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Wow...what a record

I'm sure everybody has said that to themselves at one time or another: you just sit there slack-jawed after the record ends, with your tongue hanging down to your waist, in shock and awe at what you just heard.

Here's two for you: the Classic reissues of the Antill Corroborree (Everest) and the incredible Fiedler/Wild disc of Gershwin (RCA Living Stereo) with the Concerto in F, the I Got Rhythm Variations, and the Cuban Overture. The former may be the best-sounding record, bar none, that I've ever heard (in 35 years of listening). The latter is right up there alongside it in terms of sound, and the performance is stunning beyond words--were Fiedler, the Boston Pops, and Earl Wild *ever* in more spectacular form? The Classic reissues of both are glorious beyond words.

If I didn't own a record player, I think I'd have to buy one just to play these records.

Any particular records strike you in this way--that make the whole endeavor seem worthwhile?
bublitchki
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
For me recently, it has been some Mercury reissues: the Mercury 20th Century Music box set reissued by Speakers Corner, and Stravinsky's Firebird Ballet reissued by Classic Records (45 rpm). Just phenomenal recordings.
dirtyragamuffin
213 posts
 
I'm really digging on the latest 180g Dark Side of the Moon pressing. The best I've heard so far! Just a very good sounding reissue. I like the Kind of Blue Classic Records 200g as well, and the latest 180g pressing of Portisehead's Dummy. These don't have a ton of panache but they make me sit and grin afterwards, I can tell you that ;) I can't stand to listen to any of the redbook copies now, I've been completely spoiled. Just can't do it :)
bublitchki OP
14 posts
 
Dirtyragamuffin: your Kind of Blue 200g is the single-disc 33-1/3 version, correct? How would this compare with other versions you've heard? I've got a mid-'80s CD (made in Japan, but issued in the U.S.--it's a very early CD, and when I mentioned it once on another forum, some of the Miles fans didn't even know it existed). That one doesn't sound totally awful: it at least has extended highs, and no filtering that I can hear. Plenty of tape hiss (and as we know, tape hiss is our friend).

The other issue I have is the SACD (stereo setup here; disc is not a hybrid--SACD only), and I do *not* care for the sound. I find it clipped off on top, possibly in an effort to reduce tape hiss, flat in perspective, and all-around "smaller" in terms of the size of the instruments. Everyone else who's heard it seems to love it, so I feel I'm fairly alone on this one.

If the 200g single-disc Classic issue restores the original sound to this album, I'd go right ahead and order it. Any comparisons?
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