Customer Reviews

City To City / Night Owl (2-CD)

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

 

 

I just bought a copy of the Collectables 2 CD set of Gerry Rafferty's City to City and Night Owl albums. Both CDs sounded great but City to City was amazing... just like I remembered the DCC sounding (an out of print gold CD mastered by Steve Hoffman that now sells for several hundred dollars). Hmmm, I grabbed my DCC disc and played it. Yep, sounded the same. Quite a compliment as I often use song one (The Ark) as one of my reference tracks when auditioning audio gear and speakers.

I loaded both CDs into Pro Tools to see what was going on. It was obvious EMI/Collectables sourced this CD from the much sought DCC release. The two files didn't stay *exactly* in sync but they were so close and the waveforms were so similar I assume they made an analog copy of the DCC. One thing I noticed was the Collectables CD had a reversed polarity. If you don't know what any of this means don't spend another second thinking about it. It's more trivial than audible.

Again, I assume EMI made an analog transfer of the DCC CD. That would explain the slight sync variations.

Switching between the two I could only detect *minor* differences and most of that was probably my imagination. For all practical purposes these two CDs sound identical so unless you're into minutia this is an inexpensive way to get the sound of the wonderful DCC CD without having to spend a couple hundred dollars.

Night Owl sounds great too. The transfer is from a great source and it sounds like little to no mastering has been done (that's a GOOD thing). It has great clarity/fidelity and dynamics and I don't hear any hint of compression. As was the style of the era the mixes are slightly on the lean side. I'd rather it be presented as is than have some mastering engineer artificially pump up the bass into a bloated mess.

These two CDs were a pleasant surprise. Well done EMI/Collectables!

Was initially happy to purchase this disc,mostly because it was the first time that "Night Owl" was avaliable on CD. The recordings on "Night Owl" seemed different than the original (vinyl), not as crisp, and slower. I actually timed the title song and compared it to the original. Not surprisingly, it took about 20 seconds longer to play. The dubbing of this disc is not what it should be. If you really want "Night Owl" on CD and don't want to wait, then purchase. Otherwise I would secure an avaliable copy of "City to City" and wait for future releases of "Owl".

I like most people first heard Gerry Rafferty on the Stateside of the Pond when he was with Steelers Wheel,
I have always liked his basic use of Acoustic Guitar/Bass/Drums/Keyboards & Sax, as well as his double tracked vocals ,Gerry has a great sense of Harmony & Melody ,something that is sorely lacking in the Rock Music scene today .These are Gerry's first 2 Albums and are Dynamite well worth the purchase. Drummer Henri Spinnetti is on these disc's and he has done work with Paul McCartney and others .

..those darn loudness wars even ruined what would be a great 2-fer set. I have not even heard the first disc (City to City) since I immediately went for the second disc (Night Owl).. horrendous mastering, and no, this recording is not remastered... one listen to beginning of "The Tourist" and you hear all the clipping and flutter. I saved the disc on my computer and used a noise shaper to soften the harshness of the tracks and a regain tool to somehow lessen the clipping. It worked! DBpowerAMP is a great tool to use. But back to the CD. You may be disappointed in the mastering as I was, but it beats an old beat up cassette that seemed to be eaten by my tape player more than once.
I can't figure out why re-release of City to City since the prior CD release was nicely remastered. This was the second release I bought on the "Collectibles" record label. The first was a reissue of Barnes and Barnes debut, I expected less that high fidelity on that one, but this one I was expecting more or less a pristine recording without having to do the work myself.

Collectables Records is known to transfer these older releases (give them credit for releasing good stuff at least) but they basically give you nothing else. You're left with a tape to cd sound that can destroy a set. My Johnny Cash from this label was like that. One listen & I couldn't take it. I certainly agree with other reviews that state that this release is a straight transfer. However, this one isn't that bad. I really expected it to be worse. I can hold on to this copy as the sound is clear enough to make this a worthwhile purchase. It's not the best, but it's ok. The price is right plus it's 2 of Gerry's best.

I bought the 2011 EMI release (I noticed that they merged the reviews from the 2007 Collectables release with the 2011 EMI release)of this 2 album set, and I really liked the mastering/production of these two albums. They aren't remastered, but they still have a nice clear clean sound to them and the tracks on "City to City" aren't slightly sped up on the single 1988 EMI album release. I don't know what some of the reviewers were listening to when they were saying things like they heard hissing or the tracks didn't line up properly (they might have fixed that in the 2011 release). The only thing that I didn't really like was that there is really nothing in the booklet. It is 4 pages and it includes the 2 albums next to each other (as shown above, on the front), page 2 contains the album artwork to "City to City" with the red border around it, page 3 is "Night Owl" artwork with red border and the back (page 4) is the track listings (as shown on back). There are some nice pictures on the vinyl releases and some important liner notes that they missed. Well I hope that United Artists someday re-releases all of his album remastered and with pictures and liner notes. This release has a great sound it is just missing some printed information.

