Search - Band :: Northern Lights Southern Cross

Northern Lighs and Feeling Crossed

Gilbert J. Mullen | Edmonton | 08/13/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I was looking very much forward to hearing the Band on SACD. A few years ago I picked up Capitol's DVD Audio version of Big Pink and the sound on the disk was outstanding. I have a higher end system - Cambridge Audio 650 BC player that plays SACD, good Pioneer Amp and Revel speakers. This product is very well packaged. Nice Digipack, extra photos, inserts talking about the Gain 2 and Ultradisc Ultra High Resolution technologies used in the creation of the disk, limited edition serial number on the back. As I said, nice package.

Unfortunately the PR was vastly better than the sound on the disk. The disk is Stereo and quite faint - I had to crank up the volume quite a bit just to hear it. There are no long lost treasures that you'll hear for the first time as is often the case with other SACD reissues. My vinyl copy of this from the mid 70's sounds almost as good. There are so many examples of the marvelous things people can do with SACD - Roxy Music Avalon, Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon, Billy Joel The Stranger, Elton John's early albums, Willy Nelson Stardust. These guys didn't do any of that.

If you want to spend far more than you should on a very ordinary sounding disk - this is your chance. The packaging is the best part of this effort."

Having to turn up the volume is a GOOD thing!

File Audio | USA | 09/04/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The previous reviewer said " had to crank up the volume quite a bit just to hear it" like it was a bad thing! This means the mastering engineer did not use any compression! THAT IS A GOOD THING! All these liud masterings nowadays are because the mastering engineers are using tons of compression and ruining the sound of YOUR MUSIC!!! Do a search on youtube for loudness wars and check out the one by "LoudnessWar", it will really open up your eyes to the destruction of so much great music. Please do not be put off by the fact that this CD is quiet, that is a GOOD thing!"

The Band in form

Philip Gardner | Melbourne, Australia | 12/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The sound is unmistakeable; the musicianship outstanding; the songwriting strong (well, maybe I could have done without the Christmas song - I think I'll leave that one off the iPod - and Twilight, while a great song, sounds a bit underproduced compared to the first eight tracks). It's a record that can take repeated listening - to take in all the lyrics; to appreciate the little touches from the instruments (I love Robbie Robertson's playing. It's not at all like the guitar god's style, but nevertheless is always interesting, technically exact and integrated with the song. (To digress for a moment, it's worth listening to Clapton's No Reason to Cry, which has The Band on it, to see the difference in the two guitar players.) Good music, highly recommended."