WARM, VOLUME 2, and THE BRASS ARE COMIN'

[Harry]

Three albums in the Herb Alpert Signature Series that were only available digitally through iTunes are now available as digital downloads from Amazon.com.

VOLUME 2

WARM

THE BRASS ARE COMIN'

Each album is only $9.99, and every purchase through the links above (click on the title name) will help to support the A&M Corner Forum.

We know that a lot of you out there are waiting for official CDs, but at present, that's just not happening. This is the next best thing.

Downloading from Amazon is a painless process, and the rewards are that you'll have these albums in the best state they've ever been in.

Each album was remastered by Bernie Grundman with personal guidance by Herb Alpert himself. The shrillness of VOLUME 2 is tamed down, and the other two have never sounded better.

Harry

 

[lonely bull]

I just got really excited and went onto Amazon to download the albums, only to find THEY ARE ONLY AVAILABLE TO U.S RESIDENTS !!!!!
So it looks like we in the UK miss out yet again - perhaps they will be available on Amazon UK eventually? AAAARRRRRGH !!!!!!!! Thanks for the info tho Harry

 

[Steven J. Gross]

These three albums remain mysterious as they've done everything but release them physically.
It's sort of a do-it-yourself project...lol

 

[Harry]

Don't forget we've still got the high-quality artwork straight from Shout! factory here:

http://www.amcorner.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7941

Harry

 

[Steven J. Gross]

I bet these albums are selling well online and eventually will be released in stores and be amongst the more successful re-releases.

 

[lonely bull]

Two things I don't understand :
1. It's been said that these 3 albums were not released onto CD format because Herb doesn't like his work. So why has he given the go - ahead to release them as downloads?

2. They are obviously part of the shout!factory signature series - yet there is no mention of them on the shout! website ?


Dave......

 

[Harry]

Dave, our guess is that these were all prepared in advance by Bernie Grundman with Herb's assistance for Shout! Factory release. At some point in the process, Herb must have given some second thoughts to releasing these three in particular. They stir up bad memories or something. We know the latter two were released during his rough times, and he's stated that VOLUME 2 is too metallic sounding.

Now, with the remastering job done, someone somewhere must have persuaded Herb to give the go-ahead for a download-only release to satisfy the fans who'd been waiting for them, and the Shout! Factory people were kind enough to share with us here their high-rez artwork.

I know it's a bummer that these releases are only available in the US, particularly for you UK fans, but look at it this way: you guys got the BBC4 documentary that many over here are eager to see and can't.

In addition to the Amazon links provided above, which help out with A&M Corner's ability to remain online, these files are also showing up elswhere too. Keep checking other sources and maybe you'll find one that will allow a UK location the ability to download the files.

Harry

 

[lonely bull]

Yeah, I'll keep looking and keep my fingers crossed - my feelings are that they will eventually be released onto CD, lets hope I'm right eh?

Cheers Harry


Dave......

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Keep checking other sources and maybe you'll find one that will allow a UK location the ability to download the files.

And, UK fans: When you do find such a place be sure to let us know here so we can "trumpet" it to the masses. (Legal sites only of course.)

 

[lonely bull]

Has anyone downloaded these albums from Amazon yet? What are Your impressions? Does Volume 2 sound any better and how do they compare with the itunes downloads? Hopefully they will be available on Amazon UK before too long


Dave......

 

[Harry]

I've only downloaded the old iTunes versions from when they first became available, but I can say that the metallic shrillness of VOLUME 2 was nicely tamed. There's a big difference between this downloadable version and the old CD that A&M released back in 1988. I can hardly listen to that CD and I usually like bright-sounding mastering, but that one's way over the top and hurts my ears.

The new Bernie Grundman mastering tames a lot of that down, making it a joy to listen to.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I agree, the remastered V2 sounds good. The remastered THE BRASS ARE COMIN' is a treat as well. Not only is it remastered but it's resequenced, and to me it plays better in the rearranged form. (Note: Originally, I heard it on 8-track so I've really not heard the album in "original vinyl" form all that much.)

 

[jamest]

I've got to say, thanks for the effort in making Vol 2 available. It is bar none my personal favorite. Marching Through Madrid is my fav tune as well. However, having it available only in a lossy format such as mp3 is a huge disappointment to say the least. I understand that releasing it on CD is costly due to distribution and production. But making it available in a format such as FLAC would have been impressive. I would have paid double to download the album in a lossless format. As it stands now, I may not even purchase the mp3 version. How ironic that more care was not taken by those involved with this release. Especially considering that Herb himself complained that the album sounded so "metallic." Audio enthusiasts know that mp3 does not stack up against a lossless format such as FLAC.

So here's hoping that all record companies get it right and start releasing things in high quality formats. Why not A&M??

 

[LPJim]

A 'VOLUME TWO' reissue should include "Mexican Drummer Man" as a bonus track, IMHO.

JB

 

[Mike Blakesley]

here's hoping that all record companies get it right and start releasing things in high quality formats. Why not A&M??

