CD's to make your system sing!!!!!

cunny678

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Been trying to find decent CD recordings of Rock and Pop music since I sold my vinyl collection a few years back. Although I have seen other sites with a sort of top 50/100 Cd's based on sound quality there appears to be little for those who like rock / pop music.

I am sure we have all been dissapointed with purchases of CD only to find the record companies have compressed the hell out of it or its just badly produced! Thought it may be an idea to compile a sort of top 50 of CD's based on sound quality only. You know, your favourite CD you put on to show your system off!!

I will start off by posting my top 5 CD's which I think sound fantastic in order of sound quality. If people post the same suggestion I will score it higher so eventually we should get some sort of pecking order based on popularity. If when posting you can put the record label and the date it will help distinguish between the different versions. If you dont have the CD and have not listened to it please dont nominate it.

I have checked the CD's I have suggested on Audacity and can confirm that the gain has not been ramped up and there is no clipping on these versions. I dont think it is necessary to post if you have done this but it may be of interest.

The recommended recordings up to post 272 are below all other updating is done as the thread goes along.


1.Alice In Chains - Unplugged Sony 1997 (6 votes)
1.Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1992, Epic)(6 votes)

2.Rodrigo Y Gabriella - 11:11 - ATO, 2009(5 votes)

3.Metallica - Black Album - 1991 - Electra (4 votes)
3.Keb' Mo' - Keb'Mo' - Epic 1994 (4 votes)
3.Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys! - Fiction/Polydor - 2011 (4 votes)


4.Metallica -Load - 1996 - Electra (3 votes)
4.Nils Lofgren's - Acoustic Live - Vision Music - 2010 (3 votes)
4.Yello - Baby -Mercury - 1991(3 votes)
4.Bjork - Homogenic -onelittleindian 1997 (3 votes)


5.Metallica -ReLoad - 1997 -Electra (2 votes)
5.Vampire Weekend - Contra - XL records - 2009(2 votes)
5.Eric Clapton - Unplugged - Reprise - 1992(2 votes)
5.Ocean Colour Scene - Mosley Shoals - MCA - 2011(2 votes)
5.Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - B.R.M.C. -2000 - Virgin(2 votes)
5.Pink Floyd - DSOTM - EMI Digital Remaster - 1992 (2 votes)
5.Bloc Party - Silent Alarm - 2004 - Wichita Recordings (2 votes)
5.Porcupine Tree - In Absentia - Lava 2003 (2 votes)
5.Steven Wilson - Insurgentes - Kscope 2008 (2 votes)
5.Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club - World Crcuit 1997 (2 votes)
5.Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela - ATO 2006 (2 votes)
5.Orbital - In Sides London Records - 1996 (2 votes)
5.Damian Rice - 9. - Heffa - 2006 (2 votes)
5.Damian Rice - 0. - Heffa - 2006 (2 votes)



Yello - One Second - Mercury - 1987
Stanley Clarke - Hideaway -Epic - 1986
Jimmy Page - Outrider - Geffen - 1988
Santana-Shaman 2002
Muddy Waters - Folksinger - MFSL version
Led Zeppelin - Mothership - Atlantic - 2007
The Fun Loving Criminals Come Find Yourself - Chrysalis - 1997
Talking Heads Speaking In Tongues 1983
Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream 1993 Virgin
Roger Water's Amused To Death on Master Sound(SBM) - 1992
Metallica - Master of Puppets - DCC Gold
NIN - Pretty hate machine - remastered - Island - 2010
Jeff Buckley - Songs From Jeff Buckley - Sony - 2007
LAMBCHOP - She is woman - City Slang - 2010
Electronic - Electronic. Parlophone. 1994.
Michael Jackson -Blood on the Dance Floor: History in the Mix(Epic) - 1997
Plan B - The Defamation of Strickland Banks - 2010 Atlantic 679
Jeff Buckley - Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk - Columbia - 1998
Leftfield - Rhythm and Stealth - 1999 - Sony
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare - 2006 - Domino
Madonna- the imacculate collection - Warner - 1990
Soul to soul - club classics volume 1 - 1989 on 10 records label
The Sky Moves Sideways - Porcupine Tree (Reissue) (Snapper - July 2004 )
Shellac - Excelent Italian Grayhound (Touch & Go - 2007)
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies (Columbia - 1994)
Pink Floyd - The Wall - (Harvest 1979)
Portishead - Dummy - Universal 1995
Leftfield - Leftism - 1995 - Hard Hands / Sony Music
Queen - Greatest Hits II - EMI - 1991 (or 2000 on Platinum Collection)
Radiohead - 'Hail to the thief' - 2003 - Parlophone
Elbow and the BBC Concert Orchestra - The Seldom Seen Kid Live at Abbey Road - 2009 - Polydor
Simone White - I am the man - 2007 - EMI Records
John Martyn - Solid Air -1973 - Island Records
Leonard Cohen - Live in London - 2009 - Columbia
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular - 2007/08 - Columbia
Megadeth - Cryptic Writings. Capitol 1997 (HDCD)
Blackfield - Blackfield. - Helicon 2004
Damian Rice - O. - Vector 2002
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds - Live at Radio City - RCA 2007
Diane Reeves - Bridges - Blue Note 1999
Peter Gabriel - Up - Virgin 2002
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman/Telling Stories - Elektra 1988/2000
Hope and Social - April - 2010 - Alamo Music
beastie boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two - Capitol -2011
Nirvana - Unplugged in New York - Geffen - 1994
Cymbals eat guitars - Why there are mountains - 2009 - Sister's Den Records.
Jill Scott's - Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1' - Hidden Beach Recordings- 2000
Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi - 2011 - Domino records
Kurt Elling - Close Your Eyes - Blue Note - 2003
Maxwell - Embrya -Sony Music - 2001
The John Butler Trio - Sunrise over Sea Lava Records - 2004
Michel Jarre; Oxygene (Remastered), Capitol Records, 2007.
Jean Michel Jarre; Equinox (Remastered), Sony, 1997.
King Roc - Chapters - Process Recordings - March 09
Dave Matthews Band - Busted Stuff, RCA Records, 2002
One Minute Silence - Buy Now Saved Later - V2 Records - 2000
Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy's Big 4, Pablo Records, 1990
Various Artists - A Century of Jazz, Disc 3: The Soloists. EMI Records ltd, 1999
Jools Holland & Friends - Small World Big Band. Warner Music UK ltd, 2001
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin - Atlantic Remaster - 1971(?)

