Great rock audiophile records...why so very few?

MadFloyd

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Pretty much every Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson album qualifies as having outstanding sonics and IMO fantastic music. Especially fabulous: Porcupine Tree: Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia; Steven Wilson: The Raven that Refused to Sing, Hand Cannot Erase

+1
 

Ron Resnick

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OH, you know what is half-way decently recorded? -- Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
 

Ron Resnick

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That is definitely not rock.

If you want to break the opening post and include girl with guitar a lot of decent-sounding recordings come to mind.
 

DaveyF

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That is definitely not rock.

If you want to break the opening post and include girl with guitar a lot of decent-sounding recordings come to mind.

+1

There are loads of great recordings from other genres....but I would like to hear just about the rock recordings. These seem to be far scarcer. There are numerous rock albums, but how many have sound quality that we would consider audiophile?
These are the albums I would like to see on this thread.:D
 

JackD201

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This one creeped out my daughter but yeah, sounds good.


...whisPRRRRRRRRRRRRR

LOL Angry Kevin Pollak lookalike but the vocal performance here is pretty darned good
 

BruceD

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This one creeped out my daughter but yeah, sounds good.


...whisPRRRRRRRRRRRRR

LOL Angry Kevin Pollak lookalike but the vocal performance here is pretty darned good

Agree Jack--Only really sounded great I felt on the Conan TV Show---the 45RPM Cut is frankly Noisy and Poorly Cut--YVMV

BruceD

Dis1.jpg
 

JackD201

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I have it on digital only. Is there a non picture disc? Picture discs really are usually as you describe Roger, noisy and poorly cut.
 

KeithR

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Some more current stuff that is well recorded:

The National
Jack White
Death Cab for Cutie (some) / Postal Service
My Morning Jacket
Father John Misty
Calexico (older moreso than newer)
Andrew Bird
Virginia Wing
Punch Brothers
John Oates (actually Hall & Oates weren't bad back in the day)
London Grammar
John Mayer
Band of Horses
Dave Mathews Band (anniversary of Crash is spectacular AAA vinyl)
 
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KeithR

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and don't forget the Bozzio Levins Stevens disc where "Duende" took the audiophile world by storm a decade ago (takes bow)
 

DaveyF

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Maybe I shouldn't be so picky, but I think a lot of the music that I have seen posted doesn't really fall into the category of ...rock....at least for me, and IMHO.
World music, pop, indie, fusion,Folk, easy listening, RAP and other genres is not...again to my way of thinking...rock. While there has been some recent 'blending' of the various genres towards a more traditional 'rock' sound,I still think the genre does stand on its own. ( By blending, there is certainly an argument to made that some of the current country music is leaning towards a rock rhythm and style..and other genres are blending similarly).

Maybe we should define the term 'rock' more....thoughts??
 

es347

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KeithR

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Maybe I shouldn't be so picky, but I think a lot of the music that I have seen posted doesn't really fall into the category of ...rock....at least for me, and IMHO.
World music, pop, indie, fusion,Folk, easy listening, RAP and other genres is not...again to my way of thinking...rock. While there has been some recent 'blending' of the various genres towards a more traditional 'rock' sound,I still think the genre does stand on its own. ( By blending, there is certainly an argument to made that some of the current country music is leaning towards a rock rhythm and style..and other genres are blending similarly).

Maybe we should define the term 'rock' more....thoughts??

on CNN's the 2000s, the episode on music touches on this point - that rock has entirely changed from prior meaning. more than half of indie music wouldn't qualify as Zepp or Beatles like. electronic beats have taken the place of drummers, etc. I honestly think its becoming somewhat of a meaningless term? I'm sure when New Wave came in the late 70s/early 80s that a lot of folks said the same thing.

but i'll agree that Kasey Musgrave (whose latest is a xover country album) isn't rock. Now Mumford & Sons would be - and sounds great as well.
 

Empirical Audio

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I'm primarily a "rock guy", and I've never had more enjoyment out of my collection of rock music than right now.
Jack is on the mark when he mentions the "bounce" issue as a possible culprit. The techs had to work wonders to mix all the stuff the bands were coming up with. Just pick one of those late 60s Moody Blues records, for instance. More like "Muddy Blues" :) Too many overdubs and bounces, I guess.
Look no further than the Steve Wilson remixes for proof of that, as he was able to go back to the multitracks for a lot of classic albums from the 70s, and remix them again in the digital domain. Of course, some of the tapes already had bounces on them, but still, records like "Aqualung" are a relevation in the new mixes!
Even the ELP stuff that has been mentioned, see how their simpler music usually fares better in the SQ department. The purity of those Greg Lake + guitar tracks is amazing, and truly demo quality.
I never got the appeal of "Dark Side" as an audiophile album. "The Wall" and "Final Cut" sound much better, again, demo quality.

I find the Pink Floyd to be only good recordings, not great. I recently tried the JT Aqualung again, hoping it would take me back to my childhood, but not good enough for my collection. It was one of my favorites back then. Pretty thin sounding and not very 3-D.

Many of the tracks I love from my past are on HDtracks in hi-rez, but most of them are disappointing. Cannot polish a turd I guess.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
 

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