Cowboy Junkies, The Trinity Session

This album see's a band at their purest and greatest. There is nothing that can be beaten here. They certainly didn't beat this. Introduced me to country influenced music that I would have otherwise ignored. A reason why a generation could love trad country.

This reviews's Cowboy Junkies, The Trinity Sessionthe 180g 33 & 45 rpm Classic releases.

I owned the CD first. I was a classic. After I saw the vinyl releases, I thought I'd get it as a reference recording.

First of all the music is haunting and very airy. The acoustic in the Church were used amazingly. The album was recorded on DAT with a singual microphone placement. Mixing was accomplished by moving the positions of the musicians relative to the microphone. That said, this probably wasn't the wisest reference recording to select, with it being recorded digitally. Still the vinyl proved to be better aurally than the CD. Redbook bitrate probably had something to do with it.

The 33 rpm is lush. You can sense the placement of each instrument. Instrument come into the soundstage as if faded by an engineer. Clearly each track was carefully thought out before each recording. The haunting sound is more spiritual than dark. There is a resonance of hope in each song. The careful selection of covers and written songs embodies an enduring celebration that things can get better. The selection of covering Reed's Sweet Jane epitimizes this. With the Velvets, the song was fast and brooding. The Junkies' version is somber. The song relagates Sweet Jane to a hymm. The overall sound of the album looks to the past for better times in hopes of a better future. There is a lot of Blues feel to this album. The common myth that Blues is about felling sorry about oneself is prove here as a falsity. Blues is about healing. You sing about what is gone and out of reach in hopes that you never forget. You take what you remember into the future for a brighter tomorrow, while never forgetting what a good feeling is like.

More in general, the album has the feeling of a funeral wake. The beat in popular music is forsaken to get this feel. Instead, vocals and instrument pacing keep the sound going.

Regarding format, the 33 rpm revieled a wider spance in soundstage than the CD. On the final track when the musician leave the stage you hear them walking off to the left. Way off to the left. The 45 rpm is as-good. A little more ambient, but the mood is a little off putting considering you have to keep flipping vinyl sides after every two song. The 33 rpm is now choice in listen. The 45 rpm is relagated to a critical listening experience of songs.

Excellent releases.