Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic – Mahler: Symphony No. 1 (2007)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 52:38 minutes | 4,0 GB
FLAC 2.0 Stereo (PS3 ISO extract / Weiss Saracon conversion) 24bit/88.2 kHz | 0.99 GB
Japan Import | Year: 1966, 2001 | 3% Recovery Info
“This performance remains one of the most thrilling and committed performances of “The Titan” to be issued. The DSD/SACD remastering is excellent I look forward to the entire Sony cycle in this wonderful high resolution format.”
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Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado – Mahler: Symphony No.6 (2005)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & DST64 5.1 >1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Covers | 5.11 GB
FLAC tracks 2.0 24bit/88.2 kHz | Covers | 1.29 GB
When at last it was revealed what Mahler’s final intentions were regarding the ordering of the inner movements of his 6th Symphony, 90 years of theory, history, & performance practice went right out the window. For theorists, it altered the harmonic structure of Mahler’s A minor Symphony. For historians, it modified the meaning of Mahler’s “Tragic” Symphony. For players & conductors, it changed the musical progress of Mahler’s 6th Symphony. For listeners, it made Mahler’s deepest & darkest symphony even deeper & darker. With the achingly nostalgic Andante moderato now coming before the bitingly bitter Scherzo, the triumph of the opening Allegro energico sounds even more hollow & empty & the collapse of the closing Allegro moderato sounds even more final & total.
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Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Janet Baker – Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (Adagio) & Kindertotenlieder (2007)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 55:312minutes | 4,14 GB
FLAC 2.0 Stereo (PS3 ISO extract / Weiss Saracon conversion) 24bit/88.2 kHz | 1.0 GB
Japan Import | Year: 1974/5, 2007
One can hardly believe the SACD sound Sony has achieved here, trumping even the “Carnegie Hall Presents” remaster! It is almost unbelievable that the original sound we were able to hear back in the 60s and 70s has been so revived from those original recordings in New York’s CBS Studios and Tel Aviv.
In the Kindertotenlieder, Janet Baker’s signing is unmatchable. She shines radiantly in every song. The last sung passage of In diesem Wetter is exquisite. Baker keeps her voice steady and is never lacking in purity throughout. She sounds haunting at times, too. It is a truly amazing musical experience. The 10th Adagio is a masterpiece. It’s power sends shivers throughout. This is a definitive recording of the only movement Mahler got to complete of his last Symphony.
As good as the LP vinyl version of this music, the transfer to SACD is heavenly. It completed, for me the entire set of Bernstein/Mahler symphonies reissued on SACD (Japanese imports), and it was a wonderful finale.
The sound is is stunning. Few of the Adagios and Kindertotenlieder available come close. The DSD sonic transfer highlights the wonderful strengths in these performances. The entire set of Bernstein/Mahler SACDs, expensive imports that they may be, is the best things in my SACD collection!
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Mahavishnu Orchestra – Birds Of Fire (1973) [Audio Fidelity 2015]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 & DST64 4.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 40:36 minutes | Full Scans included | 3,04 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | 40:33 mins | Scans included | 832 MB
Features Stereo and Quadrophonic surround sound | Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio | Audio Fidelity # AFZ5 212 | Genre: Fusion, Jazz Rock
Emboldened by the popularity of Inner Mounting Flame among rock audiences, the first Mahavishnu Orchestra set out to further define and refine its blistering jazz-rock direction in its second – and, no thanks to internal feuding, last – studio album. Although it has much of the screaming rock energy and sometimes exaggerated competitive frenzy of its predecessor, Birds of Fire is audibly more varied in texture, even more tightly organized, and thankfully more musical in content. A remarkable example of precisely choreographed, high-speed solo trading – with John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, and Jan Hammer all of one mind, supported by Billy Cobham’s machine-gun drumming and Rick Laird’s dancing bass – can be heard on the aptly named “One Word,” and the title track is a defining moment of the group’s nearly atonal fury. The band also takes time out for a brief bit of spaced-out electronic burbling and static called “Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love.” Yet the most enticing pieces of music on the record are the gorgeous, almost pastoral opening and closing sections to “Open Country Joy,” a relaxed, jocular bit of communal jamming that they ought to have pursued further. This album actually became a major crossover hit, rising to number 15 on the pop album charts, and it remains the key item in the first Mahavishnu Orchestra’s slim discography.
