listener to hear what producers were monitoring in studio.

• Yes (1969)
• Time and a Word (1970)
• The Yes Album (1971)
• Fragile (1971)
• Close to the Edge (1972)
• Yessongs (1973)
• Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973)
• Relayer (1974)
• Going for the One (1977)
• Tormato (1978)
• Drama (1980)
• 90125 (1983)
• Big Generator (1987)
• Bonus Disc (2013)

There are FLAC versions of all albums and original SACD ISO, be sure you can play SACD ISO on your equipment.

 

 

 

Blind Faith - Blind Faith (1969/2010) [SACD ISO]

Blind Faith is the only studio album by the English supergroup Blind Faith, originally released in 1969 on Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Europe and on ATCO Records in the United States. It topped the album charts in the UK, Canada and US, and was listed at No. 40 on the US Soul Albums chart. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA.

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