UPDATE: In the days since this article has been posted, Culture Factory has revised the street dates for all of the titles mentioned here. See below for corrected information as of March 28, 2013.
ORIGINAL POST OF 3/25: Since its inaugural wave of releases in 2011, the Culture Factory label has carved out a niche in the catalogue field. Artists such as Robert Palmer, Hot Tuna, Paul Williams, Bob Welch, The Flamin’ Groovies, Sylvie Vartan, Rare Earth and The Motels are all among the recipients of the Culture Factory treatment. The label’s modus operandi finds the original album with no bonus tracks or additional liner notes packaged in a Japanese-style paper sleeves with an OBI strip. The CD label itself resembles black vinyl with period label art. All discs are remastered with 96 kHz/24-bit technology (although playback in that high resolution is not possible as these are standard “redbook”44/16 compact discs playable in all units). The next waves of releases from Culture Factory widen the label’s scope further, with campaigns dedicated to a classic singer-songwriter, some diverse and well-chosen rockers, and perhaps most tantalizingly, choice offerings from the “Sound of Young America.”
On April 30, Culture Factory will reissue two albums from West, Bruce and Laing, another two from Walter Egan, and a trio of titles from James Taylor. Amped-up blues-rock was the order of the day when Jack Bruce of Cream joined forces with Leslie West and Corky Laing of Mountain to form a new power trio. The union was short-lived but burned brightly; Clive Davis recalled fierce competition in signing the band to CBS/Columbia. West, Bruce and Laing ultimately recorded just three albums (two in the studio, and one live) before disbanding, though Jack Bruce’s son Malcolm replaced his dad in a revised band line-up years later, in 2009. WB&L’s second studio album, 1973’s Whatever Turns You On, and the 1974 live album/swansong Live ‘n’ Kickin’ have both been selected for the Culture Factory treatment.
1977’s Fundamental Roll and 1978’s Not Shy kicked off the career of singer-songwriter Walter Egan. Not Shy was co-produced by Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham and Richard Dashut and yielded the gold-selling single “Magnet and Steel,” for which Egan is still best known today. “Magnet and Steel” was, of course, inspired by Stevie Nicks. She sang background vocals on the song, and had worked with Buckingham and Egan on Fundamental Roll.
James Taylor’s first three albums for Columbia round out Culture Factory’s April 30 slate. 1977’s JT was nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy, and Taylor picked up the trophy for his sublime revival of Otis Blackwell and Jimmy Jones’ “Handy Man.” Other highlights include the upbeat “Your Smiling Face” and reflective “Secret o’ Life.” JT followed JT with 1979’s Flag, which included his two songs for the Broadway musical Working (“Millworker” and “Brother Trucker”) as well as covers of The Beatles’ “Day Tripper” and Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s “Up on the Roof.” The latter became a Top 30 U.S. hit and is still a signature song for Taylor. 1981’s Dad Loves His Work introduced the No. 1 Pop single duet with co-writer J.D. Souther, “Her Town, Too.”
After the jump: the lowdown on titles from Robert Palmer, the New York Dolls, Edgar Winter, .38 Special, and a certain Miss Ross! Plus: pre-order links for all titles!
Road Work, from multi-instrumentalist Edgar Winter’s White Trash, arrived on Epic in 1973 as produced by Rick Derringer. The second of only three albums recorded by the band, the sprawling double album includes among its highlights a 17-minute version of “Tobacco Road” and high-energy runs through “I Can’t Turn You Loose,” “Back in the U.S.A.” and “Turn on Your Love Light.” Culture Factory’s reissue is due on December 3. On May 21, two titles from different eras of the Robert Palmer catalogue are scheduled for reissue. 1974’s Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley featured support from Little Feat’s Lowell George as well as Allen Toussaint and The Meters. Palmer’s eighth album, 1985’s Riptide, generated the No. 1 hit single “Addicted to Love” and earned the English singer-songwriter a Grammy Award. Also on May 21, Culture Factory revisits The New York Dolls’ 1974 sophomore album, Too Much Too Soon from the scorching line-up of David Johansen, Sylvain Sylvain, Johnny Thunders, Arthur “Killer” Kane and Jerry Nolan.
