Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello Painted From Memory SACD Oct 6

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Scottb, Oct 2, 2017.

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  1. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    I know there is another thread about the MFSL Vinyl. However Amazon is now listing the Hybrid SACD out on October 6th.

    There price is $37.99 while Elusive it's $29.99 however there isn't a release date on Elusive's website which I find odd since Amazon has it coming out this Friday. I love this album but I can only play the redbook layer so I'll wait for a few reviews to decide as the standard CD sounds excellent. Below are links to both Amazon and Elusive.

    Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach Painted From Memory Numbered Limited Edition Hybrid Stereo SACD-Elusive Disc

    https://www.amazon.com/Painted-Memo...ed-20&linkId=b849f2a788d823535402925594e37267
     
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  2. MikeT

    MikeT Prior Forum Cretin and Current Impatient Creep

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    dee likes this.
  3. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    Yep I called Music Direct and they have no release date. Oh well as I was really excited about this one.
     
  4. Simon A

    Simon A Arrr!

    Humor me here please. Before placing an order, get yourself a copy of the first CD release, which was a HDCD. I'm sure you can find it for very little. Listen to that disc and then tell me in all honesty that you think it will sound any better than that. I am being serious. Don't give me any bubblegum about higher definition. Listen to it and then share your thoughts. It makes perfect sense for Mobile Fidelity to release a version on vinyl, yes, that makes sense. But this is an album I didn't think we needed a remaster of. What do I know. It's your money... ;)
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2017
  5. GLYNSTYLER

    GLYNSTYLER Forum Resident

    Location:
    NEW ORLEANS
    Originally Amazon had the release date as Sept. 15th, then it changed to Oct. 6th. I've had the SACD pre-ordered for a month and was hoping to get it on the 6th which is my birthday. I guess not.

    I will agree that the HDCD sounds very, very good.
     
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  6. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    I stated in my post that I have the original CD and it sounds amazing. I doubt any improvement can be made but on another thread there are a few posts that say the MFSL LP sounds better then the CD so that got me curios but yes I'm sure you're right as the CD sounds incredible.
     
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  7. Simon A

    Simon A Arrr!

    My apologies Scott. My post wasn't intended at you specifically. I was just inviting everyone to listen to the CD before buying the SACD. :)
     
    Scottb likes this.
  8. Beaneydave

    Beaneydave Forum Resident

    Not in 5.1 then?
    :(

    Peace and love✌
    Dave
     
  9. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    No Problem. Yes I can't see the redbook sounding any better then the standard CD as that sounds incredible.
     
    Simon A likes this.
  10. GetHappy!!

    GetHappy!! Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    It's in stock and shipping now from Music Direct.
     
  11. driverdrummer

    driverdrummer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irmo, SC
    I bought the cd way back when it was first released. It's become a personal favorite. Possibly one of the best breakup albums .
     
  12. noahjld

    noahjld Der Wixxer

    Nah,that's "Blood & Chocolate".
     
  13. jkauff

    jkauff Senior Member

    Location:
    Akron, OH
    I think it's great that an SACD is in the works. Not many people had/have HDCD-capable playback systems.

    Now if we could just get an official release of the full RAH concert!
     
  14. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Does anyone know if the original HDCD has the dreaded "peak-extend", or does it sound the same on both HDCD and non-HDCD enabled players?
     
  15. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA

    The CD sounds so great that I don't know if the SACD will be any better. My current player doesn't play the SACD layer so I would only be interested if the Redbook layer sounds better. Did you pre-order if from Amazon? I would greatly appreciate if you could compare the redbook layer to the standard CD once you get your copy.
     
    csnfan likes this.
  16. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    Well I don't have an SACD player so I could only play the redbook layer of this disc. You have to read their description of the sound quality.

    Mastered from the original master tapes and strictly limited to 2,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's hybrid SACD of Painted from Memory transforms the 1998 set into an essential component of any library. Always an effort that rewarded solitary listening, it now breathes with ravishing openness, reveals crystalline detail, unfolds against jet-back backgrounds, mesmerizes with a rainbow of textures, and constantly engages with its impossible smoothness. For the first time, the scope of the intricacies, nuances, and phrasings embedded in Bacharach's meticulous compositions can be experienced in full. The orbit of the bridges, refrains, and codas beguiles the senses. Ditto the poetic reach of Costello's singing and lyrics.

