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Review by muzikman February 7, 2006 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
If I had a list with my 100 all time recordings, They Only Come Out At Night would be on it, mainly for two songs, “Frankenstein” and “Free Ride.” Although when you sit and listen to the album you will find a lot of joy in every track, there really is not one throwaway to be found.
When I found out Mobile Fidelity was reissuing this in SACD format I wanted it badly. I anticipated a clear and crisp reproduction of the original master. While this is usually the case when I hear the wonderful discs that they produce, I was a little disappointed that the sound was not what I expected. I had to keep turning up the volume to see if I just was not playing it loud enough. I stood in the center of the room then walked to all of my speakers and listened, I heard some separation with that process, and then I stood back in the middle of the room and noticed there was hardly anything coming from my subwoofer, which normally is very effective. What I determined rather quickly was that the bottom end was nearly non-existent. Its there, but it lingers faintly in the background. If this one piece of the recording were coming through strongly as it usually does on MF product, this disc would be a knockout.
Regardless of my disappointment in the overall sound it does not mean I did not enjoy this SACD, I really did, I just thought it could have been better with a fuller richer sound. This is classic album and it was Edgar Winter and his band in their prime. I think the next album Shock Treatment was outstanding as well; it deserves consideration for the Mobile Fidelity treatment.
“Undercover Man” and “Rock 'N' Roll Boogie Woogie Blues” were steeped heavily in the blues and proved repeatedly why Winter always reached back to the blues as a starting point and or as a jumping off point in a composition. Besides the most memorable hit singles like “Free Ride” and “Frankenstein,” there was a lot more meat and potatoes for digestion that listeners could enjoy, particularly the music lovers that wanted more than just the hits. Of course, that is what albums were for to begin with, but somehow that meaning gets lost when people buy music for a few popular tunes.
Rick Derringer’s role on this album should not be understated. His contributions as a producer and guest musician were a key to its success, obviously enough to make him a full time member on the next release. Ronnie Montrose was an incredible guitarist and would go on to greatness a few years later as a solo artist. Looking back now, what Winter had was the beginnings of a super group.
Everything else aside, if you love rock music, this great album belongs in your collection.
© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck-http://www.muzikreviews.com
February 7, 2006
Note: I totally agree with the previous review from racerguy, nice job you nailed it.
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Review by Duke June 4, 2006 (4 of 9 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
| I didn't have to even open this package after buying this CD to realize that I did not want to listen to it. I took it back for a refund after reading the other reviews. When spending up to $31 for a CD that says SACD, I FULLY EXPECT that music to be in surround sound. This was one of the classic quadraphonic 8 track tapes in my collection and I have waited years to hear these songs in true, crystal clear surround sound. For a company to release this only in an UPGRADED stereo format to me is a waste of time and effort and my money. I feel that any SACD that is only stereo is a waste of money. All of them should be hybrid and all of them should be in 5+ channel surround sound. This is why we bought the special SACD players and why we spend the extra money. If this format AND DVD audio are going to survive at all they had better start a promotional push and standardize the formats. Most of the music stores I go to here in Arizona have already pulled the products from their shelves and mixed them in with regular titles or don't carry them at all. It looks like we may have another quadraphonic sound / beta tape type death about to happen. You would think after all this time the music companies would get their act together and introduce only one type of format. It is about to happen with high-def DVD as well with two formats. I am very disappointed with the companies producing SACD, DVD audio and DTS discs. The more complicated it is to play it in the car or if it can't be transferred to other venues like a car or portable player, it will fail. All car audio units and portable players should be able to decode these discs even if it is into stereo. Home use only will not make them succeed.
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Review by racerguy November 7, 2005 (2 of 3 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
I just got the disc a few days ago, and have listened to it enough to gain an impression, but this isn't a "serious" review. I have to admit that when this disc was announced I got very excited, for reasons of nostalgia. One of my best friends in high school had a Plymouth Barracuda with an 8-track player and Jensen 6x9s. The only 8-track cartridge he owned was, "They Only Come Out At Night." We used to cruise in his Barracuda, playing it as loud as the Jensens could go. Great fun!
Listening to this disc on my ultra-modern hi-fi brought back some of those feelings. I think MoFi did an excellent job with the source material. I never noticed any significant tape hiss, and the sound was clear and distortion-free. This helped me to get back into that early '70s groove.
It was very apparent that I was listening to early '70s rock, though. Like many albums of its era, it is a bit weak on the bottom end. Bass extension is poor, and the kick drum doesn't have the impact of more modern music. If you listen to a lot of more modern stuff, you may be disappointed. If you listen to a lot of late '60s and early '70s LPs, you won't notice anything untoward. Kudos to MoFi for not trying to "fix" the music with compression or other tricks.
In a nutshell, listening to this SACD is as close to listening to an original LP on a superb-quality turntable as we can get to with digital these days. If you liked this music when it came out, you'll like it on SACD.
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