Return to Revolver

While spooky things were going on last week, other things were out and waiting for me upon return.

The Beatles scarcely need an introduction known even to the youngest although in terms of recordings the earliest goes all the way back to 1962, before I was born and there's never been a point their albums haven't been available although for a brief period their earliest singles were deleted.

That era saw both the emergence of the lp album format for younger people rather than the province of soundtrack and classical music recordings for "grown ups" and stereophonic recording of popular music.

The Beatles together with the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan were very much a part of this change and so not only did they produce albums that expanded upon musically their singles but because the dominant format for youngsters until the late 1960's was mono sound often from a record player with built in single loudspeakers, the method of recording was geared to the aim of making a satisfactory mono record.

Stereo was from the recording point of view the last concern and an after thought so as the beatles progressed using more instruments and effects the more the limitations showed up and their Rubber Soul and Revolver albums exposed the deficiencies compared to the mono versions.

 

That is why on October 28 this year a series of releases featuring new stereo mixes came out on download, lp record and compact disc using new computer artificial intelligence but steered by humans technology that enabled separating out some of the parts of the four track mixes into effectively separate tracks that could be mixed and placed within the stereo image in the manner many popular albums from the 1970's were by design using multitrack recording systems. 

Take Taxman for instance, there are many periods of near silence on the right hand channel as the vocals are just there or the errors in the double tracking at the start of Eleanor Rigby, the missed scat ending on Got To Get You Into My Life that was in the mono but not the stereo.

This remix centres the vocals more providing the immediacy and drive of the mono but with a more spacious feel spreading the instrumentation around the left and right channels.

 

While there is a single remixed cd available I'd forget about getting that and opt for the 2 cd version which is only a little more and adds new remixes in a similar style of the contemporary Paperback Writer single and its backwards ending vocal psychedelic Rain b side and a selection of alternate takes and session tapes that gives you a feel of just what being in Abbey Road studios in early 1966 was like.

This album in a year of many impressive albums such as the Stones Aftermath (ALWAYS UK version NOT U.S!), the Beach Boy's Pet Sounds, the Kinks Face To Face and Bob Dylan's Blonde On Blonde double album and hit 45's from the Motown stable of artists was truly ground breaking for making new electronic sounds never previously heard.

Does this replace all other versions? Probably not as the mono still has its magic and collectors always like different versions but this is easier as a stereo version on the ear especially on headphones.

Let's see what can be done to Rubber Soul which I much prefer in mono.

Teenbeat XXXI - Rumours

 This week as I mentally try to put aside all the negativity following the whole Mofi scandal and related issues of just what other secrets are being hid from audio fans I'm doing a short piece on a welcome issue

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours has seemed to of had a life of its own overshadowing almost of of their recorded output from release in 1977 with a number of record reissues plus tape and cds.

In more recent years one track that was recorded for it but taken off due to concerns around side length, Silver Springs has been restored, closing out now what was the first side.

This album does contain some of the bands best songs such as Don't Stop, Songbird and Go Your Own Way which remain popular on radio even today and the great tune that is The Chase.

The current trend in vinyl releases is that of the twin disc 45 rpm cut much like a UK twelve inch single in someways allowing for higher cutting levels and cleaner tracking at the expense obviously of having to get up to change sides more frequently.

That and some issues around pressing faults on one that did appeal lead me down the path of buying this Japanese Warner Bros super audio cd which has been very well mastered using sources prepared by Bob Ludwig in the states including a surround sound mix for those with suitable players.

It also has a regular cd layer for copying onto portable digital players or using traditional cd equipment, sounding fantastic.

Judy Garland in stereo

 As one listens to the fruits of last weeks mauling behind the rack with where the stereo component system lies here's a disc with a difference read to load into the cd/sacd player.

One film remains a firm favourite over the years and that's The Wizard of Oz and the songs from it.

Recently a new cd came out by the young woman who stole the hearts of many with her performance of Over The Rainbow in it, Judy Garland.

All her great hits spanning four decades are one this new disc: "Over the Rainbow" (2 versions), “The Trolley Song,” “Get Happy,” “For Me and My Gal,” “By Myself,” “April Showers,” “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby,” “Ol’ Man River” and many more, including stereo duets with Barbra Streisand and Gene Kelly.

