October 9th, 2024
The Doors Are Still Open—and in 2025 Will Continue to "Break on Through" 60th anniversary celebration kicks off with Rhino High Fidelity AAA box set!By: Michael Fremer
"The Doors is 60 years old. Jim and Ray are gone, Densmore and Krieger are still with us and the group's power, led by Jim Morrison's grip on the imaginations of repeat generations of alienated youth, continues full strength. Rhino and Doors management led by Jeff Jampol, CEO of JAM Management plan a 2025 year long celebration starting with an all new AAA edition of a very familiar looking faux lizardskin box set that was originally issued in 2008... Read More
September 28th, 2024
Neil Young's Essential "On the Beach" 50th Anniversary Reissue Coming AAA November 8th Cut by Chris Bellman directly from the original master tapes, RTI for N.A., R.I. for R.O.W.By: Tracking Angle
Released in 1974, 50 years ago, Neil's 5th studio album, and the one following Harvest is among his most revered and musically enduring albums. Musicians on the album included Crazy Horse's rhythm section Billy Talbot (bass) and Ralph Molina (drums), along with other key players Ben Keith, Tim Drummond, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Rusty Kershaw, David Crosby, Graham Nash and George Whitsell (The Rockets). Sessions were held at Young’s Broken Arrow Ranch in... Read More
September 23rd, 2024
Domino to Reissue on Vinyl John Cale's "The Academy In Peril" and "Paris 1919" digitally remasteredBy: Michael Fremer
The Domino website characterizes these two albums as "beloved", but when they were first released no one paid them much attention. They are costly on Discogs mostly because so few copies were manufactured. Most copies you'll find either have "cut out" cut corners or are promo copies discarded by foolish people.At the time John Cale was a Warner Brothers employee, as I recall, an "A&R Man", tasked with finding and signing new... Read More
September 12th, 2024
Beatles Monophonic 1964 U.S. Albums Box Set Coming Cut AAA also available individually (good idea!)By: Tracking Angle
‘The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono’ Spotlights Seven AlbumsReleased in America Between January 1964 & March 1965;180-gram Vinyl LPs Analog Cut from the Original Mono MastersLondon - September 12, 2024 – Originally compiled for U.S. release between January 1964 and March 1965 by Capitol Records and United Artists, seven Beatles albums have been analog cut for 180-gram audiophile vinyl from their original mono master tapes for global release on November 22 by... Read More
August 31st, 2024
The Brian Eno Documentary Is An Interesting Yet Unsatisfying Exercise Gary Hustwit’s ever-changing, generative ‘Eno’ succeeds in concept, if not executionBy: Malachi Lui
In 1975, Brian Eno released Discreet Music, his first “conscious” ambient album. On the back cover, he wrote an essay that starts, “Since I have always preferred making plans to executing them, I have gravitated towards situations and systems that, once set into operation, could create music with little or no intervention on my part.” With an accompanying technical graph, he describes side A’s 32-minute title composition—a few looping melodies that alternate in and... Read More
August 30th, 2024
VPI Hosts A Charity Event to Benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation September 14th a worthy charityBy: Michael Fremer
Another event for New York/NJ readers: on Saturday September 14th from 3:00-7:00PM VPI is hosting a charity event to benefit The Tunnel to Towers Foundation (set up following the 9/11 attack to benefit Firefighters and other first responders). The event host is Tracking Angle contributing writer JJ French lead guitarist of Twisted Sister For: Food, Drink, Live Music …and $500,000 of HiFi Gear!Prizes, Raffles and Auctions Event Donation is $20 HiFi Cares will feature a... Read More
August 17th, 2024
Injection Molded Records Are Here! listen and compare the same title pressed two waysBy: Michael Fremer
(There's NEW AUDIO attached to the video below). The German company Sonopress last year announced that it was developing an injection molded vinyl record production process, calling the resulting record an "EcoRecord". The environmentally friendly process is similar to how optical media like laserdiscs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs are manufactured (Sonopress developed 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray technology). With optical disc popularity giving way to streaming... Read More
August 9th, 2024
Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 4 Culls Unreleased Material From Her Most Innovative 1976-1980 Time Mitchell curated wide-ranging 6 CD/4 LP box setBy: Tracking Angle
Press release: LOS ANGELES — Throughout the latter half of the seventies, Joni Mitchell continued to creatively break ground with her fearless and fluid exploration of jazz. Rather than tread the same path, she challenged and reinvented her style with a folk fusion like no other. Ascending to an unrivaled sonic peak, this innovative sound took shape across the gold-certified Hejira [1976], the gold-certified double-LP Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter[1977], her... Read More
August 2nd, 2024
Rhino High Fidelity's First Multi-LP Box Set Goes to ZZ Top! comprises albums from 1971-1976 (press release isn't precise about cutting source)By: Tracking Angle
LOS ANGELES—Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi) returns with the latest addition to its acclaimed limited-edition, high-end vinyl reissues with the first-ever boxed set release. ZZ Top From The Top: 1971-1976 includes ZZ Top’s First Album (1971), Rio Grande Mud(1972), Tres Hombres (1973), Fandango! (1975), and Tejas (1976). This Hi-Fi release celebrates their musical excellence and includes detailed liner notes by James Austin in conversation with frontman Billy... Read More
August 1st, 2024
Neil Young Archives Volume III Drops September 6th 22 discs (17 CDs, 5 Blu-rays)By: Tracking Angle
July 26, 2024 (Los Angeles, CA) – The limited edition Deluxe Edition of Archives Vol. III, available on September 6 exclusively at neilyoungarchives.com, includes recordings and films together that show the unheralded sweep of Young's efforts from the 1976-1987 period of his journey. It is one of the most extensive anthologies in his recorded history.There are a total of 22 discs, with 17 CD’s in 11 soft-paks and 5 Blu-rays in 3 soft-paks. There are 11 films on... Read More
July 26th, 2024
Marking the Passing of an Exceptional Man: Thomas Andrew MacNab (“Tam”) Carlson (1941-2024) (Tam Created the Ralston Listening Room at the University of the South)By: John Marks
By the time all the construction dust had settled (in the summer of 2010), more than a million dollars had been spent to transform a section of the second floor of Sewanee’s Jessie Ball duPont Library into a world-class audiophile listening room rivaling the playback in the most famous recording studios and mastering labs worldwide.