A surprise on the May 21 lineup is a new CD reissue of the FM soundtrack. John A. Alonzo’s 1978 film starring Michael Brandon, Eileen Brennan, Alex Karras, Cleavon Little and Martin Mull revolved around the wild goings-on at a radio station taken over by its DJs. Billed as “A Now Story with Now Music,” the Grammy-winning, Top 5-charting FM soundtrack included songs by a true rock “Who’s Who”: Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Billy Joel, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Joe Walsh, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger, The Steve Miller Band and others. Then, on August 13, .38 Special’s second album, Special Delivery, is reissued. As the last CD version of the A&M album is out-of-print and fetching high prices online, this is a particularly welcome reissue.
Last but certainly not least, Culture Factory launches a series dedicated to Diana Ross, with and without The Supremes. This July, seven classic Motown reissues will arrive. Though there are no bona fide rarities (like a CD reissue of Diana Ross and the Supremes Sing and Perform ‘Funny Girl’!) a number of the titles are returning to print in the U.S. for the first time in many years. 1966’s I Hear a Symphony and Supremes a-Go Go are the earliest titles reissued; the former was released in 2012 as an expanded collector’s edition from Hip-o Select (now selling for over 200 bucks at Amazon!) while the latter has been available in import editions from Europe and Japan. 1967’s Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland, 1968’s Join the Temptations and Love Child, and 1969’s Cream of the Crop complete this (initial?) Supremes program. From Diana Ross’ solo catalogue, Culture Factory has plucked 1979’s Ashford and Simpson-helmed The Boss and a considerably rarer title, 1977’s live double album An Evening with Diana Ross. All titles hit stores on July 16!
All titles can be pre-ordered at the links below! The prolific Culture Factory label has many more releases on track as 2013 unfolds, so stay tuned!
April 30
West, Bruce and Laing, Whatever Turns You On (Windfall/Columbia KC 32216, 1973)
West, Bruce and Laing, Live ‘n’ Kickin’ (Windfall/Columbia KC 32899, 1974)
Walter Egan, Fundamental Roll (Columbia PC 34679, 1977)
Walter Egan, Not Shy (Columbia PC 35077, 1978)
James Taylor, JT (Columbia JC 34811, 1977)
James Taylor, Flag (Columbia FC 35068, 1979)
James Taylor, Dad Loves His Work (Columbia TC 37009, 1981)
May 21
New York Dolls, Too Much Too Soon (Mercury SRM 1-1001, 1974)
Robert Palmer, Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley (Island (U.S.) ILPS 9294, 1974)
Robert Palmer, Riptide (Island (U.S.) 90471-1, 1985)
Various Artists, FM: The Original Movie Soundtrack (MCA MCA2-12000, 1978)
July 16
Diana Ross, The Boss (Motown M8-923M1, 1979)
Diana Ross, An Evening with Diana Ross (Motown M7-877R2, 1977)
Diana Ross and the Supremes, Cream of the Crop (Motown MS 694, 1969)
Diana Ross and the Supremes, Love Child (Motown MS 670, 1968)
The Supremes, I Hear a Symphony (Motown MS 643, 1966)
Diana Ross and the Supremes, Join the Temptations (Motown MS 679, 1968)
The Supremes, Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland (Motown MS 650, 1966)
The Supremes, Supremes A Go-Go (Motown MS 649, 1966)
August 13
.38 Special, Special Delivery (A&M SP-3165, 1978)
December 3
Edgar Winter’s White Trash, Roadwork (Epic KEG 31249, 1972)
Try to See Things Their Way: Ace Preps 'Here, There and Everywhere,' Third Collection of Beatles Covers Through a Black Lens
Touch My Heart: Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Expands "From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music" Box Set
Yes It Is: Grapefruit Collects 85 Beatles Covers on "We Can Work It Out"
Release Round-Up: Week of February 17
Unfortunately, the sound quality of Culture Factory's reissues so far have not been great, and most customer reviews on Amazon attest to this. I've kept one, Moon Martin's "Escape From Domination", but it sounds like it's coming out of a transistor radio – maximized and very screechy.
