The Who - Quadrophenia (1973)

The Who - Quadrophenia, 1973 Deluxe Edition Remaster

  4 years after the magnum classic rock opera "Tommy" Pete Townshend revisited the genre and wrote another fantastic rock opera.  This time his concept was to tell the story of a young mod's struggle to come of age in the mid-'60s.  Quadrophenia has some of Townshend's finest song writing and this deluxe edition has a second CD with some great home demo's that makes this pretty much an essential snag for fans of The Who.
  By the time of Quad. The Who were pretty much on top of their game sounding more and more powerful and what a great way to follow up on "Who's Next" which is another awesome Who album.  Why Should I Care ? 

The Rolling Stones - Through The Past Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (1969)

The Rolling Stones - Through The Past Darkly (1969)  SACD

   This was the companion to 1966's BIG HITS vol 1 album and was released to serve 3 purposes originally........1. An Ode to the death of band co-founder Brian Jones (whose epitaph graces the inside cover) 2.  The urgency to get "Honky Tonk Women," then a huge hit single, onto an LP and 3. To fill the year long gap that followed since the release of Beggars Banquet.
  And this album has a lot of different elements from the Stones....a few classics from the Psychedelia....a few classics from the R&B, Rock and even Space/Prog bits.
  And of course one could not speak of this release without noting the superb job ABKCO did on these SACD remasters.   I have never heard the Stones sound so good .

The Rolling Stones - BIG HITS (High Tide & Green Grass) (1966)

The Rolling Stones - BIG HITS (High Tide & Green Grass)    (1966) SACD
  With most of the material on this compilation coming from 1964 and  1965 BIG Hits Vol One is simply on the best stones compilations on a single disc ever!  Hearing these songs in glorious SACD makes them sound as fresh as they did the day they were released.    No real big surprises on this album which houses many of their Big hits other great tunes (that could have been huge hits too).  The Stones were just so prolific back then and rock and roll was still in its infancy that this compilation will take you back.
  Like all the ABKCO SACD releases these have been given a whole new life with truely amazing clean sound and huge instrumental separation.  I am listening to this album again just on this sunday afternoon and think it is just so excellent.  

The Bloody Hollies - Yours Until The Bitter End (2011)

The Bloody Hollies - Yours Until The Bitter End (2011)

Holy crap these guys are good !   Fans of the heavier side of the music spectrum will love this album..aka the Black Keys, Radio Moscow......  The Bloody Hollies are a Buffalo based indie band that have released a number of albums that straddle metal, garage rock and punk genres and seem to just crank out great number after number.   On "Yours Until The Bitter End" they added a fourth member ....enter bassist Erik Norgaard and wham what an album.    This album is a fair dose of high energy heavy reverb with some pretty catchy and cool tunes.  Highly recommended if you are looking for a good kick -ass album !

Foreigner - Foreigner (1977)

Foreigner - 1977, Mobile Fidelity SACD Remaster


When I was just a young lad my brother and I bought this album and it became one of the albums that defined our musical childhood! It still remains to this day one of the GREAT rock albums in my household and I was so excited to order this MoFi SACD........and what a great un !

First the album (if there is anyone who has never heard this) is a beautiful album full of great songs and huge rock sound without any cliches. It was an album that set the stage and helped define 70's rock music (1977).

Foreigner's debut album was IMHO their defining musical moment with contribution of King Crimson's Ian McDonald and the powerful vocals and lyrics of a young Lou Gramm. "Starrider" was THE song for me while I grew up and you can not count the number of times I played this album.

I have the redbook CD, Vinyl, remastered CD and now SACD of this album and must say the definitely this IS THE version of this album you must hear.

Wow.......deeply defined vocal harmonies and a wide pane of tones that stretch from one side of my music to the other. At times the acoustic guitar sounds like it was right beside me!

I would say honestly that until you hear the SACD version you really have not ever heard this album.

Rock music never got any better than the first Foreigner album .

...and why not One day be a Starrider !

Santana - Caravanserai (1972)

Santana - Caravanserai (1972), Mobile Fidelity SACD Remaster

For me this IS the Santana album ! 1972's Caravanserai is the prefect mix of Latin American, Rock, Jazz, Fusion and Progressive Rock elements. Joining Carlos is Gregg Rolie (Journey), guitar legend Neal Schon, bassist Doug Raunch and the great drumming of Mike Shrieve who really excels on this album !

And what a great job MoFi did on this SACD remaster. The instrumentation is nice and clean and feels perfect in presentation for my ears. The vocals, guitars, bass, keys and percussion are well balanced across the depths of this recording. This album is also better played at slightly elevated volume levels too where the musical prowess feels more alive and accentuated.

I also really noticed the sonic separation of the hand percussion on this recording and some of the backing vocals where a few times i actually looked behind me as I listened to this recording.

