Great music - but it's a *Copy-protected disc*
937743
I don't have anything to add to the other (positive) reviews of the music contained on this disc.  Even if it is not the best recording of the Rach 3 (I suspect it is) it is still an absolutely must-hear performance.

The only problem is that this disc uses copy protection.  If you wish to rip this to your hard drive (for legal purposes, of course) you simply may not be able to.  CD ripping software is prevented from accessing track information on the disc.

Good idea to prevent illegal piracy -- unfortunately it ruins it for any law-abiding consumer who just wants to listen to this on their iPod.  Be warned!
3085282
I commend Real Gone Music for releasing the 2-CD set of hard-to-find or unreleased Tiffanys. Absolutely great music, well restored, and the updated discography was a nice bonus.

But its a bit cheesy that four Tiffany tracks were only available on Record Store Day on a 1500 limited edition LP. For one thing, people with no interest in these recordings snap up these LPs and then re-sell them on eBay for outrageous prices. Am I going to pay $80 for four obscure tracks? No. Its a shame longtime collectors and completists are treated in this manner. People who paid $35 for the two-CD set (like me) should have the means to receive digital copies of these four tracks.

I'd easily rate this set 5 stars for its historic importance and the quality of the music (thanks, Rhino, for sitting on this stuff for 30 years when serious Bob Wills collectors knew all along you had it). But when you pull nonsense like this limited-edition thing, it seriously diminishes your effort for real fans of the music.
764386
This recording is great, but as an avid fan of Balinese music (and Indonesian music in general) I find it unfortunate that Nonesuch chose to re-release all of these old recordings en masse with new graphics, new titles in some cases, and at bargain prices, effectively flooding the market.
Many people will purchase these recordings online believing they are buying  new ( " jan 28, 2003" ) recordings when in fact they are not. What's worse, the unsuspecting buyer may already have one or more of these discs in his or her collection under a different title. For example, "West Java: Sundanese Jaipong" is in fact  "Tonggeret " by Idjah Hadidjah. Which, by the way, can be purchased  for less right here on Amazon.
The real problem I have with Nonesuch's marketing strategy is that retailers have opted to stock this series in lieu of new recordings from different distributers. It is cheaper and easier.
I think this is a great recording. Actually, it's a classic in the genre. I'm panning it to show my dislike for Nonesuch's creation of market hegemony and the use of deceptive advertising ( to be fair,  they do state that these recordings are re-releases on the back of the cd case, but if you are purchasing this on-line you obviously can't see that.)
This situation is to the detriment of fans of Balinese music and performers alike. Bali has an extremely vibrant musical culture. New compositions are being written all the time.  In my opinion, the best  compositions for Semar Pegulingan have been written recently.
(...)
3425350
I was extremely unhappy with my purchase of this disc.  While the music itself is well done, and well selected, the disc prevents copying to your hard drive.  I doubt that I am the only person who mixes their music (not sharing on the web, but to play in their cars, or to make track lists to play from their hard drives while working, and to ensure that if CDs are stolen from their cars, they are the mixes, not the original music).  This disc was advertised as a hybrid SACD, which I believed meant it had the "SACD quality" music which was copy protected, and hybred tracks with standard quality music which was playable, and copyable from, a normal CD.  This disc would ONLY work in my DVD player (not my computer CD drive, not my car CD drive), and prevents my legitimate and preferred use of the music.  I have, in the last two years, purchased over 350 CDs, as I am old enough to have 50 years of my own music memories to choose from, and I enjoy most genres.  Most of those CD's I purchased from Amazon.  So far, I have only had two problems, one being a SACD CD I purchased without understanding that it was a SACD CD.  This is the second.  I will NEVER purchase another disc that has any form of the word SACD in the title, and will return any that are shipped and were not properly identified.  It is too bad I have to return the disc as the music selection is excellent, and I truely wished to add Sam Cooke's music to my collection (again), but it is not my plan to spend that kind of money for a disc with such limited rights.  Perhaps I'll find a standard CD for sale.
54375
I'm the one of the biggest MJK fans you'll find.  I've bought every Tool CD.  I've bought both A Perfect Circle CDs... but I've only listened to one.
What's that... why haven't I listened to Thirteenth Step, even though I've paid hard earned money for it?  Well, I can't.  Physically.
EMI music was so nice as to include a "bonus feature" with Thirteenth Step.  Namely: copy-protection.
Or, more accurately: Listen-protection.  Of the 27 different CD playing devices that I own, not a single one will play the disc.  Except for maybe my PC, but only if I allow EMI to install some unknown propritary software that:
a) I have no idea what it is, or what it will do to my computer
b) Has the ability to collect and send personal data
c) Has a VERY binding End User License Agreement.
So, I'd love to say that the CD is great, and that I've listened to it over and over... but I'd be lying.
Buyer Beware!  If the copy of "Thirteenth Step" you are thinking of buying features "copy protection", avoid it like the plague.  Let EMI know that you would like a working copy of the CD instead.
400664
The songs are classic and beautiful.  Nice crisp sound, grandly restored.  Only problem--the tracks on my four discs DID NOT match the listings on the back of the box and that had me searchinag for the desired track!  Not only that-Disc One listings had recorded tracks listed on Disc Two. Finally settled down and I am enjoying the quality of the cds.  How wrong can you go with Andy Williams vocals?
1399037
I'm from Montevideo, Uruguay in South America. For a short time living here in Mexico City. Here, the music can be downloaded legally from either a local firm or itunes, their catalogs are, more than poor, very bad. For this reason I prefer to buy through Amazon (I am buyer from a decade ago in my country) certain titles used compact discs, which besides having a very good price are in excellent condition but I only want to make the rip for my mp3 library.

