Teasing the Korean

And they totally KICKED. If they blow through your town, do yourself a favor and see them.

I tend to agree with you. I have read some less-than-positive things about Rouse's playing. Maybe those people heard different records than I did. While there is not instrument/textural variety on the Monk Columbia albums, I think that those two really complement each other. I need to spin some Monk.

It does, dramatically so.

Thanks for clarifying. I'm re-christening you the Man with the Golden Tone Arm.

Not sure TTK, it's a rather simple design. Tonearm is straight except slight angle where you attach stylus. Stylus pressure is added or subtracted through the counterweight at the other end of the arm. Nothing in the owner's manual says "linear tracking" as a feature. Bottom line - I'm not sure. Linear tracking involves the tone arm sliding horizontally in a track, so it remains at a consistent angle throughout. Pivotal tracking is the more standard technology of turntables. B&O utilized both in different models.

Linear tracking?

I meant that they'd commercially hit their peak, and that they were on their way out. That was the perception on the part of many, and not my opinion.

Thanks, but I'm still learning how to read.

The next-to-last track on disc 5 is the track that skipped on my copy, at about 3:20 in. Is this other folks' experience also?

Not sure. I think I have an electronic version someplace, and if I can find it, I'll post it, technology allowing.

Respectfully, I do not feel that this is accurate. While these albums largely helped to usher in the counter culture, there was a perception at the time that the Beatles had hit their peak, and there was even speculation after Revolver that they may split up. Rubber Soul and Revolver may have become legendary in retrospect, but at the time, each was largely viewed as another Beatles album. The notion that rock could be "art" was still a year or two away. There is a fascinating piece in the London Times Sunday supplement from September, 1966 that really provides a sense of how the Beatles were perceived at that time.

There's so much revisionist history with involving them that it's hard to tell. Based on the number of clunky edits and mistakes on their 1963 recordings, I think it's safe to assume that they weren't taken too seriously prior to 1964, at least.

I didn't mean to imply that. I just think it's interesting that one of their most loved albums was a complete rush job. The only place it really comes through are some occasionally sloppy vocal harmonies.

Andre Previn - Dead Ringer OST - WB (white label promo, mono). Dissonant orchestral mayhem with harpsichord. Sounds like the soundtrack to a "Night Gallery" episode, which is a good thing!

Do you know that "Rubber Soul" was their most rushed album (aside from the first one)? Marathon sessions with mixing going on in one studio and recording going on in another. "Wait" was a "Help" reject that they dusted off to make the deadline.

Thank Bobby Parker. You can hear part of the "Day Tripper" riff in this tune also.

Q - Around the World - Mercury (white label promo, mono).

Who knew that Pearls Before Swine made a big band record?

This Coltrane guy is pretty prolific, releasing all these box sets in rapid succession. I think we're gonna be hearing a lot more from this kid.

I have all five discs in the five-disc changer now! Motivational Saturday house-cleaning music!

It's interesting to compare their pre-Pepper UK singles with the US singles. The US singles often included ballads and mid-tempo pop, e.g. "Yesterday," "And I Love Her," "Eight Days a Week." The UK singles, on the other hand, typically featured harder pop-rockers, usually based on heavy riffs, e.g. "I Feel Fine," "Ticket to Ride," "Day Tripper," "Paperback Writer." These were all singles in the US, of course, but the US released so many additional singles. These singles are all much harder and more powerful in mono, too. IMHO.

Many of us - myself included - are not fans of compression, especially if we like more acoustic-based music like symphonic and jazz. However, many of us have experienced putting something on in the background and, because of the wide dynamic range, not being able to find a suitable listening level. So I ask: Why do you think basic compressors/limiters never became a standard built-in feature with any kind of consumer-grade stereo system? Were there stereo components that included this feature and I just don't know about them?

My copy of Duke's "Afro Bossa" is a stereo Reprise from (presumably) the 70s. After reading the responses, I picked up the Discovery for pretty cheap so I bought it and compared. The Discovery is less flimsy, and curiously, they compacted the grooves a little bit more so the final tracks aren't as close to the center. There seems to be less distortion on the Discovery. The Reprise isn't bad but it's nothing great. Thanks all for the input.

I am not seeing low prices on the other two box sets though. What am I missing?

What other two boxes are you guys referring to?