Audible Nectar Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Max's discussion in the thread on audio quality (as well as the arrival of the MC-30's) got me thinking..... If you were attempting to show someone not familiar with tube audio just what tube gear can do for them, what rock material/specific titles would you use to show them off? What would you play to highlight the best that tubes can be? I know that it is common for the SET jazz crowd to listen to Diana Krall in demo rooms (yeah, I know, stereotypical), so let's create a new stereotype! If a group of Rock and Roll tubers got together at an audio festival, what would they, or should they, be playing???? My first session will likely kick off with Steely Dan's AJA. What's next?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good2BHome Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 In no particular order: Eagles - Hell Freezes Over Nirvina - Unplugged in New York London Philharmonic Orchestra - Kashmir Symphonic Led Zeppelin Dire Straits - Live at the BBC Joe Cocker - Joe Cocker Live Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strabo Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 There's a bunch of stuff, but from the top of my head: CCR's Cosmos Factory from Analog Productions, specifically, I Heard It Through The Grape Vine. SACD or LP CCR's ST again from Analog Productions, specifically, Suzie Q. SACD or LP SRV Couldn't Stand The Weather from Sony. Single Layer SACD I'll add more later. Edit, Another great one that is easy to find. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot LP, don't know about the CD. Dire Straits, Brothers In Arms LP, every time I listen to that I hear more stuff going on in the background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillmbil Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 How about some real old time rock like Van Halen: "Running with the Devil" "Ice cream Man" 33 flavors guarrenteed to sassify Molly Hatchet: "Gator Country" A little bit of that chomp chomp Stephen Stills: "Tree top Flyer" Police: "Murder by Numbers" As easy to learn as your ABC's Now what do you say? Can you say "TURN UP THE VOLUME" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 While we're on the subject of Rockasaurus... Derek & the Dominos - "In Concert" Grateful Dead - "Europe '72" Big Brother & the Holding Company - "Cheap Thrills" Allman Brothers Band - "At Fillmore East" The Beatles - "1" Steve Miller - "Brave New World" or "Fly Like An Eagle" Led Zeppelin - "I", "II", "III", "IV", "Houses Of The Holy", "Physical Grafitti" Jeff Beck - "Truth" Jimi Hendrix - "Jimi Plays Monterey" whew!...thanks for the reminder...been listening to mostly jazz and country lately...gotta catch up on some of this over the long weekend. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Well, I had a nice post all ready to go, and IE just screwed me. Oh well, there wasn't any rock stuff in there yet anyhow. I've been running my new-to-me 30s with the 6L6GC they came with, in order to better understand the gains achieved with the 350B and NOS rectifiers. For rock recordings, I like to spin the Foo Fighters' second record. Sloan is a favorite band of mine, and they're well-recorded to boot. Check out: Also Bellybutton by Jellyfish is a super record, with that squeaky-clean Rundgren sound and sparkling harmonies But if you really want ROCK: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Some particular cuts and/or albums for big ole horns and ANY quality amplification are: Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" from her first album...shows off her ability in a very clean recording Ten Years After's "One of These Days" and "I'd Love to Change the World" from the "A Space in Time" album...bass quality isn't the best in the world, but really shows off Alvin Lee's guitar abilities on a clean recording James Gang's "Thirds" album...numerous cuts are very cleanly recorded...and show off Joe Walsh's guitar abilities early on ditto above on Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like an Eagle" album Santana's "Caravanserai" album Stephen Stills' "MANASSAS" album...is like taking CSN&Y's "Deja Vu" out for a continuation of its "sound" as for Jimi Hendrix, my favorite Hendrix cut of all time is Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower"...probably THE if not just one OF the cleanest tracks Hendrix ever laid down. Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina on the "Sittin' In" album (their first one)...in particular, the "House at Pooh Corner" cut...EXTREMELY CLEAN!! Just listen to the guitars and oboe and such through Heritage speakers...will bring up goose bumps on ya! Some of the cuts on Black Sabbath's "Master of Reality" album Joe Walsh's "The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get" album...who can deny "Rocky Mountain Way" as a genuine rock classic? Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Second Helping" album..."Ballad of Curtis Loew"..."Call Me the Breeze", etc. The list goes on and on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 The first time I heard Linda Rondstats "silver threads and golden needles" on a set of horns nearly made me change my shorts! The bass on "your no good" shakes the house but good also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShapeShifter Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 "I know that it is common for the SET jazz crowd to listen to Diana Krall in demo rooms (yeah....)" With my SET Amps I do listen to Jazz, but I listen to other types as well: Tina Turner - Foreign Affair & Private Dancer Bob Seger Greatest Hits (Hollywood Nights, Old Time Rock & Roll, & Roll Me Away are not jazz flavor tunes.) Phil Collins But Seriously & Hits Sting, Doobie Brothers & Michael McDonald, WAR & Rare Earth are favorites too. They may not be considered hard rockers, but they are far from being counted as relaxed or timid. Please dont pour all SET owners into one thimble. PS - Good to hear you got the MC-30's back!