Customer Reviews

Bad Company

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well, I received this a few days ago and went ahead and spun it last night. Once again Steve Hoffman has done a classic piece of music justice. I think it sounds wonderful. Sure, it doesn't have the sound quality of something recorded today, but that's not what I want from a favorite from 1974.

Anyway, out of curiosity I pulled out my copy of Bad Company that was remastered by George Marino and did a quick comparison with the Audio Fidelity disk. This comparison was conducted using a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista SACD player plugged into a Creek OBH 11 Headphone amp powering a set of Sennheiser HD 650 headphones.

My thoughts?

When the regular CD was remastered the engineers boosted the bass frequencies a bit and added some compression/limiting. The result is a louder CD with sound that is punchier and warmer than what's on the mastertape. The reverb on Paul Rodger's voice is more forward as is some of the distortion inherent in the recording. This doesn't sound bad per say--just different.

The Audio Fidelity gold disk has somewhat greater dynamics, and I noticed that some of the cymbal crashes jumped out a bit--as they would in real life. This makes for a livelier presentation. There also seemed to be a bit more space between each of the musical instruments, but this was slight.

All-in-all, my preference is for the Steve Hoffman mastering. Your mileage may vary.

Now if only Steve could get his hands on Thick As A Brick (the whole thing this time) and some of the Zeppelin catalogue.

Buy this CD while you can. It will never sound this good again. Obviously, if you are checking out this item you already know the songs as the majority of this album has been played on classic rock radio for years.

You're curious if sounds good. This CD was done by the same people who released DCC discs during the 1990's. The sound is incredible, it sounds like you are in the same room with the band. Steve Hoffman did a great job with this CD. We can only hope they will release the entire Bad Company catalog.

Also, check how much the CDs they released by Jethro Tull (Aqualung, Original Masters) or Paul McCartney are going for on ebay and you will know this CD will be selling for over $50.00 due to the limited production. Buy it while you can!

First of all, I love this album. If you have the original plain Jane version then this Audio Fidelity version will definitely sound better but it is different. It wasn't the night and day difference I thought it was going to be but it is truly a better experience. The first thing I noticed was that the drums had better imaging and presence and the bass lines were much more defined, less "muddy" than on the original release. This is a much more forward presentation of the album than before and as another reviewer mentioned it sounded like a live recording in that you can hear the band members talking before each song and the sound stage of the recording has more presence. Guitar strings have more weight, snare drum is more snappy, cymbals are more crisp with a little more decay. The only thing I noticed as a negative was that there was a lot of original tape hiss from the master tapes that you would think they could have removed. Once the songs start you can't really hear the hiss but it was noticeable. The hiss was not on all songs. A great comparison if you have the original version is track 8, Seagull. If you are buying this CD for the first time then definitely buy this mastering and especially if your audio system can resolve the extra detail. I almost forgot to mention that I was only listening to the "standard" non HDCD layer of this disc. A lot of the other positive reviews were commenting on the HDCD encoding of this disc. I love HDCD recordings. My Tom Petty Playback box set is in HDCD and wow what a difference it makes. The current system I was listening to this recording on was a Marantz SA8001 SACD/CD player, Marantz PM7001 Integrated Amp, Richard Gray Pro 400 Power Conditioner, Audio Quest Type 8 speaker cable, and Diamondback analog interconnects. If you are looking for a $1000 SACD/CD player then be sure to check out the Marantz. Very detailed and sweat sounding after is warms up. Hope this review helps you buy this album (or not).

This is a sweet recording. It made me cry the first time I put in this remastered version. I hope Hoffman decides to remaster "Run With The Pack".

This is well worth getting over the regular release. The stereo presence and snap of the drums is unbelievable on a regular system. Booklet is nice. I wish all CDs were this good. Nice job Steve Hoffman!!

This will be collector's item soon, also.

Bad Company's first and best album. I still remember hearing the original British LP playing in a little record shop in Houston Texas, before it was released in the USA. I was transfixed, and bought the store copy. This disc has seen a couple of releases on CD, but neither sounded as good as that original British vinyl. Audio Fidelity, however, hit a home run with this release. Over a year was spent just locating the original master tapes, which were then lovingly transfered and remastered by Steve Hoffman, one of the best mastering engineers in the business. THIS DISC SOUNDS INCREDIBLE.

If you're a Bad Company fan, this gold disc is a must have.

AUDIO FIDELITY JUST DOES IT AGAIN WHEN IT COMES TO GIVING THE AUDIOPHILE WHAT HE WANTS,A GREAT TRUE LISTENING EXPERIENCE!!MR. STEVE HOFFMAN,ONCE AGAIN,DOES A TRULY BEAUTIFUL REMASTERING ON THIS BAD COMPANY CLASSIC.MR. HOFFMAN IS AN ASSET TO THE SCIENCE OF REMASTERING.IF YOU WANT THE BEST SOUND EXPERIENCE IN AUDIO REPRODUCTION,BUY AUDIO FIDELITY!!IT IS WORTH IT.ALSO BUY THE AUDIO FIDELITY-DEEP PURPLE "WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE"-24 KT.GOLD CD.THE SONICS ARE JUST SUPERB!!

bad co hasnt sounded this good since i put the orginal album on my turntable.If you like audio perfection than this is it.I Can only hope they remaster straight shooter until then enjoy the music.

This is a premium priced audiophile CD of a classic rock album. There are many reviews of the music but what should be of most interest is the sound quality of this specific release. The answer is simple: it's the best I have heard. The clarity and dynmaics are notably better than the regular CD issue and even my original vinyl lp. Yo here the lead guitar clear and the song have more dynamic punch. You will enjoy this old friend better than ever.

If you are interested in trying Bad Company for the first time, start here. The combination of great songs throughout and awesome mastering will make you glad you did.

Then run out and buy the new Steve Hoffman mastered Audio Fidelity Gold CDs of titles you like....they are consitently awesome!

The Bottom Line....

This is the Best Sounding release of Bad Company's first album.

How much better ?

Subjective area, I would rate it as somewhat better.

The cymbals are crisp and the overall quality is high.
A bit more 'live sounding',as if you are in the studio.

If you don't have this CD, get this version.
If you love the album enough, it is a nice upgrade.