Audiophile Digital

Simon And Garfunkel
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
Mobile Fidelity UDSACD2199

After the One-Step LP of Bridge Over Troubled Water, it's refreshing to note that its sonic brilliance was not restricted to that album: this is just gorgeous. Audiophiles have long appreciated S&G's blend of vocals, the superlative production values, peerless musicianship from the best of studio denizens and other virtues rarely revealed over a car radio, when the duo produced hit-after-hit. This is one to savour, and a flag-waver for SACD: the mournful 'Homeward Bound', urban darkness in 'The Dangling Conversation', the delicate, evocative title song. 'A Simple Desultory Philippic' remains a trite, embarrassing piece but you can't have everything. Here's praying MoFi reissues the rest of their catalogue. KK

The Eagles
Legacy
Asylum R2 563613 (12 discs + DVD + Blu-ray)

One hopes that this is everything The Eagles released, including a CD's worth of singles, the live Hell Freezes Over DVD and the Farewell Tour Blu-ray, but the word 'complete' is dangerous. That said, this and its 15LP equivalent purport to offer such. As a now-finished body of work after the death of Glenn Frey, few can equal it for consistency, but then I do have a soft spot for this band which aggravated purists, punks and pedants – including many of their colleagues. But the music? Superlative playing, fabulous harmonies and impeccable material: 'Lyin' Eyes', 'Desperado', 'Hotel California,' 'Take It Easy' and much more. KK

Eddie and the Hot Rods
The Island Years
Caroline CAROLR084CD (six discs)

In between their boisterous-if-thick punk contemporaries and R&B-driven Dr Feelgood, this deliriously energetic outfit brought back high-energy rock 'n' roll in the punk era of the mid '70s. But unlike their equally-frenetic, safety-pinned colleagues, the 'Rods could actually play, and deserve to be rediscovered. Like an anglicised, speeded-up J Geils Band – whose 'Hard Drivin' Man' they covered – they mixed wild originals and wisely-chosen gems, eg, '96 Tears'. This 98-track set covers their first three studio LPs and other work from 1975-9, beefed up with live material and more bonus releases than you could ever hope to acquire in their original form. KK

The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
Man In The Moon MITMCD36

The 1974 debut from what should have been a supergroup, ex-Byrd/Burrito Hillman, Richie Furay from The Buffalo Springfield (via Poco) and Souther, a singer-songwriter who supplied The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, et al, with hits. They only lasted for two LPs because of artistic differences – ironic when one considers that Furay and Hillman were the calmer elements of their respective bands. Brief span aside, this made No 11 in the USA and the 12 tracks, evenly divided among them, are better than history tells. Alas, like Poco, this group didn't fly as high as their fellow, avian-named country-rock colleagues, but it's worth hearing if you loved their other efforts. KK