Blood, Sweat And Tears – Greatest Hits (1972) [Audio Fidelity 2016] [SACD / Audio Fidelity – AFZ 241]

Blood, Sweat And Tears - Greatest Hits (1972) [Audio Fidelity 2016]

Title: Blood, Sweat And Tears – Greatest Hits (1972) [Audio Fidelity 2016]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Sometimes, a greatest-hits set is timed perfectly to gather together a group’s most successful and familiar performances just at the point when that group has passed the point of their maximum exposure to the public, but before the public memory has had a chance to fade. That was the case when Columbia Records assembled this compilation for release in early 1972. At that point, Blood, Sweat & Tears had released four albums and scored six Top 40 hits, each of which is heard here. But lead singer David Clayton-Thomas had just quit the group, so that the unit that recorded songs like “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” was not working together anymore. And even when Clayton-Thomas returned, the band would continue to decline commercially. As such, BS&T’s Greatest Hits captures the band’s peak in 11 selections–seven singles chart entries, plus two album tracks from the celebrated debut album when Al Kooper helmed the group, and two more from the Grammy-winning multi-platinum second album. Using the short singles edits of songs like “And When I Die” emphasizes their radio-ready punch over the more extended suitelike arrangements on the albums, but this selection gains in focus what it lacks in ambition. For the millions who learned to love BS&T in 1969 when they were all over AM radio, this is the ideal selection of their most accessible material.

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2 min read

Björk – Vespertine (2001) [SACD Reissue 2004] [SACD / Polydor – 0602498159071]

Björk - Vespertine (2001) [SACD Reissue 2004]

Title: Björk – Vespertine (2001) [SACD Reissue 2004]
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Vespertine is the fifth studio album by the Icelandic recording artist Björk. On this album, Björk creates a quiet, introverted world of microbeats and personal lyrics. On the cover she can be seen wearing the swan dress (designed by Marjan Pejoski) that caused a stir at the 2001 Academy Awards.
After cathartic statements like Homogenic, the role of Selma in Dancer in the Dark, and the film’s somber companion piece, Selmasongs, it’s not surprising that Björk’s first album in four years is less emotionally wrenching. But Vespertine isn’t so much a departure from her previous work as a culmination of the musical distance she’s traveled; within songs like the subtly sensual “Hidden Place” and “Undo” are traces of Debut and Post’s gentle loveliness, as well as Homogenic and Selmasongs’ reflective, searching moments. Described by Björk as “about being on your own in your house with your laptop and whispering for a year and just writing a very peaceful song that tiptoes,” Vespertine’s vocals seldom rise above a whisper, the rhythms mimic heartbeats and breathing, and a pristine, music-box delicacy unites the album into a deceptively fragile, hypnotic whole. Even relatively immediate, accessible songs such as “It’s Not Up to You,” “Pagan Poetry,” and “Unison” share a spacious serenity with the album’s quietest moments. Indeed, the most intimate songs are among the most varied, from the seductively alien “Cocoon” to the dark, obsessive “An Echo, A Stain” to the fairy tale-like instrumental “Frosti.” The beauty of Vespertine’s subtlety may be lost on Björk fans demanding another leap like the one she made between Post and Homogenic, but like the rest of the album, its innovations are intimate and intricate. Collaborators like Matmos — who, along with their own A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure, appear on two of 2001’s best works — contribute appropriately restrained beats crafted from shuffled cards, cracking ice, and the snap-crackle-pop of Rice Krispies; harpist Zeena Parkins’ melodic and rhythmic playing adds to the postmodernly angelic air. An album singing the praises of peace and quiet, Vespertine isn’t merely lovely; it proves that in Björk’s hands, intimacy can be just as compelling as louder emotions.

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3 min read

Björk – Medulla (2004) [Japanese Edition] [SACD / Polydor – UIGP-1001]

Björk - Medulla (2004) [Japanese Edition]

