HiRez Poll Nyro, Laura - ELI AND THE 13TH CONFESSION [SACD]

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Rate the SACD of Laura Nyro - ELI AND THE 13TH CONFESSION

  • 7:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1: Poor Fidelity, Poor Content, Poor Surround

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    45

JonUrban

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Please post your thoughts and comments on this June 2016 SACD release from Audio Fidelity of Laura Nyro's 1968 album - "Eli and the 13th Confession", presented for the first time with the original Columbia Quadraphonic mix which was never released in the 1970's.
The Quadraphonic mix is also available to stream in Dolby Audio on Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/eli-and-the-thirteenth-confession/251016022
"Can you surry?"

PRE-RELEASE DISCUSSION THREAD: Laura Nyro - Eli And The Thirteenth Confession - Audio Fidelity 4.0 SACD (June 2016)

Laura Front.jpgLaura Back.jpg
 
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this album is wonderful in so many ways. To see the quad mix finally see the light of day brings me joy, to hear it mastered well is a dream come true.
Eli is an album of deep reflection and genre bending, it may take a while to understand if you're not already familiar, this and New York Tendaberry are just such deep records...in their time respected. She was an artists' artist, the one people like Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Barbra Streisand found inspiring, and she's still deeply respected by those with discriminating tastes.
 
How rare it is; that voice of such range and expression allowed the freedom to really fly free amongst beautifully sympathetic arrangements dense and sparse alike. Single piano notes are held crystalline in velvet space, suspended against Nyro's effortless scales whilst the warm brass swells and giant cavernous bass drums suddenly rise up from the inky dark like vintage arc lights scanning across the sound field. A glorious riot of invention and abandon that can feel reckless and deliberate, scattershot and precise. Drama and wild humor in every song, her unique saudade bathes all near. Give in to it with no ego but swallow it whole in one go, at least the first two or three times, this album deserves your attention even if you think you know the two unreleased quad reel transfers that are out there. The mastering here is incredible, a shiny and bright treble with crisp, hard driven mids but a warm and wide bass floor to cushion the whole affair. The separation is remarkable and the fidelity astonishing. An unreserved 10 and the quad bench mark for an entire period; that this was not considered good enough for commercial release or that it may not sell seems ridiculous and laughable. But yet here we are, the spotlight warming a familiar figure in her commercial quadraphonic debut in 2016. Bravo AF, bravo.
 
How rare it is; that voice of such range and expression allowed the freedom to really fly free amongst beautifully sympathetic arrangements dense and sparse alike. Single piano notes are held crystalline in velvet space, suspended against Nyro's effortless scales whilst the warm brass swells and giant cavernous bass drums suddenly rise up from the inky dark like vintage arc lights scanning across the sound field. A glorious riot of invention and abandon that can feel reckless and deliberate, scattershot and precise. Drama and wild humor in every song, her unique saudade bathes all near. Give in to it with no ego but swallow it whole in one go, at least the first two or three times, this album deserves your attention even if you think you know the two unreleased quad reel transfers that are out there. The mastering here is incredible, a shiny and bright treble with crisp, hard driven mids but a warm and wide bass floor to cushion the whole affair. The separation is remarkable and the fidelity astonishing. An unreserved 10 and the quad bench mark for an entire period; that this was not considered good enough for commercial release or that it may not sell seems ridiculous and laughable. But yet here we are, the spotlight warming a familiar figure in her commercial quadraphonic debut in 2016. Bravo AF, bravo.

So why aren't YOU writing liner notes PROFESSIONALLY?

Awesome mini review of a classic landmark album. Thank you.

Should have mine any day now.
 
This one arrived in my mailbox today. I finally have an excuse to listen to something other than Chicago, LOL. It's a very discrete mix. Horns and other embellishments are spread around nicely. The bass and drums are always positioned in the rears, each residing solely in one channel (sometimes the same channel, sometimes not.) Usually I dislike this approach but it didn't really bother me here. Maybe because the real musical focus for me is Laura's great vocals and harmonies. While the fidelity/sonics isn't exactly The Division Bell, it certainly sounds much nicer than any recording from 1968 probably has any right to. So although the dynamics aren't quite what I'd like, I can't fault it given the age of the recording.

Then of course, there's the music. Laura was a master songsmith. Unpredictable yet fluid. You can certainly hear her influence on Rundgren, not to mention that the album feels like a template for Rickie Lee Jones' early work. Elton John spoke of her "soul, the passion, just the out and out audacity of...her rhythmic and melody changes;" that pretty much sums it up. It's criminal that a songwriter who influenced so many is still relatively unknown by the general public.

I'll give it a few more listens before voting but there's lots to love here. Certainly nothing lower than a 9, most likely a 10.
 
