Yes, I agree. I prefer the old cd, the expanded version is not mastered to my taste and, this is the cruncher, has some minutes of "No Quarter" butchered out I hardly ever listen to "Moby Dick" on disc 2, I must admit. I love Bonham, but I find his solos to be boring after a couple of minutes.
Back to more of “The Two Seasons” Evan Parker: tenor & soprano saxophones John Edwards: amplified double bass Mark Sanders: percussion (mostly drums & cymbals) I find that it still takes me some time acclimate to this music maybe since I’ve been on maybe an 75% Dead diet for a month or two. I also know that once I’m in and involved, there is no saxophonist who is as satisfying to listen to over long stretches. His 8-20 minute or more continuous improvisations on tenor (collective with the bass & drums as they are freely improvising as well) are very strong here - maybe as powerful as anything outside or equal to his best playing with Parker-Guy-Lytton or Schlippenbach Trio during the 90’s to early 00’s. Just when you think he can’t take it any further or the music can’t possibly get more intense and exciting, Parker drives the music to higher levels of brilliance. His playing during these years has been called “causually brilliant” yet that is damned praise, I think.
For the second time this week: I prefer the mono mix, but "Tomorrow Never Knows" sounds better in stereo.
I've been on a 3% Dead diet lately. I listened to Help>Slipknot! from 9/28/75 this morning, but I shouldn't mention it here.
I have a lot of mono recordings, but none of them are as crucial (if crucial at all) as the Beatles In Mono, because their early stereo recordings, to me, are near awful. People will take issue with that last statement, yet no one will ever write the following: "Yeah, you know, I just love Ringo crammed into the left channel in wide stereo. That's where the drums should always live." The Dylan mono set is fairly useless. I fell for that for some reason. I feel the same about the Stones in mono, but that's a good way to get No. 2. But I had a weird boot of that anyway. I knew a girl in high school that got the mono.
Fables is fantastic. Last of the early, 'mystical South' REM albums and the only three I actually still like.
As I've boasted about in this tread before, I was at that gig. It was fantastic and I'm not even a fan.
In my opinion, John Wesley Harding is far better in mono. In stereo is a masterpiece, in mono is a supermasterpiece (whatever that means). Duophonic is much worse illness
The Dylan one is ok. But man oh man, that Stones one is frickin MINDBLOWIN'!!! These albums have never ever sounded better. Incl the two fold-downs. Just my opinion. But still
The '77 sessions are almost too good. Freddie is probably the best singer ever to operate under the whole pop/rock umm-ber-rella. If you can listen to the first part of this version of "Too Late" and a) either hear a cat or b) not in any way feel a little touched (in the right way but by a moustachio'd man) you are without soul or emotions. YOU ABSOLUTE BRUTE!
Chick Corea, Return to Forever, Stan Getz, Captain Marvel and now the first Utopia album, the latter of which I need to pick up but don't own (the others I do, but I'm listening to them all on Spotify at work).
