Stray Cats - Built For Speed (1982/2014) [DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]

×

Stray Cats - Built For Speed (1982/2014) [DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]

Close

Stray Cats - Built For Speed (1982/2014)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,8 MHz | Time - 35:54 minutes | 1,19 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/88,2 kHz | Time - 35:54 minutes | 810 MB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover

In 1982, the unexpected success of the Stray Cats' American debut, Built for Speed, made America aware that rockabilly, previously believed to be extinct, was actually alive & well somewhere in New Jersey (though the evidence had to be taken to England before anyone would notice). Pulling together 6 songs from the Stray Cats' self-titled debut, 5 tunes from the follow-up Gonna Ball, & 1 previously unreleased number (the title song), Built for Speed is song-for-song the group's strongest album, despite the cut-&-paste manner in which it was created. Originality was never this band's strongest suit, & as songwriters the Stray Cats rarely wandered far from the traditional themes of cars, girls, rockin', & their own level of coolness, but Brian Setzer's fleet-fingered guitar work revealed that he'd absorbed the lessons of Cliff Gallup, James Burton, & Scotty Moore & constructed an impressive & colorful style of his own from the parts, while Lee Rocker & Slim Jim Phantom were an admirably potent & appropriately uncluttered rhythm section (the clean, streamlined production, by Dave Edmunds on most cuts, also helped quite a bit). If the group's songs haven't all worn the test of time especially well, the melodies are strong & the playing is tight & enthusiastic throughout. While you're better off with a good collection from Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, or Charlie Feathers, there are a lot worse ways you could learn about rockabilly than to pick up Built for Speed – which is a good thing, since if you were born after 1965, chances are it was where you learned about rockabilly.