Well -- first, the iTunes releases are much higher quality than mp3. The album sounds far better even from iTunes than it ever did on CD before, and A&M has nothing to do with the reissues -- they are handled by Shout!Factory, a subsidiary of Sony.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

As Charlie Chan once said, "Contradiction please," Shout! is not a subsidiary of Sony, but they are distributed by them.

 

[CherryStreet]

Well -- first, the iTunes releases are much higher quality than mp3.

It's still leaves much to be desired. It all depends on the sample rate.
What is the highest sample rate you can buy these albums?

iTunes - Highest Sample rate?
Amazon - Highest Sample rate?

I'm sure neither of them is offering 320kbs which still is far removed from offering superior FLAC or WAV files. I might consider dropping $10 bucks if they were at least 320, but they are not.

I get that they don't want to sell CDs, it's costly.

BUT WHY NOT OFFER FLAC OR WAV FILES? Makes no sense.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

FYI: read up on Bill Cantos' new label, Bravura Records www.BravuraRecords.com and see what a label started by audio engineers thinks about quality sound!!!

 

[CherryStreet]

FYI: read up on Bill Cantos' new label, Bravura Records www.BravuraRecords.com and see what a label started by audio engineers thinks about quality sound!!!

My point exactly Steve! Here is a new label that really cares about quality in what they are selling. Even their FREE Christmas songs preview in 320kps! You can't even purchase that downsampled quality from iTunes or Amazon!!!
And the free downloads are 24-44.1 AIF Files! With no Digital Limiting or DRM. And when they sell a CD it will be exact duplicates of the 24/192 masters.

But while we are talking about Bravura Records, we seem to have also forgotten to mention another great group besides Bill Cantos with ties to Herb Alpert on the label, "Open Hands" plays often at Vibrato and features the The Chuck Findley Horns, who we all know is the brother of Bob, Herb's one time second trumpet player in the TJB.

 

[lswilson99]

As a lifelong fan of Herb Alpert and someone who has purchased all of his albums in one format or another, I feel that he has shown his UK fans complete disrespect by not allowing us access to these albums either through reissued cd, or itunes/mp3 downloads.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

Write him a letter (at the Foundation office) instead of crying about it here! Make a case for it without being snippy. More to be gained with honey than with vinegar.

 

[Rudy]

Well -- first, the iTunes releases are much higher quality than mp3.

It's still leaves much to be desired. It all depends on the sample rate.
What is the highest sample rate you can buy these albums?

iTunes - Highest Sample rate?
Amazon - Highest Sample rate?

Not sure on those, but you can't go by bitrate alone. A WMA or AAC file at 192kbps sounds better than an MP3 at 256kbps or higher. MP3 has a garbly, "chirpy" artifact to the sound. I can't even listen to a 192k MP3 anymore, and yet my Zune players are loaded up with WMA at 192k, and some stray AAC files at the same bitrate that sound just as good IMHO.

(My running joke is that the LAME MP3 encoder program is appropriately named. )

I agree all of these downloads should come as lossless: WMA lossless, Apple Lossless or FLAC. All three are probably the most widely accepted.

I'm going to be working on a "shootout" disc in the coming weeks that you'd probably be interested in hearing. Once it's done, I will let you know.

 

[jamest]

Not sure on those, but you can't go by bitrate alone. A WMA or AAC file at 192kbps sounds better than an MP3 at 256kbps or higher. MP3 has a garbly, "chirpy" artifact to the sound. I can't even listen to a 192k MP3 anymore, and yet my Zune players are loaded up with WMA at 192k, and some stray AAC files at the same bitrate that sound just as good IMHO.

(My running joke is that the LAME MP3 encoder program is appropriately named. )

It was my understanding that at higher bitrates (160 and above) lame and aac are virtually indistinguishable quality wise. Go to hydrogenaudio.org if you want to hear it from the horses mouth. This is where all the big codec developers hang out. I think you will find a wealth of information regarding digital audio.

In any case lossless is the way to. On top of that at least we can hear these great albums. Best Wishes!!

 

[Mike Blakesley]

The numbers and all that don't really matter to the vast majority of people. If it sounds good enough to the listener, it's good enough for that person.

Having said that, a person's equipment makes all the difference. I do most of my listening while driving, due to the nature of my life --- no time to spread out and listen at home, really -- and I've played everything from CDs to MP3s to my iPod on my car stereo and they all sound fine to me. My MP3-CD containing about 100 of my favorite Tijuana Brass songs gets regular rotation in my player. I suppose if I were to suddenly upgrade my car stereo to a high-end, audiophile quality, $10,000 system (and get a quiet car to replace my Ford Ranger) I would probably be horrified at what I've thought of as "good sound" all these years. But what I've got (Pioneer CD player with 4 6x8 speakers, plus amp and subwoofer) sounds good to me.

 

[honda05]

I'm running an Acoustic Authority 180 Subwoofer system on the computer here. The bass moves walls. I sure enjoy this set-up. When Senatore hits that bass, the walls get movin'!