By using modern techniques of digital extraction it's now possible to create new stereo sound-stages from those old mono recordings we loved to hear.

 This truly fresh approach reinvents her studio tracks, as well as TV and film performances adding to our appreciation of her timeless performances.

Eldorado

 

Eldorado (subtitled A Symphony by the Electric Light Orchestra) was the fourth album issued by the Electric Light Orchestra in October of 1974 in the UK and their first to use an orchestra conducted by Louis Clark as part of the groups sound.

It is about a Walter-Mitty character who journeys into fantasy worlds through dreams in his attempt to escape the mundane reality of his life.

The recording features Peter Forbes-Robinson who acts as the narrator. 

It was the home of the singles Illusions in G Major and Can't Get It Out Of My Head, a hit from early 1975.

In March of 2022 a newly remastered version was issued by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs of Chicago, Illinois from the original analogue master tapes that brings more detail and depth to the sound although some parts reveal the squashed sound Jeff Lynne was going for in producing it .

It was issued as a one step 45 rpm album and also on super audio cd which is what I brought that shows improvements when played on my player although it has a regular cd layer

Teenbeat XXVI - the J Geils Band

This is a rewind production, from the days I discovered this Boston, M.A. R&B group so we're pressing play today.

Way back in 1982 I tended to buy 7 inch singles and one I bought was Centerfold by the J Geils Band and that lead to me buying the cassette of the album it was from which included Flame Thrower that I played rather a lot at the time.

While the inserts remain good, sadly the black rubber pad that holds the tape against the players heads has decayed to a sticky mess which is a common problem on EMI tapes from the late 70's onward where they removed the metal supported spring pad for a block of foam.
 
I managed to get hold of the well regarded British BGO label cd from 1993 of this album recently which sounds just great.

Also in that series was Love Stinks, the 1980 release that include the U.S. hit single Just Can't Wait apart from the title track.

Back in early 1987 I joined a compact disc library that allowed you try discs first for seven days and if you liked them you'd send payment and get the cd case and booklet to keep it and this was one title I tried and copied on a TDK tape cos I thought even then it wasn't a generous retrospective of this bands EMI America era recordings.

Sadly that tape left the building some years back but I was able to get very cheaply the original US cd for some tracks I don't otherwise have in my collection.

Kool and the gang 1979-1985

We enter a new month, see some changes around what we can do (and how)  and a few things have arrived here.

The music of Kool and the Gang goes back quite  along time, actually to the dawn of the 1970's  but as flavours changed, the group itself did coming up with a smooth soul and funk style that was extremely popular until again in the late 1980's a mix of more electronic instrumentation and the influence of HipHop moved what had become dubbed "R&B" along a very different line.

This is  a set that across three discs takes six albums from 1979 through 1985 all of which had major hit singles in either the US or the UK that many regard as some of the must enduring of the era.

Songs like 1979's Ladies Night as covered by Atomic Kitten, Celebration, Get Down On It, Big Fun, Joanna, Fresh and Cherish are all songs featured in this collection together with minor singles and deep cuts.

It comes with a booklet that carries the original album credits and adds background information on the group and each albums history in a single slim package.

For the £13.99 I paid for this Beat Goes On set, that was quite a bargain.

The Beatles Live and on the BBC

We're officially into the new year so we'll start from the end of last year where in the years since 2009, that's near enough ten years the Beatles on CD  as a collection has been reset from the early days of February 1987 when the very first Beatles cds came out some of which were rather 'meh' but they were all we had to the 2004 and Spring 2006 1964 and 1965 Capitol albums set allowed  a high proportion of vintage stereo mixes previously missing.

Then in 2009 we had newly mastered UK versions - a box of mono albums and singles the way they were meant to be heard and a complete set of stereo versions which generally added something  to the sound quality even if two stereo discs could of been better.

That was followed up the 2014 U.S. albums box that restored all the unique Capitol, United Artists and Apple albums in better quality even if four discs in their stereo portions had version flaws some of which I prefer as sound to the 'authorized' 2009 UK stereo catalogue titles for being mastered differently.

That simplified background capsule  takes us to the latest batch of new discs  issued so we'll start with one I remember from Christmas 1977 very well.

