Special Section: Audiophile Discs

Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery (1979) {1993, MasterSound, 24-Karat Gold Disc, Remastered}

Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery (1979) {1993, MasterSound, 24-Karat Gold Disc, Remastered}

Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery (1979) {1993, MasterSound, 24-Karat Gold Disc, Remastered}
EAC Rip | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans @600 dpi, PNG
Total Size: 245 MB (CD) + 561 MB (Scans)| 3% RAR Recovery
Label: MasterSound, USA | Cat#: ZK 64646 | Genre: Progressive Rock

Electric Light Orchestra continued on their winning Top 40 ways with the release of Discovery. Now pared down to the basic four-piece unit, Jeff Lynne continued to dominate the band and they still got their hits (this time around it was the smash “Don’t Bring Me Down”). Elsewhere on the disc there was, of note, “Last Train to London” and “Confusion.” Though Discovery charted well, it was becoming obvious that ELO were starting to run themselves out of useful Beatles hooks Continue reading “Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery (1979) {1993, MasterSound, 24-Karat Gold Disc, Remastered}”

Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado (1974) {1993, DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}

Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado (1974) {1993, DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}

Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado (1974) {1993, DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}
EAC Rip | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans @600 dpi, PNG
Total Size: 240 MB (CD) + 392 MB (Scans) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: DCC Compact Classics, Japan | Cat#: GZS 1041 | Genre: Progressive Rock

This is the album where Jeff Lynne finally found the sound he’d wanted since co-founding Electric Light Orchestra three years earlier. Up to this point, most of the group’s music had been self-contained — Lynne, Richard Tandy, et al., providing whatever was needed, vocally or instrumentally, even if it meant overdubbing their work layer upon layer Continue reading “Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado (1974) {1993, DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}”

Big Brother & The Holding Company – Cheap Thrills (1968) {2012, Audio Fidelity, Remastered}

Big Brother & The Holding Company - Cheap Thrills (1968) {2012, Audio Fidelity, Remastered}

Big Brother & The Holding Company – Cheap Thrills (1968) {2012, Audio Fidelity, Remastered}
EAC Rip | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans @600 dpi, JPG, Included
Total Size: 348 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity, USA | Cat#: AFZ 150 | Genre: Blues Rock

Cheap Thrills, the major-label debut of Janis Joplin, was one of the most eagerly anticipated, and one of the most successful, albums of 1968. Joplin and her band Big Brother & the Holding Company had earned extensive press notice ever since they played the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, but for a year after that their only recorded work was a poorly produced, self-titled album that they’d done early in their history for Mainstream Records Continue reading “Big Brother & The Holding Company – Cheap Thrills (1968) {2012, Audio Fidelity, Remastered}”

Elton John – Rock of the Westies (1975) {2012, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}

Elton John - Rock of the Westies (1975) {2012, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}

Elton John – Rock of the Westies (1975) {2012, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}
EAC Rip | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans @300 dpi, PNG, Included
Total Size: 348 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity, USA | Cat#: AFZ 149 | Genre: Pop Rock

Less than four months after issuing the landmark and autobiographical Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975), Elton John re-emerged with a new band and a slightly modified sound. However, the departure of Dee Murray (bass) and Nigel Olsson (drums) would ultimately begin a deceleration in terms of John’s success, which rivalled only the Beatles’ and Elvis Presley’s in terms of global acclaim Continue reading “Elton John – Rock of the Westies (1975) {2012, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}”

YES – 2 Albums (MFSL Ultradisc II, Remastered)

YES - 2 Albums (MFSL Ultradisc II, Remastered)

YES – 2 Albums (MFSL Ultradisc II, Remastered)
EAC Rip | 2xCD | WavPack (.wv) & FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans @300 dpi, JPG, Included
Total Size: 450 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: MFSL Ultradisc II | Cat#: UDCD 779 / UDCD 766 | Genre: Progressive Rock
 
The Yes Album (1971), Fragile (1972) Continue reading “YES – 2 Albums (MFSL Ultradisc II, Remastered)”

Joe Walsh – 2 Albums {Audio Fidelity Remastered, HDCD}

Joe Walsh - 2 Albums {Audio Fidelity Remastered, HDCD}

Joe Walsh – 2 Albums {Audio Fidelity Remastered, HDCD}
EAC Rip | 2xCD | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans Included
Total Size: 528 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity | Austria | Genre: Hard Rock

The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get (1973) – But Seriously, Folks… (1978)

Continue reading “Joe Walsh – 2 Albums {Audio Fidelity Remastered, HDCD}”

Frank Sinatra – Sinatra ’57 In Concert (1999) {DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}

Frank Sinatra - Sinatra '57 In Concert (1999) {DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}

Frank Sinatra – Sinatra ’57 In Concert (1999) {DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}
EAC Rip | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans @600 dpi, JPG, Included
Total Size: 447 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: DCC Compact Classics, USA | Cat#: ARZ-101-2 | Genre: Vocal Jazz

Sinatra ’57 in Concert is a 1999 live album by the American singer Frank Sinatra. It is a complete recording of a concert performed at the Seattle Civic Auditorium on June 9, 1957. It was digitally remastered and officially released from a recording made by Wally Heider and first released as a bootleg. Nelson Riddle, the arranger, conducted the orchestra at this concert. Continue reading “Frank Sinatra – Sinatra ’57 In Concert (1999) {DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}”

