This could be the best vinyl record I've ever heard.
Not that it's for the average punter. It costs $150. In addition, it's actually two records, which spin at 45 RPM and contain only two or three songs a side. So...
If this were the sixties, you'd stack them and play them...
If this were the seventies, you'd rotate the knob on your Technics turntable to play a side as many times as you desired, and if it was only once, the tonearm would return to its resting place and...
That's not how they do it today.
Today the fully manual turntable is in vogue. The old standard used to be the Thorens, and the AR was quite serviceable, despite being so cheap. But really, few people wanted a fully manual turntable back in the day, because it was just too much of a pain in the ass.
Which is to say that this edition of "Can't Buy a Thrill" is not made for casual listening. You'll be getting up to lift the needle and change the side every ten minutes. And if your turntable has a center screw-down weight like mine, you'll have to unscrew it and rescrew it to play the next side.
This is not the analogue revolution you read about in the newspaper. That's mostly albums cut digitally and squeezed down to analogue and vinyl, which seems kind of strange to me, because technically you're not hearing the music the way the artist cut it, but there are people who testify as to the warm sound of vinyl...
But that's not what is happening here. The UHQR version of "Can't Buy a Thrill" is all analogue, after all it was cut analogue originally. However, modern science does allow some improvement re compression and...
This is a science project. Got to give Analogue Productions kudos, they include a lengthy description of their process in the package. It's very convincing. UHQR is actually a term JVC used fifty years ago, that's been resurrected. As for the vinyl...it's actually clear, and supposedly flat from edge to edge, unlike the warped records of yore, and this allows a proper tracking angle and... If you're laying down $150 you're interested in this kind of information, you want value for your bucks. This is not the seventies, where you wait for the sale to purchase a bunch of albums, you either lay down your $150 or...
So, the tech is very convincing. However, there was that kerfuffle with MoFi, they were cutting vinyl with a digital step. My understanding is Analogue Productions did not do that here, it's a fully analog setup/transfer.
But really, it all comes down to the sound. And how does it sound? AMAZING!
Now in truth "Can't Buy a Thrill" had hit singles, but is never singled out as the preeminent Steely Dan album. But it's my favorite. Well, first I preferred "Katy Lied." And can I say I play "Gaucho" more than any of them these days? Have a listen, the languid pace...fits today's times, even though it's forty years later. Having seen it all, been jaded. But "Can't Buy a Thrill"...
At this point the most famous cut on "Can't Buy a Thrill" is the second, "Dirty Work," sung by David Palmer. The backup singers perform it today, because "Steely Dan" can't do a show without it. Oh, don't argue with me, sometimes the cut that is not a hit sustains. As for the hits... The first was "Do It Again"...which caught one's ear because of Denny Dias's electric sitar. And the second was the concomitant opening cut on the second side, "Reelin' In the Years," with its Elliott Randall one take guitar solo. Yes, one take. This was in the days of capturing lightning in a bottle, with the gunslingers showing up with their chops and delivering. Today everything is tweaked. Never mind punk was a reaction to the multitrack overproduced albums of the seventies...
Steely Dan was not an FM band. You heard them on AM. Took years before the Dan was a staple on FM. Which meant you perceived them as a singles act, a throwaway, especially since they were on ABC, a second-tier label. It was kind of like the Eagles, the first album had the giant hit "Take It Easy," which dominated the AM airwaves in the early summer of 1972, but the credibility of the rest was hampered by this giant success. However, the Eagles were on Asylum. And the second album stiffed. And to my point above, not only was "Desperado" not a single, it's the most revered track from that LP, and the Eagles can't do a show today without playing it! It wasn't until "On the Border" that FM truly embraced the Eagles. And then came "One of These Nights," which cemented the band's reputation, made them the Eagles of today, and then a year and a half later they blew our minds with the iconic "Hotel California," a great leap forward. Actually, the two bands' careers parallel each other. Two key members. And a folding of the tent as the eighties unfolded.
But my favorite cut on "Can't Buy a Thrill" is "Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)," I got into it listening to a borrowed copy almost four years after it was released. I bought "Pretzel Logic" from the Record Club of America first, then "Countdown to Ecstasy" and "Katy Lied." You see at first I didn't take Steely Dan seriously. And when I went back to "Can't Buy a Thrill," the thrill was already gone. The band no longer played live. No one was talking about it, I could own it. And there's a special warm feeling when only you're listening to an album. Well, a successful album, today you can listen to an album and be the only one who's ever done so, or so it feels.
