12-14-10
Paul McCartney – “Band On The Run” // SHM – SA-CD’s
I bought this new edition of “Band On The Run” the day it came out, November 2, 2010 – at Best Buy. For my $14.99, I got 2 x CD’s (the album and bonus tracks – on a separate disc) and 2 x DVD’s – one of which contains the vintage documentary “One Hand Clapping”. Neat! (Yes, the Best Buy version has a bonus DVD!)
As is no surprise to fans of this music, this is a pretty good Paul McCartney album. Decent 70’s pop songs. The original LP package came with custom labels, special inner-sleeve and a poster – and possibly one other smaller insert. I got it on CD probably the 2nd time it was issued – by Columbia Records in the US. I never got the ’93 CD “Re-mastered” version, so I definitely do not mind buying this one a 2nd time on CD! (I did also go for the LP of “The 25th Anniversary” of “Band On The Run” – with it’s documentary LP!)
I remember “One Hand Clapping” being circulated by guys who sold pirate videotapes at the swap meet. So, neat that it finally gets a legit issue!
Inside of the package, there was a card telling me that “more titles” were on their way – including some I will actually buy (Paul’s debut solo album, for instance)! Could it be possible that they can dig up a bonus tracks CD and supplemental DVD programming for each Paul McCartney title? Yikes!
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I also recently got some SHM – SA-CD’s from Japan – Deluxe editions of Black Sabbath “Paranoid”, The Who “Who’s Next” and 10cc “The Original Soundtrack” – 4,500 yen each. Single layer SHM ( = Super High Materials ) SA-CD ( = Super Audio CD ). Upon initial examination, the 10cc has the sharpest sound. Of these 3, only The Who was not initially DSD mastered in Japan (it was done in England). All are 2010 DSD masters. Nice!
I was surprised at how good the Black Sabbath title sounded – much clearer than the old CD of it! Nice to hear that they left a little bit of hiss in it – so everything’s there.
The two titles I am waiting on (from Japan) in SHM – SA-CD are Caravan “In The Land of Grey and Pink” and Traffic “John Barleycorn Must Die” – if they’re both DSD mastered in Japan, they should both sound great!
These are easily the most expensive CD’s I’ve ever purchased (77 yen to the dollar!). I can’t imagine what these will go for once they’re all gone – yes, they are “limited editions” – and unlike many other supposed audiophile formats, the SA-CD’s do sound stellar (at least partially due to the DSD mastering).
Ronkanefiles's Blog 
The hiss is part of the original recording. If they removed it it would be non-canonical, and canonical is what Japan is all about. They are always striving to reproduce the original art to the utmost.