You can nominate and vote for as many as you want as in the end I guess the voting system will dictate which albums are generally considered to sound best. Just let me have the label and year of CD with any nominations as recodings can differ greatly especially "Remasters".


If you wnat to nominate one just post with the details and I will add it to the list. If its already on the list just post to that effect and I will add the vote which will increase its position in the table.

No Big Band / Orchestral, DVDA or SACD just Rock / Pop Cd's.
 
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Santana-Shaman 2002 Track 9: 'Sideways' featuring Citizen Cope sounds awesome on my system.
 
Santana-Shaman 2002 Track 9: 'Sideways' featuring Citizen Cope sounds awesome on my system.

Added - thanks!

1.Yello - One Second - Mercury - 1987
2.Stanley Clarke - Hideaway -Epic - 1986
3.Eric Clapton - Unplugged - Reprise - 1992
4.Yello - Baby -Mercury - 1991
5.Jimmy Page - Outrider - Geffen - 1988
6.Santana-Shaman 2002

All one vote unless indicated.
 
Muddy Waters - Folksinger - MFSL version

(MFSL means Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab)

In general look out for DCC Gold and MFSL versions of albums.

Also check out Steve Hoffman's work: Steve Hoffman Official Discography
He also has a forum where people discuss this sort of thing so it's a great resource if you want more recommendations.

EDIT: Whoops that's Blues not Rock/Pop but it does sound amazing. :)
 
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Muddy Waters - Folksinger - MFSL version

(MFSL means Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab)

In general look out for DCC Gold and MFSL versions of albums.

Also check out Steve Hoffman's work: Steve Hoffman Official Discography
He also has a forum where people discuss this sort of thing so it's a great resource if you want more recommendations.

EDIT: Whoops thats Blues not Rock/Pop but it does sound amazing. :)


Blues is fine! Added - thanks!

1.Yello - One Second - Mercury - 1987
2.Stanley Clarke - Hideaway -Epic - 1986
3.Eric Clapton - Unplugged - Reprise - 1992
4.Yello - Baby -Mercury - 1991
5.Jimmy Page - Outrider - Geffen - 1988
6.Santana-Shaman 2002
7.Muddy Waters - Folksinger - MFSL version
 
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In general look out for DCC Gold and MFSL versions of albums.

Had a few MFSL lp's a few years back but no CD's. Do you know how Sony Mastersound recordings are rated? I have the Boston album long box which is gold as supposidly higher quality than the norm, but I dont have the standard version to compare it to. Cracking production all the same!
 
Not heard any of the Sony Mastersound releases. I said in general, because I gather for some CDs the MFSL or DCC Gold releases are not the best version. There are other companies that produce high quality versions of CDs too.
 
Not heard any of the Sony Mastersound releases. I said in general, because I gather for some CDs the MFSL or DCC Gold releases are not the best version. There are other companies that produce high quality versions of CDs too.

It was true of the MFSL DSOTM and U2 unforgetable Fire LP's, both could be bettered by standard LP versions.
 
Try Blue October - Foiled pretty well recorded.

New or old rock, the Zeplin Remasters - Mothership sounds good.