So let's say you're into vinyl, the acolytes will tell you you can buy a reasonable system for a grand or so. But that is ultimately untrue. Because first and foremost it won't play LOUD! The amplifier won't have enough power, and even if it does, the speakers will not be able to handle it, they'll distort, or even blow up.
Now the wisdom back then still holds today. Speakers are the key. Just like boots are the key in skiing. But do you know how much speakers cost today? To replace the high standard of yesterday, the JBL L100, it's $2200...APIECE! Yes, you could get by with the Large Advent back in the day, a two way that went for under $150 for most of its run. As for the L100...they were ultimately $333 each. They might have been ubiquitous in that Maxell commercial, but if you went to someone's house and they had them you were impressed.
So you need a good turntable, for multiple reasons, number one being if you employ a heavy tonearm/pressure you'll ruin your records. You can get a quite good Pro-Ject for about $500. But you still might need a phono pre-amp (don't ask why, but if you go to the shop you'll soon learn one is necessary, sometimes it's built into the amplifier, but, ironically, the better the amp the less the odds this is so).
As for an amp... Maybe you can be in the game for $500...BUT YOU'RE GOING TO WANT TO SPEND MORE!
You see in the seventies stereo stores were everywhere. You saw what money could buy, you started off cheap and then dreamed and hopefully moved up the ladder, replacing components as you went. But in the modern vinyl world...
The acolytes just want you in the game, with a sound that ultimately...sounds good. They're interested in accurate reproduction, but, like I said, you can get that but you're going to be disappointed, you're going to want more volume, much more volume.
So, there are plenty of vinyl fans who are playing their records on crappy systems. I'd venture most. Just ask a teen or twentysomething what they're using, you'll be horrified. And this is all to say...if you want to hear the depth and definition of the UHQR "Can't Buy a Thrill" you're going to need a pretty good system, a better system than most people have. Now aged boomers might have a system like this. Then again, "Can't Buy a Thrill" is a fifty year old album, so it's a match. But $150 for one LP? Well, how deep is your pocket?
So we listened to our music two ways in the days of yore. As background and foreground. Yes, you could put on an album as you cleaned the house, did other stuff. But if you had a good enough system there would be times, especially when you got a new album, or listened to a favorite, that you'd park yourself in the perfect spot in your listening room, crank it up and relish the sound. Which was pretty incredible. That's the experience this UHQR album is made for, active, foreground. It's made for concentration. Not from the other room, but in the perfect stereo spot, and if you're there...
Well, you might not even like "Can't Buy a Thrill," you might hate Steely Dan, in that event no matter what the clarity you're not going to get it. Back in the sixties they gave you the impression any album was good on dope, but this was patently untrue, it had to be one you liked.
So as fresh as the music sounds, and it does sound fresh, not dated at all, you have to remember it was cut fifty years ago, I'm not talking about the sound, but the ethos. Rock stars were the billionaires of their day, albeit not that rich. And by this time they had 16 track machines. And albums were not cut live to tape, they were built layer by layer. It was a serious process, but unless you were already huge, there was a limited budget, you had to cut your album within a couple of weeks, maybe as many as six, whereas the superstars could take six months or a year. Oh, it was their money, believe me, but the royalties were through the roof.
So what you had was acts trying to not only be successful, but push the envelope, try to be unique and leave their mark. Everybody was in their twenties, they didn't think about the twenty first century. They had something to say, and if it resonated with the public, there were untold riches and sex and... That's the rock star lifestyle. And to be a rock star you had to write and play, it came straight from the heart, there were exceptions, but only a few. So Steely Dan is cutting "Can't Buy a Thrill" and are not exactly sure what they've got. You never do until the record is finished. A good demo might not ultimately be captured. And an also-ran might emerge and resonate with people. And then you've got albums that the cognoscenti think are the best that made no impact, like Steely Dan's second, "Countdown to Ecstasy."
But really this is not about the music, this is about the sound. If you're a fan of "Can't Buy a Thrill"...it won't be so much that you'll hear stuff you never heard before, although that will happen, but that the dross will fall away and you'll feel there's a live human being making the sound, and they're right there, inside your speaker.
This is rarefied air. Not only is this a classic album, that has stood the test of time, this is not the vinyl you see in your clothing store, not even in your record store. As expensive as that might be, as much TLC might be involved, more in the old days, this UHQR reproduction is a huge leap beyond that. It's more akin to listening to your favorite albums on CD when that format came upon the market. Suddenly the sound was clear. But warm it was not. However vinyl always was, and this version of "Can't Buy a Thrill" most certainly is.
So ultimately it's a personal experience. If you have a turntable, if you have enough power to turn it up as loud as you want without distortion, you can buy this album and be mesmerized. Truly, you will be.
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