What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XI)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 31 December 2014
On the cusp of 2015, we start a new thread...
Anyway, links:
Volume X: https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...-be-interested-vol-x
Volume IX: https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...16#22826037054683416
Volume VIII: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...nt/12970396056050819
Volume VII: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...6878604287751/page/1
Volume VI: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878604097229
Volume V: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878605140495
Volume IV: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878605795042
Volume III: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878607309474
Volume II: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878606245043
Volume I: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878607464290
Bonnie Raitt. Luck Of The Draw. Original CD from 1991. My wife has a half-dozen BR cds on the shelf and this is the best to me. Raitt's slide guitar leads are velvety smooth yet concise, and on some tracks can even conger up images of George Harrison. I saw her concert at the foot of a ski-slope in Park City, Utah just after the release of this album. Very good. Not long after I saw Delbert McClinton, with whom she sings a duet on track 2, in a tiny venue in Salt Lake City. Also very good.
Great album
During my workout, more lending towards chamber jazz..., but well done
My usual breakfast treat with piano music....very good this one, intimate...
Meat Loaf. Bat Out Of Hell (1977). On HDCD from 2001. A 'rock opera' if ever there was one. Every parent should sit their child down and have them listen to "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" before attending his or her first prom.
Unfortunately not an album that's stood the test of time IMHO. Like probably everyone else I played this to death back in the 70's but I listen to it now and the poor recording quality just grates a little too much.
Steve,
I agree. Played to death on 8-track by me and my brother driving to high school in his '66 Chevelle. Hard to believe an album that sold over 20M copies has such little legacy today. Maybe due to the fact that the premier track "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" is over 8 minutes long, but also the sound quality as you say. I have the original vinyl, original CD, and HDCD. The HDCD might be the best for SQ, but each has a narrow, veiled, wall-of-sound production quality.
My thoughts for the SQ go to Todd Rundgren as producer and his association with Bearsville Studios. Rundgren, Utopia, and Foghat, all from Bearsville, share a similar house sound. Maybe something more to be enjoyed on radio replay than home listening? Or better listened to on more forgiving vintage gear?
Pink Floyd. The Endless River. On CD from 2014. I haven't played this much since bought on its release, but it comes as a great relief to finally hear some vocals on the final track, doesn't it?
Eric Clapton. Unplugged. On CD from 1992. I played the hell out of this upon its release. Haven't gone to it in a while. Great performance! On this listen I'm struck by the keyboards by Chuck Leavell.
Streaming | FLAC
(1990)
Nudged along by some of Kuma's earlier listening to Carly Simon, I am giving this one a play. An album of hers that I have always enjoyed, with quite a few good tracks on it and a general feel good atmosphere to the whole piece. It was probably as much to do with "the good place that I was in" at the time more than any particular music I was playing...
Mixed feelings with the album, I like some pieces but some others don't attract me. I think there later album is better....(Mankind the Crafty Ape)
CD rip on my Klimax Renew:
Leonard Cohen - "Dear Heather"
Recently purchased on CD and ripped to my NAS, and one of the few gaps in my Leonard Cohen album collection. Hauntingly beautiful as always, and excellent sound quality to boot.
Streaming Bandcamp
(2013)
"...exquisite hooks, sub-sonic grooves and luscious immersive environments… Gravity’s Dirty Work from progressive electronica outfit Darkroom has all the drama, drive and dynamic punch you’d expect from a rock album. At times sepulchral and brooding, at others transcendent and uplifting, it ends in lost-summer reveries and echoey melancholia." - Sid Smith [Bandcamp Comment]
A library loan.
"The overall result is a nearly four-hour collection that is something of a hodgepodge. There are enough rarities to bait the hook for hardcore Eagles fans, but not really satisfy them, and casual fans will probably be better off with the two single-disc hits collections."
A recent discovery. Wonderful spiritual Jazz from Denmark. A vinyl reissue.
Streaming | FLAC Download from Bandcamp
(2nd March 2014)
A twenty minute EP this one and playing it because I just wanted to hear some more of their sound style.
"As with "gravity's dirty work", another fascinating exploration of sound, beautiful in a dark way, yet uplifting.Favorite track: Once Proud Eyes." - Bandcamp Comment
Streaming DSD
Really like this interpretation of West Side Story. Good afternoon Jazz ;-)
Streaming FLAC
(2005)
A cracking album from the inimitable Tony Iommi.
Streaming | FLAC Download from Bandcamp
(2013)
Recorded live on a hot night in June at a small club in Barcelona. These boys put on a great show and this recording really conveys their energy and connection with the audience.
"It's a great live album. I saw the band playing some shows during the same tour and every time it was a perfect show for me! Thank you Amplifier. You're nice guys too I met some of you after the shows."
"It's a great live album. I saw the band playing some shows during the same tour and every time it was a perfect show for me! Thank you Amplifier. You're nice guys, also. I met some of you after the shows."
Bandcamp Comments
Another library loan.
Hi-res download from Qobuz:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Cosmo's Factory" & "Pendulum"
followed by:
Music from my schooldays, and sounding pretty good in 24 bit 96KHz format from Qobus.
One of my favourite bands as a school-kid. Just a pity they were so short lived as a band.
This is one instance where the hi-res download is better than either the CD or vinyl equivalents (both of which I also have).
.
Heard a few songs of theirs on the radio, nothing that really captivated me. First listen to the album (qobuz); wish I had tried this before.....(much) better than I was expecting.
On CD:-
Hi-res download from Qobus:
Pink Floyd - "The Endless River"
An album that attracts much derision, but one that I really like. Just put on the hi-res version & immerse yourself in the music.
Zimerman's second stab at recording the Chopin concertos, this time with his own orchestra. Performances are on the slow and deliberate side, deeply pondered and, again, flawlessly executed. Sound quality is perfect.
EJ
Pink Floyd. The Endless River. On CD from 2014. I haven't played this much since bought on its release, but it comes as a great relief to finally hear some vocals on the final track, doesn't it?
If you get that far, joerand.........yawn 
Mike