Frank Sinatra – Duets II (1994) {DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}

Frank Sinatra - Duets II (1994) {DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}

Frank Sinatra – Duets II (1994) {DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}
EAC Rip | WavPack (.wv) Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans @600 dpi, JPG, Included
Total Size: 336 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: DCC Compact Classics, USA | Cat#: GZS-1073 | Genre: Vocal Jazz

Duets II is the 59th and last studio album by American singer Frank Sinatra. It was released in 1994, and was the sequel to the previous year’s Duets Continue reading “Frank Sinatra – Duets II (1994) {DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}”

Rush – Roll The Bones (1991) {2011, Audio Fidelity Remastered, HDCD}

Rush - Roll The Bones (1991) {2011, Audio Fidelity Remastered, HDCD}

Rush – Roll The Bones (1991) {2011, Audio Fidelity Remastered, HDCD}
EAC Rip | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans Included
Total Size: 355 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity | USA | Cat#: AFZ 116 | Genre: Progressive Rock

From a lyrical perspective, 1991’s Roll the Bones is quite possibly Rush’s darkest album (most of the songs deal with death in no uncertain terms), but from a musical point of view, the record treads territory (highbrow melodic hard rock) similar to its recent predecessors, with only a few surprises thrown in for good measure. Continue reading “Rush – Roll The Bones (1991) {2011, Audio Fidelity Remastered, HDCD}”

Billy Joel – Glass Houses (1980) {2010, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}

Billy Joel - Glass Houses (1980) {2010, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}

Billy Joel – Glass Houses (1980) {2010, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}
EAC Rip | WavPack Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans @300 dpi, PNG, Included
Total Size: 251 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity, USA | Cat#: AFZ 092 | Genre: Pop Rock

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 Continue reading “Billy Joel – Glass Houses (1980) {2010, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}”

Billy Joel – 52nd Street (1978) {2010, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}

Billy Joel - 52nd Street (1978) {2010, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}

Billy Joel – 52nd Street (1978) {2010, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}
EAC Rip | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans @300 dpi, PNG, Included
Total Size: 290 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity, USA | Cat#: AFZ 095 | Genre: Pop Rock

Once The Stranger became a hit, Billy Joel quickly re-entered the studio with producer Phil Ramone to record the follow-up, 52nd Street. Instead of breaking from the sound of The Stranger, Joel chose to expand it, making it more sophisticated and somewhat jazzy. Often, his moves sounded as if they were responses to Steely Dan — indeed, his phrasing and melody for “Zanzibar” is a direct homage to Donald Fagen circa Continue reading “Billy Joel – 52nd Street (1978) {2010, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}”

Rush – 4 Albums {MFSL UltraDisc II, Remastered}

Rush - 4 Albums {MFSL UltraDisc II, Remastered}

Rush – 4 Albums {MFSL UltraDisc II, Remastered}
EAC Rip | 4xCD | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans Included
Total Size: 973 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: MFSL UltraDisc II | USA | Genre: Progressive Rock

2112 (1976) – Permanent Waves (1980) – Moving Pictures (1981) – Signals (1982)

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Frank Sinatra – Duets (1993) {1994, DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}

Frank Sinatra - Duets (1993) {1994, DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}

Frank Sinatra – Duets (1993) {1994, DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}
EAC Rip | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans Included
Total Size: 286 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: DCC Compact Classics, Japan | Cat#: GZS-1053 | Genre: Vocal Jazz

Duets is an album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released in 1993. Recorded near the end of Sinatra’s career, it consists of electronically assembled duets between Sinatra and younger singers from various genres. The album was a commercial success, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart, reaching No. 5 in the UK, and selling over 3 million copies in the US. It is the only Sinatra album to date to achieve triple platinum certification. Continue reading “Frank Sinatra – Duets (1993) {1994, DCC Compact Classics, Remastered}”

Andrew Powell And The Philharmonia Orchestra ‎– Play The Best Of The Alan Parsons Project (1983) {1985, MFSL Remastered}

Andrew Powell And The Philharmonia Orchestra ‎– Play The Best Of The Alan Parsons Project (1983) {1985, MFSL Remastered}

Andrew Powell And The Philharmonia Orchestra ‎– Play The Best Of The Alan Parsons Project (1983)
{1985, MFSL Remastered}
EAC Rip | WavPack Image + Cue + Log | Scans @300 dpi, JPG, Included
Total Size: 236 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: MFSL, Japan| Cat#: MFCD 806 | Genre: Classical

Continue reading “Andrew Powell And The Philharmonia Orchestra ‎– Play The Best Of The Alan Parsons Project (1983) {1985, MFSL Remastered}”

Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan’s Greastest Hits (1967) {2012, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}

Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's Greastest Hits (1967) {2012, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}

Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan’s Greastest Hits (1967) {2012, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}
EAC Rip | FLAC Image + Cue + Log | Full Scans @600 dpi, JPG, Included
Total Size: 398 MB | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity, USA | Cat#: AFZ 140 | Genre: Folk Rock

Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on March 27, 1967 on Columbia Records, original catalogue number KCS 9463. It contains every Top 40 single Dylan enjoyed through 1967 Continue reading “Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan’s Greastest Hits (1967) {2012, Audio Fidelity, HDCD Remastered}”