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 Wes, I meant no ill will on those comments - my sincerest apologies. In fact, if I were to remove the "Rock" category and open this up for all music genres, Diana Krall is one of the first discs I would reach for - for any tube demo (Tracy Chapman is great, too). There is a reason she is always heard in demo rooms. However, I'm looking to show this to a different audience, and find out for myself what tubes can do for the less discussed Rock genre. IOW, now that I have tube amps, what am I missing out on? The Who, Led Zep, The Stones, Van Halen, Pearl Jam, etc. see their share of time in the system, but that's as heavy as it gets here. I'm just as likely to have The Dead, Phish, Santana, Clapton, and so forth on the playlist - as well as lots of String Cheese Incident. But then I go Jazz, Bluegrass and to more relaxed material. I built this to accomodate more classical/jazz listening too (more noticeably subpar on SS). That's a BIG reason for the switch to tubes. I probably would have went SET if not for the occasional louder session. I wanted that little bit of extra zip with the sweetness, without buying two amp pairs. I find the 30's are quite sweet, actually. I was thinking today that the Stevie Ray Vaughan rendition of "Little Wing" would be quite good too...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 For tubes try a little soul (if the're rockers they almost always like a little soul). The following was absolutely made for tubes: Temptations "For Lovers Only" Recorded only four years ago the first two tracks will absolutely, positively showcase your tubes to their best advantage. The first time I played this on my Scott 299 I almost wet my paints and no I'm not trying to revive the underwear thread. Other tube friendly tunes: Dire Straigts Down to the Waterline (one of the best quitar licks ever) from "Dire Straits"; Concrete Blonde, Roxy from "Group Therapy (ps thier new cd Mohave drops at the end of June); Colin Hay (former frontman for Men at Work) Into the Cornfield or Overkill from "Topanga" and finally try My Back Pages a Dylan song performed in Japanese of all things by the Mogokore Brothers from the Masked and Anonymous soundtrack which was a Dylan film that came out last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 There is a hard-to-find album that is also available on CD called: Duane Allman Anthology. It has a HUGE amount of his material on it...from the Allman Brothers Band all the way to his session work for various artists. Even a number of his Motown sessions are on it! If you loved him on slide guitar and the dobro, then it is a MUST-HAVE in your collection! And, YES...it sounds GREAT on tubes and horns! Just imagine Aretha in her heyday, belting out her stuff...with Duane doing his slide-guitar thing on the same song...it IS in there!!...along with NUMEROUS other goodies most people just aren't aware that Duane was involved in! Duane did FAR MORE work as a highly-sought-after session-player than he EVER did with his own band! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Here are a bunch of LPs that make horns sing: Beatles: "Abbey Road" Stones "Let It Bleed" Dead "American Beauty" Jackson Browne "Pretender" Billy Joel "Innocent Man" Led Zeplin "Led Zeplin" Moody Blues "In Search Of The Lost Chord" Linda Rohnstadt "Heart Like a Wheel" Dire Straits " Dire Straits" Chicago " Chicago Transit Authority" Kool and the Gang "Celebration" Rick Ps: Andy I have that album on vinyl. Outstanding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Not sure if these will do the trick but they get me cruisin: Stevie Ray Vaughan: Willie the Wimp and his Cadillac Coffin, Sweet Little Thing Foreigner: Hot Blooded, Dirty White Boy... Eagles: Hell Freezes Over (Entire Album), Seven Bridges Road Billy Joel: Songs in the Attack (Entire Album) Kenny Wayne Sheppard: Last Goodbye Head East: Never Been Any Reason, Raise a Little Hell Ian Hunter: Just Another Night Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 For me, there are tons of rock music I'd love to hear on my yet-to-arrive 300B SET power amp. But I have listened to a few using my brother's JoLida JD 202A, and my Cornwalls sounded their best with: Dire Straights: Brothers In Arms AC/DC: The Razors Edge These two rock albums are splendid audiophile-grade recordings of the highest calibre IMO. Many aren't, but these two I feel are about the best sounding rock albums I've ever heard through tubes and horns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshnich Posted May 29, 2004 Share Posted May 29, 2004 ---------------- On 5/28/2004 9:20:47 AM ChrisK wrote: While we're on the subject of Rockasaurus... Derek & the Dominos - "In Concert" Grateful Dead - "Europe '72" Big Brother & the Holding Company - "Cheap Thrills" Allman Brothers Band - "At Fillmore East" The Beatles - "1" Steve Miller - "Brave New World" or "Fly Like An Eagle" Led Zeppelin - "I", "II", "III", "IV", "Houses Of The Holy", "Physical Grafitti" Jeff Beck - "Truth" Jimi Hendrix - "Jimi Plays Monterey" whew!...thanks for the reminder...been listening to mostly jazz and country lately...gotta catch up on some of this over the long weekend. Chris ---------------- I could do without the dead. Having grown up in SF i probably saw the Dead at least 30 times. Never thought much of them. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khorn58 Posted May 29, 2004 Share Posted May 29, 2004 Dark side of the Moon on have speed Mastered record Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted May 29, 2004 Author Share Posted May 29, 2004 That's funny, Josh If the Dead wasn't your cup of tea, why would you go see 'em 30 times??? Reminds me of a bumper sticker I used to see on tour - it read: "Who are the Grateful Dead, and why do they keep following me?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted May 29, 2004 Share Posted May 29, 2004 ---------------- On 5/28/2004 3:33:12 PM Audible Nectar wrote: I'm just as likely to have The Dead, Phish, Santana, Clapton, and so forth on the playlist - as well as lots of String Cheese Incident. But then I go Jazz, Bluegrass and to more relaxed material. I built this to accomodate more classical/jazz listening too (more noticeably subpar on SS). That's a BIG reason for the switch to tubes. ---------------- I think you'd dig another of my favorite bands (what else would one think?), Donna the Buffalo. Check them out here. They are described as a judicious blend of country, zydeco and roots rock. They stretch things out a little bit live as well. I see them at least twice a year. This is a good place to start. The previous record (Rockin' in the Weary Land) has a lot more squeezebox going on. It also has one of my favorite songs ever, Seminole Wind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtaylor Posted May 29, 2004 Share Posted May 29, 2004 Lilfeat "Waiting for Columbus" Allman Brothers "Filmore Concerts" Bonnie Raitt "Nick of Time" And bunches more.Stevie Ray, Peter Gabriel, Van Morrison, AC/DC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.