Special Section: Audiophile Discs

Paul McCartney & Wings – Red Rose Speedway (1973) [1996, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]

Paul McCartney & Wings - Red Rose Speedway (1973) [1996, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]

Paul McCartney & Wings – Red Rose Speedway (1973)
[1996, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]
EAC Rip | FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log | Full Scans Included
492 MB | 3% RAR Recovery

All right, he’s made a record with his wife and a record with his pickup band where democracy is allegedly the conceit even if it never sounds that way, so he returns to a solo effort, making the most disjointed album he ever cut. Continue reading “Paul McCartney & Wings – Red Rose Speedway (1973) [1996, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]”

Paul McCartney – Venus And Mars (1975) [1994, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]

Paul McCartney - Venus And Mars (1975) [1994, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]

Paul McCartney – Venus And Mars (1975) [1994, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]
EAC Rip | FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log | Full Scans Included
332 MB | 3% RAR Recovery

Band on the Run was a commercial success, but even if it was billed as a Wings effort, it was primarily recorded by Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine. So, it was time to once again turn Wings into a genuine band, adding Joe English and Jimmy McCulloch to the lineup and even letting the latter contribute a song. Continue reading “Paul McCartney – Venus And Mars (1975) [1994, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]”

Paul McCartney & Wings – Wings At The Speed Of Sound (1976) [1996, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]

Paul McCartney & Wings - Wings At The Speed Of Sound (1976) [1996, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]

Paul McCartney & Wings – Wings At The Speed Of Sound (1976)
[1996, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]
EAC Rip | FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log | Full Scans Included
420 MB | 3% RAR Recovery

If Venus and Mars had the façade of being an album by a band, At the Speed of Sound really is a full-band effort, where everybody gets a chance to sing, and even contribute a song. This, ironically, winds up as considerably less cohesive than its predecessor despite these efforts for community Continue reading “Paul McCartney & Wings – Wings At The Speed Of Sound (1976) [1996, DCC Remastered, 24-Karat Gold CD]”

Asia – Alpha (1983) [2017, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Asia - Alpha (1983) [2017, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Asia – Alpha (1983) [2017, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]
SACD-ISO / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz
DSF Tracks / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz
FLAC Tracks / 24bit / 88.2kHz
CD-Layer / EAC Rip / FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log
Full Scans Included
283 MB (CD-LAYER) + 1.76 GB (ISO) + 1.73 GB (DSF) + 842 MB (FLAC) | 3% RAR Recovery
Update: CD-Layer, DSF Tracks & New Hi-Res FLAC Tracks have been added

The eagerly awaited follow-up to the supergroup’s debut, Alpha landed with a resounding thud a year later. The album still managed to be a platinum-selling Top Ten hit, as did the leadoff single “Don’t Cry,” but where Asia managed to make old sounds fresh, Alpha fails miserably. Continue reading “Asia – Alpha (1983) [2017, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Eric Clapton – Slowhand (1977) [1980, MFSL Remastered, CD-Quality + Hi-Res Vinyl Rip]

Eric Clapton - Slowhand (1977) [1980, MFSL Remastered, CD-Quality + Hi-Res Vinyl Rip]

Eric Clapton – Slowhand (1977) [1980, MFSL Remastered, CD-Quality + Hi-Res Vinyl Rip]
Vinyl Rip | Hi-Res / FLAC Tracks / 24bit / 96kHz | CD-Quality / FLAC Tracks / 16bit / 44.1kHz
Full Scans Included
881 MB (Hi-Res) + 250 MB (CD-Quality) | 3% RAR Recovery
Update: Missing files have been added
Continue reading “Eric Clapton – Slowhand (1977) [1980, MFSL Remastered, CD-Quality + Hi-Res Vinyl Rip]”

The Velvet Underground – White Light / White Heat (1968) [1998, MFSL Remastered]

The Velvet Underground - White Light / White Heat (1968) [1998, MFSL Remastered]

The Velvet Underground – White Light / White Heat (1968) [1998, MFSL Remastered]
EAC Rip | FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log | Full Scans Included
258 MB | 3% RAR Recovery

The world of pop music was hardly ready for The Velvet Underground’s first album when it appeared in the spring of 1967, but while The Velvet Underground and Nico sounded like an open challenge to conventional notions of what rock music could sound like (or what it could discuss), 1968’s White Light/White Heat was a no-holds-barred frontal assault on cultural and aesthetic propriety. Continue reading “The Velvet Underground – White Light / White Heat (1968) [1998, MFSL Remastered]”

The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) [1997, MFSL Remastered]

The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) [1997, MFSL Remastered]

The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967
[1997, MFSL Remastered]
EAC Rip | FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log | Full Scans Included
354 MB | 3% RAR Recovery

One would be hard-pressed to name a rock album whose influence has been as broad and pervasive as The Velvet Underground & Nico. While it reportedly took over a decade for the album’s sales to crack six figures, glam, punk, new wave, goth, noise, and nearly every other left-of-center rock movement owes an audible debt to this set. Continue reading “The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) [1997, MFSL Remastered]”

The Cars – Shake It Up (1981) [2009, MFSL Remastered]

The Cars - Shake It Up (1981) [2009, MFSL Remastered]

The Cars – Shake It Up (1981) [2009, MFSL Remastered]
EAC Rip | FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log | Full Scans Included
284 MB | 3% RAR Recovery

