Review by korowa April 10, 2012 (1 of 1 found this review helpful)
Performance: Sonics:
A very different beast compared to the Fantasy version. It does not have the "dropouts, whirling noises, swirling/panning, etc" reported by jimmyjames8.
Review by analogue October 7, 2013 (3 of 3 found this review helpful)
Performance: Sonics:
I own the original sacd and I was curious as to any improvement that might be achieved. As seems to be the case there is almost always a very clear and audible improvement when listening to these newly remastered Shm Sacd's. Unfortunately in this case its not so dramatic.
To be fair I cant say that there is not a clear difference when comparing the two. There most assuredly is but it is not so pronounced as I'd hoped for. The actual recording is not the greatest but it is good.
Rollins, at least during the 50's was a tremendous talent and his sax playing from this decade is what I gravitate towards the most. On this album he plays with John Coltrane for one very long track and its the only time these two recorded together..........so for this reason alone this is a special album.They jam in very serious fashion on this track. The entire album taken as a whole is quite good and there are some good cuts.Some fast and some slow as per the norm. As one of Rollins most known albums I cant say its as good as some of his other discs from the 50's. This of course is only my opinion.
With regards to the sound quality I would say this Shm Sacd is a very good listen.....its mono and it is clearly much better than the previous sacd. The earlier disc had a somewhat muffled and almost muddy character compared to this new sacd. The new disc is clearer and a little more dynamic and open. Its a good listen to be sure but Its just not heads and tails above the first sacd. Most new Shm Sacds are.
Most of the other comparisons between earlier sacds releases and new Shm Sacd remasters have shown a shocking improvement that has to be heard to be believed. This release.........truth be told is not so dramatic. But its still a good and enjoyable listen.
Recommended if you are a fan of this album and the Shmn Sacd is clearly the better choice of the two.
My actual score for performance and sonics is four and a quarter.
Also it seems I spoke to soon. The Shm Sacd program is not dead after all. There are 15 new releases of Jazz and classic rock on the horizon by years end and this is very welcome news. Of course that many of the previously available Shm Sacd's are sold out is also a reason for the continued support of this program. It never hurts does it??.
Sonics: 
Sonics: 
