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Review by Solo man September 24, 2014 (3 of 3 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics: |
After spending quite some time with this SHM SACD, I must say that it is an excellent audible presentation of how vintage 80 music should be played. " If you build it, he will come", well, "If you make it, people will buy." I won't go over the history of Tears for Fears or how technical the recording is, but will give you my opinion.
Am I a huge fan of Tears For Fears, not really; but I did listen to them in my youthful days. If you are looking for a forward presentation with booming bass and emphasized treble than this SACD is not for you. I found the tonal balance neutral. What do I mean by neutral? I mean neutral! Not flat! To me this makes the midrange pleasing so when the upper tones come out they are emphasized in a delicate but pleasing way. The backround is black in certain vocal solos which creates this nice phantom center and creates space for the instruments which image so very well. The saxophone solos in "The Working Hour" have a black backround as well, with it sounding organic and smooth; that it hangs in the air. The keyboards are not overemphasized like in "Jump" by Van Halen. The keyboards are fluid and mix well with the recording.
The negative is that the font in the mini lp sleeve is too damn small. If you want to see who is involved with the saxophone it's difficult to see on the sleeve. You have this nice packaging of a mini lp and I guess they want to produce it to scale. But come on, help out some of the older folks and I came to the realization I might need bifocals.
Back to the sound, I also hooked up both PSB and Totem speakers to my main digital front end and the recording still sounded amazing. For those of you who want to show off what their equipment can do, this may qualify as a demo, as it will bring out all the delicate intricacies in a pleasing manner. I am not talking about pure output but how beautiful the vintage 80 sound is. For example, the Natural decay of the drum is so reminiscent of how they sounded back in the day with analog equipment. The track, " Listen" was also very dimensional that it just widened the soundstage.
In ending, for those who will be purchasing this SHM SACD and feel they might waste their 40 bucks, don't worry just hold on to it for awhile. Because if they discontinue this print, you will get back 5 times what you paid. Just buy it!
"If you build it, he will come"
"If you make it, people will buy"
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Review by analogue August 8, 2014 (3 of 3 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics: |
8 tracks/1985/ 41 minutes
This mid 80's release is still listeners favorite for eighties music. Some of the songs have not succumbed to the 29 intervening years and still sound fresh.
This album is no doubt a product of its time and the production behind the recording cant hide the 80's feel to the created music. This shm sacd sports good to fabulous sound......but its still a product of the 1980's and nothing in the world can change that. What I mean is that the presentation is big and bold and in your face. Even the slow numbers (which sound awesome) have a boldness and upfront quality that distinguishes the 80's music from the previous 20 years of pop sound. I am not criticizing..............just holding a mirror to potential listeners expectations.
Sound wise this is a very good listen. The three slow songs on the album ( the working hour, I believe and listen) are slow burners and feature excellent fidelity. These three tracks feature terrific instrumental separation. You need to crank the volume even more on those songs and you might believe the band is in the room with you. It bears repeating.................even the slow songs are very bold. Vocals are huge, the piano booming.....the sax forceful. No.....not compression or loudness..........big, bold production values by the studio techs. This is......was the 80's and this was planes from the get-go. There is nothing sensitive to this album on the sound quality.
Shout.....its title implies a lot is powerful and the percussion drives me looney by the end of the song. It sounds good here. The classic Everybody wants to rule the world is awesome played loudly and its still the freshest of all the good hits on this album. It never ages for me. Some songs are total 80's panache and I don't like them at all with the lifeless drumming and almost robotic feel to their construction. But that's my personal opinion......perhaps not yours.
There might be some hot treble on this release, My preamp is very sensitive to treble and I did notice some grittiness from time to time. The atmosphere this album has on some songs with the whirling synths is very impressive.
I really cant say much more. This is a very good shm sacd and if you're a fan of the album I recommend it whole heartedly. You gotta remember that at no time during my listening was I ever fooled into being completely relaxed. I'll say it one more time...BIG, BOLD AND UPFRONT .....in the very best way. Not much bloom or sensitive dynamic range. This is not a 70's recording.......or a 60's.......heck or even a 50's for that matter.
Good mastering.
Highly recommended. My actual score for sound was 4 and quarter stars.
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