Yes - High Vibration SACD Box Set Sound Quality

Of course the main reason for buying this massive box set of Yes recordings is the prospect of superior sound which SACD should offer. That is partially down to the mastering from the tapes. Here, these were done in Japan of course, by Isao Kikuchi who was responsible for the 2009 rematers for the SHM Yes titles and I believe the previous HDCD catalogue releases. Plenty on the Steve Hoffman forum don't rate his work at all. On the SHM masters I actually, for the most part found them to be really good. As far as this SACD box set goes I think he has done an excellent job.

The highlights for me are Tales from Topographic Oceans, Relayer and Drama. The sound is very clear, particularly on Relayer. The bass is very distinct, without overwhelming everything else. TFTO now has a bit of life about it which makes it a much more exciting listen. It has always been one of my favourite Yes albums, but I always thought of it having a very lacklustre sound. Relayer always sounded murky and over busy. Here the murkiness is gone, the detail and layers of instrumentation coming through very distinct. Drama is very punchy with Whites drumming never better recorded.

The poorest sounding discs are those for Fragile and Close to the Edge. On South Side of the Sky, Wakemans piano distorts and on CTTE, the organ solo also crackles a bit. However, what was side 2 of Fragile on the original LP sounds stunning. Long Distance Runaround/The Fish is sublime and actually gave me goosebumps. I have never heard this sound so good. My feeling is the distortion I am hearing may be more down to the tapes than the mastering as the other discs in the set sound so good. Hoffmans recent CTTE SACD master didn't suffer the same problem during the organ solo, maybe he used different tapes.

Overall this is a fine sounding set. What Kikuchi has done is enable the SACD masters to let the natural sound of these recordings shine through. For me he has not added too much EQ or overwhelmingly compressed them. Of course many will disagree with me. I am not an audiophile, I am just using my ears and I like what I hear which is good enough for me.

 

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Yes - High Vibration SACD Box Set Packaging

 

From the pic on the previous posting its obvious the albums in this set are not packaged as papersleeve mini LP replicas as has been reported elsewehere. They are all packaged in standard jewel cases. To some this will be dissapointing as the Japanese do papersleeves so well. For me I have a set of those as per the SHM releases of a few years back. So no problem for me. Each jewel case has a replica of the original vinyl artwork reporoduced on a single fold card. The card is actually quite robust and the printing is very good. The exceptions to this are Yessongs, which has a 4 page book replicating all of Roger Deans artwork. The actual layout of this disc is very similar to Joe Gastwirts Atlantic remaster from the 90's. Also, Going for the One has a double folded sheet replicating the original LP gatefold design. The 220 page booklet has text in Japanese of course. But, actually most of the booklet is made up of good colour reproductions of the vinyl LP labels, album inserts and lyrics, both in English and Japanese. Its interesting, there is a photo at the end of the booklet which is of the master for The Gates of Delerium. It does say stereo copy, with Porky (remember Porky's Prime Cuts) as the engineer, so these may be production copies, which were used for these transfers.

 

 

 

 

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Yes - High Vibration SACD Box Set First View

Just arrived. So here are the first pics.

 

 

 

More on this to follow.

 

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Anathema - Universal

Kscope come up with another sumptuous package. This time its the 4 disc live concert by Anthema. You get the full concert over 2 CD's and the visual document on DVD or blu- ray, the latter includes bonus live material recorded at the Union Chapel. This concert was filmed with an orchestra in Bulgaria by longtime Steven Wilson collaborator Lasse Hoile. Here he reigns in his usual dark and foreboding visual style to present a fairly straightforward concert experience. Very good it is too. Its quite an immersive experience, where you feel very much part of the concert.

To be honest I would not consider Anathema a progressive rock band. If anything some of their big, guitar breaks owe more to the shoegazing bands of the 90's. Their music is epic and highly emotional and actually very hard to pigeonhole completely. But songs such as Untouchable (parts 1 and 2), The Beginning and the End and A Natural Disaster really do pack a huge emotional punch where you are left feeling this band should be hugely popular. I really do hope they do get more exposure as their music deserves to be heard by a much wider audience. Maybe this live document will go some ways to enabling that.

 

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Aldo Tagliapietra - L'Aangelo Rinchiuso

For those in the know Aldo was bass player with renowned Italian prog band Le Orme. Along with Premiata Forneria Marconi and Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, defined progressive rock in Italy during the 70's. This new solo album is the second since Aldo left the reinvigorated Le Orme back in 2009. Sporting a gorgeous Paul Whitehead cover (of Genesis and VdGG fame) this seems to be a concept album with all the tracks interlinking. It is a gorgeous sounding album. Typically Italian symphonic, very melodic with great vocals by Aldo. Its not heavy prog or too demanding actually, but the Italians were masters of beautifully flowing, symphonic prog and this solo is a prime example.

 

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KBB - Age of Pain

The Japanese do to progressive rock what they do to most things. They see a good idea and make it far better than the original. The musicianship of bands like Bi Kyo Ran, Kenso, Gerard and KBB is nothing short of breathtaking. Both Kenso and KBB share a love of fusion based prog. Purely instrumental, fast, complex and perfectly executed. The above is the latest by KBB. It appears to be only available from Japan on the Arcangelo label. Previous releases have been released on the French Musea label, so maybe they will issue this at some point.

This new studio album is as good as anything they have released before. Centred around Akihisa Tsuboy's strindent and searing violin playing, the material is extremely melodic and beautifully arranged. Special mention goes to the excellent bass playing of Dani, who can really turn the fuzz up when needed.

The CD sounds really good, with lots of detail and clarity. Very well recorded, mixed and mastered, all by Tsuboy himself. Nice glossy gatefold mini LP packaging too.

Its been a good week for Japanese based prog rock. With this and the Rovo/System7 collaboration, which is quite exceptional.

 

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Rovo and System 7 - Phoenix Rising

Just in. It's really good to see Hillage embracing prog rock again, here teaming up with Japanese band Rovo. Not heard it yet, but I note there is a cover of the Mahavishnu Orchestra's Meeting of the Spirits which should be wild! This release is timely, coming just after Steve wins the Visionary Award at this years Prog Awards ceremony a week or so back. Welcome back Steve!

 

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