Special Section: Audiophile Discs

Billy Joel – Piano Man (1973) [2011, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Billy Joel - Piano Man (1973) [2011, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Billy Joel – Piano Man (1973) [2011, 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 Image + Cue + Log
Full Scans Included
Total Size: 422 MB (CD-Layer) + 1.77 GB (DSF) + 857 MB (FLAC) + 1.80 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2062 | Genre: Pop Rock
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Embittered by legal disputes with his label and an endless tour to support a debut that was dead in the water, Billy Joel hunkered down in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, spending six months as a lounge singer at a club. He didn’t abandon his dreams — he continued to write songs, including “Piano Man,” a fictionalized account of his weeks as a lounge singer. Continue reading “Billy Joel – Piano Man (1973) [2011, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Billy Joel – Songs In The Attic (1981) [2013, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Billy Joel - Songs In The Attic (1981) [2013, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Billy Joel – Songs In The Attic (1981) [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 Image + Cue + Log
Full Scans Included
Total Size: 619 MB (CD-Layer) + 1.98 GB (DSF) + 982 MB (FLAC) + 2.01 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2092 | Genre: Pop Rock
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Having scored three multi-platinum hits in a row, Billy Joel took a breather, releasing his first live album, Songs in the Attic, as he worked on his ambitious follow-up to Glass Houses. Joel wisely decided to use the live album as an opportunity to draw attention to songs from his first four albums. Apart from “Piano Man,” none of those songs had been heard by the large audience he had won with The Stranger. Continue reading “Billy Joel – Songs In The Attic (1981) [2013, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Billy Joel – Streetlife Serenade (1974) [2015, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Billy Joel - Streetlife Serenade (1974) [2015, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Billy Joel – Streetlife Serenade (1974) [2015, 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 Image + Cue + Log
Stereo & Multichannel | Full Scans Included
Total Size: 324 MB (CD-Layer) + 5.46 GB (DSF) + 2.10 GB (FLAC) + 2.92 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity | US | Cat#: AFZ5 207 | Genre: Pop Rock
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Piano Man gave Billy Joel his long-desired big hit, but it also somewhat threw him for a loop. He had been driven on Piano Man, determined to deliver an album that established him as both a serious artist and a commercial contender. Having achieved at least one of those goals (critics never gave Joel much credit), he had to release another album quickly if he wanted to keep his profile high Continue reading “Billy Joel – Streetlife Serenade (1974) [2015, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Bob Dylan – Live 1964 (Concert At Philharmonic Hall) [2004] [2016, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Bob Dylan - Live 1964 (Concert At Philharmonic Hall) [2004] [2016, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Bob Dylan – Live 1964 (Concert At Philharmonic Hall) [2004]
[2016, 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 Image + Cue + Log
2x Discs | Stereo & Multichannel | Full Scans Included
Total Size: 827 MB (CD-Layer) + 15 GB (DSF) + 6.98 GB (FLAC) + 6.14 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity | US | Cat#: AFZ5 230 | Genre: Folk Rock
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

