Tale Spinnin'

This album, which I have reviewed extensively elsewhere, is probably my favorite Weather Report album. It represents a transitional period between the beginning of their more compositional period (starting with Mysterious Traveler,) and their tighter, less open later output - it was a perfect bridge between Mysterious Traveler and Black Market. At the time I didn't appreciate it. It sat in my record stack for a year before I played it again and had matured enough to realize what a masterpiece it was. I still treasure it to this day.Because this album means so much to me, I have purchased it at least 5 times. This includes the excellent 2002 Bob Belden remaster and the later 2007 Mark Wilder (I believe Mark was involved in the Belden remaster too) Japanese remaster from the now OOP boxed set. Both are very good- the Belden has more bottom and more punch, but the Japanese remaster has more detail, especially in the high end. My initial response to this one was that this is a nice compromise between those two.So you may ask, why only 4 stars? Well, this album was only one of two WR albums released in quad, the other being Mysterious Traveler (which Sony did release in glorious quad some years ago.) I am fortunate to have discovered a high quality encoding of the quad mix of this album in DVD audio - the quad mix is nothing short of revelatory. The DVD audio version has both the bottom and high end definition I was always looking for, and to think - this was just an amateur transfer off of 8 track tape! Ron Malo's original 4 channel mix is a joy to listen to, balanced and un-gimmicky. I called Audio Fidelity and asked why the multichannel layer wasn't being included here. The answer was they simply couldn't get the rights for it. A downright shame and a missed opportunity, because I doubt it'll ever happen now.Now I knew this when I bought this disc - I just had high expectations of the SACD stereo remaster, and while I have to admit it edges out the other stereo versions I mentioned, it just isn't the epic version I had hoped for.It's interesting to note that I have all the Japanese blu spec editions of Weather Report that are available (unfortunately Tale Spinnin wasn't among them,) and I am far more impressed with say, the blu spec version of Black Market (which is really superb,) than I am with this disc-or at least that was my first impression - listening back to back with the Japanese 2007 remaster, this one is indeed a little darker in the highs. The cymbals are noticeably more tamed here, but the mids are richer and the bass and kick way more defined. This is a far more nuanced and deeper remaster than anything that has done before. It's not flashy, but it grows on me with each listen. In the long run, it may be that the newer version is less ear fatiguing and less hyped in the highs, and perhaps that's why, at least initially, it's lack of brightness seemed less engaging. There is no doubt about the kick here, which is far more defined and punchy on the SACD than anything that came before. One last thing: the SACD version has way more dynamic range than any previous version, and as such, despite my initial reservations and along with all the improvements I mentioned, is undoubtedly the definitive stereo version of this album to date.Bottom line: if this disc had included the quad layer, I would've given it 5 stars, instead of 4. I originally gave it 3.5 stars but this somewhat less bright yet super-warm and ultra-detailed mix is beginning to grow on me. It still deserves the 4 star rating.I will close by saying this version is quickly becoming a personal favorite version and the more I listen, the more gorgeous it sounds to me. You have to live with it to fully appreciate what Audio Fidelity has done here. It's really quite good: finally, a balanced, dynamic and unhyped stereo remaster of one the greatest albums ever by one of the greatest bands on the planet.

Weather Report was in their Alphonso Johnson period when they released this album back in '75. It's good but not great. I think it's a step down from the high level of their previous two albums, Sweetnighter and Mysterious Traveler. Man with the Green Shirt, Freezing Fire and Five Short Stories seem to be the best of these 6 tracks. But maybe Wayne, Joe and company were just killing time until Jaco joined up, as his debut was their next offering, Black Market. All in all, Tale Spinnin' is not essential WR, but it's worth a listen every now and then.------------PEACE

If you're a WR fan you'll love how this CD opens up with more clarity and a fuller sound.Happy I updated my collection with this!

It never showed up.Records you can't hear suck unless they sucked to begin with,then in that case they're great.This record was great before I couldn't hear it.I'm still pretty pissed.

This is the first WR album I bought way back when it came out on vinyl decades ago - so it's partly for that reason it's my favorite. Fantastic music. This one is not so aimed at the masses as some, and not so purely esoteric as and experimental as others. I think they had really perfected their sound here.

Great Music!

This should be in every serious musicians collection! :-)

Grows on you ....id give 5 stars if i could give sweetnighter 6 stars

The arrival of the disk coincided with an upgrade on the hifi. What a combo. Superb remaster lifting this astonishing accomplished music to another level. Would love to have all WR's output remastered to this quality.

ottima registrazione per un vinile ...suono caldo avvolgente, ottimo prezzo, compratelo , non ve ne pentirete, bye...

una joya perdida entre otros dos grandes discos de weather report no te decepcionará

excellent

初期のウェザーは宇宙空間や禅の世界を想わせる作風だったが、スウィートナイターからバンプ系、アフリカ回帰を取り入れたように思われる。これはウェザー・リポートの作品の中では、最も軽やかでスピーディーな印象を持ってしまうが、ベース音の軽さ故だろうか。筆者はLPで、緑衣の老人の舞踏を何十回か聴いた。小鳥のさえずりを想わせるシンセ。弾むパーカッションに乗り、ウェイン・ショーターが伸びやかに吹きまくる。これほどに伸び伸びしたショーターは久しぶり。アナログレコードでは、名手アルフォンソのベースが軽く聴こえてしまうので、CDを買い直したのだがやはり本CDでもベース音が軽め。後に加入するジャコとは、全く違うテイストのベースラインが魅力。レオン・チャンクラーのドラムも弾けて、全編を通じて、少し腰高なキラキラ音が目立つが、ウェザーのアルバムでもトップクラスの出来映えでしょう。