Blood, Sweat & Tears (1969/Super Audio Compact Disc/SA-CD/SACD Stereo
Version/Columbia Records)
DSD 2.0
Stereo Sound: B+ Music: B
The Best
Album Grammy Winner in 1969, the second album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, a self-titled release, was also a huge
mega-hit and after being established by Al Kooper on their debut album,
producer James William Guercio took over and the band found themselves one of
the hottest bands around. Sony issued
the Super Audio Compact Disc of the classic in their advanced DSD (Direct
Stream Digital) sound format that will only play on SA-CD (aka SACD) players
and even Playstation 3 machines.
The songs
include the following:
1)
Variations On A Theme By Erik
Satin (1ST & 2ND Movements)
2)
Smiling Phases
3)
Sometimes In Winter
4)
More & More
5)
And When I Die
6)
God Bless The Child
7)
Spinning Wheel
8)
You’ve Made Me So Very Happy
9)
Blues – Part II
10) Variations On A Theme By Erik
Satin (1st Movement)
BONUS TRACKS
11) More & More (live)
12) Smiling Phases (live)
Along
with new lead vocalist David Clayton-Thomas, the big three hits from this album
(tracks 5, 7 and 8) put a new kind of Jazz/Rock/Pop sound on the map and
Guercio would continue making it for this on their follow-up album, plus the
first eleven albums for Chicago. It is a
sound that was new, fresh, distinct and palpable. Though some songs on this album are better
than others of the remaining tracks (6 is the big mistake here) including some
instrumental works, it is enough of a classic that its release on Super Audio
CD makes sense.
You would
think that the hits being played millions of times and counting all over the
radio worldwide would make them tired and boring, but the great thing about an
SA-CD like this is that it is like you never heard them before. Though there is sadly no 5.1 mix, the DSAD
2.0 Stereo is a big surprise in its clarity, warmth, detail, depth and richness
to two-channels. My previous references
for Guercio in a high definition audio format are the out of print, exceptional
and now very collectible DVD-Audio releases by Rhino Records of Chicago (aka Chicago II) and Chicago V,
which are great older releases, but the tape sources can sound a bit worn. That is amazingly not the case here.
Instead,
you will find it hard to believe these recordings are 40 years old now. They sound clean, clear and even fresh, with
Thomas’ vocals even better than you might have first considered. The result is one of the best two-channel
SA-CD back catalog releases to date. Today,
this album and the band are still popular enough that their titles stay in
print and if you are interested in B, S & T as they are also referred to
as, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs have reissued this very album and issued the
third album (simply called 3) in the
SA-CD format as we. However, Sony’s
first version of this classic on SA-CD is smooth and an audiophile winner.
- Nicholas Sheffo