Mark Smotroff

Album Reviews
Is Steely Dan’s Gaucho Finally Worth Playing on Vinyl Again? The New 180g 1LP Geffen/UMe Edition Makes a Strong Case for It
Mark Smotroff  |  Feb 02, 2024  |  14 comments

When Steely Dan’s Gaucho came out in November 1980 on MCA, it was at a time when that label was notoriously cutting corners, and quality control suffered. Fast-forward four-plus decades to the here and now, wherein we have a new 180 1LP edition of Gaucho to consider, one that’s been remastered by Bernie Grundman from a 1980 analog tape copy originally EQ’d by Bob Ludwig. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if this new vinyl edition of Gaucho is worth putting on your turntable. . .

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Album Reviews
Green Day’s New 1LP Saviors Delivers Poignant, Thinking Person’s Power-Pop Punk Precision Best Heard on Vinyl, But Is the SQ Up to Our Exacting Standards?
Mark Smotroff  |  Jan 26, 2024  |  3 comments

Right from the opening notes, Green Day’s new Saviors LP sure sounds like it could be the kind of record for today’s generation that balances strong social sentiment with catchy songwriting. But just how good does it actually sound on vinyl? Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if Saviors makes the LP SQ grade. . .

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Album Reviews
Beirut’s New Hadsel LP Sports an International Flair That Beautifully Realizes the Glass/Eno-Like Scope of Bandleader Zach Condon’s Vision on Vinyl
Mark Smotroff  |  Jan 20, 2024  |  1 comments

Musician, composer, singer, and producer Zach Condon has somehow found a way to mesh the sounds of pump organs, real acoustic horn sections, ukuleles, drum machines, world-beat oriented percussion, and synthesizers into a distinctive blend that is immediately identifiable as the group called Beirut — a sound that bears a genuinely international flair processed through adventuresome recording situations. Read on to find out why ace reviewer Mark Smotroff feels Beirut’s new album Hadsel may be Condon’s most complete statement to date and why it’s so well-suited to spinning it again and again on vinyl. . .

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Album Reviews
The Late, Great Les McCann’s Never a Dull Moment! – Live From Coast to Coast 1966-1967 180g 3LP RSD Collection Is One Sweet Soul-Jazz Swan Song
Mark Smotroff  |  Jan 12, 2024  |  1 comments

Les McCann — the noted pianist/singer/composer who passed away at age 88 on December 29, 2023, just before the new year arrived — enjoyed a long, celebrated career that began in the late 1950s and continued well into the 21st century. We celebrate his legacy by taking a look at Never a Dull Moment! – Live From Coast to Coast 1966-1967, a 180g 3LP set released on Record Store Day back in November comprised of many dynamic, galvanizing live tracks culled from of-era performances in Seattle and New York City. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why Never a Dull Moment truly lives up to its name. . .

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Album Reviews
Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings Receives Ultimate 70th Anniversary 180g 3LP Restoration of Complete 1953 Performance by The Quintet in Toronto, Including the Original Tapes Without Charles Mingus’ Bass Overdubs
Mark Smotroff  |  Jan 05, 2024  |  2 comments

The May 15, 1953 performance at Massey Hall in Toronto by The Quintet, five of the most important mid-century change agents who transformed jazz music as we know it today — Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, and Max Roach — is incredible on so many levels. Celebrating that historic concert’s 70th anniversary, Craft Recordings have issued a 180g 3LP package called Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings, and it may well be the final word on this iconic moment in music history when five titans of jazz performed on the same stage together for the first and only time. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why the expanded Hot House belongs in your collection and on your turntable. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum ReviewsFeaturesReview Explosion
AnalogPlanet’s Top LPs of 2023
Mike Mettler,  |  Dec 30, 2023  |  First Published: Dec 30, 2023  |  14 comments

Looks like another year has gone by with a seemingly endless release-cycle parade consisting of scores of brand-new LPs from both known artists and untested newcomers alike, along with a myriad of archival vinyl reissues and overstuffed box sets galore — a good number of them presented in the much-preferred AAA form to boot. With the calendar set to turn over to 2024 any day now, that means it’s high time to assess the best of what we’ve heard on wax during the past 12 months. Read on to see AP editor Mike Mettler and chief LP reviewer Mark Smotroff’s respective lists of the top archival and new LP releases of 2023. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
The White Stripes’ Heavy-Hitting 2003 Album Elephant Delivers Hard-Rock Power and Unbridled Glory in Its New, Mightily Impressive AAA 200g 2LP 45rpm UHQR Analogue Productions Edition
Mark Smotroff  |  Dec 28, 2023  |  5 comments

The inherent quality of Jack White’s songwriting and production skills ultimately elevated The White Stripes’ much-celebrated April 2003 LP Elephant to the next level — and Analogue Productions’ new AAA 200g 45rpm 2LP version takes it even higher. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why Elephant sets yet another benchmark in the ever-expanding UHQR series. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Round Robin Review: Your Ears Can’t Go Wrong With UMe’s Stellar AAA 180g 45rpm 2LP Set or the AAA 180g 45rpm-and-33 1/3rpm Combo 3LP Limited Edition Honoring the 50th Anniversary of Frank Zappa’s Over-Nite Sensation
Mike Mettler, ,  |  Dec 22, 2023  |  6 comments

That’s right folks, don’t touch that dial — it’s another tag-team album review, just in time for that last-minute holiday push. This time around, AP editor Mike Mettler, along with ace reviewers Mark Smotroff and Ken Micallef, are combining forces to proffer a three-man review of the new 50th anniversary 180g AAA 2LP 45rpm edition of Frank Zappa’s top-shelf September 1973 release, Over-Nite Sensation, an album all three of us regard with great affinity. We also review the limited-edition 3LP version of ONS too, which contains an extra LP of bonus tracks. Read on to see how this Zappa-loving triumvirate of Mike, Mark, and Ken get reety-awrighty with their analysis of a stone-cold classic LP in its new 45rpm incarnation. . .

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Album Reviews
Los Lobos’ Benchmark 1992 Album Kiko Reigns Supreme on RSD 30th Anniversary Tri-Gatefold 3LP Set That Features Expanded 2LP Version of the Original Album Plus a Bonus LP of Outtakes and Studio Jams
Mark Smotroff  |  Dec 15, 2023  |  3 comments

Los Lobos’ benchmark 1992 album Kiko reigns supreme on its 30th anniversary tri-gatefold 3LP Record Store Day set that features an expanded 2LP version of the original album plus a bonus third LP of outtakes and studio jams. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why you need to find a copy of this special 3LP edition of Kiko for your collection, ASAP. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Bill Evans Trio’s Seminal 1961 Live Album Sunday at the Village Vanguard Shines on New 180g All-Analog Cohearent Audio-Mastered, RTI-Pressed 1LP Edition From Craft Recordings
Mark Smotroff  |  Dec 08, 2023  |  0 comments

It’s almost an impossible task trying to “review” an iconic album like Bill Evans Trio’s October 1961 live masterpiece, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, but a new 180g 1LP edition under Craft Recordings’ revival of the Original Jazz Classics series umbrella is most definitely worth a closer look — and listen. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why this AAA edition of an all-time jazz classic belongs in your collection. . .

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