Customer Reviews

The All Time Greatest Hits of Roy Orbison

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just received my copy and right away I wanted to compare it to my several year old DCC version. This new release tops it in everyway, everything stands out more, Roy, background vocals and the bass is tight and clean.

The DCC comes across as I always felt dull, veiled and noisy sounding mush like the DCC release of Elvis is Back (buy the FTD version). DCC has a sound to their release and most have a veil over the production, dullness if you will.

The Sound is open and clean, yet holds enough musical warmth and body; Mobile did a nice job with the balance across the musical spectrum. I will say the DDC version Roy voice sounds a bit warmer due to the production that keeps everything on the warm, warm side.

Having owned the LP of this CD, I can tell you the Mobile nails it much better then the DCC did, and I enjoyed owning the DCC due to just being able to own the release.

Great find and I am very glad this album was released again, the Sony Essential collection does not hold a candle to this release, these are the original songs from a classic singer and this truly is a classic release worth your purchasing dollars.

Buy it, sit back and enjoy!

Superlative quality! You all know the songs; there are over a dozen beauties on this CD. The revelation however is about the quality of this particular CD, as some other Big O CDs have as many great songs.

Well, I can't believe the difference between this and my standard Big O CDs eg. the Rhino release "For The Lonely". I always thought that was good quality. Now I can directly compare. Wow! This one is way better. All these years buying "normal" CDs without realising what a huge quality difference there can be in different CDs.

The sound on this gold disc is richer, deeper, louder - yet softer around the edges (that analogue feel) - while having far better clarity than on standard Roy Orbison CDs that I have. Vocals are more pure, especially when played loud. And classics like "Crying" and "Running Scared" deserve to be heard near their best!

It's as simple as this: once you hear this, you're expectations of a CD are likely to change forever. The value for money equation is overwhelming. Instead of once regarding these high quality (usually gold) discs as being only for special albums I now make this quality as my buying objective and only buy "normal" CDs when these high quality CDs are not available - and then very reluctantly. Cut down on something else! You have your music for ever :-)

As my son pointed out, for ~$30 we got a quality improvement that would take thousands of $ in hifi upgrade to achieve. I'm now on a mission to upgrade as much of my CD collection as I can.

This is the second go round on a audiophile gold disc for "The All Time Greatest Hits of Roy Orbison" so which one to get? It's a no brainer really--pay less than $30 for this terrific remastering job (which just sounds different than Steve Hoffman's marvelous remaster from a decade ago for DCC)or $87 for the DCC. This blows away the conventional release in terms of sound quality with better warmth and a smoother more analog sound. Heck it even beats the pants off the compilation "For the Lonely" released by Rhino (although this is missing 3 songs on that compilation but has additional songs NOT on that compilation as well).

The running order replicates the original Volumes 1 and 2 of this set. Based on my recollections this is comparable to the DCC but sounds slightly different--both sound terrific (I can't locate the DCC right now)but is every bit the equal of the FLAC files from that release I have on my computer (keep in mind that FLAC files although they are digitally identical to the original CD files can have a variation in sound just from being transposed from one medium to another--I know it sounds contradictory but I've found that to be the case as have others for what it is worth. DIfferences would be extremely subtle however and you might not really notice them depending on your system).

The only complaint I have with this set is the same one that I had for the original and the DCC--I'm not a big fan of all the songs included and would have rather have seen a "Best of" that focuses on the best songs that Roy released not necessarily all the radio hits. Songs like "Pretty Paper" for example have an appeal that continue to elude me. I've never liked it and probably never will. Some of the other songs are a bit too ordinary and Roy had some better material on some of his albums but even the ordinary ones have a special spark to them.

This version comes in a gatefold sleeve that has all original artwork from the previous editions of the album plus a four page booklet with information on the recordings and a brief essay. As with the DCC the new edition of "The All Time Greatest Hits of Roy Orbison" sounds terrific--it's open, has a smooth analog feel and tone to it and hasn't had the sound artifically boosted for the digital domain.

In short, it sounds terrific. It may be a tad louder than the original DCC (hard to say since I don't have the DCC to compare it to at the moment)and some slightly different EQ choices but, if so, it's not noticably so and the original dynamics of the songs are kept in tact. I didn't detect any digital compression to alter the sound.

Roy Orbison, an American singer-songwriter and musician who worked in the rockabilly/country veins, was widely-esteemed for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison counts as another of Sam Phillips' Memphis-based Sun Studios extraordinarily successful artists, as Sun discovered and signed the singer while he was in a high school country-western band. But he couldn't be counted in Sun's "Million Dollar Quartet" consisting of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, as his greatest success did not come until he actually left Sun and went to Monument Records in the early 1960s, where 22 of his songs, including "Only the Lonely," "Crying," "In Dreams," and "Oh, Pretty Woman" placed in the US Billboard Top 40.