If it blues try and find David Johansen - David Johansen and the Harry Smiths it is a Chesky recording.
 
If you can stretch from blues out to Jazz then - Jazz at the Pawnshop is a stunning recording.
 
Eh? I though this was Rock & Pop. Why Muddy the Waters with Blues & Jazz?
 
Eh? I though this was Rock & Pop. Why Muddy the Waters with Blues & Jazz?

My original intention was just to avoid orchestral music and specialist formats like SACD & DVDA as they are invariably good recordings. So quite happy for any other suggestions. The idea was to get a sort of top 50 recordings with those cd's getting more than one nomination going higher up the list!

One of my suggestions was Jazz Funk!
 
This is a bit spooky as last night at work I was thinking along similar lines. I have herd mentioned several times the Sony red book recordings and my post this morning was going to be is there a list of cd's where the sound quality is superb and I could cherry pick the albums I was interested in, so I will follow this thread with interest
 
Try Blue October - Foiled pretty well recorded.

New or old rock, the Zeplin Remasters - Mothership sounds good.

If it blues try and find David Johansen - David Johansen and the Harry Smiths it is a Chesky recording.

Thanks - Updated with Led Zep!

1.Yello - One Second - Mercury - 1987
2.Stanley Clarke - Hideaway -Epic - 1986
3.Eric Clapton - Unplugged - Reprise - 1992
4.Yello - Baby -Mercury - 1991
5.Jimmy Page - Outrider - Geffen - 1988
6.Santana-Shaman 2002
7.Muddy Waters - Folksinger - MFSL version
8 Led Zeppelin - Mothership
 
OK, not my favourite CD, but one I use to show off the system is Come Find Yourself by the Fun Loving Criminals. Try playing "I Can't Get With That (Schmoove Version)" - stunning!

One more (sorry :blush:) - Talking Heads Speaking In Tongues (HDCD) - "Burning Down The House" - whole album is superb!
 
OK, not my favourite CD, but one I use to show off the system is Come Find Yourself by the Fun Loving Criminals. Try playing "I Can't Get With That (Schmoove Version)" - stunning!

One more (sorry :blush:) - Talking Heads Speaking In Tongues (HDCD) - "Burning Down The House" - whole album is superb!

Thanks - Updated!

1.Yello - One Second - Mercury - 1987
2.Stanley Clarke - Hideaway -Epic - 1986
3.Eric Clapton - Unplugged - Reprise - 1992
4.Yello - Baby -Mercury - 1991
5.Jimmy Page - Outrider - Geffen - 1988
6.Santana-Shaman 2002
7.Muddy Waters - Folksinger - MFSL version
8 Led Zeppelin - Mothership
9.the Fun Loving Criminals Come Find Yourself
10. Talking Heads Speaking In Tongues 1983
11. Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream was '93 Virgin

Whats the year of the Talking heads and is it the one with the DVDA?

Kiss have any good recordings?
 
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The Black album - Metallica and the two load albums
 
Thanks - Updated!

Whats the year of the Talking heads and is it the one with the DVDA?

Kiss have any good recordings?

Firstly I checked and it's not an HDCD - sorry (that is the live album - Stop Making Sense - also brilliant). The year is 1983. I have the original CD and the re-issue with DVDA you are talking about. I bought the re-issue recently for the DVDA but haven't played yet so can't give you a comparison right now. But I suspect it might be hard to get the original anyway.

Regarding Kiss, they're not renowned for superb recordings (although a lot of their back catalogue is issued on Japanese vinyl which I haven't tried). On CD, the acoustic MTV Unplugged is a nice listen and the only other one I'd say is good fidelity is Creatures Of The Night - drums are huge (recorded in a big hall from memory). But maybe not really good enough for your all time top 50 CD's.

I have plenty more in mind if you want them (e.g. REM - Automatic For The People/ INXS - Kick/ Green Day - American Idiot/ Eva Cassidy - Songbird/ Peter Gabriel - 3/ Pink Floyd - The Wall.... I could go on and on but maybe see what others come back with first!!) :smashin:
 
I was just wondering this, and lo and behold, a thread! :smashin:

Smashing Pumpkins. - Mellon collie and the infinite sadness
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese dream

Both sound fantastic on cd, digital and vinyl. I'm gonna check out the recommendations above ASAP :)

Also Stevie Wonder - songs in the key of life, and Talking Book...not really rock but could get away with pop!
 
Regarding Kiss, they're not renowned for superb recordings (although a lot of their back catalogue is issued on Japanese vinyl which I haven't tried).

I have Rock the Nation Live on DVD and the sound is pretty good!

As regards the other Cd's, will give some other posters a chance for now. I am hoping that people will nominate the same Cd once we get a decent list so that the best recordings (with the most votes) will be the top of the list!
 

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