SACD / DSD

Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – In Step (1989) [MFSL 2011]
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 41:09 minutes | Scans included | 1,71 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 884 MB
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab # UDSACD 2077

Stevie Ray Vaughan had always been a phenomenal guitarist, but prior to In Step, his songwriting was hit or miss. Even when he wrote a classic modern blues song, it was firmly within the genre’s conventions; only on Soul to Soul’s exquisite soul-blues “Life Without You” did he attempt to stretch the boundaries of the form. As it turns out, that was the keynote for In Step, an album where Vaughan found his own songwriting voice, blending blues, soul, and rock in unique ways, and writing with startling emotional honesty. Yes, there are a few covers, all well chosen, but the heart of the album rests in the songs he co-wrote with Doyle Bramhall, the man who penned the Soul to Soul highlight “Change It.” Bramhall proved to be an ideal collaborator for Vaughan; tunes like the terse “Tightrope” and the dense “Wall of Denial” feel so intensely personal, it’s hard to believe that they weren’t the product of just one man. Yet the lighter numbers — the dynamite boogie “The House Is Rockin’” and the breakneck blues of “Scratch-n-Sniff” — are just as effective as songs. Of course, he didn’t need words to make effective music: “Travis Walk” is a blistering instrumental, complete with intricate fingerpicking reminiscent of the great country guitarist Merle Travis, while the shimmering “Riviera Paradise” is every bit as lyrical and lovely as his previous charmer, “Lenny.” The magnificent thing about In Step is how it’s fully realized, presenting every facet of Vaughan’s musical personality, yet it still soars with a sense of discovery. It’s a bittersweet triumph, given Vaughan’s tragic death a little over a year after its release, yet it’s a triumph all the same.

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Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – Couldn’t Stand The Weather (1984) [MFSL 2010]
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 38:10 minutes | Scans included | 1,56 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 803 MB
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab # UDSACD 2075

Stevie Ray Vaughan’s second album, Couldn’t Stand the Weather, pretty much did everything a second album should do: it confirmed that the acclaimed debut was no fluke, while matching, if not bettering, the sales of its predecessor, thereby cementing Vaughan’s status as a giant of modern blues. So why does it feel like a letdown? Perhaps because it simply offers more of the same, all the while relying heavily on covers. Of the eight songs, half are covers, while two of his four originals are instrumentals — not necessarily a bad thing, but it gives the impression that Vaughan threw the album together in a rush, even if he didn’t. Nevertheless, Couldn’t Stand the Weather feels a bit like a holding pattern, since there’s no elaboration on Double Trouble’s core sound and no great strides forward, whether it’s in Vaughan’s songwriting or musicianship. Still, as holding patterns go, it’s a pretty enjoyable one, since Vaughan and Double Trouble play spiritedly throughout the record. With its swaggering, stuttering riff, the title track ranks as one of Vaughan’s classics, and thanks to a nuanced vocal, he makes W.C. Clark’s “Cold Shot” his own. The instrumentals — the breakneck Lonnie Mack-styled “Scuttle Buttin’” and “Stang’s Swang,” another effective demonstration of Vaughan’s jazz inclinations — work well, even if the original shuffle “Honey Bee” fails to make much of an impression and the cover of “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” is too reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix’s original. So, there aren’t many weaknesses on the record, aside from the suspicion that Vaughan didn’t really push himself as hard as he could have, and the feeling that if he had, he would have come up with something a bit stronger.

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Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – Couldn’t Stand The Weather (1984) [Japan 2000]
Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – Couldn’t Stand The Weather (1984) [Japan 2000]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 54:36 minutes | Artwork | 2,53 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | NO Artwork | 1,05 GB

Stevie Ray Vaughan’s second album, Couldn’t Stand the Weather, pretty much did everything a second album should do: it confirmed that the acclaimed debut was no fluke, while matching, if not bettering, the sales of its predecessor, thereby cementing Vaughan’s status as a giant of modern blues. So why does it feel like a letdown? Perhaps because it simply offers more of the same, all the while relying heavily on covers. Of the eight songs, half are covers, while two of his four originals are instrumentals — not necessarily a bad thing, but it gives the impression that Vaughan threw the album together in a rush, even if he didn’t. Nevertheless, Couldn’t Stand the Weather feels a bit like a holding pattern, since there’s no elaboration on Double Trouble’s core sound and no great strides forward, whether it’s in Vaughan’s songwriting or musicianship. Still, as holding patterns go, it’s a pretty enjoyable one, since Vaughan and Double Trouble play spiritedly throughout the record. With its swaggering, stuttering riff, the title track ranks as one of Vaughan’s classics, and thanks to a nuanced vocal, he makes W.C. Clark’s “Cold Shot” his own. The instrumentals — the breakneck Lonnie Mack-styled “Scuttle Buttin’” and “Stang’s Swang,” another effective demonstration of Vaughan’s jazz inclinations — work well, even if the original shuffle “Honey Bee” fails to make much of an impression and the cover of “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” is too reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix’s original. So, there aren’t many weaknesses on the record, aside from the suspicion that Vaughan didn’t really push himself as hard as he could have, and the feeling that if he had, he would have come up with something a bit stronger.

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Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – Texas Hurricane (2014) [APO SACD Boxset]
PS3 Rip | 6x SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 320:52 mins | Scans included | 12,9 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 6,09 GB

With his astonishingly accomplished guitar playing, Stevie Ray Vaughan ignited the blues revival of the ’80s. Vaughan drew equally from bluesmen like Albert King, Otis Rush and Hubert Sumlin and rock & roll players like Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, as well as the stray jazz guitarist like Kenny Burrell, developing a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre. Vaughan bridged the gap between blues and rock like no other artist had since the late ’60s. For about seven years, Stevie Ray Vaughan was the leading light in American blues, consistently selling out concerts while his albums regularly went gold. His tragic death in 1990 only emphasized his influence in blues and American rock & roll. This is classic Stevie Ray Vaughan, meticulously remastered from the analog tapes by New York’s Sterling Sound. In each set you’ll receive Texas Flood, Couldn’t Stand the Weather, Soul to Soul, In Step, plus the posthumous classics Family Style and The Sky Is Crying.

About this reissue from Analogue Productions
We’ve gone completely all-out for this project. We’ve used the original 30 inches-per-second, half-inch analog master tapes for all of these studio albums as well as for the bonus tracks included on the SACDs. Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound cut the lacquers for the LPs using the ultimate VMS 80 cutting lathe. Gary Salstrom handled the plating and the vinyl was pressed of course at Quality Record Pressings. Andy Aledort, senior editor for Guitar World, wrote the liners with contributions from Stevie Ray Vaughan biographer Craig Hopkins. This set includes a deluxe booklet. And all of the records are housed in a deluxe box. This box set will exceed your expectations, whether you’re an LP or SACD enthusiast. We guarantee it.

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