 

 In May of 1977 three sets of recordings from the Beatles historic concerts at Los Angeles's Hollywood Bowl in 1964 and 1965 used for classical and light popular performances  were issued after being copied from original three track tape were filtered, equalized and edited to a single lp.
That edition illustrated is the UK one as the tickets on the North American were Green and Red and the Text was embossed on the jacket.
This album "The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl" came out in a period where there was much clamour for a Beatles Reunion but also far enough away for children of that generation to have missed what it 'felt' like just twelve years before and sold very well.
It was played all Xmas 1977.
For reasons best kept to themselves, the surviving Beatles and the Estates of John Lennon and George Harrison refused to allow this out on cd with many of us buying unauthorized versions when as by the early 1990's the lp and tape versions were allowed to become unavailable as new items.

With the movie documentary  Eight Day's a Week  looking at their touring years released in 2016 they kind of relented and allowed out it with entitled "The Beatles Live at The Hollywood Bowl" in that year which used fresh copies of the originals and the use of newer technologies to rein in the eternal screams of 17,000 young mainly female lungs and bring the band more to centre of the performances where the original was always on the edge of drowning in those piercing screams.
It also had four bonus tracks added and does sound better but the cover is simply awful.

 After issuing in 1987 all the UK studio albums, two compilations of singles with oddities and the Iconic Red and Blue double compilation albums on cd, Apple issued a very different disc in 1994.
From 1962 through 1965 the Beatles had  performed for a series of Radio Shows that were in those early days the best means of getting exposure and in 1988 "The Beeb's Lost beatles Tapes" was aired which i recorded back then on open reel tape.
Many of these were studio quality recordings made on stages from the archives but a few because tapes were either lost or reused back then came from mid-fi AM mono broadcasts made on inexpensive domestic tape recorders.
It was a selection of these historic recordings that had a good proportion of songs not issued commercially that came out in 1994 as "Live at the BBC" which was a 2 cd set.
Fast forward to 2013 and it was felt the good results in transferring these recordings to digital could be improved on using new techniques and this new edition is the one I had at Christmas this year.

In 1995 a EP entitled "Baby It's You" from the song was issued on record, cd and tape which was the form in bought it with three songs not in that "Live at the BBC" album and that was abit it.
In 2013 as part of the work on re-mastering the set it was decided to issue another containing these missing recordings plus many others complete with a series of four spoken word profiles from the Mid Sixties on each band member which hearing now strike me as very good indicators of how each of them understood themselves and how even then they were finding themselves as individuals.

For as far as I am personally concerned  not being so interested in remixes and outtakes from albums, this marks the conclusion both issuing the Beatles UK and US catalogue on cd in high quality form taking in two classic compilations, the Live album and two double cds of vintage radio performances.

Classical sacd round up part 4 - the Beethoven edition

As readers are aware I bought last year a Super Audio cd player that plays those discs in addition to regular cds and I have been buying a number to add to my classical cd collection that goes back to the early days of cd.
Beethoven is a major composer and so a set on super audio cd of his symphonies was something I had been looking for.

This set is one I am familiar with as it was issued for the first time on cd in 1991 and I bought it in early 1992 during one lunch break putting it out of harms way until I got home
If you look the sticker indicates like most for Europe discs, it has a ordinary layer and the super audio cd layer on the one side so it can be played on practically any player

 There are six super audio cds in the set with two symphonies per disc on four and a bonus disc that has some thirty minutes of rehearsals for the Ninth

As you can see although this is called a box set apart from that bonus disc really all you get is a short booklet outlining the history of Herbert von Karajan's Beethoven symphonies recordings for DG is a slip case as the discs are otherwise identical to the originally released individual ones and just fit in.
There's no attempt to put them in as the 1991 mauve cd box set into space saving multi cd cases or of the use of card or paper sleeves.
The recordings date from 1961 through 1962 and were issued in early 1963 on stereo lp records and was the first stereophonic series issued by DG.
One reason I bought this is I am less taken to the combination of the use of replica original instruments  the sounds some of which I'm not keen on and of the tendency to play it faster and often less consideration than traditionally had been the case which is very much the current flavour in performed and recorded  classical music.
In general I would say these remain amongst the most consistent sets of Beethoven symphonies recorded with the Ninth being one of the finest I've ever heard for the singing of the Ode To Joy with only the Sixth, the Pastoral a little fast in playing although I feel it does hold together well even if it is different to most.
The recording quality for the period is very high and unlike a good number of modern recordings where lots of microphones are used and fed to multi-channel recorders before being mixed, this was done with simple stereo pair with just the odd 'spot mic' to aid the odd section of the orchestra which captures the scale of performance better in my opinion.