It does seem strange, very strange indeed, to be hearing an official release of this historic concert, which has been available as a bootleg for decades. The Halloween gig at Philharmonic Hall in New York was a special part of the tour for Another Side of Bob Dylan, arguably his greatest acoustic recording. What’s more poignant, however, is how it previews the material on Bringing It All Back Home. Continue reading “Bob Dylan – Live 1964 (Concert At Philharmonic Hall) [2004] [2016, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead (1970) [2014, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead (1970) [2014, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead (1970) [2014, 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 Image + Cue + Log
Full Scans Included
Total Size: 211 MB (CD-Layer) + 1.47 GB (DSF) + 699 MB (FLAC) + 1.49 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2137 | Genre: Country Rock, Classic Rock
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Workingman’s Dead is the fourth Grateful Dead studio album. It was recorded in February 1970 and originally released on June 14, 1970. The album and its studio follow-up, American Beauty, were recorded back-to-back using a similar style, eschewing the psychedelic experimentation of previous albums in favor of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s Americana-styled songcraft Continue reading “Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead (1970) [2014, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II (1971) [2013, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II (1971) [2013, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II (1971)
[2013, 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 Image + Cue + Log
2x Discs | Full Scans Included
Total Size: 635 MB (CD-Layer) + 3.19 GB (DSF) + 1.57 GB (FLAC) + 3.28 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity | US | Cat#: AFZ2 145 | Genre: Folk Rock
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Where Dylan’s first Greatest Hits took its title literally, Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 is a greatest-hits album only in the loosest sense of the term. While the double album does contain several genuine hits — “Lay Lady Lay,” “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You,” the non-LP “Watching the River Flow” — it is largely comprised of album tracks that became classics, either through Dylan’s own version or through covers. Continue reading “Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II (1971) [2013, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Leon Russell – Leon Russell And The Shelter People (1971) [2016, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Leon Russell - Leon Russell And The Shelter People (1971) [2016, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Leon Russell – Leon Russell And The Shelter People (1971)
[2016, 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 Image + Cue + Log
Full Scans Included
Total Size: 327 MB (CD-Layer) + 2.19 GB (DSF) + 1.04 GB (FLAC) + 871 MB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Audio Fidelity | US | Cat#: AFZ 259 | Genre: Country Rock, Folk Rock
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Leon Russell’s accolades are monumental in a number of categories, from songwriting to session playing, to his solo work. Leon Russell and the Shelter People is the second solo album by the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. This 1971 gem shot to #17 on the Billboard album charts. Continue reading “Leon Russell – Leon Russell And The Shelter People (1971) [2016, Audio Fidelity Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Earth, Wind & Fire – That’s The Way Of The World (1975) [2005, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Earth, Wind & Fire - That's The Way Of The World (1975) [2005, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Earth, Wind & Fire – That’s The Way Of The World (1975)
[2005, 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: 330 MB (CD-Layer) + 2.05 GB (DSF) + 0.99 GB (FLAC) + 2.09 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2016 | Genre: R&B
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Earth, Wind & Fire has delivered more than its share of excellent albums, but if a person could own only one EWF release, the logical choice would be That’s the Way of the World, which was the band’s best album as well as its best-selling. Continue reading “Earth, Wind & Fire – That’s The Way Of The World (1975) [2005, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

McCoy Tyner – Sahara (1972) [2006, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

McCoy Tyner - Sahara (1972) [2006, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

McCoy Tyner – Sahara (1972) [2006, 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 Image + Cue + Log
Full Scans Included
Total Size: 312 MB (CD-Layer) + 1.33 GB (DSF) + 979 MB (FLAC) + 1.98 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2029| Genre: Jazz
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

After the death of John Coltrane, his longtime pianist McCoy Tyner was in something of a musical quandary. Keeping up with his mentor through the incredible explorations of the early ’60s, he seemed to have some difficulty navigating the even further out territories explored in the two or three years before Coltrane’s death in 1967. Continue reading “McCoy Tyner – Sahara (1972) [2006, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Jerry Garcia & David Grisman – Jerry Garcia & David Grisman (1991) [2014, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Jerry Garcia & David Grisman - Jerry Garcia & David Grisman (1991) [2014, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Jerry Garcia & David Grisman – Jerry Garcia & David Grisman (1991)
[2014, 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: 317 MB (CD-Layer) + 2.38 GB (DSF) + 1.08 GB (FLAC) + 2.42 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2140 | Genre: Country
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