    Indeed, the level of care and concern invested into every passage of Painted from Memory is immediately gleaned by the ravishing sonics afforded on this collectable edition. Reference-grade presence, tonality, and balance help capture the sweep of the strings, colorful blush of the horn accents, and weight of the piano. Steve Nieve's keyboards, Greg Cohen's bass, Dean Parks' guitar, and Jim Keltner's drums seemingly appear right in the room. Rather than smear together or jockey for position, each instrument enjoys its own place and simultaneously sounds part of the rich, lush, complex albeit completely interwoven tapestry. Graceful, elegant, and classicist-minded, Painted from Memory is a genuine masterpiece – and a true collaboration.
     
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  17. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    I do think it's funny that when I called Music Direct 10 days ago they had no idea when this would be coming out and now it's out.
     
  18. Dok

    Dok Senior Member

    How poetic. I wonder if that was just what the artists were aiming for all along? :winkgrin: Waiting for mine to arrive. Then will find out just how beguiling it really is. :wave:
     
    Scottb likes this.
  19. robcar

    robcar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    I had the CD for years before I purchased a Denon universal player that includes the HDCD decoder. Always thought it sounded good, but when I played it with the HDCD decoder enabled, it was a revelation. Much better sound than I ever remembered before. Of course, I can't readily compare it as I also had new speakers, a new AVR, etc.

    The disc isn't even marked as being HDCD, at least on my copy. I only found out by accident when the HDCD light came on my player.
     
    Scottb likes this.
  20. bubba-ho-tep

    bubba-ho-tep Resident Ne'er-Do-Well

    Location:
    San Tan Valley, AZ
    It does not have peak extend.
     
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  21. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    John Rhett Thomas likes this.
  22. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music...

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    Indeed, what a nice one-two punch those two albums were.
     
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  23. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Such a passionate and inspired effort, with wonderful songs, arrangements, sound, and heartfelt performances, what has all been said better and before. Sometimes I wonder if only EC could have sang all of those great songs a little more easily and more precisely as he does with Toledo, Such Unlikely Lovers, The Long Division, and Tears At The Birthday Party. I'd love to hear a remixed version of some of the other recordings with his vocals not so naked in the mix but supported a little more closely by the instruments, as spare as a few of the arrangements are. He sings his heart out and is in strong voice. Negotiating some of those words and melodies doesn't always sound like an easy task. Sometimes I just can't get past when EC sounds like he's a little off in pitch or timing with vocal lines in places in some of these wonderful songs and giving performances. He sounds like he puts so much energy and care into the performances, as in the title track and throughout the whole album, I hate to seem like a spoiled and ungrateful EC fan! Which here apparently I do. Bereft any remix, perhaps if the new mastering for SACD is a bit darker in how some of the vocals come through and also articulates the tones of some of the other instruments even more clearly or directly, I'm just wondering if that might be enough to soften and balance some of those little inconsistencies I hear in some of the vocals and the sound of a few of the more forward vocal mixes. I guess I'll have to try to buy the sacd to find out. Too bad Sessions at West 54th isn't more widely distributed too. Many of those live performances are splendid and superb and the vocals superior to the album versions, imo fwiw. After giving PFM another listen tonight, it seems to me the direction of North, not that long after PFM, seems a little more clearly to me in retrospect almost a complementary kind of album but one that inhabits its own mood and place quite confidently and cohesively too. Fwiw, I am enjoying thinking of the idea of the two albums as a congenial and harmonious pair. Apologies for going a little OT. I was thinking of other EC titles on sacd and North is another.

    A bittersweet I'll Never Fall In Love Again
     
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  24. jkauff

    jkauff Senior Member

    Location:
    Akron, OH
    Oops. That's the Royal FESTIVAL Hall, not the Royal ALBERT Hall. I love my boot, but an official release would be great.
     
  25. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    Yes that Sessions at West 54st is just wonderful. I liked how Burt starts with just piano on 'Tears at The Birthday Party' as opposed to the studio which starts with EC vocals right away. I have the commercial VHS release of that show and it still plays and sounds great. What is odd is that they played a a few other tracks at Sessions that didn't make the retail VHS release or the aired version. The aired version has 'God Give Me Strength' which oddly enough isn't on the VHS release. Too bad this was never released on DVD. Only the title track was released on a DVD from sessions with various artists. On the promo VHS titled 'Because it's a Lonely World' they do show clips of a few other songs from Sessions that didn't make the final cut(VHS or televised version). There's also more of an open feeling on the Sessions show as well. Such a shame it wasn't released on DVD.
     
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