To go with this set, I needed some Overtures that traditionally were added to the lp record versions and so I bought this modern set played by the Bremen Chamber Orchestra that also has a multichannel sound layer as well as stereo.

 Around the mid 1990's the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra began a project of recording a collection of central classical repertoire at low cost enabling people to build a useful self contained collection that would aid musical appreciation.
At the time they were issued in conjunction with Tring records on regular cds a good number being well worth owning which I bought at the time but they were recorded at better than regular cd quality using the dsd technology used by super audio cds and briefly issued on sacd in association with Membran Records.
One of the discoveries of that era was the Manchester, England born pianist Ronan O'Hora and he recorded a superb account of Beethoven's Violin Sonatas 5 "Spring" and 9 "Krutzer"  with the violinist Jonathan Carney. It sounds really smooth .
That title was one re-issued on sacd around 2005 which I recently bought  to join my increasing number of classical recordings in this format.
When it comes to recordings of Beethoven' piano works I'm generally in the camp that prefers Wilhelm Kempffs recordings including his 1965 stereo piano concerto cycle but these have not been issued on sacd for North America and Euope. Indeed titles from Deutsche  Grammophon usually only show up as very limited releases in Japan with large price tags.

 One recording I did like of the Fifth piano Concerto growing up was Christoph Eschenbach's 1973 account with the Boston Symphony Orchestra which was recorded in four channel ("Quad") multichannel sound too  for DG and issued in late 2014 by PentaTone on sacd coupled with an account of the Third with the London Symphony Orchestra.
I decided to add this issue to my selection of Super Audio cds by this most important composer.

Classical sacd round up part two

It's almost the end of the month so I thought I'd post an update on my collection of classical music Super Audio cds which all can be played on regular cd players too.

 
One thing you have to recognize is because the format is so much capable of more natural sound doesn't mean you'll ditch any or all your existing recordings as there always two elements involved: the performance and the sound.

 
Ever since the days of the lp record that elusive balance of the two is what as collectors of recordings we've looking for and there exists from those early mono taped performances from the early nineteen-fifties to the turn of this decade many excellent performances that may not be on sacd and some where for technical reasons they may be little point in issuing them.

 
This said there are increasing numbers of  excellent recordings from the analogue tape era being freshly mastered and new recordings critically acclaimed so you may be able to 'upgrade' which is where we start.

For a good while I had been looking for a great fairly modern recording of Bartok's ground breaking Concerto For Orchestra which I remember well as a handed down Mercury mono lp record when I was in my early teens where I spied this.

 
It's reissue of the original Quadraphonic (surround sound) lps from the Deutsche Grammophon catalogue of the nineteen-seventies that only got issued in Japan but whose stereo mixes were issued in North America and Europe that were much admired.

 Arriving only toward the end of last week is a acclaimed recording of Schubert's String Quintet in C Major D 956 from 2011 by the much loved Tokyo String Quartet who have performed in North America and Europe.

Schubert's "The Trout" quintet has been a favourite of mine for a long while and recently I bought this excellent modern recording which will go with my regular cd sets of string quartets and symphonies by him.

This one can be filed under 'filling a hole' as in the years of building my classical music collection I hadn't gotten around to getting a complete set of Beethoven's String Quartets and this set of recordings from 2005 through 2008 is one of the best recorded.
I was able to get this 8 sacd set in stone mint condition used for half the regular price which made it quite bargain.

Mozart and I got back a long time, to the period I often borrowed pre-recorded tapes from the municipal library and most of my Mozart colection goes back to around 1991 on cd buying the many discs in the Mozart Masterpieces set.

 
Included in that was the debut recording of a then 14 year old Anne-Sophie Mutter with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with its then larger than life conductor, Herbert von Karajan of the 3rd and 5th Violin Concertos to which I had added two slightly later recordings on EMI by her of numbers 1, 2 and 4.

 
This set recorded in 2011 by PentaTone records is widely regarded as one of the finest coming with the very best sound available and even features a dvd where you see Julia rehearsing.