Title: Björk – Medulla (2004) [Japanese Edition]
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Medúlla is the sixth studio album by Icelandic singer, songwriter, and musician Björk. The title derives from the Latin word for “marrow”. The album is almost entirely a cappella and constructed with human vocals. Medúlla received two Grammy Award nominations and reached number one in several record charts.
It’s hard to accuse Björk of making music influenced by commercial or critical expectations at any point in her career, but her post-Homogenic work is even more focused on following her bliss, whether that means acting and singing in Lars Von Trier’s grim musical Dancer in the Dark; crafting tiptoeing laptop lullabies on Vespertine; or, in the case of Medúlla, sculpting an album out of almost nothing but singing and vocal samples. The album’s title and concept refer to the purest essence of something, and Medúlla explores both the ritual power of the human voice and some of the most essential themes of Björk’s music in a way that’s both primal and elaborate. It took a large cast of characters to make the album’s seemingly organic sound, including vocalists ranging from Icelandic and British choirs to Inuit singers to Mike Patton and Robert Wyatt; programmers like Matmos, Mark Bell, and Mark “Spike” Stent; and beatboxers such as Rahzel and the onomatopoeically named Japanese artist Dokaka. Several songs are sung in Icelandic, which works especially well, not only because it ties in with Medúlla’s concept, but also because of the language’s sonic qualities: the rolling Rs, guttural stops, and elongated vowels reflect the alternately chopped and soaring arrangements behind them. Neopaganism and unfettered sensuality also wind through the album, particularly on “Mouth’s Cradle,” along with meditative, Vespertine-like pieces such as “Desired Constellation.” Medúlla is unusually intimate: Björk’s voice is miked very closely, and with the dense layers of vocals surrounding her, it often sounds as if you’re listening to the album from inside her larynx. Some of the heavy breathing, grunts, and ululating woven into the album come close to provoking physical reactions: the eerie sighs and throat singing on the feral “Ancestors” make the chest ache and suggest a particularly melodic pack of wolves. Meanwhile, there’s something simian about Dokaka’s gleeful babbling and beats on “Triumph of a Heart.” Despite its gentler moments, Medúlla’s raw rhythms and rarefied choral washes make it the most challenging work of Björk’s career. “Where Is the Line” is one of her tough, no-nonsense songs, and Rahzel’s hard-hitting beats make it starker than anything on Homogenic. Even relatively accessible songs, like the gone-native loveliness of “Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)” and “Oceania,” which Björk wrote for the 2004 Athens Olympics, have an alien quality that is all the stranger considering that nearly all of their source material is human (except for the odd keyboard or two). Actually, fans of world, contemporary classical, or avant-garde music might find more to appreciate in Medúlla than anyone looking for a “Human Behaviour” or “It’s Oh So Quiet.” It’s not an immediate album, but it is a fascinating one, especially for anyone interested in the world’s oldest instrument being used in unexpected ways.

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4 min read

Bine Bryndorf – Carl Nielsen: The Organ Works (2017) [SACD / Dacapo – 6.220635]

Bine Bryndorf - Carl Nielsen: The Organ Works (2017)

Title: Bine Bryndorf – Carl Nielsen: The Organ Works (2017)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bine Bryndorf is one of the finest organists of our time. On this SACD professor Bine Bryndorf performs Nielsen’s organ works on the ideally suited organ at Nikolaj Kunsthal in Copenhagen, adding a selection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs with baritone Torsten Nielsen. This album is an indispensable introduction to Nielsen’s organ music. This stimulating survey of Carl Nielsen’s organ music, consists of the late-written 29 Little Preludes (1929) interspersed in four groups and Commotio (from a year later). These little and large pieces Commotio lasts over twenty minutes are unmistakably Nielsen in their harmonies and quirks, and the programme as a whole is made various thanks to the contrasting Hymns and Spiritual Songs that find the appropriately named baritone Torsten Nielsen singing (to organ accompaniment) as if gently preaching from a pulpit; it’s a consoling effect. There are a few other shorts, but the big piece, on track 40, is the amazing Commotio, which may be found daunting in its exploration and complexity, but Nielsen’s music is well-worth the effort, and Bine Bryndorf’s championing of it gets a warm embrace. Her musicianship is steadfast, the Copenhagen organ has authenticity on its side, and the recording and presentation are typically excellent of Dacapo.

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2 min read

Billy Squier – Don’t Say No (1981) [Reissue 2018] [SACD / Intervention Records – IR-SCD7]

Billy Squier - Don't Say No (1981) [Reissue 2018]

Title: Billy Squier – Don’t Say No (1981) [Reissue 2018]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Billy Squier was all over the radio and MTV in 1981 with the classic rock anthem The Stroke from his breakthrough and most successful album Don’t Say No. The single was a top 20 hit while the album went top five, sold four million copies in the US and remained on the Billboard chart for over two years. Produced by Queen producer Mack who brought out the best of Squier’s brand of melodic rock.
After turning some heads with his debut, Billy Squier truly arrived with 1981’s Don’t Say No, which kicks off in spectacular fashion with the triple opening salvo of “In the Dark,” “The Stroke,” and “My Kinda Lover” – all of which become staples at rock radio. The album is a near-perfect example of early-’80s melodic hard rock, and even less enduring (but hardly inferior rockers) such as “You Know What I Like” and “Lonely Is the Night” keep up the intensity. And Squier also finds time for the occasional ballad, like the disarmingly gentle “Nobody Knows.” Completists may want to review his mid-’90s double-disc anthology, but as far as studio albums are concerned, Don’t Say No is undoubtedly his best.

