Hi all,
I haven't been a member of this forum for long, but I thought some of you might appreciate a 'review' of these titles.
Firstly, I already have the 'ALD' version of the Hollywood Bowl shows from last year & to my ears these sound pretty terrible- really 'muddy' & alot of hiss. So- when I ordered 'First Bang In Tokyo' & 'Second Bang In Tokyo' (on the 'Dog & Cat' label)- I was dubious about what kind of quality to expect, even though they were described as 'Soundboard' recordings.
Well- they both showed up yesterday & they are a REVELATION. Both of these releases are SUPERB, GENUINE soundboard, even though they are mono.
The thing that makes these releases so special, is that you only hear the Stones themselves. There is some keyboard, but no backing vocals etc. It puts a whole new angle on the recent tour, as you just hear the throbbing 'Engine Room' of the Stones, without the 'safety net' of all the other players. The band is surprisingly tight & it reminds me of the last tour ('81) where it was just the band without all the other players 'papering over' their mistakes. Their is still crowd noise between the tracks, so these releases don't suffer from the problem of sounding 'life-less', like many soundboards do. Hell, even during the 'openning' sections, you get to hear the band tuning-up & talking!.
The only 2 tracks that suffer are 'Night Time..' & 'Gimmie Shelter', where Lisa Fisher is inaudable- but, these are 2 of the best Stones boots I've EVER heard. The sound is really 'in yer face'- it's like having Mick,Keith,Ronnie & Charlie playing in your living-room!
So, all I can add is GO GET 'EM!.

PS: IMO the first show is a much better performance, with Mick's voice sounding quite flat & off key at times on the 2nd show.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-05-05 11:50 by Doolittle.

Maybe you can be so kind and seed them somewhere ???
Dime, RO...

[doctorstonesblog.blogspot.com]

well done doolittle - thanks !

Doc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe you can be so kind and seed them somewhere
> ???
> Dime, RO...

Hi Doc. Of course I would do this- the sad truth is: I've no idea how. I've never got my head around all this 'bit-torrent' stuff. Sorry.

Glad you agree w/me Doolittle!! I think these are my favorite Stones boots in years. I absolutely love them!!

torrent the FUKKERS



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-05-05 20:24 by StonesTod.

Let's help you I use the following freewares, easy to fing with Google :
EAC, Flac Frontend and Maketorrent

And there must be a tutorial on Rocks Off

Hey Doo, you must also get the Sapporo show. The same sound also. Performance is not perfect, just the way I like the Stones to be!!

Doolittle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi all,
> I haven't been a member of this forum for long,
> but I thought some of you might appreciate a
> 'review' of these titles.
> Firstly, I already have the 'ALD' version of the
> Hollywood Bowl shows from last year & to my ears
> these sound pretty terrible- really 'muddy' & alot
> of hiss. So- when I ordered 'First Bang In Tokyo'
> & 'Second Bang In Tokyo' (on the 'Dog & Cat'
> label)- I was dubious about what kind of quality
> to expect, even though they were described as
> 'Soundboard' recordings.
> Well- they both showed up yesterday & they are a
> REVELATION. Both of these releases are SUPERB,
> GENUINE soundboard, even though they are mono.
> The thing that makes these releases so special,
> is that you only hear the Stones themselves. There
> is some keyboard, but no backing vocals etc. It
> puts a whole new angle on the recent tour, as you
> just hear the throbbing 'Engine Room' of the
> Stones, without the 'safety net' of all the other
> players. The band is surprisingly tight & it
> reminds me of the last tour ('81) where it was
> just the band without all the other players
> 'papering over' their mistakes. Their is still
> crowd noise between the tracks, so these releases
> don't suffer from the problem of sounding
> 'life-less', like many soundboards do. Hell, even
> during the 'openning' sections, you get to hear
> the band tuning-up & talking!.
> The only 2 tracks that suffer are 'Night Time..'
> & 'Gimmie Shelter', where Lisa Fisher is
> inaudable- but, these are 2 of the best Stones
> boots I've EVER heard. The sound is really 'in yer
> face'- it's like having Mick,Keith,Ronnie &
> Charlie playing in your living-room!
> So, all I can add is GO GET 'EM!.
>
> PS: IMO the first show is a much better
> performance, with Mick's voice sounding quite flat
> & off key at times on the 2nd show.



Sounds good.By the way,is this the DAC Hollywood Bowl release you're talking about?

StonesTod Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> torrent the FUKKERS

I would try to do this, but IMO all this 'bit-torrent' stuff is bullshit. If your friends are bats or dogs- they may appreciate the difference, but high bit-rate MP3 is perfectly good IMO.

i guess that SACD crap must be useless to you to, eh?

StonesTod Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> i guess that SACD crap must be useless to you to,
> eh?

I just enjoy the music. If I visit 'dimeadozen' etc, there just seems to be alot of people arguing about 'lossless' formats & which are the best. These people would be better off train-spotting. If it sounds good who cares. CDRs don't last forever anyway.
And yes, you're right SACD is wasted on me. All the Stones early work was recorded primitively on very 'antique' recording equipment. The original vinyl sounds great & however much technology improves, you can't 'polish a turd into a diamond'. These early recordings are about youthful exuberance & spontinaity. To try & sell them for the umpteenth time as somehow sounding 'better' I think is pretty ludicrous.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-05-06 02:28 by Doolittle.

I can only believe you haven't treated yourself to the Stones (or Dylan) SACDs using an SACD player with a killer stereo. You could never write such words otherwise.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-05-06 03:37 by StonesTod.

StonesTod Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can only believe you haven't treated yourself to
> the Stones (or Dylan) SACDs using an SACD player
> with a killer stereo. You could never write such
> words otherwise.

No- that's fair comment. I haven't. I do have all the SACD versions though & I must admit they sound MUCH better even played in the normal way. I was just trying to make a point. The Beatles on cd (even though they are in dire need of an 'overhaul' IMO) were often edited together from several different takes (I'm talking about the early singles etc). On cd, you can actually HEAR the joins!- the volume of a cymbol etc will change.
If we were talking about Pink Floyd recordings I may feel differently, but the early Stones records were not well recorded. The more detail you get, the more flaws become apparent. That was the point I was trying to make in my 'subtle as a brick' kind of way- which I apologise for. You'll get used to me!

I understand your point - well-taken.

The thing is that its clear now that the digital era was ushered in way too soon. Inherent space limitations on regular CDs severely curtailed the ability to "approximate" the sound of analog. That's been rectified with SACD and DVD-A.

I'm just concerned that the age of audio-phile is going away - not enuff of us left and we're being overrun by ipodders for whom "convenience" is everything.