Audiophile Edition - Van Halen, Supertramp and the New York Dolls
Our look at new releases on vinyl this time out focuses on audiophile-quality releases by Van Halen, Supertramp and the New York Dolls.
Van Halen - Fair Warning - Ultradisc One-Step Pressing by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Unless you happened to be in the studio when Van Halen (David Lee Roth on vocals, Eddie Van Halen on guitar, Alex Van Halen on drums and Michael Anthony on bass) were recording
Fair Warning you have never heard it sounding so good as it does here on this Mobile Fidelity audiophile pressing. And that includes the amazing guitar playing of Eddie Van Halen who demonstrates his finger tapping playing style at the album's onset during the intro to "Mean Street." Eddie also impresses with especially showy moves at the beginning of follow-up track "Dirty Movies." Of course Eddie is, well, completely unchained as he rips through "Unchained," one of the cuts here that got (and still gets) lots of airplay. Roth is sounding fine too as every shriek, moan and wheeze comes through like Diamond Dave is right in the room with you. Anthony's bass playing shines bright here too, especially on the funky "Push Comes to Shove." And the uncharacteristic cut "Sunday Afternoon in the Park," a brief instrumental that you'd never figure was Van Halen unless you already knew, presents a good chance to hear the stellar musicianship of the band. This sonic delight is an Original Master Recording that Mobile Fidelity has produced using their Ultradisc One-Step Pressing process and is presented as a box set with two LPs that play at 45 RPM that are housed in deluxe jackets within the sturdy cardboard slipcover box, and with an insert that replicates the album's original cover graphics. This is a limited edition item with each box being numbered.
Supertramp - Crime of the Century and Crisis? What Crisis? - A&M/UMe Records Half Speed Masters
Supertramp had released a couple of albums prior but it was these two back-to-back albums that put the English band on the radio in the States and on their way to becoming full-blown superstars with their 1979 #1 hit album
Breakfast in America. So for most, 1974's
Crime of the Century and 1975's
Crisis? What Crisis? represent the beginning of the Supertramp story. And since this music is so beloved, no doubt lots of fans from these early days still have their original vinyl copies of the albums. Now is the perfect time to update and hear these two melodic prog masterpieces in the highest fidelity with these reissues that have been Half Speed Mastered, at the iconic Abbey Road Studios no less. Probably the most fun Supertramp song to sing along to ever is "Bloody Well Right" and it comes early in the sequencing on Side A of
Crime of the Century, right after leadoff track and fan favorite "School," and the cut puts listeners in a jolly mood for the rest of the record. Those cuts and other most familiar cuts like "Hide in Your Shell" and the big hit "Dreamer" all sound spectacular here, but fans may especially enjoy hearing cuts like "Asylum," with its delicate piano parts and eventually boisterous orchestration, in super high quality audio. Crisis? What Crisis? is similarly packed with biggies and deep cuts, and because it is so clear you may think the whistling you hear is coming from someone in the room but it is actually on the record, at the beginning of album opener "Easy Does It." Guitars sproing with glee along with Roger Hodgson's lead vocals on the hit "Sister Moonshine," the sassy "Ain't Nobody but Me" rocks smoothly but with attitude, and B-Side deep cuts like "Lady" and "Poor Boy" will thrill listeners as they'll hear the instrumentation in a whole new light. Both albums were pressed with precision in Germany on 180-gram vinyl;
Crime of the Century includes an inner sleeve with graphic and lyrics.
New York Dolls - New York Dolls - Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Original Master Recording
New York Dolls released few studio albums in their all-to-brief career and none is more beloved than their 1973 self-titled debut album, here given the audiophile treatment by Mobile Fidelity. This high quality reissue is made all the more desirable by the fact that, with the recent death of singer and front man David Johansen all of the New York Dolls (Johnny Thunders on guitar and vocals, Sylvain Sylvain on guitar , piano and vocals, Jerry Nolan on drums and Arthur Kane on bass) have now passed away. The album begins with arguably the band's best-known song, the raucous "Personality Crisis," complete now with ultra-high fidelity wolf howls. Also here are "Looking for a Kiss," filled with squalling guitars from Thunders and Sylvain (and yep, smooching noises at the end), the understated "Lonely Planet Boy" (check out the sax!), the quirky "Trash," the guitar inferno of "Bad Girl" and the catchy tale of rock 'n' roll dissipation that is "Pills." The album closes out with another Dolls favorite, "Jet Boy," a cut that in a way presaged the coming of the Ramones a few years later. This classic, produced by Todd Rundgren, is presented on two LPs that spin at 45 RPM and that are housed in a sturdy gatefold jacket.