Two of Gerry Rafferty's seminal solo albums arrive in a two CD set without any notes or credits but both sound sweet. "City to City" announced the arrival of Gerry Rafferty as a solo artist with powerful songs, insightful lyrics and melodies as rich as those he composed while a member as Stealer's Wheel. Although "City to City" was Gerry's second solo album ("Can I Have My Money Back" from 1971 was the first), the album presented a mature, powerful talent with a healthy dose of cynicism in his lyrics.

The CDs look and sound the same as the original 1989 CD issues and it was probably repackaged to tie in to Gerry's death early this year (2011). Unfortunately, EMI DID drop the ball when it comes to adding any insightful liner notes or even album credits; the "booklet" consists of the covers for both albums on the front and on the inside with the full size CD booklet covers but nothing else.

Nevertheless this is really about the music and these terrific classic albums sound great here. The U.S. version of "City to City" was sped up about 4% so if you buy this be aware that the tracks are a little bit looser sounding and a little bit slower in tempo. The U.S. version is also available (it has been issued on CD as well in the U.S. exclusively)for "City to City" so if you're preferred version is the sped up version you heard on radio back in the day, you may want to spring for that one.


"City to City" has a nice, crisp sound and a nice dynamic range replicating that from the original release on vinyl. The sound is terrific for "Night Owl" again with a nice wide dynamic range (unusual for a recently issued CD and that's because it's a straight reissue of the previous version and a flat transfer as near as I can tell without any fiddling with the music). "Night Owl" is the more intimate companion album to "City to City" but both are atmospheric sounding and compliment each other well. Although "Night Owl" didn't sell quite as well as "City to City" the fact that it remains undiscovered for many people only adds to its allure.

It's a pity that EMI didn't choose to do more with both of these albums such as look in their archives for outtakes, bonus tracks and/or include the U.S. single version of "Baker Street" since with the song slightly sped up it has a slightly different flavor.

Even though this reissue could have been done a bit better it's the music that matters and it sounds terrific.

Highly recommended.

The recently departed Gerry Rafferty left us with some terrific music. His legendary battle with the bottle meant that the later years were lean ones. But Another World and North and South deserve to be heard and it's a damn shame those recordings were neglected by fans and critics alike. Having City to City and Night Owl together in one package is a like a dream come true. These albums are arguably Rafferty's most consistent in terms of great tunes, brilliant musicianship and song sequencing. My old vinyl copy of Night Owl had a weird background hum that greatly affected my enjoyment of the disc. Must have been a bad pressing, or something. Anyway, while folks here debate whether this two CD set sounds as good as it should, I can tell you both albums are crisp and clear. I'm sure Rafferty was proud to have these wonderful songs represented in this way. Baker Street, with that iconic sax solo, is the one that made Rafferty famous and rich. But there isn't even a fair or middling track on City to City or Night Owl; it's all top drawer stuff. And I would argue that The Ark and Whatever's Written in Your Heart are just as good as Baker Street. Meanwhile, Night Owl features Days Gone Down, the great title track, Get it Right the Next Time and Family Tree. So, it's hard to say that one album is better than the other. Gerry Rafferty was an outstanding singer-songwriter and that distinctive, pitch perfect voice always wins the day for me. City to City and Night Owl are highly recommended! Now that he's gone, let's hope Rafferty finally gets his due.

I can assure anyone that like this kind of music by Gerry Rafferty, You cannot go wrong at all in purchasing any of his music. He is by far a super great singer. I have listened to his music for many, many years. And I am truly grateful for Amazon.com for being able to find his old music. I have looked in so many places for this type of old school music, and I have really found the place. "Amazon".com. And I will be ordering some of his music, Most of his music I lost in movement throughout the military, but I will reorder more....GE. Hogan

There are lots of reasons for buying this item. Firstly, 2 of Gerry's best albums. Secondly, the price, and finally you can't go wrong with anything by Gerry Rafferty.
If you have never listened to him before this is a superb album to purchase. It shows the songsmith at his best. Gerry was one of the best singer song writers of his generation and it is impossible to understate the mans talent. Buy and enjoy.