This Grammy-nominated disc heralds the origins of the highly acclaimed acoustic duo of Jerry Garcia (guitar/vocals) and David “Dawg” Grisman (mandolin). They had been chums for years by the time they began their direct partnership in earnest on December 7, 1990, with a nine-song set at the Sweetwater in Mill Valley, CA. Over half of that material would be reworked the following spring — for inclusion on this disc — at Grisman’s newly appointed, plush, and well-lit Dawg Studios. Continue reading “Jerry Garcia & David Grisman – Jerry Garcia & David Grisman (1991) [2014, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Gerry Mulligan Meets Scott Hamilton – Soft Lights & Sweet Music (1986) [2006, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Gerry Mulligan Meets Scott Hamilton - Soft Lights & Sweet Music (1986) [2006, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Gerry Mulligan Meets Scott Hamilton – Soft Lights & Sweet Music (1986)
[2006, 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: 285 MB (CD-Layer) + 1.73 GB (DSF) + 865 MB (FLAC) + 1.77 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2017 | Genre: Jazz, Cool
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Starting in the late ’50s, Gerry Mulligan recorded a series of encounters with fellow saxophonists that included such immortals as Stan Getz, Paul Desmond, Johnny Hodges and Ben Webster. In 1986 he resumed the practice for this one date on which his baritone is matched with the tenor of the young great Scott Hamilton. The music, which includes warm ballads and fairly hot romps (five of the seven songs are Mulligan originals), consistently swing and are quite enjoyable. Continue reading “Gerry Mulligan Meets Scott Hamilton – Soft Lights & Sweet Music (1986) [2006, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Pat Martino – East! (1968) [2006, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Pat Martino - East! (1968) [2006, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Pat Martino – East! (1968) [2006, 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: 246 MB (CD-Layer) + 1.55 GB (DSF) + 804 MB (FLAC) + 1.58 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2018 | Genre: Bop, Jazz
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Despite the title and the cover of this CD reissue (which makes it appear that the performances are greatly influenced by music of the Far East), the style played by guitarist Pat Martino’s quartet is very much in the hard bop tradition. Continue reading “Pat Martino – East! (1968) [2006, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Mike Marshall – Gator Strut (1987) [2004, MFSL Remastered, Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Mike Marshall - Gator Strut (1987) [2004, MFSL Remastered, Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Mike Marshall – Gator Strut (1987) [2004, MFSL Remastered, Hi-Res SACD Rip]
SACD-ISO / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz
DSF-Tracks / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz
FLAC Tracks / 24bit / 88.2kHz
Full Scans Included
Total Size: 2.20 GB (DSF) + 1.01 GB (FLAC) + 2.26 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 7001 | Genre: Country
Update: DSF Tracks have been added

Mike Marshall is much like Mark O’Connor, a virtuoso on several string instruments, an innovative composer and arranger who refuses to be pigeonholed stylistically, and also an alum of David Grisman’s band. Numerous Grisman alumni turn up on this 1984 release, including violinist Darol Anger, bassists Todd Phillips and Rob Wasserman, guitarist Tony Rice, and even Grisman himself, along with dobro player Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck on banjo, violinist David Balikrishan (who would later co-found the Turtle Island String Quartet with Anger) Continue reading “Mike Marshall – Gator Strut (1987) [2004, MFSL Remastered, Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Jim Hall – Concierto (1975) [2003, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Jim Hall - Concierto (1975) [2003, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Jim Hall – Concierto (1975) [2003, 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: 377 MB (CD-Layer) + 2.76 GB (DSF) + 1.20 GB (FLAC) + 1.13 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2012 | Genre: Post Bop, Jazz
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Guitarist Jim Hall is the sort of musician who displays such technical expertise, imaginative conception, and elegance of line and phrase that almost any recording of his is worth hearing. Still, Concierto ranks among the best albums of his superb catalog. Continue reading “Jim Hall – Concierto (1975) [2003, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”

Dave Alvin – Blackjack David (1998) [2002, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Dave Alvin - Blackjack David (1998) [2002, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]

Dave Alvin – Blackjack David (1998) [2002, 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 Image + Cue + Log
Full Scans Included
Total Size: 287 MB (CD-Layer) + 2.05 GB (DSF) + 980 MB (FLAC) + 2.09 GB (ISO) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | US | Cat#: UDSACD 2007 | Genre: Folk, Country
Update: CD-Layer & DSF Tracks have been added

Dave Alvin earned his crown as “the King of California” the hard way. A fourth-generation Californian, Alvin worked his way through various incarnations in order to arrive at this point. A longstanding monumental force in Los Angeles and California music, Alvin is essentially a blues player who writes and performs what he terms “American folk music.” Continue reading “Dave Alvin – Blackjack David (1998) [2002, MFSL Remastered, CD-Layer + Hi-Res SACD Rip]”