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2 min read

Billy Paul – Live In Europe (1974) [Reissue 2018] [SACD / Vocalion – CDSML 8546]

Billy Paul - Live In Europe (1974) [Reissue 2018]

Title: Billy Paul – Live In Europe (1974) [Reissue 2018]
Genre: Soul
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

A really majestic live set from Billy Paul – recorded in the UK at the height of his greatest fame – but in a way that features plenty of longer tracks that really let Billy stretch out and do his thing! Given this expanded setting, there’s a surprisingly righteous feel to most numbers – a sound that continues the groove of Going East and War Of The Gods, and also features a bit more of Paul’s presence as an entertainer on the stage. The album’s a beautiful illustration of the fact that Billy was easily one of the hippest artists working for Philadelphia during the early days – and it offers up some tremendous transformations of the tunes “Thanks For Saving My Life”, “Your Song”, “Me & Mrs. Jones”, “War Of The Gods”, and “Brown Baby”.
Former jazz vocalist Billy Paul found R&B success in the ’70s on Philadelphia International doing a mix of anguished ballads, sophisticated originals, and reworked standards. But Paul was not a great live vocalist either as a jazz or soul singer, something that was evident on this mid-’70s set. No matter how polished or well-rehearsed the backing band, Paul’s flaws couldn’t be covered as smoothly in a concert setting, and they’re revealed along with his strengths – timing, a good delivery, and decent range and interpretative skills.

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2 min read

Billy Joel – The Nylon Curtain (1982) [MFSL 2012] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2093]

Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain (1982) [MFSL 2012]

Title: Billy Joel – The Nylon Curtain (1982) [MFSL 2012]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Billy Joel hit back as hard as he could with Glass Houses, his bid to prove that he could rock as hard as any of those new wave punks. He might not have proven himself a punk — for all of his claims of being a hard rocker, his work inevitably is pop because of his fondness for melody — but he proved to himself that he could still rock, even if the critics didn’t give him any credit for it. It was now time to mature, to move pop/rock into the middle age and, in the process, earn critical respect. In short, The Nylon Curtain is where Billy Joel went serious, consciously crafting a song cycle about Baby Boomers in the Reagan era. Since this was an album about Baby Boomers, he chose to base his music almost entirely on the Beatles, the pivotal rock band for his generation. Joel is naturally inclined to write big melodies like McCartney, but he idolizes Lennon, which makes The Nylon Curtain a fascinating cross between ear candy and social commentary. His desire to record a grand concept album is admirable, but his ever-present lyrical shortcomings mean that the songs paint a picture without arriving at any insights. He occasionally gets lost in his own ambition, as on the waterlogged second side, but the first half of the song suite — “Allentown,” “Laura,” “Pressure,” “Goodnight Saigon,” “She’s Right on Time” — is layered, successful, mature pop that brings Joel tantalizingly close to his ultimate goal of sophisticated pop/rock for mature audiences.

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2 min read

Billy Joel – Glass Houses (1980) [MFSL 2012] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2091]

Billy Joel - Glass Houses (1980) [MFSL 2012]

Title: Billy Joel – Glass Houses (1980) [MFSL 2012]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

The back-to-back success of The Stranger and 52nd Street may have brought Billy Joel fame and fortune, even a certain amount of self-satisfaction, but it didn’t bring him critical respect, and it didn’t dull his anger. If anything, being classified as a mainstream rocker — a soft rocker — infuriated him, especially since a generation of punks and new wave kids were getting the praise that eluded him. He didn’t take this lying down — he recorded Glass Houses. Comparatively a harder-rocking album than either of its predecessors, with a distinctly bitter edge, Glass Houses still displays the hallmarks of Billy Joel the pop craftsman and Phil Ramone the world-class hitmaker. Even its hardest songs — the terrifically paranoid “Sometimes a Fantasy,” “Sleepin’ With the Television On,” “Close to the Borderline,” the hit “You May Be Right” — have bold, direct melodies and clean arrangements, ideal for radio play. Instead of turning out to be a fiery rebuttal to his detractors, the album is a remarkable catalog of contemporary pop styles, from McCartney-esque whimsy (“Don’t Ask Me Why”) and arena rock (“All for Leyna”) to soft rock (“C’etait Toi [You Were the One]”) and stylish new wave pop (“It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” which ironically is closer to new wave pop than rock). That’s not a detriment; that’s the album’s strength. The Stranger and 52nd Street were fine albums in their own right, but it’s nice to hear Joel scale back his showman tendencies and deliver a solid pop/rock record. It may not be punk — then again, it may be his concept of punk — but Glass Houses is the closest Joel ever got to a pure rock album.

