NP: Van Morrison "Moondance"

[johnnyrichards]

This is a great album!

[Jeff B.]

This is a great album!

Absolutely!

[denton]

....and It Stoned Me. One of my all-time favs!

[Andy_G]

This is a great album!

Gees, Johnny, I thought you were just a puppy, and there you are listening to Van..
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ps.... find a copy of "Back on Top" and see what you think.. talk about a "hot" top end. !

really brings into focus the variability of commercial recordings. (you DO NOT want "flat response" for this recording)

[MusicForMatt]

Gees, Johnny, I thought you were just a puppy, and there you are listening to Van..

Count me in, and I think Johnny's older than me (I'm 32)!

I don't have that album-- yet-- but every time I hear the title cut I'm ALWAYS finger-tappin' and singin' along...

[Andy_G]

Count me in, and I think Johnny's older than me (I'm 32)!

I don't have that album-- yet-- but every time I hear the title cut I'm ALWAYS finger-tappin' and singin' along...

Yep, there are some "magic" tracks on the CD:.... Philosopher Stone, Precious Time etc... The guy sure can write a tune !!!
But the recording... turn ya treble and upper mids down !!!

[johnnyrichards]

(I'm 34)

I got turned on to this album when David Chase used "Glad Tidings" in an episode of "The Sopranos". In fact, that show turned me on to a lot of music I would never have heard of otherwise. Like the Italian rapper Jovanetti.

Today is an off day from work, and it is going to be spent getting caught up on some new stuff and enjoying some old favorites.

Ann Wilson - Hope and Glory (New to me)
Bob Dylan - The Essentials
CCR - Chronicle
Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way (New to me, I heard The Jayhawks contributed quite a bit to this album)

I might also have time to throw something a little more exciting in, we'll see. I have a Rammstein album that needs listened to, and the soundtrack to "Boyz N The Hood" is an old favorite.

[johnnyrichards]

Yep, there are some "magic" tracks on the CD:.... Philosopher Stone, Precious Time etc... The guy sure can write a tune !!!
But the recording... turn ya treble and upper mids down !!!

I've found most of the older recordings seem to be a little (OK a lot) hot on the top end. I wonder if it was the crap speakers they were mixed on back then...

[biff]

Heading in to work where I have the training bike and these speakers with a Hsu sub. Start out with Joe Zawinul for workout then Prairie Wind and Late for the Sky while we see if we can't make some art today.

[Phil_RC_1]

If you guys like Van's Moon Dance then may I suggest Steely Dan "Two against nature" (CIRCA 2000)

Most Audiophiles are aware of Steely Dan and their attention to detail in their recording process and techniques, but their last CD just never got any press and I think it's their best.

[pres589]

There's a lot of old music that doesn't get enough attention now. Lee Michael's stuff, or how about Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" album? I remember the first time I really listened to George Harrisons's "All Things Must Pass" and being bowled over by the thing.

[Andy_G]

I've found most of the older recordings seem to be a little (OK a lot) hot on the top end. I wonder if it was the crap speakers they were mixed on back then...

"Back on top" is a much more recent recording. not sure of the date, though

[MSaturn]

'back on top' is pretty annoying to listen to. it's the one with the constant harmony vocalist, right? gets old fast. morrison's older recordings are much better.

I just got back in to fleetwood mac's "rumours" - I'd forgotten how awesome it was. I've also been listening to steely dan recently, as well as supertramp and CS&N.

[davepellegrene]

This is a great album!

Thanks for the reminder. Just got it out and played it. Brings back some old memories.

[johnnyrichards]

Thanks for the reminder. Just got it out and played it. Brings back some old memories.

[denton]

Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way (New to me, I heard The Jayhawks contributed quite a bit to this album)

Gary Louris (Jayhawks) is on the recording as is Keb' Mo' and Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers). Produced by Rick Rubin, it has a clean sound without being gimmicky. Good stuff.

Speaking of Gary Louris and good stuff, check out his solo CD "Vagabonds".

[MusicForMatt]

I've found most of the older recordings seem to be a little (OK a lot) hot on the top end. I wonder if it was the crap speakers they were mixed on back then...

http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_van_m...nce/index.html

Altec 604 coaxials in "utilty" cabs, soffit mounted-- with Mcintosh tube amps; probably the MC275's.

Those were the "Industry Standard" monitors "back in the day"! I've never heard a set, however, something tells me I may not be missing much (Mc electronics would be SWEET though!)

NP: Kim Carnes: "Mistaken Identity" /w/ "Bette Davis Eyes" and "Draw of the Cards"-- Love that Oberheim OB-X!

[FredT]

Here's an analysis of the dynamics of each track on the Moondance CD. The typical dynamic range of the tracks is 13dB, quite a bit compared to some other popular music. With peaks as low as -4.4 dB, the disk wasn't normalized for maximum volume, which means you must turn up the volume. The total RMS dynamic range of some tracks is as much as 20dB, unheard of today. A large dynamic range doesn't mean it's a good recording, just that it's much more dynamic than more recent CD's. I would rather listen to a well-recorded CD with no compression on a $500 system than a compressed CD on a $50K system.


Analyzed folder: F:\My Music\Van Morrison\Moondance\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Filename
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR13 -2.29 dB -17.81 dB 01 - And it Stoned Me.wav
DR13 -3.04 dB -18.43 dB 02 - Moondance.wav
DR12 -4.43 dB -21.06 dB 03 - Crazy Love.wav
DR13 -1.81 dB -17.42 dB 04 - Caravan.wav
DR13 -1.56 dB -17.27 dB 05 - Into the Mystic.wav
DR13 -1.93 dB -16.87 dB 06 - Come Running.wav
DR14 -1.16 dB -17.95 dB 07 - These Dreams of You.wav
DR13 -1.16 dB -17.55 dB 08 - Brand New Day.wav
DR13 -2.50 dB -18.28 dB 09 - Everyone.wav
DR13 -3.07 dB -18.00 dB 10 - Glad Tidings.wav
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of files: 10
Official DR value: DR13

================================================== ============================================

[Mr. Wizard]

I would rather listen to a well-recorded CD with no compression on a $500 system than a compressed CD on a $50K system.

An interesting statement. Perhaps you are thinking of a better $500 system than I am. My experience has been that dynamic music doesn't sound very good on a low end system, because it distorts heavily. I have actually used this as a demonstration of why a better system is of value. After playing highly dynamic music on a cheap system, where it sounds harsh and congested, I play it at the same volume on a decent system, and it is open and alive. I figure that highly compressed music first became popular because it sounds better on "boom boxes" and old factory car stereos.

[Andy_G]

'back on top' is pretty annoying to listen to. it's the one with the constant harmony vocalist, right? gets old fast. morrison's older recordings are much better.

I just got back in to fleetwood mac's "rumours" - I'd forgotten how awesome it was. I've also been listening to steely dan recently, as well as supertramp and CS&N.

Steely Dan, Supertramp., CS&N(&Y) good music.

There's a live Supertramp album I have, but I'm up in Brissy at the moment and can't remember the album name. but a really nice live recording.