Classical sacd round up

You may remember last month I bought and installed the Super Audio cd player that also plays regular cds but wondered about having the discs to play on as if you don't stream or download a lot of your music, the chances are you just have regular cds.
When it comes to older pop and rock titles actually I have a good number because they were issued by companies that specialize in making the best possible sounding editions and many of theirs are of the sort that have a layer for super audio cd players and another for regular cd players so buying them is like buying those dual dvd and blu ray editions in that they allow you to move over from the original format to a better quality one at your convenience .
Until a few months back I hadn't any classical music Super Audio cds, usually buying the High Definition Naxos downloads as they don't make sacd's instead and playing them over my stereo but I was keen to get a few not least cos there just is something in holding a disc in your hand.

I do openly admit to enjoying classical music and had music appreciation classes at my boarding school and one composer I do like is Ravel.
This double sacd recorded in 1994 is quite valuable for having a wide selection of his works such as the Mother Goose Suite and Bolero on it, exceptionally well performed by the late Pierre Boulez and the Berlin Philharmonic in both stereo and also surround sound for those who have player that can output it. The reproduction is simply outstanding.
An enterprising company has lead the way releasing classical super audio cd's is Pentatone Records which as the name suggests are interested a lot in surround sound discs too as the sacd format often allows space for both stereo and multichannel versions.
They have been doing for a period reissues of recordings from the 1970's and early 1980's  from the Philips and Deutsche Grammophon catalogues in this form and it is fair to say I loved the recordings usually on Deutsche Grammophon made by the Boston Symphony Orchestra during that era often having the record or cassette versions.

 While I make no bones about my preferred version on cd of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring being the Claudio Abbado recording conducting the London Symphony Orchestra coupled with a good version of the Firebird suite, this recording from 1972 has an opulence that is lacking in that cd with fuller sounding transfer of the analogue tapes.
The rendition of the "King of the Stars" which is the second piece (I'm used to the French titles but am using English to aid accessibility) is exquisite in its choral moments sang by the Men's chorus of  the New England Conservatory choir.  It replicates the original lp but like most of their discs can be had for around £9 to £10 is good value for money.
In 1974, Seija Ozawa recorded a four lp set of the entire Ravel orchestral output, later issued as a three cd set which doesn't quite equal the sound on record in 1993, but Pentatone have issued a new stereo/quadrophonic transfer of just over one and half lps worth of that original set sounding much more fuller and open that takes in Le tombeau de Couperin, Menuet antique and Valse nobels et sentimentale which runs to about 76 minutes.
As a fan of the originals-they were my introduction to Ravel as a child- theses sound just fantastic in their new Super Audio cd form.
I also got a disc performed by the Boston Symphony Chamber Players of three Debussy's Sonata's which was the first Quadraphonic (four channel surround sound) recording Deutsche Grammophon made which remains a first class performance.

 I was very taken with this work by Berlioz around the age of 12 and 13 which my therapist discussed with me while I was under him at the time and so finding a really good version that matches a need for 'hifi' (wide difference between loud and soft sounds, good reproduction of low and high frequencies) and the ability on the part of the performers to summon up the darkness of the Witches Sabbath with its shrieking torment of the artist in death has been a life long challenge having gotten through many a version.
This recording from 1974 was a favourite of mine but the cd versions sounded muddy until Pentatone mastered this direct from the original tapes and managed to restore the very wide dynamic range and inner clarity that easily makes this the best overall bet with its rich atmospheric feel.
I suspect this will be the last version I'll  buy.

Teenbeat XXVII-The return of the Piano Man

The last time in the evergreen "teenbeat" series of posts I looked at the hugely respected singer-songwriter Billy Joel was in August Second, Twenty-fifteen with the specialist re-issue of his Streetlight Serenade album in part five of a series of posts around his music.

In September second Nineteen eighty-five, the first compilation of his many hits was issued on record, tape plus slightly later as it was CBS/Columbia on compact disc as they were late getting into cd and it was well conceived.

First off this it was planned as double lp and double play tape because it would of been hard to have fitted every single hit into a single album even though on the first issue they used mainly singles edits which was changed with the Nineteen ninety-eight remaster to album versions.

By this point the album was only available on tape possibly MiniDisc and cd and with these formats disc or tape side lengths are less of an issue than lp record sides.

