| Review by petermwilson September 10, 2004 (3 of 3 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics:  |
Hi,
Had it on vinyl and used it as panty remover when it first came out.
I was never a big fan of cd's and Ship Ahoy never seemed tobe available except on special order here in Toronto (I bought the record in Mtl).
Anyway, now I have it mltich and love it. Too bad more folks haven't been exposed.
Peter m.
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| Review by glenmulder January 20, 2005 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
I am originally from England and moved to New York 3 years ago.
My friend went to America back in the 70,s and bought back for me on Vinyl 'Ship Ahoy' and 'Masterpiece' (Temptations).
Needless to say both albums were played out I bought both again on CD but somehow the inspiration to play them went.
This was one of my first SACD/s and i must say one of my most played. I am amased at how this album sounds so fresh and certainly the songs are made for surround.
Overall an excellent album great sounding i would recommend this to anybody who had the Vinyl and who liked the Philly sound of the 70,s.
Come on guys lets have some more Soul on SACD.
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| Review by fredblue May 19, 2009 (2 of 2 found this review helpful)
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Oh.. My.. Word!! This is one hell of a discrete mix! Those quadraphonic engineers back in the '70's must have had a ball panning all the sounds around at the time as the acoustic gymnastics go through the roof here!
The record is an out and out soul classic, a concept album with a strong social heart beating through every vibe and I for one love it! So it is strange that such an honest work could feature a surround mix that is so gimmicky and loaded with effects and tricks!
However, this makes it no less sonically exciting - and challenging - everytime I finish listening to it (and I have to play it all the way through with no breaks) I am exhausted! Maybe that was the original producer's intention, to actively engage the listener at every turn? Who knows!?
Whatever, on every single track there is so much activity in the rears .. it's a bongo-bonanza at the back, I tell ya! The amount of percussion detail coming through is at times overwhelming in the mix!! At other times there's loud horns and full-on backing vocals that are as forceful as the lead vocal from the rear speakers, it can be a bit much. The vibes that come in towards the end of "Don't Call Me Brother" for example, tinkle away so realistically though, I can almost forgive the exuberance of the mix, you just have to hear them - we're talking about really impeccable engineering and recording for what amounts to just a tiny element of the overall sound here.
This rear-heavy presentation could potentially be too great a distraction from the main focus of the front channels. Somehow it doesn't detract as much as it should, it only colours some of the more subtle moments, when rather than ambience there's oodles of action coming from behind you!
If you like your 5.1 music to have lots of bells and whistles, this one is most certainly for you. If you demo it to anyone, they'll never ask you what all the fuss is about this "surround sound sacd", I can assure you of that!
If you're an r&b/soul loving SACD-owner and prefer a more subtle multi-channel mix however, maybe this one's not a priority for your listening and you should try the "Ray Charles & Count Basie" or Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On" SACD's first. Both are more subtle than this, while still being hugely entertaining and effective surround mixes to my ears - despite the bizarre genus of the Ray Charles disc.. and the somewhat quirky 5.0 nature of the Marvin Gaye sacd, which lacks a dedicated LFE channel, for some reason!?
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| Review by lampertb January 28, 2011
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Wow! If you like this kind of music (and of course you do, because otherwise why would you be reading this review?), then buy this SACD whenever and wherever you find it available. I paid less than $100 for my copy, and I consider it a bargain.
Outstanding use of surrounds, crystal-clear definition... I can't imagine selling this one. Highly recommended!
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