Life Death Love and Freedom Makes CNET.com's Best Sounding CD List
Top 10 must-have CDs by Steve Guttenberg
What follows is a list of my favorite sounding CDs of late, in no particular order. My preference is for realistic-sounding recordings, recordings that allow the band to sound "live." And sure, I like lots of recordings that are heavily processed, but I wouldn't by any stretch use them to "test" the naturalness of a speaker.
Mellencamp digs deep - John Mellencamp, "Life Death Love And Freedom"
Another T-Bone Burnett production, with Mellencamp in a stripped-down, contemporary blues mode. Tunes alternate between sweet unplugged and rough-hewn electric grit. But it's a very vivid sound, so Mellencamp and company sound like there right there in your room.
Other titles on his list (click here to read his full thoughts on each online part 1 | part 2)
Elvis Costello, "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane"
Mark Olson & Gary Louris, "Ready For The Flood"
Dan Auerbach, "Keep It Hid"
Jen Chapin, ReVisions: Songs of Stevie Wonder
Savage Aural Hotbed, "Wreckquiem"
Rosanne Cash, "10 Song Demo"
Gerald Clayton, "Two-Shade"
Bob Brozman, "Post-Industrial Blues"
Dick Hyman, "Thinking About Bix
What follows is a list of my favorite sounding CDs of late, in no particular order. My preference is for realistic-sounding recordings, recordings that allow the band to sound "live." And sure, I like lots of recordings that are heavily processed, but I wouldn't by any stretch use them to "test" the naturalness of a speaker.
Mellencamp digs deep - John Mellencamp, "Life Death Love And Freedom"
Another T-Bone Burnett production, with Mellencamp in a stripped-down, contemporary blues mode. Tunes alternate between sweet unplugged and rough-hewn electric grit. But it's a very vivid sound, so Mellencamp and company sound like there right there in your room.
Other titles on his list (click here to read his full thoughts on each online part 1 | part 2)
Elvis Costello, "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane"
Mark Olson & Gary Louris, "Ready For The Flood"
Dan Auerbach, "Keep It Hid"
Jen Chapin, ReVisions: Songs of Stevie Wonder
Savage Aural Hotbed, "Wreckquiem"
Rosanne Cash, "10 Song Demo"
Gerald Clayton, "Two-Shade"
Bob Brozman, "Post-Industrial Blues"
Dick Hyman, "Thinking About Bix