They also had the sense to program it chronologically, so you saw how he developed  from Cold Spring Harbour to An Innocent Man lyrically and stylistically rounded it off with a series of special recordings just for the album.

 Over the last few years the specialist cd and record company Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory of Illinois, U.S.A., have been re-issuing his recordings from the original master tapes rather than copies using high quality equipment to get the very best sound of his best loved albums on record and also on Super Audio CD and after quite a delay from advertising their intentions to tackle this compilation finally it emerged late July Twenty-seventeen. 

Inside the slipcase the disc itself is sandwiched in a Mini lp gatefold sleeve that my plushies are reading!

Also in the slipcase comes a song book with all the words to featured songs in order of appearance on high quality paper which is a lovely touch and one that was unexpected by many of us who buy these discs.

The disc features the singles mix of Tell Her About It, You're Only Human (Second Wind),The Night Is Still Young issued as singles in nineteen eighty-five and a version with re-recorded sax of New York State Of Mind.

The remastering which is unique was done by Shawn R Britton and is exceptional for the depth and atmosphere he's managed to get from those recordings  making this version of the classic double album most worthwhile.

 
Technically this is a hybrid Super Audio cd (sacd) with a thin top layer for playing in super audio cd players like my new one for improved fidelity and a second layer for regular cd reproduction or copying to a portable music player and so is 99.9% compatible with all players.

Previous posts:
Part one - The Piano Man and Turnstiles
Part two - 52nd Street, Glass Houses and The Nylon Curtain 
Part three - An Innocent Man 
Part four - Songs In The Attic 
Part five - Streetlight Serenade

Teenbeat XXVI -Four wheel drive

Now for one after the twenty-fifth numbered edition of teenbeat, the series that looks at music that in someway is connected to my past we go back to the Great White North home of decent winters and unfailing  politeness.

The establishment internationally of Canadian artists until the late nineteen-sixties was very much a hit and miss affair not least for being a smaller country it was seen as market for American and British talent with the recording industry geared more around the manufacture and marketing of those acts for their bigger UK and US owners until beatle money from the likes of Capitol Canada filtered down and labels had artists and repertoire looking inward at promoting homegrown talent.
Amongst the first were Edward Bear and the Guess Who both of which achieved great sales and respect not just back in North America but around the world. The Guess Who having a huge hit with  American Woman disbanded in early seventies featured Randy Bachman from which after the abortive attempt at making a fresh start as Brave Belt lead on to the formation of Bachman Turner Overdrive who specialized in blues based hard rock.
The outfit comprising at launch of Randy Bachman on lead guitar, Fred Turner on bass, both sharing lead vocal duties coupled with Robbie Bachman on drums with Tim Bachman on guitar and drums all hailed from Winnipeg, Manitoba issuing two albums before Tim Bachman was replaced by Blair Thornton for guitars between nineteen seventy-four through seventy-seven.
It was that line up rather than the later ones that made there impression on me glued as ever as a sickly disabled kid with such  hit 45's as Blue Collar,Let It Ride, Takin' Care of Business, the breakout You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet in seventy-four, Hey You and Take It Like  Man blasting out of the radio when bed bound.
The impression you might get today from oldies radio is they were just about hit hard rock 45's  but actually as someone who does own many of their albums on original vinyl, they did produce coherent musically interesting albums of which probably the best is Not Fragile which sold by the cartload back then too.

Last year the North American specialist re-issue company Caroline issued a box set of eight original albums including the less popular Street Action and Rock and Roll Nights albums of the late nineteen-seventies of which the latter saw British Columbian songwriter Jim Vallance contribute songs of which one Rock And Roll Hell was covered by American metal stars Kiss on their Creatures OF The Night Album in nineteen eighty-two.
So there's a reason to have those two albums.

When you open out the box, what you get is the booklet which gives a short history of the band and those eight original albums in cd form freshly remastered by Andy Pierce in the UK.
There's no truth in the rumour here Catgirl Enterprises LLC photography dept was going for the ISO 1600 retro effect on that shot (lol)!

The booklet includes full colour photography including live shots of the band many of which were used originally for those albums that were issued in gatefold sleeves. Note too how the bands logo features the Maple Leaf.