This one arrived in my mailbox today. I finally have an excuse to listen to something other than Chicago, LOL. It's a very discrete mix. Horns and other embellishments are spread around nicely. The bass and drums are always positioned in the rears, each residing solely in one channel (sometimes the same channel, sometimes not.) Usually I dislike this approach but it didn't really bother me here. Maybe because the real musical focus for me is Laura's great vocals and harmonies. While the fidelity/sonics isn't exactly The Division Bell, it certainly sounds much nicer than any recording from 1968 probably has any right to. So although the dynamics aren't quite what I'd like, I can't fault it given the age of the recording.

Then of course, there's the music. Laura was a master songsmith. Unpredictable yet fluid. You can certainly hear her influence on Rundgren, not to mention that the album feels like a template for Rickie Lee Jones' early work. Elton John spoke of her "soul, the passion, just the out and out audacity of...her rhythmic and melody changes;" that pretty much sums it up. It's criminal that a songwriter who influenced so many is still relatively unknown by the general public.

I'll give it a few more listens before voting but there's lots to love here. Certainly nothing lower than a 9, most likely a 10.

Privateuniverse, you encapsulated perfectly my initial reaction to ELI......truly, IMO, a LANDMARK album of comsummate songwriting, brilliant vocalizing and a constantly shifting rhymthic pattern UNHEARD of in rock musicians at the time. In each successive album, Laura Nyro proved herself to be a FORCE to reckon with and what Audio Fidelity has managed to accomplish by FINALLY releasing the UNRELEASED QUAD master recording of Eli and The Thirteenth confession was to restore the bass and distill the shrillness which has unfortunaterly been the hallmark of all versions of ELI which I have formerly been privy to.

Had Ms Nyro NOT suffered from stage fright, I'm sure her ultimate star would've shined MUCH brighter but like you insinuated her influence on many musicians past, present and future was unmistakable. On the episode of SPECTACLE, which you alluded to, privateuniverse, both Elton John and host Elvis Costello sang her praises as a true maverick in the world of female vocalists and were astonished by the way she ultimately presented her craft via some of the most amazing albums of the time.

My Vote: A SOLID 10. Anything less would be criminal.
 
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I had never owned this LP before but had been aware of Nyro and her influence on her contemporaries, so I was eager to pick it up and it does not disappoint. The compositions are outstanding and smartly arranged featuring frequent tempo/groove shifts, layered vocal harmonies, strings, horns and top-notch studio musicians (I spotted at least four who would later contribute to Steely Dan albums). The quad mix is very good despite bass and drums in rears and the stereo layer sounds excellent for a ’68 recording. Thank you, AF, for another terrific release. A 10 for me.
 
I had never owned this LP before but had been aware of Nyro and her influence on her contemporaries, so I was eager to pick it up and it does not disappoint. The compositions are outstanding and smartly arranged featuring frequent tempo/groove shifts, layered vocal harmonies, strings, horns and top-notch studio musicians (I spotted at least four who would later contribute to Steely Dan albums). The quad mix is very good despite bass and drums in rears and the stereo layer sounds excellent for a ’68 recording. Thank you, AF, for another terrific release. A 10 for me.

Mixes like this are proof there can be a place for Drums and Bass in the rears.. yum! :music
 
This really, truly works for you? Are the drums crammed in one channel or are they at least spread across the rears?

They are typically in one speaker. Usually I'm against drums in the rear, and even more so against drums in just one rear speaker but for some reason, I wasn't bothered by it on this one. Of course, as with anything that you're not familiar with (assuming you're not), you might want to check out the music on YouTube first. If you like the music, then this is certainly a disc worth owning.
 
...you might want to check out the music on YouTube first.

I did and this isn't up my alley, musically (my comments about the arrangements are in the other Eli thread), so I'm highly interested in whether the mix makes it worth it inherently. So far, my guess is no. But I love that many will enjoy the hell out of this! (y)
 
They are typically in one speaker. Usually I'm against drums in the rear, and even more so against drums in just one rear speaker but for some reason, I wasn't bothered by it on this one. Of course, as with anything that you're not familiar with (assuming you're not), you might want to check out the music on YouTube first. If you like the music, then this is certainly a disc worth owning.

Yep, I hate drums in one channel, but if tracks were limited I can understand.
 
This really, truly works for you? Are the drums crammed in one channel or are they at least spread across the rears?

You never get the impression the drums...or anything else...are "crammed" on this disc...to be candid the drums could be omitted IMO and not many would even notice...the star here is the tremendous vocal ability of Laura...
 
Where did you get this one from, a UK seller?

Amazon.com (I've got into the daft excitable habit of pre-ordering these AF Surround SACDs so I "don't miss out" :eek: ..I know, I know.. we all do silly things, this is just one of my current silly things!) I imagine by now it'll be up on Amazon UK with the usual big US sellers (all your music etc) at the cheapest prices for us Brits.. I don't know why I don't just wait and do it that way, I'd have saved myself loads in postage and import duty, ah well.. yeah anyway.. Amazon US, to answer your Qn.! :D
 
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