More of the Music of DonovanReviews and Commentaries for the Music of Donovan
The review you see here was written in 2003.
This is an Audio Fidelity Dual Layer Hybrid SACD (playable on any CD player) with superb sound.
One of the best sounding CDs I’ve ever heard! I can’t play the SACD layer anymore — my SACD player broke and I decided the medium was not for me. I’m a record guy and don’t want to invest the time and money to find a player that gets the SACD layer right. My CD player tells me that this is some of the best digital around and that’s good enough for me.
This disc is so rich and sweet you would swear it was an LP. Hoffman did an AMAZINGLY good job with this title. Same with The Searchers. Both come highly recommended.
The chances of the Heavy Vinyl sounding as good as the CD on this title are nil, or very close to it.
I mention on this blog that many Heavy Vinyl releases of this kind had to fight their way through Kevin Gray’s transistory, opaque, airless, low-resolution cutting system. We discuss that subject on the blog in more depth here.
“Donovan first emerged as part of the ruling class of 1960s singer-songwriters. More than just roots into something truly unique and has endured the test of time. It encompasses a full blend of social commentary, introspective trippiness and, yes… cosmic sounds. This collection showcases the talents of the artist and his art. Combining Donovan’s Pye/Hickory recordings and his Epic label releases, this musical collection is a journey into the world of a musical poet….the world of a storyteller….the world of Donovan.” — Audio Fidelity
1. Catch The Wind
2. Colours
3. Universal Soldier
4. Josie
5. Sunny Goodge Street
6. Hey Gyp
7. Turquoise
8. You’re Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond
9. To Try For The Sun
10. To Sing For You
11. Sunshine Superman
12. Mellow Yellow
13. Hurdy Gurdy Man
14. Atlantis
Below you will find our reviews and commentaries for the hundreds of Heavy Vinyl pressings — unlike this one — that we’ve actually played over the years.
We confess that even as recently as the early 2000s we were still impressed with some of the better Heavy Vinyl pressings. If we’d never made the progress we’ve worked so hard to make over the course of the last twenty or more years, perhaps we would find more merit in the Heavy Vinyl reissues many audiophiles are impressed by these days.
We’ll never know of course; that’s a bell that can be unrung. We did the work, we can’t undo it, and the system that resulted from it is merciless in revealing the truth — that these newer pressings are second-rate at best and much more often than not third-rate or even worse.
Some audiophile records sound so bad, I was so pissed off I created a unique circle of vinyl hell to put them in.
Setting higher standards — no, being able to set higher standards — in our minds is a clear mark of progress. Judging by the hundreds of letters we’ve received, we know that our customers see — and hear — things the same way.
