Category: DVD-A

Published July 3, 2019

Blue Man Group – Audio (2000) [DVD-Audio + AUDIO-DVD]

Blue Man Group’s debut album, Audio, reflects over a decade’s worth of musical and theatrical innovation. While its whimsical, visually involving stage performances have been popular since the early ’90s, the group waited to make an album until it could find a recording space large enough to house its unique instruments, which include walls of drums, networks of plumbing pipe, and different lengths of vibrating fiberglass rods. Audio incorporates all of these instruments, along with baritone guitars, Hungarian cimbaloms (which are similar to dulcimers), and Chapman Sticks, into 14 eclectic instrumentals. These songs were written specifically for Audio and have never been performed at a Blue Man stage production. Though the spectacle of the group playing its sculptural, surreal-looking instruments is absent from the album, the complex, resonant sound of Audio is engaging enough on its own. In fact, the swooshing of the sword poles on “Utne Live Wire” and the fluttering angel poles on “Endless Column” sound even more alien without the visual accompaniment. Some of Audio’s pieces (“Drumbone,” “PVC IV”) spotlight a specific Blue Man-made instrument, while others (“TV Song,” “Club Nowhere”) display the group’s avant-garde pop sensibilities. “Rods and Cones,” “Cat Video,” and “Opening Mandelbrot” are other standout tracks from Audio, an album that proves the Blue Man Group is as innovative in the studio as it is onstage.

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Published June 26, 2019

Lou Donaldson – Lou Takes Off (1957) [DAD Reissue 2001] [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Lou Donaldson – Lou Takes Off (1957) [DAD Reissue 2001]
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 38:36 minutes | 906 MB | Genre: Jazz
DAD to Hi-Res FLAC – Source: Classic Records’ DAD 1026 | No Artwork

The influence of Charlie Parker can be heard in virtually every modern jazz musician, particularly players of the alto saxophone. Although considered to be one of “Bird’s children,” Lou Donaldson absorbed and synthesized other pre-Parker influences, such as Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter. This recording marks a period in his development prior to a stylistic shift away from bop and toward a stronger rhythm and blues emphasis. Three up-tempo tunes are pure bebop; the remaining number is a medium blues in B flat, quite characteristic of the hard bop period. The front line on this set includes Donald Byrd and Curtis Fuller; the rhythm section is Sonny Clark, George Joyner, and Art Taylor. Overall, Lou Takes Off breaks no new musical ground, but it is a solid, swinging session of high-caliber playing.

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Published June 10, 2019

The Alan Parsons Project – Eye In The Sky (1982) [DAD Reissue 2005] {FLAC 24bit/192khz}

The Alan Parsons Project – Eye In The Sky (1982) [Reissue 2005]
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 42:41 minutes | 1,62 GB | Genre: Rock
DAD to Hi-Res FLAC – Source: Classic Records’ HDAD 2011 | Cover

Eye in the Sky provided the Alan Parsons Project with their first Top Ten hit since 1977’s I Robot, and it’s hard not to feel that crossover success was one of the driving forces behind this album. The Project never shied away from hooks, whether it was on the tense white funk of “I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You” or the gleaming pop hooks of “Games People Play,” but Eye in the Sky was soft and smooth, so smooth that it was easy to ignore that the narrator of the title track was an ominous omniscient who spied either on his lover or his populace, depending on how deeply you wanted to delve into the concepts of this album. And, unlike I Robot or The Turn of a Friendly Card, it is possible to listen to Eye in the Sky and not dwell on the larger themes, since they’re used as a foundation, not pushed to center stage. What does dominate is the lushness of sound, the sweetness of melody: this is a soft rock album through and through, one that’s about melodic hooks and texture. In the case of the spacy opening salvo “Sirius,” later heard on sports talk shows across America, or “Mammagamma,” it was all texture, as these instrumentals set the trippy yet warm mood that the pop songs sustained. And the real difference with Eye in the Sky is that, with the exception of those instrumentals and the galloping suite “Silence and I,” all the artiness was part of the idea of this album was pushed into the lyrics, so the album plays as soft pop album — and a very, very good one at that. Perhaps nothing is quite as exquisite as the title song, yet “Children of the Moon” has a sprightly gait (not all that dissimilar from Kenny Loggins’ “Heart to Heart”), “Psychobabble” has a bright propulsive edge (not all that dissimilar from 10cc), and “Gemini” is the project at its dreamiest. It all adds up to arguably the most consistent Alan Parsons Project album — perhaps not in terms of concept, but in terms of music they never were as satisfying as they were here.