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Maeve O’Boyle – All My Sins (2009)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 39:02 min | Scans included | 2,39 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 785 MB
Features Stereo & Multichannel Surround sound | Linn Records # AKD 318
All My Sins, the debut album from Glasgow’s rising star Maeve O’Boyle, is a master class in melodic, folktinged pop and showcases Maeve’s poignant, personal and deeply meaningful self-penned songs. Produced by Calum Malcolm (The Blue Nile), ‘All My Sins’ is a master class in melodic, folk-tinged pop and features co-writes with, among others, Ricky Ross (Deacon Blue) and Francis Macdonald (Teenage Fanclub). Her unique blend of melodic pop, folk and rock won the acclaim of many established musicians and the press upon its release.
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Macy Gray – The Trouble With Being Myself (2003)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 00:48:37 minutes | 3,38 GB
Genre: R&B, Funk, Soul | Scans included | Label: Epic Records
Like Alanis Morissette, Macy Gray has the unenviable task of her work always being measured against her brilliant debut album, On How Life Is. One of the most joyous releases of the decade, its blend of pop and soul seemed to captivate everyone who heard it. Since then Gray’s appeared on the big screen (in Training Day and Spiderman), guested on songs for Santana and Fatboy Slim, and in 2001 tried to recreate the formula of her debut on a follow-up album, The Id – with diminishing returns.
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Stuttgarter Hymnus-Chorknaben, Rainer Johannes Homburg, Kay Johannsen – Machet die Tore weit: Chor- und Orgelmusik zu Advent und Weihnachten (2011)
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,71 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,14 GB | Full Artwork: 130 MB | 3% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG “Scene” # 902 1725-6 | Country/Year: Germany 2011
Genre: Classical, Sacred | Style: Renaissance-Contemporary, Vocal
In 1900 the Stuttgart Hymnus Boys’ choir (German: Stuttgarter Hymnus-Chorknaben) was initiated by the Swabian entrepreneur Paul von Lechler.
His models were the Thomanerchor Leipzig and the Dresdner Kreuzchor. After the re-foundation in 1946 and under the leadership of Professor Gerhard Wilhelm, who conducted the choir until 1987, the Hymnus Boys’ Choir soon reached an artistic level, that was recognized far beyond the country borders. Then Eckhard Weyand was in charge until 1992. From 1992 until 2010 the choir was led and conducted by church music director Hanns-Friedrich Kunz, who retired in March 2010. Since then the choir has been led by Rainer Johannes Homburg. Even though churches and concert halls in Baden-Württemberg are the centre of their public appearances, the choir was on successful concert tours through Germany and Europe.
The Stuttgart Hymnus Boys’ Choir has a broad repertoire of spiritual vocal music, especially music by Johann Sebastian Bach and other baroque composers. Parallel to the concerts the musical-liturgical arrangements of masses have a special meaning.
About 170 boys and 30 young men come together to rehearse in Stuttgart weekly, because the choir does not have a boarding school. The singers live with their parents and go to school in their hometowns.
The boys start to learn reading easy notes and dealing with musical basics at an age of seven or eight years. Later, usually after three years, the boys are introduced to the literature of the concert choir and start to fully participate in concerts. After the voice has changed, the boys can sing in the men’s choir as tenors or basses. Skilled voice artists and teachers support both boys and men in single voice lessons. wikipedia
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Maceo Parker – Schools In! (2005)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 57:27 minutes | Scans included | 3,93 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,27 GB
An outstanding, jazz funk groove album. Just let the old’s cool sounds of Maceo’s alto sax send your body to the happy land where time forgot. Nothing on earth compares to a live evening epic with Maceo’s super tight band of brothers. But be advised his new release titled Schools In! on BHM Records is undoubtedly the next best thing to being with the funk maestro in person.
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Madonna – Like A Virgin (1984/2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 38:28 minutes | 1,31 GB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sire – Warner Records
Like a Virgin is pop powerhouse Madonna’s first number one record. Following the success of her self-titled debut, Madonna began sculpting her legacy in music history. The album features two of Madonna’s most iconic songs, “Like A Virgin” and “Material Girl.” This multi-platinum masterpiece and one of the bestselling albums of all time was produced by Nile Rodgers, who has worked with greats like David Bowie. The album is a defining moment in Madonna’s long standing career.