Priority Records did in the early 90's a great job of editing this series with great sound and include some songs (every cd Have 9 songs only) that were not easy to find and if not, you had to buy an entire cd for one song.

In this case, Volume 4, contains songs that are easily found in other compilations (Shout, Who Can It Be Now, Venus), but my purchase was focused on After The Fire, Der Kommissar, which is the original 1982 long version of almost 6 minutes, in another brilliant song as The Politics Of Dancing by the British group Re-Flex, The Escape Club with  Wild, Wild West and Wang Chung Everybody Have Fun Tonight.

For me an excellent purchase both in songs and in their price.

I recommend it.
811847
Great CD!!! I give it 5 stars!!!

However, be aware of bootleg versions being sold by Amazon!!!

The bootleg CDs are easy to spot due to their blurry photos and high contrast.

I have personally reached out to NormanBrown.com and informed them of this problem!

See picture...
1305057
Thanks for mentioning it is "protected".  I bought a protected CD once and could not rip it onto my computer (MP3 is the future and I use a MP3 player). Too bad it had to happen to this band.  I won't buy it.
54957
The music is great (I grew up with the soundtrack LP being one of my parents favorite records). The jazz arrangements are solid and don't detract from the tunes I know. My one complaint (and its a big one) is that there are a lot of pops and clicks in the CD. The disc says its digitally remastered, but the sound suggests it was remastered from an LP, not original session tapes.
1782488
This so-called Enhanced CD has software that automatically installs into your computer. Apparently, this is to prevent illicit copying of the music. However, this is a great way to introduce security holes in your OS. It's tough to be an informed consumer when you're not given all the relevant information before you buy. The company I work for prohibits using such CDs in the company computers. So, I had to buy a separate CD player in order to listen to the music at work. This software is the kind of rudeness that's the antithesis of The Beat's music.
1923507
At least three clones of Capitol's soundtrack album are floating through the marketplace, with three suitably chintzy covers, this one boldly pirating its art from the LP.  We can guess how we got here: the album's entered the public domain in Europe, allowing unprincipled replicators to rip and sell at full line.  It isn't worth it.  To be sure this second-string Cole Porter gets a first-string rendition by an amazing cast, but its "engineering" was as crippled as Porter; though MGM recorded the music in multitrack the folks at Hollywood and Vine reduced it to a "stereophonic" wheeze in 1961, everything in a sonic fog, which migrated without change to the CD format three decades later, on an album that went quickly and justifiably out of print (Capitol CDP 0777 7 93787 2 2), no doubt migrating still further to these PD robberies.  How good it could be was tantalizingly suggested in 1997 on Rhino's Satch soundtrack anthology "<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Now-You-Has-Jazz/dp/B00000342J/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Now You Has Jazz</a>", whose five tracks from the movie are fresh and clear, albeit marred by a few inept edits (strange for a TCM album).  And even here the buyer faces a quandary because where "I Love You, Samantha" opens on the Capitol album with that creamy trombone choir redolent of chrome and tail fins (no arranger credited), on the Rhino album it's Satch tootling a few notes before Der Bingle and the MGM orchestra join in.  While we can dream of a better treatment this appears to be another case of "<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Billy-Rose-s-Jumbo/dp/B00005KHFI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Billy Rose's Jumbo</a>", where the rights owners are two or more different entities, thus preventing the kind of first-rate issue it deserves.  So we're stuck with PD, and ripping, and stealing.