Totally agree with Kym. I bought two of the Romantics reissues and could barely get through one (though, I love the music itself). Very loud and uncomfortable.
Too bad, because these are all great titles.
CF Is a very cruel tease.
Boasting of 96 KHz/24 bit res but then finding out they are std Redbook playback is SO DISAPPOINTING!
Great titles - YES - but the lossless audio is what I crave. Groved mini LP “looks” delivered in cardboard sleeves is an empty promise with or without artwork when the ceiling remains @44 KHz & 16 bits.
The only Culture Factory CDs I have purchased so far have been the three recent Kim Carnes titles (Mistaken Identity, Voyeur and Cafe Racers) and they all sound great to me. Hopefully it was just the early reissues from the label that lacked decent sound quality. I am excited for most of these new releases. I hope the label goes for more and more, especially out of print titles. It would be nice if they would acknowledge e-mails.
This is my first time hearing of this company. If I could get one message to them: Please release these titles with a carefully balanced tone. No more screechy high-end and no more headachey bass, please. Also, downloadable high-resolution files at would be better than CD-quality.
Same with the Bob Welch "Three Hearts" release -- too darn loud and distorted.......basically unlistenable.....wish I could get my money back...
Perhaps Second Disc can get a hold of someone at the label to address the sound issues so many seem to be having with their CD releases. I've attempted to contact them a couple times regarding other matters and they don't even bother to respond. You would think a relatively new label in a shrinking CD market would appreciate consumer interest more than they apparently do.
Culture Factory has a remastering section on their website. Read on:
http://www.culturefactoryusa.com/component/content/article/8-information/6-remastering
That FAQ is hilarious. It reads like it was written by a high school student who just learned about sound reproduction. I particularly like "There is no need to use a high level of amplification, the disc is already encoded at a robust level. In general, it is also not necessary to adjust the playback settings for bass, midrange and treble. Rather, leave your equalization set to flat settings and, in particular, refrain from using a loudness filter. Our CDs are already configured with all that is necessary for the optimal listening experience." In other words, we have maxed everything out already. Here's an idea- Culture Factory should back off the EQ and allow the listeners (their customers) to set their own. After all the talk of loudness wars over the past decade it amazes me that people who are catering to music enthusiasts (the only people who still buy reissues of catalogue titles like this) just don't get it.
I sure hope they address these issues. I love what they are doing and want them to succeed.
I will be the first to admit that I enjoy my music loud and yes, compressed. I know that I'm in the minority, yet too much is simply too much. I own the Culture Factory reissues of The Motels' back catalog, and the latter three albums are way too loud. "All Four One" and "Little Robbers" are the worst with harsh, unnatural, distorted sound. Their so-called mastering engineer has gone overboard and needs a reality check and a new set of ears. Note that the first two Motels albums ("The Motels" and "Careful") do not suffer from the extreme loudness of the latter three. Did a different person remaster those efforts? I'm thinking yes.
Why would you like music compressed??? Do you even know what the term means?? Clearly you've not heard music properly recorded and played back on decent gear. That's the craziest thing I've heard from anyone professing to love music.
I have a copy of the Motels "Careful" disc and I like it fine. I'm interested in the "FM" soundtrack and, later in the year, "Thank God It's Friday," but hope they can get a handle on the extreme loudness issue between now and then.
Is Culture Factory putting out Thank God It's Friday as well. That would be great. I wish they would also do the ST to American Hot Wax. For the matter, I wish someone would put out American Hot Wax on DVD!
Same two I'm interested in! If the sound sucks, though, I'll seek out the previous masterings on Amazon Marketplace. Not sure what they go for, but the prices should drop once these come out and the "Digitally Remastered" lemmings have at them.
I got the "FM" soundtrack out of morbid curiosity, and boy does it sound AWFUL. There has been NO improvement in Culture Factory's mastering whatsoever; it still sounds very loud and compressed to the nth degree. This is the worst you'll ever hear Steely Dan on CD.