Unlike some UK reissues in recent years, each album is issued as a separate compact disc reproducing its original front and rear lp album art shown going left to right from seventy-nine's Rock and Roll Nights to the album that started it all, Bachman Turner Overdrive from seventy-three.
Unfortunately as with a number of these sets they have dispensed with an inner sleeve so you need to carefully prise open the edge to get the disc out to avoid marking it which is a pity given the print quality is respectable.
The last two albums are otherwise unable new and very expensive used in cd form and the others were until several years ago where between England's BGO and Lemon/Rock Candy  records the first six were too.
Personally I prefer the feel of this set which plays a big part in the whole tactile memories of handling the albums and forty-fives I had while the material is amongst some of the fines blues hard rock ever recorded with fine musicianship.
For around GBP £30 I feel this is a great introduction to a very interesting band and probably serves people better than 1993's out of print Anthology two cd set on Mercury/Universal Music.

Teenbeat: The Bruce Springsteen Albums Collection

Sometimes after a while you finally get it together with a plan  and in order to make some sense of how it applies in this instance,  it's necessary to look at the history of Bruce Springsteen's music here as part of it because it was the early 80's that I  started to buy his albums out right starting originally with the pre-recorded tapes of Born To Run, The River and Born In The USA and then as my record playing equipment improved lp records of Darkness On The Edge Of Town and Tunnel Of Love.
By the time he'd released the misunderstood  Human Touch and Lucky Town albums in early 1992 that I bought on cd, I had decided to standardize on cd and replace my worn tapes at the same time.
Those cds were assembled mainly from tapes in the late 1980's and those editions until three years despite upgrades on the packaging still had that source which was thin and indistinct.

That is where this seven cd set comes in because a new process (Plangent) to restore unclear recordings  and pitch imperfections was used on the actual master tapes has been used throughout  plus they have been issued in mini lp  form.
This simply means they come in card sleeves that replicate the original lps so on Greetings from Astbury Park, N.J, it has a postcard folded over the jacket and Born To Run has a gatefold sleeve together with replica inner sleeves to house the cd(s) which where appropriate have specific art and the inserts.
Other nice touches to the set are reproductions of the lp labels on the discs themselves which does build on the tactileness of the whole set.
Having listened to the set extensively, they do sound a lot better with the first two albums (Greetings from Astbury, N.J and The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle) much clearer and even the at times glary mess sonically that is The River is tamed with a number of tracks gaining better depth, more clearer sense of individual instruments and heck even some bass which is nice as that album is a all time favourite of mine for the songwriting. 
As well the much played - over played on radio at the time - Born In The U.S.A.  has better defined bass and more shimmer on the cymbals especially on tracks such as Darlington County.
Original this set was a bit expensive on release November 17th  2014 and the booklet that comes with it isn't really needed being just reproductions of posters, reviews and photographs rather than a history of Bruce and these albums so I was on the edge over buying.
Fortunately I was able track it down to just under  £30 delivered which certainly fitted my budget for replacing all seven. Recommended.

 Albums Featured:
Greetings From Astbury, New Jersey (1973)
The Wild, The Innocent and E Street  Shuffle (Nov 1973)
Born To Run (1975)
Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978)
The River (Nov 1980)
Nebraska (Sept 1982)
Born In The U.S.A. (June 1984)

Essential later albums:
Tunnel Of Love
Human Touch
Lucky Town
These three albums mark the more domestic and personal side of Bruce Springsteen's writing reflecting on his life and the birth of his child.

The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Centred around the Steinbeck character Tom Joad he  explores the hardships of mid nineties Mid West and also of Mexico, this marked the return to very acoustic, folk feel set after the electric density of much of Born In The U.S.A.

Teen Beat XXV - The Rolling Stones in Mono

First off in this strange age of social media I've gained an extra follower on the blog itself so thank you as I launch the twenty-fifth edition of "Teenbeat".
Many years ago when I had an active 'Big' blog I wrote a substantial entry around the longstanding British rock band, the Rolling Stones and my recordings by them and on September 30th, a 15 cd box set of their recordings was issued.