By augmenting their sound with more synthesizers, electronics, and drum machines, the Cars’ fourth release, Shake It Up, helped bridge their hard rock-based early work (1978’s The Cars) with the futuristic-pop direction of 1984’s Heartbeat City Continue reading “The Cars – Shake It Up (1981) [2009, MFSL Remastered]”

The Thelonious Monk Quartet – Monk’s Dream (1963) [2019, MFSL Remastered, Hi-Res SACD Rip]

The Thelonious Monk Quartet - Monk's Dream (1963) [2019, MFSL Remastered, Hi-Res SACD Rip]

The Thelonious Monk Quartet – Monk’s Dream (1963)
[2019, MFSL Remastered, Hi-Res SACD Rip]
SACD-ISO / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz
DSF Tracks / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz
FLAC Tracks / 24bit / 88.2kHz
CD-Layer / EAC Rip / FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log
Full Scans Included
1.82 GB (ISO) + 1.77 GB (DSF) + 871 MB (FLAC) + 271 MB (CD-LAYER) | 3% RAR Recovery
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Monk’s Dream is the Columbia Records debut release featuring the Thelonious Monk Quartet: Monk (piano), Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), John Ore (bass), and Frankie Dunlop (drums). Jazz scholars and enthusiasts alike also heralded this combo as the best Monk had been involved with for several years. Although he would perform and record supported by various other musicians, the tight — almost telepathic — dimensions that these four shared has rarely been equalled in any genre. Continue reading “The Thelonious Monk Quartet – Monk’s Dream (1963) [2019, MFSL Remastered, Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Ritchie Valens – Greatest Hits (2003) [Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Ritchie Valens - Greatest Hits (2003) [Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Ritchie Valens – Greatest Hits (2003) [Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]
SACD-ISO / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz
DSF Tracks / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz
FLAC Tracks / 24bit / 88.2kHz
CD-Layer / EAC Rip / FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log
Full Scans Included
1.62 GB (ISO) + 1.56 GB (DSF) + 460 MB (FLAC) + 148 MB (CD-Layer) | 3% RAR Recovery
Update: Missing files have been added

Ritchie Valens was only 17 when he died in 1959. His musical legacy rests on about an album-and-a-half of completed studio material, a poorly recorded high school concert, and a handful of demos and rehearsal tapes, all of which present a problem for collections of this sort. If you include a full disc’s worth of music, you need to dip into unfinished or badly recorded material, which is a quality issue. Continue reading “Ritchie Valens – Greatest Hits (2003) [Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms (1985) [2013, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms (1985) [2013, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms (1985)
[2013, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]
SACD-ISO / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz
DSF Tracks / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz
FLAC Tracks / 24bit / 88.2kHz
CD-Layer / EAC Rip / FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log
Full Scans Included
Total Size: 524 MB (CD-Layer) + 2.48 GB (DSF) + 2.51 GB (ISO) + 1.19 GB (FLAC) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2099 | Genre: Pop Rock

Brothers in Arms is the fifth studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits, released on 13 May 1985 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. Brothers in Arms charted at number one worldwide, spending 10 weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart (between 18 January and 22 March 1986), nine weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States, and 34 weeks at number one on the Australian Album Chart. Continue reading “Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms (1985) [2013, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Spandau Ballet – True (1983) [1984, MFSL Remastered, CD-Quality + Hi-Res Vinyl Rip]

Spandau Ballet - True (1983) [1984, MFSL Remastered, CD-Quality + Hi-Res Vinyl Rip]

Spandau Ballet – True (1983) [1984, MFSL Remastered, CD-Quality + Hi-Res Vinyl Rip]
Vinyl Rip | Hi-Res / FLAC Tracks / 24bit / 96kHz | CD-Quality / FLAC Tracks / 16bit / 44.1kHz
Full Scans Included
Total Size: 766 MB (Hi-Res) + 215 MB (CD-Quality) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | Pressed in Japan | Cat#: MFSL 1-152 | Genre: New Wave, Pop
Half-Speed Mastered

By 1983, with the new romantic movement they’d sprung from a rapidly fading memory, the members of Spandau Ballet showed they had no intention of traveling the same path. Always ambitious, the British quintet really got down to business: Gone were the kilts, frilly shirts, and makeup — as well as the sometimes chilly electronics of their first two albums. Instead, after recording at Compass Point Studios in the sun-soaked Bahamas, the group turned up in smartly tailored suits, with a sleek and mainstream sound to match. Continue reading “Spandau Ballet – True (1983) [1984, MFSL Remastered, CD-Quality + Hi-Res Vinyl Rip]”

Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1975) [1994, Sony MasterSound, 24-Karat Gold Disc Remastered]

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run (1975) [1994, Sony MasterSound, 24-Karat Gold Disc Remastered]

Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1975)
[1994, Sony MasterSound, 24-Karat Gold Disc Remastered]
EAC Rip | FLAC Tracks + Cue + Log | Scans Included
Total Size: 235 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Sony MasterSound | EU | Cat#: 480416 2 | Genre: Rock & Roll

Bruce Springsteen’s make-or-break third album represented a sonic leap from his first two, which had been made for modest sums at a suburban studio; Born to Run was cut on a superstar budget, mostly at the Record Plant in New York. Springsteen’s backup band had changed, with his two virtuoso players, keyboardist David Sancious and drummer Vini Lopez, replaced by the professional but less flashy Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg Continue reading “Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1975) [1994, Sony MasterSound, 24-Karat Gold Disc Remastered]”