High Fidelity: Joe Walsh, Skynyrd in hi-res roundup
Audio Fidelity has embarked on an ambitious release schedule in 2010, with limited-edition 24 Karat Gold CDs out now or in the works for artists including Judas Priest (Hell Bent For Leather), Yes (90125), Simon & Garfunkel (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme), Randy Newman (12 Songs) and Alice Cooper (Love It To Death).
I had the chance to hear three recent releases — Joe Walsh’s The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Second Helping. Audio Fidelity has made a point of staying true to the original masters for any reissue.
The dynamic studio duo of Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray have typically been employed to bring the AF vision to fruition. My experience with the 24 K + discs has been positive overall, though some releases have not been without problems. The initial Second Helping release had a glitch where “Call Me The Breeze” skipped or “false-started” at the beginning. By the time I received my copy the discrepancy was resolved.
Second Helping and Walsh’s Smoker are both HDCD-encoded discs, so with a compatible player you can get higher resolution (20-bit/44.1kHz) playback than from standard redbook CD (16-bit/44.1kHz). The discs, however, will work in any player.
It’s difficult for me to listen to “Sweet Home Alabama” with any sense of objectivity after hearing it trampled to death across radio, TV and film, but a couple of deep tracks, the minor-key plea “I Need You” and “Swamp Music,” sound terrific.
For those who discovered Joe Walsh through The Eagles or his subsequent solo efforts, an often-incomplete picture of his music emerged — Walsh the hard-rocker or Walsh the joker.
Those who know Walsh from his James Gang days and early solo records have heard a breadth of music that encompasses rock, soul, R&B and folk.
If you don’t believe, give a listen to 1973’s Smoker, and beyond the well-known “Rocky Mountain Way” is a basket of many-colored eggs, including the marvelously arranged memoir “Bookends,” the moody “Wolf,” whose acoustic-guitar intro is terrific here, and the Caribbean-tinged “Happy Ways.” The AF version is very smooth and analog-sounding and a welcome reissue, not just for the sound but for the great music.
by Todd Whitesel
http://www.goldminemag.com/article/high_fidelity_king_crimson_joe_walsh_skynyrd/