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Published May 29, 2019

Yes – Magnification (2002) [DVD-Audio ISO]

Many call Yes’ brand of progressive rock “symphonic rock.” The term means that the group produces arrangements in the vein of a symphony using typical rock instrumentation. With Magnification, Yes has taken that a step further, adding a symphony orchestra. The orchestra is not simply thrown over the top, though; the songs were written for this particular grouping. Yes has flirted with this type of thing before. Released in 1970, the Time and a Word album featured a string section, but the complete integration is what makes Magnification a superior work. The material on the CD is pretty standard modern Yes fare, but the addition of that symphony really does create a whole new texture. It also seems as if it inspired the band, and some members put in performances that are head and shoulders above their recent work. The album does have its weak moments and gets just a little over the top at times, but there are a lot more moments that shine than dull ones.

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Published May 29, 2019

Vince Gill – High Lonesome Sound (2003) [DVD-Audio ISO]

Vince Gill takes off on a tour of American music on High Lonesome Sound. The title cut steps back to a time he hasn’t visited in a while, drawing on his days as a bluegrass singer and guitarist to create a soaring, harmony-driven sound that applies Appalachian drive to modern country rhythms. Most of the rest of the album’s journey treks in new directions. The aggressive guitar riff that opens “One Dance with You” is straight Chicago blues, while the jaunty feel that enlivens “Down to New Orleans” draws on the Windy City’s funky rhythms with a deft touch worthy of Little Feat — with Lowell George, that is. “Tell Me Lover,” also bearing the trace print of Little Feat, dances through a swampy groove. The arrangements by Gill and producer Tony Brown give traditional sounds a modern sheen while maintaining a distinct regional flavor. Gill gets much more room to show off his impressive guitar prowess than on his past records. A pair of small complaints are that his lyrics don’t match the music (they are steeped in the modern country topical schemes) and he can overly sweeten the blues. Elsewhere, he uses the clichéd aspects of Cajun music in paying homage to Louisiana’s musical heritage (R&B and New Orleans second-line rhythms aren’t here and should be, because he’s musically sophisticated enough to pull them off). Therefore, this album works best when he’s not straining for authenticity: “Worlds Apart,” “Given More Time,” and “Pretty Little Adriana” leaven his tried-and-true formula into arrangements that are more progressively atmospheric than his past hits. Gill owns too many strengths to need to transform himself into Lowell George or Bonnie Raitt at this point in his career; he can leave his own mark on any music he chooses to play and — for the most part — does so here.

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Published May 28, 2019

Michael Ball – Coming Home To You (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Coming Home to You sees the first solo album from British stage and television star Michael Ball in some four years, after the release of two successful albums with fellow vocalist Alfie Boe. Featuring a number of standards, the album also includes material written by Ball himself. The up-tempo single “Home to You” is included. ~ Rich Wilson

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Published May 28, 2019

VA – Inside the Music – Women on Top (2001) [DVD-Audio ISO]

A collection of ten tracks by female artists released in DVD Audio, Inside the Music: Women on Top is strangely reminiscent of the compilations released when the CD was still a developing format. Most of the track selections are solid enough, including Blondie’s “Heart of Glass,” Katrina and the Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine,” and Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes,” but they’re also somewhat dated; Wilson Phillips’ “Hold On” is the most recent track included on the album. Likewise, it’s questionable whether anyone really wants to try out their new DVD Audio system with Vixen’s “Cryin’.” Missing Persons’ “Words,” the Motels’ “Only the Lonely,” and Ike and Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits” round out this odd collection, which is entertaining enough, but hardly state-of-the-art.

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Published May 28, 2019

VA – Inside The Music – New Age (2001) [DVD-AUDIO ISO]

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Published May 28, 2019

VA – Inside The Music – Classic Rock (2001) [DVD-AUDIO ISO]

Silverline and 5.1 Entertainment present a series of Audio-Only DVDs, presented in stunning six-channel Surround Sound for truly breathtaking reproduction. Featuring some of your favorite artists performing their greatest hits, this series is a “best of the best” created especially for this exciting technology. The hits include J. Geils Band’s “Centerfold,” Sugarloaf’s “Green-Eyed Lady,” George Thorogood and the Destroyers’ “Bad to the Bone,” and choice tracks by John Waite, Pat Benatar, Michael Stanley Band, and more!

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Published May 28, 2019

VA – Inside The Music – Classic Country (2001) [DVD-Audio ISO]

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Category: DVD-A

Blue Man Group – Audio (2000) [DVD-Audio + AUDIO-DVD]

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Lou Donaldson – Lou Takes Off (1957) [DAD Reissue 2001] [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

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The Alan Parsons Project – Eye In The Sky (1982) [DAD Reissue 2005] {FLAC 24bit/192khz}

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Yes – Magnification (2002) [DVD-Audio ISO]

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Vince Gill – High Lonesome Sound (2003) [DVD-Audio ISO]

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Michael Ball – Coming Home To You (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

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VA – Inside the Music – Women on Top (2001) [DVD-Audio ISO]

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VA – Inside The Music – New Age (2001) [DVD-AUDIO ISO]

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VA – Inside The Music – Classic Rock (2001) [DVD-AUDIO ISO]

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VA – Inside The Music – Classic Country (2001) [DVD-Audio ISO]

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Category: DVD-A

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