Customer Reviews

Blood Sweat & Tears (Hybr)

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

 

 

The sound quality of this SACD release is excellent. It is a considerable improvement over the original Cd and rivals or exceeds the LP addition. The stereo layer is better than the original release and the SACD layer adds additional highs and deeper bass response.

I own about 100 sacd discs and this is one of the best I have. This disc from MFSL is a stereo only mix though that is not a minus at all. The sense of sound imaging in two channels is breathtakingly three dimensional with gorgeous instrument separation and fullness of sound. If you're at all a fan of this album and have SACD capability, this is a must have. Smiling Phases, More and More and Spinning Wheel are amazing renditions that rival the versions on vinyl. If you're into SACD and love Blood, Sweat & Tears this should be on the top of your choices to purchase.

This one came in at the end of last week. If you have been sitting on the fence about purchasing this disc, I strongly recommend getting it as the sound is spectacular. Somehow, MFSL managed to extract more ambience during the mastering than any other version of this recording that I have heard...and this includes the dbx encoded audiophile LP. Buy it now before it is gone and the price skyrockets in the aftermarket.

I totally agree with Charles' appraisal, this is a fantastic audio treat.
If you are looking for a CD or SACD to demo your high end gear then you cannot go past this CD.
Put Spinning Wheel on and turn it up a bit, the definition and staging is awesome!
The horns bleed in and then kick, then the bass notes of the piano, then drum taps, bass, vocals.
It's all there in 3D stereo!
Just writing this makes me want to go play it now.

Pity more recordings do not sound this dynamic.

I'm glad I bought this when it first came out. The sound on this disc is absolutely stunning, especially considering the original release date. Used ones start at $177.00. I feel privileged every time I listen to this wonderfully created disc. One of the very best SACDs I own. I guess this quality comes at a price. I hope I don't wear this one out!

Once again, MoFi does an amazing job with the classics. Put on a good set of cans and let it rip. I've listened to the original vinyl for years but even on the non-SACD layer, I'm hearing new things like never before with this CD. I recently bought a copy from the MoFi site but time is running out for this one.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears released some fantastic albums in their career as recording artists, but this will always be my favorite. It's not simply because their second album contains most of their biggest hits, but that there are so many strong album-oriented songs. An instance where an album-oriented song also became a big hit was the musically prolific and humerously phrased And When I Die. But I lso enjoy both interpretations of Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie (1st and 2nd Movements - Adapted From "Trois Gymnopedies') and Variation On A Theme By Erik Satie (1st Movement - Adapted From "Trois Gymnopedies") that open and close the album, respectively.

Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs typically only releases two kinds of SACD products: amazing and great. While I would classify What's Going On as amazing, this would be merely great. But, really, if only every remastered Super Audio CD could be called great then the format might not be languishing. Some have complained that the MFSL sacds lack any surround mixes. True, I would love to hear these in surround, but as long as the industry releases sacds like Brain Salad Surgery whose sonics are sub-par, then I am willing to run a better sounding stereo mix through a quadraphonic matrix. This product sounds great and will not only please ardent fans of Blood, Sweat, and Tears, it might just win the group a few more.

This is NOT an SACD 5.1 disc. Do not expect 5.1 separation, it is not there.
"Blood Sweat and Tears" was a fine recorded stereo album when first released in 1969. Columbia spent time and money, they knew it was going to be an important LP. Hits galore were expected. Did Al Cooper, the founder of the band, leave or was he kicked out? Both sides have stories to tell. David Clayton-Thomas, a bombastic soul shouter, took over Al Cooper's more whispered heart-felt croons. BST went from an FM older brother to an AM sister sweetheart and broke chart hearts along the way.
"You Made Me So Very Happy", "Spinning Wheel", and "And When I Die", all Top Ten everywhere. Erik Sadie's classical hymn, "Gympeodia", the opening to the album started hundreds of thousands girls prancing on mats and uneven bars and still brings tears to women of a certain age. Those in band class in the late '60's, early '70's got to pump horns to riffs from this LP, including the very funny tribute to Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" in the middle of what was supposed to a serious jazz moment.
"BST" on SACD works well, but not stand-up-shout. Loud works best.
But of course...doesn't it always ?!

This is a magnificient rebirth of a legendary recording. Incredible performances.
Sound-wise: This is definetely one of the best sounding SACDs ever. It's as if you're listening them live at the Café Au Go-Go on Bleecher Street back in 1968. Very rich, warm and natural sound.

I am no rock and roll fan. If it disappeared tomorrow, I would be more than willing to do without the few things I like to make the world a better place. BST's second album contains some plums worth hearing if kept in perspective to what music truly is great. David Clayton Thomas has a voice approaching sandpaper, but it has its appeal, especially in the blues arena. God Bless the Child is worth anyone's time to hear, but he should have cut the screaming in More and More. The more creative cuts (Blues Pt. II and the Eric Satie arrangements) fall flat for me and work better in the original form. Fortunately, only one brief passage in one tune uses those irritating fuzzed guitars. The use of jazz offers a refreshing change from today's uninspiring trash. BST were hardly great jazz musicians, but they were adequate given the pop context and how little they used it (at least on this album). What they played demanded more musicianship that [c]rap and brain-rotting heavy metal et al we suffer with now. Mobile Fidelity's re-release is of its usual high caliber, although the disc is over-priced as usual. (No doubt much of the high price is due to licensing agreements with the copyright holder, who provide the master tapes only if the resulting sales price is high enough not to compete with the standard product.) The master recording does, however, show its age, and I wish MF would have eliminated the unnatural hard right or left panning. The band shows up all over and only occasionally in anything resembling a natural perspective. And I guess it's useless to ask pop record producers not to expand drums across the entire soundstage. The two bonus cuts have a natural spatial quality to them, but that is the only compliment I can give these two otherwise badly recorded tracks.