Rhino mastered the remastering game long ago; it seeks out the best sounding tapes, locates killer unreleased tracks, and spruces up the packaging. I must own a hundred Rhino CDs, and they're always in heavy rotation.
"The Sound of the Smiths" 45 track, best-of collection totally trumps the sound of my old Smiths "Louder Than Bombs" LP. The Smiths recordings tended to have thin, sometimes even harsh tonal balances. The new CD set corrects that. Morrissey's vocals are beautifully fleshed out, and the rhythm section now packs a wallop that lights up the music. The remastered CD even has better dynamic kick than the LP, which sounds compressed and lifeless by comparison.
There's no previously unreleased bonus tracks, but this two-disc collection's wealth of B-sides and live material should satisfy Smiths fans. The booklet's bevy of photos of the band are simply gorgeous.
"The Ry Cooder Anthology: The UFO has Landed" is another two-disc best-of collection. He somehow fuses Tex-Mex, rock, blues, country, folk, with a mess of other stuff in his music, but it all comes out sounding like Ry Cooder. It's a pleasure to hear music as good as this, mastered without the wretched compression that squashes the life out of so many contemporary recordings.
For "Warren Zevon: The Collector's Edition" Rhino refreshed the sonics of the original album, and there's a second disc of rarities. Disc one sounds splendid, again with more of LP-like analogness of the original recordings intact. Older Zevon CDs sound leaner, more ragged than this new remaster. But it's disc two's demos that present literally another side of Zevon's music. A solo piano take of "Mohammed's Radio" is reason enough to get this collection.
An early take of "Desperados Under the Eaves" feels more desperate than the one found on the album. I'm thrilled that it's included here.
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Hippies in a box!
(Credit: Rhino Records)Rhino's compilation CD box sets are are not only amazingly consistent; their creative packaging and superb music programming satisfy neophytes and seasoned collectors. Their latest offering from the ever popular Nuggets series, "Love is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-- 1970 " is a trip through the era's psychedelic and ragged glories. You get a healthy dose of greatest hits, gems like the Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," and Santana's "Evil Ways" mixed with less heralded but truly stellar tunes like Kak's "Lemonaide Kid." I swear I've never heard of Kak, but their sweet, easy rollin' epic perfectly evokes the hippy-dippy daze. Blue Cheer's uber-amped classic "Summertime Blues," and The Loading Zone's "The Bells" break free of the the peace and love ooze--that second one's completely over the top wailing and screaming vocal will probably be sampled by a zillion bands. You get 77 tracks spread over four CDs, and while I can't tell you I loved every tune, there were remarkably few clunkers. This is one box set you'll play often; I've already listened through all four discs twice.
Unlike previous Nuggets sets that came with the discs packaged inside boxes this new one tucks the CDs into the back cover of a 9 by 11.25-inch, 120 page book with a gorgeous embossed silver foil cover. Sure, there are lots of rare and groovy photos of the bands, superbly written essays by the likes of Rolling Stone magazine's Ben Fong-Torres, but for me compilation producer Alec Palao's track-by-track commentary mades for the best reading.
Rhino's remastering skills are obvious from the get-go, the sound is cleaner and clearer than you'd expect from 40 year old recordings. Bass goes plenty deep, stereo separation is also excellent. "Love is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970" has a suggested retail price of $64.98.
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