And they had the gall to put the original LP credit of "Mastered by Gary Katz" on the CD labels. Gary Katz should sue because he would never put something out that sounds like THIS.
The Ross titles are most perplexing. Culture Factory's rollout is not only immediately following, but literally STEPPING on the recent SHM-CD remasters from Japan (the exact same titles to boot). And those THEMSELVES are just place-markers until we receive the 2-CD deluxe editions from UMGSelect later this year and 2014. If Culture factory really wanted to impress Ross-O-Philes, they would have licensed all the "concept" LP's (A Bit Of Liverpool, The Supremes Sing Country, Western & Pop, We Remember Sam Cooke, Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing and Perform 'Funny Girl'), the TV soundtracks (T.C.B., On Broadway) and the live albums (Live At London's Talk Of The Town and FAREWELL). UMGSelect won't be getting to these for some time while they concentrate on the core pop albums in the Supremes' discography, and Culture Factory could have had that whole niche to themselves and avoid duplication in the marketplace.
I've been waiting for a remaster of the Edgar Winter for years. Roadwork is one of the finest live albums ever. I had hoped for an expanded version on Legacy, but gave up that dream long ago. Hope they do it justice. I'll be reading reviews before I leap on this.
A co-worker recently picked up the Rare Earth reissues on Culture Factory and he is very happy with them.
I have all the Quicksilver titles, and they're just fine.
Where is Robert Palmer's "Pressure Drop"?
My colleagues and I at Culture Factory USA were pleased to read Joe Marchese's article highlighting our expanding schedule of upcoming releases that will all be available from our website directly or Amazon.
But I am concerned by the comments from readers who were disappointed in the sound of some CDs and I want to say that we take great care to remaster the audio with state of the art equipment. We strive to achieve an authentic sound with highest fidelity to the original studio masters and to do this we use the least amount of compression possible. For best results, we recommend that listeners at first try setting their playback equipment with flat equalization, tone controls at neutral settings. At the same time we recognize that the way music sounds is essentially a matter of personal taste, as can be seen by the varying opinions posted. In fact several of the artists whose work we reissued tell us their albums never sounded better. We are continuing to refine our remastering and are mindful of the benefit of not overamping the loudness of the finished CDs. I hope you'll enjoy the results on our upcoming releases.
No. Brickwalled is NOT good. (And if you don't know what the term is you shouldn't be in the business you're in. ) There are compressed files available all over the internet for people who want them (iPod/earbud people). Anyone with good audio gear appreciates the dynamics that brickwalling eliminates. I get so tired of hearing the crap that gets passed off for "remastering" these days. If you want to hear what quality music engineering SHOULD sound like listen to Jim Anderson's work for Patricia Barber. Listen to Rudy Van Gelder's work.
Honestly, you don't even need good or high-end gear to hear how awful these Culture Factory reissues sound.
Worst mastering I have ever heard in my life on the titles I purchased. I feel cheated. So disappointing. Zero dynamics, digital clipping, top end so high my ears actually rang after listening to Moon Martin. The Motels, Mink Deville etc. all the same. It's so disappointing because the title choices are superb. They should listen to the mastering on MFSL tiltles to understand how it could be done so it actually sounds like music.
Why put anything on CD in 2013 if one isn't going to utilize the full benefits of the technology. Might as well be MP3s.
I just bought Culture Factory's audiophile reissue CD of Johnny and Edgar Winter Together Live recorded in 1976. The sound is awesome, full, and really F'ing rocks. I have a very high end sound system that would blow the roof off Madison Square Garden and this disc sounds amazing. I'm very very happy with Culture Factory. I haven't listened to their other titles, but this one is killer good. Some of the previous complaints seem to be from "whiners" that drink white zinfandel. I'm considering buying Culture Factory's Iggy Pop releases, Quicksilver, and Edgar Winter's White Trash "Roadwork" if that one becomes available.
I'll also add that Rory and his Culture Factory staff are really nice folks, and are a pleasure to do business with. I'm not a shill in the least. I'm the first to slam a lousy product, restaurant, or hotel, but these CDs are very high fidelity and quality, Culture Factory delivers quickly, and they're conscientious about service.I bought the Johnny & Edgar Winter Together Live disc on EBAY. Count me as a fan and 2 thumbs way up.
