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Artist: Joni Mitchell
Label: Dcc Compact Classics Category: Music Average customer rating: Format: Gold CD Media: Audio CD Number Of Discs: 1 UPC: 010963113228 EAN: 0010963113228 ASIN: B00000IARU Release Date: 1999-03-16 |
Blue
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Joni Mitchell would go on from this 1971 recording to make more popular, more ambitious, and more challenging albums, but she's never made a better one. Working with minimal accompaniment (Stephen Stills and James Taylor are two of the four sidemen), the Canadian thrush summoned an involving song cycle of romance found and lost. Though Blue is an uncommonly intimate representation, it's also astonishingly open and gracious. Songs such as "All I Want," "Carey," "California, and "A Case of You" work equally well as poetry and pop music. DCC's 24-karat-gold version of the 10-song collection offers superior sound quality for a higher price then the standard Warner Bros. CD. --Steven StolderAlbum Description
Digitally remastered reissue of her landmark 1971 album on a 24 karat gold CD from DCC. Reaching #15 on the Billboard charts (and remaining on the charts for well over a year), it contains 10 tracks, including 'All I Want', 'Carey', 'California' and 'Blue'. Comes packaged in a standard jewel case within a full color die-cut slipcase cover. 1999 release.Customer Reviews:
mean green pixie.......2001-10-23
Worth the Money in a Great Stereo System.......2000-03-12
Yes; It may be worth buying this high-end version of Blue.......2000-02-02
The three versions of Blue I own are: 1) Reprise 2038-2, 2) Reprise 2038-2/HDCD 3) DCC GZS-1132 (gold disk). I played each CD back through a very expensive high-end stereo system. The digital front end included a dedicated transport and Audio Alchemy DTI PRO 32 in 20-bit mode and a AA DDE 3.0 DAC. The 20-bit enhancement was turned off during HDCD playback (which it has to be for HDCD to work). Associated playback equipment: Plinius 8150 amp and Dynaudio 1.8MkII speakers.
First, let me say that most normal human beings with average stereos will be perfectly happy with the generic BLUE disk. You can hear the famous sustain pedal lift on the song "Blue" better, in fact, on the Reprise non-HDCD version (maybe some compression?). The HDCD version sounds somewhat better (smoother). I was mainly listening to the quality of Joni's vocals during the listening sessions, however.
That said, the DCC gold CD produces superior vocals. Joni's vocals have a round, three dimensional "tubey" sound that floats in front of you and never sounds the least bit shrill (which the vocals on the Reprise non-HDCD do, but only in comparison). The vocals take on a beautiful luster. It's hard to describe why the DCC disk sounds better. The sound is more LP-like, without losing resolution or dynamics.
Is is worth the extra money for the DCC version? If you have a high-end stereo and can appreciate the fine job that Steve Hoffman of DCC did on the remastering, then by all means: This is the only CD version you should own. Otherwise, the other CD versions should sound perfectly acceptable on less persnickety equipment.
The most impressive audio CD I've heard........1999-11-01
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