Basically the box set covers what I'd call the Decca or (for us North Americans), the London Years where from 1963 through 1970, they recorded for Decca records of Great Britain but with a twist as this set only comprises of individual albums of studio recordings that were issued in monophonic sound.
Unlike the Beatles to whom only about five recordings were only available in mono and to whom there are mono and stereo sets of everything except the last two studio albums, it's fair to say most of the pre 1966 Rolling Stones songs are only in mono and they appeared as recent as 2002 in generally good remastered cds and a few records from the same sources. It's also important to note a good number of those 1964/5 tracks that were only mixed in stereo such as 2120 South Michigan Avenue were simply 'folded in' for the mono editions so you're not hearing different outside of the sound all now coming from the centre of your speakers on these discs.
This means there is quite a bit of duplication between those cd  issues and these new cds.

 The discs are fitted so you remove from from the top with what I'd regard as a silly magnetic catch and at the front there is a booklet with a short write up of the the groups history and pictures.
It tells you nothing about the recording history of the groups albums such as the dates, studios used when originally issued and catalogue numbers or even which albums are featured that I feel is quite an oversight.

 The albums appear in mini lp form which I favour but lack some of the individual touches such as 'fold backs' on the UK titles, period mock inner sleeves and in the instance of Let It Bleed, the poster that was included in all copies of the album. At cost the Japanese issue features all of that and more!

The European edition has see through plastic inner sleeves and plastic resealable outside sleeve jackets to protect them. This inexplicably was been missed of the North American edition which has the discs spine face down in the box so they can easily get scratched where at least the european has them slotted with the spines to the left hand side of the box
Like most sixties groups their UK and US discographies difference greatly but unlike that of the beatles they were compiled by the bands own producer for US consumption leading of itself to duplication.
To simplify, it includes the following US titles also released back in Canada on London records:
12x5, The Rolling Stones, Now, Out Of Our Heads, December's Children (and everybody's), Aftermath and Flowers plus all of the UK titles.
This means that for the first time since 1995 their first UK album is actually available here in the UK in it's original form and for the first time outside Japan, the second album is finally issued on cd, something as a person who chose back home to collect the UK versions I'm kinda delighted about.

That's the first UK album - note unlike the Beatles in 1964 it wasn't deemed necessary have the bands name on it - where next to it the London 12x5 album of July 1964 that did!
Talking of sleeves for some inexplicable reason 1968's Beggars Banquet album which only has one special mono mix on it of - Sympathy For The Devil - uses the 1984 'toilet' cover rather than the R.S.V.P. scripted one originals had. The band may of wanted that at the time as the cover but it wasn't what was issued so in many ways it kinda jars with whole notion being a facsimile of the original lp issue.
The inclusion of the American edition on London of 1966's milestone Aftermath album seems odd given they removed two other US editions and that only what is seen from a  UK vantage point of the inclusion of Paint it, black, a 1966 single and opening track is only what separates it from the UK edition as just ten of the UK versions fourteen were used with no differences in versions.
I say that because they compiled a special compilation album called Stray Cats for this set that houses other mono only tracks such as 45's or tracks from UK extended play releases not on these albums where there is space for it and where it would make more sense to have included it next to it's 'b' side. 
A number of tracks were re-transferred and others had some processing done in 2002 for initial super audio cd release removed and these do actually sound better as in more 'open' and analogue sounding.
Outside of that and the reappearance of the first two UK albums, the main plus of this set is getting the dedicated mono mixes unavailable since the late 1960's of their Aftermath, Between The Buttons and Their Satanic  Majesties Request albums that suffered from that extreme left, right so-called 'stereo' popular back then and in any event was often less of a priority than the more commonplace in the home mono. The amount of time spent varied where separate mixes were made made in four hours or less in stereo compared to days on the mono with less care about how loud any one part of mix was in stereo compared to the mono.
Personally I feel those mono mixes offer more of a sense of the performance everyone including the bands own members wanted us to hear and be judged on, sounding better balanced to my ears.
The inclusion of a completely folded  from stereo into mono Let It Bleed album, an album that is one of their very best ever is puzzling as while it was issued briefly in 1969 in this form in the UK, it was soon gone and sounds no different than playing a current version on cd with the mono button engaged. I'd of issued the stereo version with a period cd logo in mini lp form in stereo complete with replica dedicated inner sleeve and poster as a bonus as that would be of more value, making the set a good mainly mono way into the 1960's Rolling Stones recordings.
To summarize, the box set performs a valuable function in presenting the whole of the studio recordings of the Rolling Stones in mono in single spot very well transferred although the execution on the artwork and some choices on the contents could of been better given more thought and general attention to detail.