Sviatoslav Richter – Chopin: Ballades, Etudes, Nocturnes, Polonaise-Fantasie (2012) [SACD / Praga Digitals – PRD/DSD 350 062]

Sviatoslav Richter - Chopin: Ballades, Etudes, Nocturnes, Polonaise-Fantasie (2012)

Title: Sviatoslav Richter – Chopin: Ballades, Etudes, Nocturnes, Polonaise-Fantasie (2012)
Genre: Classical
Format: SACD ISO

‘Chopin’s workswere a trigger. I was totally moved listening to my father playing the Notturno No.5 and I choose music for life [and not painting]‘. As early as 1948 Richter recorded a Polonaise Op.25 no.1, and in 1950 the Ballade No.2 Op.38, fewStudies . . . Avowed enemy of integrals the present programme is a fabulous example of his choices, excluding tha famous Funeral Sonata ,Walzes, First Piano Concerto . . ., leaving these to Gilels‘far better than him’his point of view!

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1 min read

Samson François – Chopin: 4 Ballades, 4 Scherzos (1954-1955/2011) [SACD / EMI (Japan) – TOGE-12025]

Samson François - Chopin: 4 Ballades, 4 Scherzos (1954-1955/2011)

Title: Samson François – Chopin: 4 Ballades, 4 Scherzos (1954-1955/2011)
Genre: Classical
Format: SACD ISO

Francois unfolds a world of Chopin filled with inspiration unique to him. With his genius flashes of insight and fantasy, the beautiful yet ephemeral world of Chopin is expressed with poetic richness. This is one of Francois’ dream-filled works from his youth. EMI Music Japan

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1 min read

Celine Dion – All the Way: A Decade of Song (1999) [Reissue 2001] [SACD / Epic – BS 63760]

Celine Dion - All The Way… A Decade Of Song (1999) [Reissue 2001]

Title: Celine Dion – All The Way… A Decade Of Song (1999) [Reissue 2001]
Genre: Pop
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

There aren’t a lot of greatest-hits albums with seven new songs, which is exactly what All the Way: A Decade of Song is. There are just nine hits on this hits collection, and of those, only a handful — “If You Asked Me To,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Power of Love,” “Because You Loved Me,” “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” and “My Heart Will Go On” — were huge hits in the U.S. Her first American hit, “Where Does My Heart Beat Now,” isn’t here, nor is her duet with Barbra Streisand, “Tell Him.” Naturally, this means it’s not a definitive collection, but rather an unsatisfying album that feels suspiciously like a piece of product. The best of the hits, like the Meat Loaf-ian epic “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and “My Heart Will Go On,” are certainly among the best adult contemporary songs of the decade, and the new stuff would pale in comparison, even if it was very good — which, by and large, it is not. Two numbers, the danceable “That’s the Way it Is” and the pretty ballad “If Walls Could Talk,” work, but the cover of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” falls flat and “All the Way,” complete with old vocals from Sinatra, is a disaster. The remaining three aren’t bad, but they’re not particularly memorable, especially compared to the hits. And that’s the problem with All the Way — if it had been a straight hits collection, with “That’s the Way it Is” and “If Walls Could Talk” added to the end, it would have been fine, but padding it with nearly a full album worth of new material hurts it.

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2 min read

Celine Dion – Falling Into You (1996) [Reissue 2015] [SACD / Columbia – 88875164562]

Celine Dion - Falling Into You (1996) [Reissue 2015]

Title: Celine Dion – Falling Into You (1996) [Reissue 2015]
Genre: Pop
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Celine Dion’s Falling into You returned the Canadian vocalist to the top of the American charts, and for good reason. Although the album is formulaic, it’s a well-executed, stylish, and catchy formula, accentuating her natural vocal charm. Dion shines on ballads like “Because You Love Me” and mock epics like Jim Steinman’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” Between those two peaks, she tackles dance-pop and love songs with grace; that effortless elegance saves the mediocre material on the album from being tedious. Though there are a couple of weak tracks, Falling into You is a remarkably well-crafted set of adult contemporary pop and Dion’s best album.

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1 min read

Cedar Walton Trio – Song Of Delilah (2010) [Japan 2016] [SACD / Venus Records – VHCD-177]

Cedar Walton Trio - Song Of Delilah (2010) [Japan 2016]

Title: Cedar Walton Trio – Song Of Delilah (2010) [Japan 2016]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

During his long career, Cedar Walton has been one of hard bop’s most lyrical pianists. His funky touch and cogent melodic sense graced the recordings of many of jazz’s greatest players. He was also one of the music’s more underrated composers; although he was always a first-rate interpreter of standards, Walton wrote a number of excellent tunes (“Mosaic,” “Ugetsu,” and “Bolivia,” to name a few) that found their way into Art Blakey’s book during the pianist’s early-’60s stint with the Jazz Messengers. On this album, Walton and his musician friends Buster Williams and Willie Jones II, have compiled an album of songs dedicated to the works of American composer Victor Young.

