Audiophile Level Rock Albums?

No I didn't; in fact, I purposely didn't say IMHO because it was implied...evidenced by the fact that I said something which I never asserted as factual.

 

Well, whatever way you shake it to these ears it's a fine sounding CD. YMMV.

 

I know. There's nothing wrong with enjoying the sound of massive amounts of clipping; a lot of people enjoy that sound. It's just not for me.

 

Seventh Sojourn Moody Blues

 

Very excited to see Electrons and Albino mentioned. 18th Dye's Tribute to a Bus is another Albini exemplar. -E

 

Surprisingly, no one has mentioned Keith Richards Talk Is Cheap. That is an extremely well recorded album. IMHO of course.

 

Nice. Was referring to vinyl mostly but open to audiophile recordings in any format.

 

Surpised. I don't see a reason why some of our favorite prog rock music can't be recorded/produced in audiophile quality.

 

Roger Waters - Amused To Death is an excellent recording. Need more like that.

 

Not sure why I can't edit my entry above, but hopefully it's obvious I meant Electrelane and Albini. >stupid phone< -E

 

I was surprised when I heard the first S/T Audioslave on CD, particularly "Show me How to Live." Not too bright, the drums have a natural room ambience about them, the sound stage is quite large but realistic and it doesn't sound heavily limited or compressed (I'm sure it's compressed a little bit, most hard rock needs some squashing to give it its drive). It also seems they resisted the overly layered guitar track tricks, as well. The only slight "non audiophile" characteristic is a use of a slightly distorted vocal sound, Cornell seems to like it (he used it on Superunknown and Down on the Upside). But overall, it is a nice demo for hard rock on a good system. Gets better as the system gets better.

I also like John Mayers Continuum. "Gravity" has a nice space around it and the details on Steve Jordan's drums and Mayers guitar is very 3D sounding on a good system. Lots of dynamics.

 

Maybe not "audiophile" in the traditional sense, but when you understand what they were going for, you can really appreciate how well engineered that album really is.

 

Be Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish

 

Rhino vinyl reissue a few years back of Forever Changes is terrific.
As for the consistent sonic quality of the Dire Straits catalog, I always assumed that it was because they were released in Britain on Vertigo, a label of Polygram, which, along with Sony, developed and co-licensed the CD format. Dire Straits was their poster group to showcase it. I remember that it was a big deal when, in the mid-80s, Brothers in Arms was the first new rock album to simultaneously come out on CD and vinyl. Up until then, CDs were mostly catalog stuff, or fringe new items like the California Project/Papa Do Ron Ron's reheating of Beach Boys classics. Assumed that Dire Straits sessions got special handling to sound as good as possible.
Agree about the white label Asylum stuff, as well. Sounds great. A cut above the later pressings.

 

I don't do analog, but here are some of my digital reference recordings:

- Anathema: We're Here Because We're Here, Kscope CD/DVD-A (kscope154). (The END Records CD sounds different somehow, though the credits are the same.) One of Steven Wilson's best mixes for a contemporary artist, and not ruined by Jon Astley's mastering; the real gem is the 5.1 MLP on the DVD-A.
- Marc Cohn: Marc Cohn, Mobile Fidelity SACD. "Ghost Train" is just magical.
- Dire Straits: On Every Street, original Warner Bros. US CD (9 26680-2 on case, XM3 S3 1 26680-2 SRC=01 ARC on disc). Mark Knopfler knew what sounded good and made it happen.
- The Doobie Brothers: What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, Mobile Fidelity SACD. Extremely musical from start to finish.
- Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid, pretty sure there's only one CD master. Great "surprise" dynamics in the opening track.
- The Fixx: Reach The Beach, original MCA US CD (MCAD-5419/DIDX 53 on case, MCAD 5419J S5C21 on disc—I think; hard to make out the last two characters). An odd choice, perhaps, but I really like the sound of this album.
- Steven Wilson: Grace For Drowning, any format (but my favorite is the hi-res surround on the Blu-ray). Steven's mixes, especially of his own material, are among the very best, and he no longer has them mastered by anyone, which is a good thing.
- Steve Winwood: Chronicles, original Island US CD (9 25660-2 on case, 1 25660-2 SRC-04 on disc). To my ears, one of the best-sounding CDs I've ever heard.

 

I know a lot of people think Tom Dowd's engineering/producing is muddy -- and it's been a while since I played the album, so maybe it just sounded great that night -- but I was absolutely floored by my MFSL (first regime) Test Pressing LP of Clapton's "461 Ocean Blvd."


And, as I've said many times, Traffic vinyl always sounds great... especially UK or German pressings.


And of course a lot of 12" singles cut at 45 rpm sound fantastic (Elvis Costello's "Radio Radio" at high volume will knock you out of your chair, and Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" will lift you Musical Heaven)!

I have first pressing -- and second pressing -- copies of "Seventh Sojourn" and I agree -- and they both sound fantastic!

.

 

Yup, the SACD version is killer good, better than my vinyl copy.

 

Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare

 

In reference to that, I recommend "Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop" (1989) with Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas.
Really close to the recording date of "Amused To Death" and the tone of Beck's guitar sounds very familiar. It rocks hard and has great dynamics at the same time.

Besides that, Peter Gabriel is always a good address for decent SQ, especially his early self-titled albums. (Vinyl or the early Charisma CD releases of course! Nobody wants earbleeding with remastered CDs! ).
Last proposition would be Brainticket's "Adventure" (1980) and "Voyage" (1982). All analogue psychedelic jam sessions. Even the CD releases of these two are vinyl transfers. Highly recommended!!

[edit: If you have "Amused To Death" on vinyl, than I'd be a little bit jealous! ]

 

It's one thing about using Playlists in shuffle mode they will real quickly help you identify those that are well recorded and well mastered. They stand out quite easily from the hazy murk of poor recording/mastering.

 

Not sure what "audiophile" is exactly but Black Sabbath-S/T, UK spaceship label sounds fantastic.

 

If you like Johnny A, "Get Inside" is an incredible sounding CD. Tuesday Morning sounds incredible and Get Inside takes it up a notch imo.

 

That's probably right about Floyd. I will say that the UK vinyl for Animals is one of my favorites, it just sounds right!

John Frusciante's The Empyrean is one of the more obscure albums I recommend to people all the time. It blows most people away. I have the original and reissue vinyl and both are so good. I even have the Japanese SHM-CD and I've never bought one of those things until I see it in Japan with bonus tracks.

 

Hmm, let's break it down:

Certainly sounded like a factual assertion to me. Anyhow...I know that this thread depends heavily on the true definition of "audiophile-level" for each poster, but you're actually the only person I've ever heard complain about how that CD sounds. It's one of the best rock CDs my ears have heard.

It sounds great, and on the Digital Domain Honor Roll for good reason IMHO.

Caveat: we're talking about the original CD release and not the XX "remaster."

 

The DCC gold of the first Doors album sounds very realistic to me. Perhaps not audiophile purity, but it was mostly recorded live and sounds that way.