A POSTSCRIPT: Information on this release is hard to find, but here's what I've gathered: Blue Moon is issued by one Absolute Distribution, a Barcelona firm that has released other PD soundtracks, including a few of MGM musicals already on Rhino/TCM, like "Singing in the Rain" [SIC].  This "High Society" has a supposed running time of 50'41 (per one French Web retailer, which also claims this as "ADD mono") with some "interviews" (promos?) and several song variants, compared to 32'19 on Capitol's CD. Lacking sound clips from any source I'd bet this is a hodgepodge combining the Capitol LP and a video or film copy, and maybe some stuff from private collectors.  Because this is clearly PD in Europe I feel no compulsion to change what I've said, other than through this description.
4801665
I won't say anything here about the content that we all know and love, it's as fantastic as it was from the beginning. But, some clarification is in order concerning all the tons of "remastered" versions of it available. Of all the CD's of it that have been issued so far (about 10, at least), there's only ONE that offers superb sound quality (remarkably better that the original CD pressing, which itself is not all that bad, really, but a bit flat sounding) THAT'S STILL IN PRINT (as of 6/17/10). That's the version I'm reviewing here and it's one of TWO sonically very DIFFERENT Dreamboat Annies released in 2008. The one you want is the import issued from EMI/Japan (TOCP-70616). The other is a less expensive reissue in very similar-looking cardbord sleeve packaging that does not sound as good that's from the label Collectables Records. There may be two other CD versions that sound this good, but I can't confirm it as I haven't heard those, but they're both currently out of print and now have prices at least around 80 bucks. Some extinct, high fidelity versions have price tags that are now several hundred dollars(!) As it is now, this version is selling, new, for around $45 through Amazon, but, even so, I suspect you may want to strike soon, as I don't know when this title itself will go out of print - and, when it does, you KNOW what will happen to the price... One option may be to keep an eye on the Amazon sellers and wait for a bagain - I got mine through a trusted CD seller for about $19 (shipping included) around 3 weeks ago, so the deals may still be out there, you may just have to willing to wait for them. Be cautious with the other remaining "remastered" versions of Dreamboat, though. More than one or two have already garnered reputations (in these pages and others) as sounding rather worse than the original CD pressing, which itself, in turn, was worse than the original vinyl edition, and other versions, if you already have, for example, the original CD pressing, may not offer a significant enough of an upgrade in sound to warrant replacing it. But, in all honesty, I DO feel that THIS version would be worth the money, as the experience for me now surpasses even the towering impression it had on me back in the day, and, yes, the soundstage is once again not only wide, but plentifully deep. And instrument separation is remarkable. Now THIS is the kind of remaster that an album of this stature truly deserves.
3198356
I love that the older music is being re-mastered and still available.  I want to warn you that track 18 'Lightening' has a flaw.  I have inspected the disc and there are no physical flaws on the disc.  Therefore I'm assuming the flaw is in the master used to produce this disc.
4951531
This CD is not radically different from the original release tho' "Across the Universe" sparkles as never before. I defy anyone to listen to the additional CD material more than once. My gripe with this release is the copy protection employed. I have had nothing but trouble running it on my work computer.
55277
First the good:

-Awesome album by Pat Travers (5 stars)

-Incredible packaging on this first ever available on CD (8 page booklet with nice period piece interviews, photos, and new commentary from David Ling -albeit with a few glaring typos) -4 stars

Now the bad:

-these are obviously vinyl transfers (source being taken from an actual record album instead of the original master tapes), although the best vinyl transfers I've heard yet.  You will not hear any scratches, pops, or clicks.  But there are some sonic shortcomings that are inherent in vinyl that is still present.  Low frequency rumble for one (at the beginning and during some quiet passages, you can actually hear the needle riding the record groove) and the ever increasing distortion that record albums have as the needle progresses towards the end of each side (there was a reason that they didn't cut the record groove any farther towards the center than they did).  Each revolution that the record makes keeps getting shorter and shorter in length, but the speed of 33 1/3 rpm remains a constant.  So with each revolution of the record, the same amount of time & music (approx 7 seconds) is given less and less space or distance.  Thereby reducing sound quality gradually with each turn of the record.  Think of it in the tape world where slower speeds mean less sound & picture quality (VHS in the SLP or EP mode anyone).

One would think that vinyl transfers to digital CDs to not even remotely be a legitimate source (as far a legal licensing from the original record label -in this case it is now Universal).  It's something that the high class bootleggers have been doing and now it's gone legitimate mainstream.  The linear notes of this CD clearly have all their legal bases covered, with full licensing approval from Universal.

In closing, I will say this:

-in light of anything better (real digital transfers from the original master tapes), I am happy to see these available.  Pat Travers is a true legend and deserves to have his entire catalog available.  I understand that it was too expensive for Lemon/Cherry Records to go the better route.  So for that I say thank you for releasing them.

On an ironic note:  the CDs themselves are adorned to look like a record album, which may be more telling then my review above...
4494866
This is a wonderful album that I remember fondly from my childhood, and I was very excited to see a new digitally remastered release.  However, there appears to be an issue with Track 19:  Silent Night, Holy Night.  About the last one minute of the track has significant "scratches" and "pops" -- all other tracks are fine.  I know that this issue is not just with my download, because even if I just preview this track on Amazon.com, I can still hear this noise.  I have reported this issue to Amazon.com and to Essential Media Group, in hopes that they can provide a clean copy.  Otherwise, I highly recommend this album.