Category Archives: SACD

Aug 06 2020
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CD, SACD

Joe Jackson • Body and Soul [SACD/CD]

Another hybrid SACD/CD release from Intervention Records is JOE JACKSON’s Body and Soul. The 1984 album was the followup to his acclaimed Night and Day album (which featured the hit “Steppin’ Out”) and had his next – and bigger – hit, “You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)”. This was another digital recording, too, this time recorded at a Masonic Lodge in NYC. Sometimes these early digital recordings can sound great, and other times time isn’t too kind to them. This one is a happy occasion for lovers of Body and Soul, as Intervention’s SACD/CD hybrid presentation treats the outing with respect and glorious results.

Jackson had shunned his angry New Waver persona by the time he got together again with old friends David Kershenbaum (co-producer) and bassist Graham Maby, as well as new colleagues Vinnie Zummo (guitar), Ed Roynesdal (keys/violin) Gary Burke (drums), singers Ellen Foley and Elaine Caswell, and horn players Tony Aiello and Michael Morreale. The material was of a more jazz bent, with more swing than Joe’s typical thing (not counting the full-on jump jazz homage, Jumpin’ Jive) and yet still coming from a pop place. There were no growly “I’m the Man” type rockers this time out, Joe moving into the more mature and thoughtful territory of songs like “Not Here, Not Now” and the aforementioned “You Can’t Get What You Want.” I can’t say it’s all good, though, as I find “Go For It” to be quite tedious (unless he’s being super sarcastic?!) and a few others to be mediocre for the man. Still, there’s also “Be My Number Two” (second best song on the album?) to round out the good ones.

Body and Soul is a full sounding recording, and the new SACD brings out all of the body and soul in Joe Jackson’s musical arrangements. Certainly the production can be credited for that, but also the new mastering by Kevin Gray, whom I have celebrated here before (see my review of the Flying Burrito Bros.), really shines. Intervention has a number of Joe Jackson’s releases in their catalog, either as SACD/CD discs or as beautifully rendered vinyl reissues (including Look Sharp!, I’m the Man and Night and Day) and they’re all worth the money. So if it’s high fidelity sound you want, and you know that’s what you want, you can now get it. Get it? – Marsh Gooch

4/5 (Intervention IR-SCD4, 2020)

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Jul 02 2020
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Audiophile, CD, reissue, SACD

The Flying Burrito Bros. • The Gilded Palace of Sin, Burrito Deluxe [CD/SACD]

We’re so ahead of our time here at NuDisc that we’re finally reviewing our first SACDs in the year 2020. The pair in question are by that legendary country rock group, THE FLYING BURRITO BROS. The Gilded Palace of Sin and Burrito Deluxe are the sole two albums the original group released (in 1969 and 1970), so it being the 50th year since the latter’s initial release, Intervention Records has put them out on SACD. These Super Audio Compact Discs are actually hybrid CD/SACDs and are mastered “direct to DSD from analog tapes,” and in the case of Burrito Deluxe at least, from the 1/2″ safety copy of the stereo master tape. (SACD discs have a higher resolution than regular CDs so they theoretically will have more information and therefore better sound; these releases are hybrid discs and will play in regular CD players, but you’ll need an SACD player to access that layer and the superior audio it contains.) That alone isn’t a guarantee that the audio will be top notch, but there are a few other factors working in these reissues’ favor.

First off, Intervention Records, in its short time in the marketplace, has made a name for itself as a label that strives for (and typically succeeds at) producing damn good reissues. I’ve already got a few of their vinyl releases (The Gilded Palace of Sin and three releases by Joe Jackson) and they’re quite good. Second, both of these were mastered by Kevin Gray at CoHEARent Audio – this guy is really good at what he does! In fact, when I see his name in the credits it’s practically an instant purchase. Whether he’s at the helm of a punk rock remaster (The Damned’s Damned Damned Damned, for instance [not an Intervention release]) or country rock classics like these, this man’s golden ears can be counted on for flawless framing of the music in question. These two SACDs are the first I’ve heard with Gray’s remastering credit, though he also did Intervention’s all analog reissues of the Flying Burrito Bros., and I can vouch for the sound quality of the one Burritos/Intervention record I do have.

In the case of these two delicious Burritos, both the debut and Deluxe sound superior to any other versions I’ve heard. (And that includes original US vinyl of both, a European CD featuring both albums on one disc and two different compilations with most of the material from both.) I am officially going on record with this: the SACD of Gilded Palace sounds better than Intervention’s own vinyl pressing (which sounds fantastic). Yes, folks, Analog Vinyl Guy is voting for the digital disc. I know the album well enough to say I can hear more distinction between, say, Sneeky Pete’s pedal steel guitar and Gram Parsons’ keyboards with the SACD – it’s not that they sound separated, but that they don’t sound like one big “thing”. Does that make sense? Perhaps an analogy would help: imagine a burrito where you can make out the difference between the tortilla and each of the separate fillings and one that tastes like a single overall taste. Not only that, but Chris Ethridge’s bass and the (various players’) drums have more punch without sounding like someone re-EQ’d the record. In all manners, Intervention’s remastered SACD/CDs of The Gilded Palace of Sin and Burrito Deluxe really sound like the best possible version of themselves that you could wish for outside of owning the actual master tapes yourself. – Marsh Gooch

5/5, 4/5 (Intervention IR-SCD3 & IR-SCD8, 2017 & 2020)

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