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2 min read

Billy Joel – Turnstiles (1976) [MFSL 2010] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2063]

Billy Joel - Turnstiles (1976) [MFSL 2010]

Title: Billy Joel – Turnstiles (1976) [MFSL 2010]
Genre: Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Turnstiles is Billy Joel’s fourth studio album, originally released in May of 1976. The platinum album was written for Joel’s return to New York City after residing in California. Originally recorded under producer James William Guercio with individuals playing from Elton John’s band, the record did not satisfy Joel and he took it upon himself to produce his own alternative version. He rerecorded the album in New York with his own touring band, marking the first time they appeared in one of his albums. Turnstiles features hits “New York State of Mind”, “Say Goodbye to Hollywood”, and “James”.
There’s a reason Turnstiles begins with the Spector-esque epic “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.” Shortly after Streetlife Serenade, Joel ditched California – and, by implication, sensitive Californian soft rock from sensitive singer/songwriters – for his hometown of New York. “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” was a celebration of his move, a repudiation of his past, a fanfare for a new beginning, which is exactly what Turnstiles was. He still was a singer/songwriter – indeed, “Summer, Highland Falls” was his best ballad to date, possibly his best ever – but he decided to run with his musical talents, turning the record into a whirlwind tour of pop styles, from Sinatra to Springsteen. There’s little question that the cinematic sprawl of Born to Run had an effect on Turnstiles, since it has a similar widescreen feel, even if it clocks in at only eight songs. The key to the record’s success is variety, the way the album whips from the bouncy, McCartney-esque “All You Wanna Do Is Dance” to the saloon song “New York State of Mind”; the way the bitterly cynical “Angry Young Man” gives way to the beautiful “I’ve Loved These Days” and the surrealistic apocalyptic fantasy “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway).” No matter how much stylistic ground Joel covers, he’s kept on track by his backing group. He fought to have his touring band support him on Turnstiles, going to the lengths of firing his original producer, and it was clearly the right move, since they lend the album a cohesive feel. Turnstiles may not have been a hit, but it remains one of his most accomplished and satisfying records, clearly paving the way to his twin peaks of the late ’70s, The Stranger and 52nd Street.

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3 min read

Billy Joel – The Stranger (1977) [Reissue 2017] [SACD / Columbia – 491184 6]

Billy Joel - The Stranger (1977) [Reissue 2017]

Title: Billy Joel – The Stranger (1977) [Reissue 2017]
Genre: Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Billy Joel teamed with Phil Ramone, a famed engineer who had just scored his first producing hits with Art Garfunkel’s Breakaway and Paul Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years for The Stranger, his follow-up to Turnstiles. Joel still favored big, sweeping melodies, but Ramone convinced him to streamline his arrangements and clean up the production. The results aren’t necessarily revelatory, since he covered so much ground on Turnstiles, but the commercialism of The Stranger is a bit of a surprise. None of his ballads have been as sweet or slick as “Just the Way You Are”; he never had created a rocker as bouncy or infectious as “Only the Good Die Young”; and the glossy production of “She’s Always a Woman” disguises its latent misogynist streak. Joel balanced such radio-ready material with a series of New York vignettes, seemingly inspired by Springsteen’s working-class fables and clearly intended to be the artistic centerpieces of the album. They do provide The Stranger with the feel of a concept album, yet there is no true thematic connection between the pieces, and his lyrics are often vague or mean-spirited. His lyrical shortcomings are overshadowed by his musical strengths. Even if his melodies sound more Broadway than Beatles – the epic suite “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” feels like a show-stopping closer – there’s no denying that the melodies of each song on The Stranger are memorable, so much so that they strengthen the weaker portions of the album. Joel rarely wrote a set of songs better than those on The Stranger, nor did he often deliver an album as consistently listenable.

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2 min read