The record at hand contains most of his best-known songs, including the four cited above, and "It's Over." It also includes some works associated with other performers, such as "Blue Bayou," "Dream Baby," and "Uptown."

Orbison had a natural baritone, yet you can hear him hit his high tenor notes with ease. Many critics have suggested that he had a three- or four-octave range, and that the combination of his powerful, impassioned voice, and complex musical arrangements produced an operatic effect. Furthermore, they have noted, many of his greatest songs resemble mini-operas in structure: opening, statement of problem, emotional conclusion. They therefore dubbed him "the Caruso of Rock." Moreover, many other great performers, from Elvis Presley to Bono, have said that Orbison's voice was the greatest and most distinctive they ever heard. Mind you, although most would-be rock and roll heroes of the 1950s and 1960s wished to portray defiant masculinity on stage, Orbison instead conveyed quiet, almost desperate vulnerability. He performed while standing still, solitary; wearing black clothes, as did Johnny Cash; dark sunglasses that gave him an air of mystery. The performer, who died young, and faced a remarkable amount of tragedy in his personal life, was initiated, in 1987, into the second class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by longtime admirer Bruce Springsteen. The same year he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. There's never been another like him.

No, I don't necessarily say that for the song selection. Although I like all the songs on this compilation, I'm not going to pretend that everyone else should feel that way too.

No, the reason you must have this one is the sound. The warmth, the clarity, the depth & the quality are so good I'm not even sure I can find words to do it justice. Fair to say anyone who buys this has probably heard these songs before, plenty of times. You will feel like you're hearing them for the first time. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, my equipment is not high-end, although it is good. But when I first listened to this version, I felt like the depth allowed me to hear things I missed on these songs before. Many listens later, the superior quality still blows me away. I can't recommend this one strongly enough. Mobile Fidelity is marketing this as a limited edition, so I'd get it before it's gone! You won't be sorry.

I highly recommend this CD! I love this music! I love Roy Orbinson's, beautiful, soulful voice, he has the kind of voice that can stop you in your tracks, and touch your heart! Roy Orbinson is one of a kind, he has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard!

My brother got me this CD, and it is top quality, and has clear precise sound! I thought Roy and the muscians are among the best! They did a outstanding job! I just love these great songs! Some of my favorite songs from this CD are the following:

ONLY THE LONELY
CRYING
OH! PRETTY WOMAN-(I especially liked the way he growled in this song, I would love for a man to growl at me like that!)

This is a wonderful, outstanding choice to add to your music collection!

If you love this music and care about sound quality, this is the version you want. I don't know how the various vinyl Roy Orbison compilations stack up, but this is easily the best sounding CD. The folks at MFSL have pulled off that rare trick of providing detail and transparency without sounding shrill or harsh. A beautiful album.

I own the vinyl recording of this album, which I bought before CD's became "all the rage." On my "high end turntable," this album was GREAT. However, the "CD" version is a copy of whatever they used to make the vinyl recording. SO - if your a purist, then stick with the vinyl recording. This CD while OK, is NOT a digital remaster, is expensive, and I wish I didn't buy it. The far better deal (which I own) is the 2006 digital remaster "The Essential Roy Orbison." That CD is half the price, includes more of Roy's songs, and sounds great.

Oh, and the sound quality is also pure greatness as well.

Roy Orbison's voice is deeply haunting, leaving a unique and forlorn mark on every note it touches. This particular remaster conveys that notion better than any other previous attempt. At the risk of sounding pretentious, Roy Orbison's voice has an otherworldly quality to it that allows both he and his songs to transcend the traditional characteristics that date other artists.

If you are a long-time fan or have just recently discovered Roy Orbison, you will not be disappointed by these beautifully written, orchestrated and performed songs . . . well, 17 of them at least--three of them, Working For the Man, Shadaroba, and Pretty Paper, are rather subpar.

Seriously, this remastering is astoundingly good.

Just receive the CD and I have to say that it sounds outstanding on my high end tube equipment. The soundstage is ENORMOUS with Roy's voice always coming from the deep center. Sound is warm, delicate and very analog-life. Kudos to Mobile Fidelity for bringing this classic material to the audiophiles' community. This CD HAS TO be in any serious music lover's library.
I wish MF would remaster some Presley and Paul Anka Work.......