Album Reviews

John Coltrane’s landmark lone album for Blue Note Records, January 1958’s Blue Train, is an acknowledged jazz classic that has only grown in stature over the years. In fact, the album is so highly revered and so popular that demand for original 1950s pressings have escalated on the collector’s market, putting those editions essentially out of reach for most consumers. Fortunately, the good folks behind Blue Note’s Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue series have crafted not one but two releases to celebrate the 65th anniversary of this most beloved Trane album — namely, separate 180g 1LP mono and 180g 2LP stereo editions. This likely raises a slight dilemma for some of us as to which version of we should buy. Read on to find out if one, or both versions are worth obtaining. . .

Part 2:
And also, bravo to you for remastering something PRIMARILY FOR ITS MUSICAL VALUES that could by no means be considered an “audiophile favorite,” but is so much more essential as music than any number of cheese “audiophile” reissues.” No doubt you’ll field a few silly complaints from people who don’t understand the limits of these master tapes. (Classic showed the same good attitude when they reissued the Munch “Saint-Saens Organ Symphony” [LSC-2341], which “has distortion on the master tape”… but hey Audio World, it’s the BEST PERFORMANCE of a great work, and sounds thrilling!)

Patricia Barber’s familiar, well-loved live album Companion (so designated because Barber conceived of it as a “companion” to her previous studio album Modern Cool) —long available on180g vinyl and CD—is now out on a superb sounding hybrid SACD mastered via Mobile Fidelity’s Gain 2™ system. Three evenings worth of performances at Chicago’s famed Green Mill nightspot captured to high resolution digital by famed jazz engineer Jim Anderson were distilled down by Ms. Barber to create the original album. For this issue she’s allowed Mo-Fi to add the bonus track “You Are My Sunshine,” but all involved decided against a revisionist multi-channel remix, so 2 channels are all you get, which for many will be enough and for the real diehards is one too many.

As with William Shatner's infamous cover of “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” Paul Anka's big band cover of Nirvana's “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was not meant to be a goof. However, unlike Shatner's mangling, Anka pulls it off brilliantly, thanks in part to the suave, sensitive arrangements, but mostly because the Vegas veteran clearly takes the tunes seriously and sees their intrinsic musical and lyrical merit. Whoever did the A&R work made inspired choices as the mix of tunes is eclectic and sometimes daring.

Beatles fans generally fall into two camps when it comes to how they feel about Paul McCartney’s solo and Wings eras — they either love them, or they more or less loathe them. That said, one Wings album we’ve really grown to love over the years is April 1973’s Red Rose Speedway. We’ve explored different pressings of this LP all along the way, and it’s always hinted there might be something sonically stronger hidden within the grooves. And now, with the half-speed mastered Record Store Day 2023 180g 1LP release of Red Rose Speedway, we finally have an answer. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to find out why this new RSD 2023 vinyl edition is worth your spinning time. . .