Stray Cats – Built For Speed (1982/2014) [AcousicSounds DSF DSD64/2.82MHz + FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz]

It was almost like a fairy tale: three quintessential Americans from Long Island took their brand of rockabilly to England at the height of the synthesizer and eyeliner days of new wave. They did more than just stick out: the Stray Cats triggered a rockabilly revival on both sides of the pond. “Built For Speed”, a North American release, is a repackaging of the best songs from the band’s first two British albums and became their biggest hit. It peaked at number two on the Billboard album chart and yielded two huge singles: ‘Rock This Town’, their first US hit, went to number nine and ‘Stray Cat Strut’ peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.

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.

Tracklist:
01 – Rock This Town
02 – Built For Speed
03 – Rev It Up And Go
04 – Stray Cat Strut
05 – Little Miss Prissy
06 – Rumble In Brighton
07 – Runaway Boys
08 – Lonely Summer Nights
09 – Double Talkin’ Baby
10 – You Don’t Believe Me
11 – Jeannie Jeannie Jeannie
12 – Baby Blue Eyes

DSF DSD64/2.82MHz

mqs.link_StrayCatsBuiltFrSpeed19822014AcusticSundsDSD64.part1.rar
mqs.link_StrayCatsBuiltFrSpeed19822014AcusticSundsDSD64.part2.rar

FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz

mqs.link_StrayCatsBuiltFrSpeed19822014FLAC24882.rar