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1 min read

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Mardi Gras (1972) [SACD 2003] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CAPP 9404 SA]

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Mardi Gras (1972) [SACD 2003]

Title: Creedence Clearwater Revival – Mardi Gras (1972) [SACD 2003]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Mardi Gras is the final album by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Recorded in the spring of 1971 and January of 1972, the album was released on April 11, 1972. The group disbanded after the album was released. By the time the album was recorded, Tom Fogerty had left the group due to disputes over his desire to play a more creative role in writing material. Mardi Gras featured songs written and performed by the remaining three members of CCR; Doug Clifford and Stu Cook each wrote and sang the lead vocals on three songs. This was a departure from CCR’s previous albums, for which John Fogerty had written and sung lead vocals on almost all songs.

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1 min read

Creedence Clearwater Revival – The Concert (1970) [SACD 2003] [SACD / Fantasy – FSA-4501-6]

Creedence Clearwater Revival - The Concert (1970) [SACD 2003]

Title: Creedence Clearwater Revival – The Concert (1970) [SACD 2003]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

The Concert is the second live album by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records in October 1980. The album was recorded at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California on January 31, 1970. Originally the album was mistakenly titled The Royal Albert Hall Concert. Only later was it discovered that it was not recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, it was duly renamed for later reissues. The album reached #62 on the Billboard 200 in 1981. The album achieved gold status (500,000 units sold) by the Recording Industry Association of America on February 27, 1986 and made platinum status (1,000,000 units sold) on September 30, 1996.

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1 min read

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Pendulum (1970) [SACD 2003] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CAPP 8410 SA]

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Pendulum (1970) [SACD 2003]

Title: Creedence Clearwater Revival – Pendulum (1970) [SACD 2003]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

During 1969 and 1970, CCR was dismissed by hipsters as a bubblegum pop band and the sniping had grown intolerable, at least to John Fogerty, who designed Pendulum as a rebuke to critics. He spent time polishing the production, bringing in keyboards, horns, even a vocal choir. His songs became self-consciously serious and tighter, working with the aesthetic of the rock underground — Pendulum was constructed as a proper album, contrasting dramatically with CCR’s previous records, all throwbacks to joyous early rock records where covers sat nicely next to hits and overlooked gems tucked away at the end of the second side. To some fans of classic CCR, this approach may feel a little odd since only “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and maybe its B-side “Hey Tonight” sound undeniably like prime Creedence. But, given time, the album is a real grower, revealing many overlooked Fogerty gems. Yes, it isn’t transcendent like the albums they made from Bayou Country through Cosmo’s Factory, but most bands never even come close to that kind of hot streak. Instead, Pendulum finds a first-class songwriter and craftsman pushing himself and his band to try new sounds, styles, and textures. His ambition results in a stumble — “Rude Awakening 2″ portentously teeters on the verge of prog-rock, something CCR just can’t pull off — but the rest of the record is excellent, with such great numbers as the bluesy groove “Pagan Baby,” the soulful vamp “Chameleon,” the moody “It’s Just a Thought,” and the raver “Molina.” Most bands would kill for this to be their best stuff, and the fact that it’s tucked away on an album that even some fans forget illustrates what a tremendous band Creedence Clearwater Revival was.

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2 min read

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cosmo’s Factory (1970) [SACD 2002] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CAPJ 8402 SA]

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo’s Factory (1970) [SACD 2002]

Title: Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cosmo’s Factory (1970) [SACD 2002]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Cosmo’s Factory was the fourth, biggest, and best of the astonishing string of five Top Ten albums Creedence Clearwater Revival released in 1969 and 1970. It went on sale in August 1970, well after two of its tracks had stormed the radio—the No. 2 “Travelin’ Band”/”Who’ll Stop the Rain,” which began its parabola in January, and the No. 4 “Up Around the Bend,” released in April. But as Fantasy most certainly knew, there was a third hit in its grooves, the transcendent “Lookin’ Out My Back Door”—the fifth and last No. 2 lead single for the preeminent pop phenomenon of its brief era, which never had a No. 1—and the album rode all four beloved songs to nine weeks atop Billboard’s album chart.

Throughout 1969 and into 1970, CCR toured incessantly and recorded nearly as much. Appropriately, Cosmo’s Factory’s first single was the working band’s anthem “Travelin’ Band,” a funny, piledriving rocker with a blaring horn section — the first indication their sonic palette was broadening. Two more singles appeared prior to the album’s release, backed by John Fogerty originals that rivaled the A-side or paled just slightly. When it came time to assemble a full album, Fogerty had only one original left, the claustrophobic, paranoid rocker “Ramble Tamble.” Unlike some extended instrumentals, this was dramatic and had a direction — a distinction made clear by the meandering jam that brings CCR’s version of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” to 11 minutes. Even if it wanders, their take on the Marvin Gaye classic isn’t unpleasant, and their faithful, exuberant takes on the Sun classics “Ooby Dooby” and “My Baby Left Me” are joyous tributes. Still, the heart of the album lays in those six fantastic songs released on singles. “Up Around the Bend” is a searing rocker, one of their best, balanced by the menacing murkiness of “Run Through the Jungle.” “Who’ll Stop the Rain”‘s poignant melody and melancholy undertow has a counterpart in Fogerty’s dope song, “Lookin’ out My Back Door,” a charming, bright shuffle, filled with dancing animals and domestic bliss – he had never been as sweet and silly as he is here. On “Long as I Can See the Light,” the record’s final song, he again finds solace in home, anchored by a soulful, laid-back groove. It hits a comforting, elegiac note, the perfect way to draw Cosmo’s Factory — an album made during stress and chaos, filled with raging rockers, covers, and intense jams — to a close.

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3 min read