Tedeschi Trucks Band - Everybody's Talkin' Live (2012)

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Everybody's Talkin' Live 

  A fantastic triple vinyl copy of this superb live concert featuring Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi and the 11-piece ensemble.  Live showcases their vintage funk-R&B-gospel-blues, and Rock tendencies.

The album is a wonderful mix of original and cover versions and in no way is a replica of the Studio albums nor do they wander into the endless jam sessions mold.  Instead each song is given lots of room and space to lure your ears into their world where we are treated to a fantastic full color spectrum of sounds and genres.  In many ways i prefer the live version over the studio version and any fan of "Revelator," will need to own this set.    

The triple 180g vinyl set offers superb sound reproduction far eclipsing the CD release and IMHO is absolutely an essential album to own 

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator (2011)

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator

  Wow....what a great album !  ...and how can you miss with the skillful and soulful guitar phrasing of Derek Trucks along side the emotive and deep voice of his wife Susan Tedeschi.   Revelator is the debut album from this 11-piece band who have managed to capture a superb album of 12 swell crafted songs.
   Along with Trucks and Tedeschi they have added a wonderful supporting cast including Oteil , Kofi Burbridge , Mike Mattison,  Tyler Greenwell , J.J. Johnson with both a horn section and backing vocals.

    The overall result is a deep soulful blues album that melds rock with  Southern soul, gospel, and funk all on one album.   Susan Tedeschi handles the vocals and no question she has a perfect voice for this mix of music.  Trucks plays some of the finest guitar accents I have heard in years...and it is more than just playing the blues.   Derek Trucks just seems to know when to turn it on and when to help shape the music....like a good conductor.   This is NOT a typical blues guitar-driven album with some great playing...its goes deeper musically and spiritually than that.  There is even some sitar on this album !....Ravi eat your heart out ! 

  My favourite track on the album is the emotional "Until You Remember" where Trucks and Tedeshci feed off each other unlike anything I have heard in a long time.

A brilliant debut album and this one is a keeper kids !
   

Foreigner - 4 (1981)

Foreigner - 4 SACD

Foreigner 4 was one of the albums that defined the 80's rock scene IMHO......who could ever forget "juke Box Hero" or "Urgent" from the genius production propensities of Mutt Lange. Mutt Lange was on a roll and was one of the most sought after producers and was fresh from ACDC's killer "Back In Black" magnum opus when he entered into the studio with a skinnied down four membered Foreigner. Al Greenwood and Ian McDonald did not stick around for the fourth Foreigner album! Basically Foreigner 4 takes off right where "Head Games" left off with straight forward Rock n' Roll and with Mutt Lange's golden touch this album became the best selling Foreigner album!

Foreigner 4 leaves nothing on the turntable ! Ten great memorable songs with loads of air guitar moments for all of us ! Lou Gramm is spot on and I think he really shines on this album and solidified his position as on of the great rock singers. The other tunes that I think are a ten out of ten are the rockers "Luanne" and "Break It Up" which I think are stunning rock anthems.

Once again Shawn Britton at Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs did the remastering to SACD and did a superb job! I think that of all the four Foreigner SACD's this one offers the best sound for my ears. The bass, keyboards, guitar and drums are nicely seperated and have that hi quality definition you dream of.....and imagine it is on one of my fav albums !

Lou Gramm's vocals are deep and nicely balanced as well. There are moments on this SACD that are truely stunning......parts of songs just have such a deep vibe and sound quality that I was amazed....the same vibe I got listening to some of the finer SACD's.

An excellent SACD and now I am a Juke Box Hero!!!!!!!

Foreigner - Head Games (1979)

Foreigner - Head Games SACD

 Head Games was the third album by rockers Foreigner who really shifted on this album far away from the progressive rock allusions found on their first two albums making way for a more straight forward rock groove. No question the album opens with one of thier great tracks "Dirty White Boys" which is a song I will always love and a song that ushered in the new sound of Foreigner. Head Games also was the swan song for ex- King Crimson genius Ian McDonald who would have to find another avenue to exert his stylistic touch on. 

 I always liked Foreigner and Head Games was an album I played to death as a kid. I was so anxious to get the SACD version and had been pestering MOFI for about a year and a half about releasing this album and "4". "Blinded by science" is another superb Foreigner track that really went unnoticed but is a clear watermark for me on this album ! 

 So was the wait worth it you ask? Definitely ! 

 The SACD was carefully mastered from the original master tapes by Shawn Britton at Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs who did another excellent job ! The sound quality is to notch and offers the best sound on is album I have ever heard! Lou Gramm's vocals are right up front and clearly seperated and sound superb.....this guy had one of the great rock voices! The guitars, keyboards, bass and drums have great speaker seperation and a nice rich sound dynamic throughout the whole album.   

  Another excellent SACD remaster from MOFI and for fans of Foreigner this is essential !

Guitar Boogie - Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page (1971)

Guitar Boogie - Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page 

  Guitar Boogie is a bluesy compilation featuring slowhand mr. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, with additional credit to The Allstars.    According to the liner notes this compilation is taken from a series of albums titled British Archives vol 1-4. Only two of the guitarists appear on any given track. Jeff Beck does not appear on any of the Page/Clapton numbers. Similarly, Clapton doesn't appear on the Allstars tracks.

  Jeff Beck's two tracks were recorded in 1963 and can be found on several different compilations as well but it is nice to have em here too !    This album was compiled by Richard Robinson who did a great job in assembling these cuts.  My only criticism is the short length of the album with each side containing about 14 mins of music.

  The sound on this vinyl record is a bit smokey and bluesy which fits the vibe of the overall album!  I believe all these tracks were originally mono and have been reprocessed for stereophonic playback.

STYX - The Grand Illusion (1977)

STYX - The Grand Illusion (A&M audiophile series LP)

  The Grand Illusion was one of the albums I grew up listening to and really became part of my childhood.  No question songs like "Fooling Yourself" , "Superstars" and "Man In The Wilderness" were huge songs in my life.  "Come sail away" was a roller skating staple on every sunday living up North in Canada! 
      

     I have never heard this album sound as good as it does on this half speed mastered LP!   Fans of this album will need to hunt down a copy of this version as it is just that good !    You wont believe "castle walls" when you hear this version with total clarity like I have never heard before.  For example I never heard the hand percussion on this song before yet now it stands out .   Also some of the vocal harmonies sound totally distinct and clear....it really puts a whole new perspective on this treasured album!

   The Grand Illusion was in my opinion the height of their career with a perfect blend of progressive, rock and pop with some of the best songs from their career. 

Cat Stevens - Buddha And The Chocolate Box (1974)

Cat Stevens - Buddha And The Chocolate Box

   After a string of gold albums Cat Stevens began to divert off what made him popular and basically was starting to fall out of view by the public.   Buddha and the Chocolate Box was basically a return to his original form as defined on both "Tea For The Tillerman" and
"Teaser and the Firecat" albums.  

   The songs are basically in the 4 mins zone and are very acoustic guitar based and are kept to the bare minimum. The song "oh very young" actually once again brought a top 10 hit to Cat Stevens and to this day is regarded as one of his better albums.

   I first heard Cat Stevens at University and remember picking up all his albums and "Buddha" was an album I played a lot!