Then you need to check your ears for hearing loss from the high end system that can blow the roof off the Madison Square Garden. A good high end system will be more than loud.
I'd echo the other reviews. I've been very disappointed as to the sound quality. Little to no dynamics, compressed and harsh sounding.
My advice--hire some like Barry Diament or Vic Anesini to do the work.
I appreciate the quality and attention to detail on the packaging but it isn't there in the mastering.
I compared the Culture Factory version of Surrealistic Pillow with the 2003 BMG version (the first 11 tracks) using the Foobar Dynamic Range Meter plugin and got a dynamic range of 6 vs.11.
Conclusion: brickwalled by Culture Factory.
Really? I think your hearing has been affected by your Foobar. You do know the meaning of Fubar, don't you? F**k*d up beyond all repair. I know you want to use that software, 'cause you have it, but the joke's on you.
Listen with your ears, not your eyes. So many "audiophiles" have been taken in by the "loudness wars" propaganda and believe that's all there is to it. There's so much more to it beyond dynamic range, e.g. time intermodulation distortion, sound stage image, transparency, openness, audible resonance, frequency intermodulation distortion, signal clipping, etc. - very little of which is solely related to the dynamic range issue. But alas, only DR is easily measurable by the amateur - so that becomes the go to metric to judge by for those who are adverse to actual critical listening. And even at that, how many "loudness war" advocates are actually looking at the wave forms rather than a numerical spit out? It's akin to the US forest service managing the forests with Excel spreadsheets without setting foot in the high country.
I find Culture's "Surrealistic Pillow," while not perfect, is certainly enjoyably listenable and a step up from previous CD releases I've listened to. On the other hand, Culture should listen up to folks like you, right or wrong - because they're losing sales from meter gazers by squeezing the headroom out of their remasters. Even if it doesn't wreck the recording, that squeeze does affect the 'out of hearing range' harmonics - which does have a small resonant effect on the audible range.
I say nice effort, Culture, but you probably can do better without a lot of extra effort. Just slide those pots down a skosh.
It is 2015 and I just now found out about Culture Factory. I was at Amoeba Music n Los Angeles and just happened upon Michael Frank's cd Tiger in the Rain. Took a chance, took a listen,and then compared to the Warner Brothers version and I have to say the Culture Factory sounded better in every way. More open sounding, especially with vocals. The Warners cd sounded small and not as open. This piqued my curiosity so I checked their website. I too was baffled by their mission statement. I did try to Toto cd's. The very first and the fourth. The first sounded excellent. I then compared to my Sony copy as it was made in Japan and in comparison the Sony sounded, well like crap. The new one was again more open sounding and you could actually hear Porcaro's bass drum. It had nice bottom, great detail. Nice change from the Sony. Though I did not have another version of their 4th cd to compare, the new sounded very good. My friends would classify me as an audiophile and I suppose I am. I have very good ears and a very nice system and I am very, very fussy about sound. I am friends with Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray and I have done business with both Mobile Fidelity, Audio Fidelity and their kind and these folks do a great job. With the three cd's I have listened I would say I am impressed by what I hear. I am sure everyone that has complained about the sound on the cd's they have are 100% correct as to what they have heard but who knows what kind of copy they were given to begin with. The one issue I have with company is that they are not very transparent of their process in total and there is no mention of who is doing the remastering. I know for a fact that a lot of the masters have been lost to time and carelessness and so I will assume that the label gets the best available transfer. Be it from a safety copy or a second generation copy. However it would nice to know some background on the various releases. For a full pop pricing I think this request is a fair one. I for one will be curious to see how this company moves forward.
1st. - i love the album artwork original sleeves, nice black vinyl cd prints.
2nd. i do have excellent hearing, a very nice Pass Labs & Audio Research Stereoset.
but i don't think the ones i own do sound that bad.... yes a little too loud maybe ... but this is the only way to get in hand music .. and $9.99 - $15.99 is not so bad either ... just enjoy the great music .. unavailable elsewhere ....
Richard