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Madonna – Who’s That Girl (1987/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 31:13 minutes | 1,24 GB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sire – Warner Records
Who’s That Girl: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the first soundtrack album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on July 21, 1987 by Sire Records to promote the film of the same name. It also contains songs by her label mates Scritti Politti, Duncan Faure, Club Nouveau, Coati Mundi and Michael Davidson. The soundtrack is credited as a Madonna album, despite her only performing four of the nine tracks on the album. After the commercial success of the film Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), in which she co-starred, Madonna wanted to act in another comedy film titled Slammer, about a woman named Nikki Finn who was falsely accused of homicide. However, due to the critical and commercial failure of her adventure film Shanghai Surprise (1986), Warner Bros. were initially reluctant to green light the project, but later agreed, after Madonna convinced them and also because they wanted to cash in on Madonna’s success with soundtracks.
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Madonna – The Confessions Tour (2007)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:57:32 minutes | 1,53 GB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Maverick
Like I’m Going to Tell You a Secret before it, The Confessions Tour is a CD/DVD souvenir set documenting a new millennium Madonna concert — this time, a London show at Wembley supporting her 2005 neo-disco album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Unlike Secret, whose centerpiece was a lengthy documentary, this is a straight-up live album with the DVD capturing a full 21-song set and the CD culling 13 highlights from the set, a whopping eight of them from Confessions (“Sorry” and “Sorry [Remix]” counted separately since they are, after all, indexed separately here). Even if the newer songs don’t sound radically different from their album incarnations — they’re either delivered straight or puffed out like extended 12″ remixes — the handful of oldies that do show up here are given disco makeovers: “Like a Virgin” pulses with electro keyboards; “Lucky Star” eventually gives away to the ABBA sample that drives “Hung Up.” This helps give the CD on The Confessions Tour a sonic cohesion that’s about as stylized and chilly as its accompanying album — the unity means it holds together, yet that icy reserve means it’s not all that much fun to hear, even if the reinterpretations of the 20-year-old hits are interesting. The DVD doesn’t feel as cold thanks entirely to the pizzazz of the visuals and the determined efficiency of the show, but even so, this is primarily of interest to the diehards who don’t mind purchasing another live CD/DVD set just a year after the first. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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Madonna – Sticky & Sweet Tour (2010)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:59:07 minutes | 1,55 GB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records
Hard Candy may not have been Madonna’s biggest hit, but it — like so many of her albums — was supported by a major international tour. Madonna dubbed it Sticky & Sweet — a none-too-subtle allusion to Hard Candy’s title — which is also the name of this 2010 DVD/CD set capturing her stop at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires in 2008. Since so much of the tour depended on overblown spectacle, Sticky & Sweet Tour is better experienced as a video instead of a CD — particularly because the audio portion is half the length of the video, and the songs included here tend to be medleys, not individual songs — but even as a video this doesn’t rank among the best Madonna live albums, as there’s too much precision and not enough inspiration in the whole show.
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Madonna – Rebel Heart Tour (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 02:03:46 minutes | 1,57 GB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Eagle Rock Entertainment
This live album from the Queen of Pop was recorded during the final two shows of the tour to promote her 2015 album Rebel Heart at Sydney’s Allphones Arena on March 19 & 20, 2016. It finds the almost-60-year-old in fine voice, sounding better than many singers half her age as she belts out tunes from across the breadth of her career, including classic hits like “Holiday,” “Material Girl,” and “Like a Virgin.” The show was also released on Blu-Ray and DVD. – John D. Buchanan
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Madonna – Madonna at Live Aid (Live at John F. Kennedy Stadium, 13th July 1985) (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 11:44 minutes | 148 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © The Band Aid Trust
Live Aid was a dual-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, and an ongoing music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the “global jukebox”, the event was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom (attended by 72,000 people) and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (attended by about 100,000 people). It featured a huge line up of musicians performing on two continents, including David Bowie, Madonna, The Who and more.
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Madonna – Madonna (1983/2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:13 minutes | 1,52 GB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sire – Warner Records
Madonna’s multi-platinum self titled debut saw the arrival of one of music’s greatest. The cultural icon began leaving her imprint on the music scene popularizing dance music. A showcase of her dynamic vocals, the album peaked at #8 on Billboard’s Top 200. Included on this intoxicating album were the breakout hits, “Burning Up,” “Everybody,” “Holiday” “Borderline” and “Lucky Star.” The album shot Madonna to worldwide stardom, available now as a pristine hi-res download.
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