This album is a gem and I have never heard it sound sooooo good....

The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed (1969)

The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed (1969) SACD

  Let It Bleed was a transformation album as it really was the end of Brian Jones era and the intro of Mick Taylor.  Musically Let It Bleed continues in the vein of Beggars Banquet with its blues and folk rock vibes and contains several of my personal favourite Stones moments.  On this album you also get on"You Got the Silver" a first as Keith Richards first lead vocals on a studio track (I think).

The Thorns (2003)

The Thorns - 2003, Aware Records (Special 2 CD Edition)
 
  The Thorns have sadly only released this one solo album....and equally sadly is the fact that this album was not well liked by the public'!.   This is an album of beautifully crafted pop songs with some fantastic vocal harmonies and excellent songwriting.  In many ways this album feels like an ode to Crosby Stills and Nash with the overall harmonic approach.    The Thorns was the combined talents of 3 contemporary popmeisters....Matthew Sweet, Shawn Mullins and Pete Droge.
  The Special 2 CD edition of this album contains a second acoustic take on the album which is absolutely essential and often it is a toss up which disc I will play.

An excellent album

The Who - Live At Leeds (1970)

The Who - Live At Leeds (1970) Deluxe Edition

  Ok so who didn't have this album in their vinyl collection ?   (for those who remember the vinyl daze).  Way back when this was THE live album and arguably The Who's finest moment captured at the height of their career.   Recorded Feb 14, 1970 at Leeds University this new mix which was supervised by Pete Townshend presents this album like it has never been heard before.  While the 1970 record offered a mere six selections this deluxe edition CD reissue presents the entire show with disc 2 presenting Tommy.  

Robin Trower - Bridge Of Sighs (1974)

Robin Trower - Bridge Of Sighs (1974)

 Now here is an album that you absolutely must hear before you are "Too Rolling Stoned" !  Bridge Of Sighs is a classic rock album that I have loved for a long time and still come back to as one of "The" great rock albums.  Robin Trower made a name for himself while in Procol Harum and as good as he was on albums like "Home" it is Bridge of Sighs where he really shines.  This album breathes BIG time with a certain patience (not unlike the Dark Side Of The Moon) with its bluesy rock vibes and echo effects and guitar phrasing.  Trower mixes Hendrix rock with blues and psychedelia which is sung thru the soulful vocals of James Dewar and Reg Isadore's bass (same guy that was on both David Gilmour and Peter Green). 

Radio Moscow - The Great Escape Of Leslie Magnafuzz (2011)

Radio Moscow - The Great Escape Of Leslie Magnafuzz (2011)

  Radio Moscow is the genius of guitarist/drummer/singer/songwriter Parker Griggs who clearly has been a HUGE fan of garage -psych his whole life.  Griggs along with fellow bandsman bassist Zach Anderson have recorded 2 huge Stonker albums in a row (Brain Cycles - 2009) and this little bit of psych mayhem.   For those who love heavy guitar psych workouts will kill for this album.  Some pretty crazy things goin on here.......fans of Hendrix will also have the check these guys out.  I still can't get over that a band like this still exists on the planet......you gotta love this music........Essential for the psych fans out there.......

The Parlor Mob - And You Were A Crow (2008)

The Parlor Mob - And You Were A Crow (2008)

  The Parlor Mob's "And You Were A Crow' will bring you right back to the 70's with Uriah, Zepp, Deep Purple and Captain Beyond.  Lead vocalist Mark Melicia has got one of those heavy 70's rock voices that fits the music to perfection......either you will love these guys or not.   Basically this is a guitar driven album with great heavy bass and drum interplay.  In many ways this album reminds me of Jack White's approach with its hard guitar driven riffs not unlike the White Stripes.  Fans of Led Zep will likely love this album too with its straight forward classic 70's rock vibes and imaging.  An excellent album that sounds good cranked up to 11 ! 

Opeth - Heritage (2011)

Opeth - Heritage, 2011 Roadrunner Records (5.1 Mix)

  Heritage is Opeth`s 10th album and although I am not a big fan of their gueling and oft-tortured vocals that normally satiate their music,  it is on this album (like Damnation) where they push that aside and what is left over is a great album that should not be missed.    Fans of the Goth-Metal Opeth will likely not rant and rave about this album, but fans of Progressive Rock likely will !  I will say that drummer Martin Axenrot is simply one of the best drummers I have heard since PT`s Gavin Harrison.  The music on Heritage is inspired and marks a big shift in Opeth`s sound (again i think mostly cause the vocals are so different). 

   Also I love the heavy use of Mellotron on this album and in many ways it feels like a bit of Anglaggard meets Anekdoten meets Opeth...hmmmmmm.   I guess I should mention for those who have 5.1 play back capability that PT`s Steve Wilson mixed the 5.1 version of this album which does sound excellent on a good 5.1 capable stereo.