Read MoreJuly 24th, 2024
Next Two Pablo Titles Ship July 26th Norman Granz's "underdog" label finally rises to the topBy: Michael Fremer
Tom Fine explains the history in the liner notes accompanying each of these Pablo reissues, that in 1960 label founder Norman Granz sold Verve Records to MGM and moved to Europe where he promoted concerts and collected art. When his non-compete agreement expired in the early '70s he noted that many of his jazz friends, who like him, were now older but hardly "washed up", were without recording contracts. Two, Ella and Oscar, he also managed. You'll... Read More
July 18th, 2024
Rhino Reissue of Talk Talk's "It's My Life" Coming October 4th 40th anniversary release overseen by Talk Talk drummer Lee Harris and Mark Hollis's son CharlieBy: Michael Fremer
Though most older fans today consider later albums "The Colour of Spring" (1986) and Spirit of Eden (1988) and to a lesser degree 1991's Laughing Stock to be Talk Talk's peak (though younger crowds especially prefer the last two albums), It's My Life from 1984 was the beginning of the band's rise to musical excellence (though critics mostly hated Spirit of Eden when it was first released and it was a commercial failure).Rhino Records on... Read More
July 12th, 2024
Rhino High Fidelity Does Eponymous "Bad Company" and Yes "Relayer" sit down! see yourself! stand up! turn around! buy these!By: Tracking Angle
LOS ANGELES—Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi) returns with the latest additions to its acclaimed limited-edition, high-end vinyl reissues. Bad Company’s Self-Titled(1974) debut and Yes’s Relayer (1974) are available today exclusively at Rhino.com and internationally at select WMG stores. Each release is limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies priced at $39.98Rhino High Fidelity has set the industry standard for sound quality and packaging, demonstrating... Read More
July 2nd, 2024
UHQR Bill Evans "Sunday At the Village Vanguard" and "Waltz For Debby" Coming from Analogue Productions Kevin Gray mastered from the original analog tapesBy: Tracking Angle
Great titles, oft-released, first time on UHQR. What else is there to say? At least until we get to hear it. Read More
June 29th, 2024
"Because Sound Matters One-Step"/Warner Records Series Launches With Three Linkin Park Releases "Hybrid Theory", "Meteora" and "Minutes to Midnight" for audiophiles?By: Michael Fremer
Below is the press release for a new and some might think surprising "One-Step" audiophile vinyl release for three classic Linkin Park releases, under the "Because Sound Matters" banner relaunched by Warner Records, which now has an online store using that name. "Because Sound Matters" was a vinyl series originally created almost twenty years ago by Tom "Grover" Biery when he was working at Warner Brothers Records. The vinyl... Read More
June 21st, 2024
Craft's Bluesville Series Announces Albert King's "Live Wire Blues Power" & Lightnin' Hopkins' "Last Night Blues" All analog series in association with Acoustic Sounds curated by Scott BillingtonBy: Michael Fremer
Los Angeles, CA (June 20, 2024)—Craft Recordings and Bluesville Records proudly announce a pair of classic reissues from two of blues music’s most influential artists: Albert King’s career-defining 1968 concert album, Live Wire/Blues Power, and 1961’s poignant Last Night Blues from Lightnin’ Hopkins with Sonny Terry. Releasing September 13 and available to pre-order today, these titles mark the latest releases in the acclaimed new series, which celebrates America’s... Read More
June 21st, 2024
Joni Mitchell's 6 LP "The Asylum Albums (1976-1980)" Out Now Bernie Grundman cut lacquers sourced directly from master tapesBy: Tracking Angle
LOS ANGELES – After The Hissing Of Summer Lawns tour, Joni Mitchell retreated to Neil Young’s beach house to recover. Eager to travel but undecided about a destination, Mitchell was unexpectedly invited on a cross-country road trip with friends. It was one of three road trips she took between 1975 and 1976 and the beginning of a period defined by wanderlust, both in her physical travels and musical exploration. This transformative phase is the focal point of The... Read More