Cheap Thrills – Big
Brother & The Holding Company
(1968/Janis Joplin/Sony Super Audio Compact Disc/5.1 SA-CD/SACD)
PCM CD Sound: N/A
DSD 2.0: B DSD Multi-channel: B+ Music: B+
A massive
hit album in 1968, Cheap Thrills
by Big Brother & The Holding Company with singer Janis Joplin in her
all-too-short career becoming one of the most important singers in Rock, Soul
and Blues since Tina Turner and not just because she sang rough. Though Piece Of My Heart became the only single, the rise of
Rock radio (eventually leading to the rise of FM radio) and other sources
played tracks from the entire album which continued well after her untimely
death.
The
passion and energy in each song, even slow, brilliant reinterpretations of
standards like Summertime
showed that Joplin had a gift that few singer so either genre and in any genre
possessed. Two months at the top of the
charts, the album has never been out of print and this terrific Super Audio CD
edition offers the following titles, including four bonus tracks:
1) Combination Of The Two
2) I Need A Man To Love
3) Summertime
4) Piece Of My Heart
5) Turtle Blues
6) Oh, Sweet Mary
7) Ball & Chain
8) Roadblock
(studio outtake)
9) Flower In The Sun
(studio outtake)
10) Catch Me Daddy (live)
11) Magic Of Love (live)
As noted before on older releases in higher fidelity
resolution, sometimes, a higher format will reveal flaws, but even the
recording is rough and Producer John Simon’s work continues to be a Rock
classic. Except for some limits because
of the equipment used at the time, this brings the music alive in ways you
would not expect after hearing it played all over the place over the
years. There are no PCM CD tracks, but
the DSD Super Audio CD 2.0 Stereo tracks areas good as I have ever heard these
recordings and the DSD 5.1 high definition sound mixes have detail and presence
that allow us to hear Joplin at her peak in a way few ever have. For fans, it would make going out of their
way to get an SA-CD player (or PS3) worth the trouble.
- Nicholas Sheffo