Roy Orbison - The Classic Roy Orbison / Cry Softly Lonely One - 1965 - 1973 Vol. 2 (2004)

Roy Orbison's third and fourth MGM albums paired together make a formidable CD -- Classic Roy Orbison had him returning to his old form and Cry Softly, Lonely One got him back to close to the top of that form, even linking up with his former creative partner and associate Joe Melson. The sound is classic Orbison carried into the late 1960s, without a hint of the changes that had taken place in rock music around him; it was all hopelessly out-of-date but also quite glorious in texture and expression, and this reissue has been given a first-rate transfer, with a rich, close sound and lots of detail. The only flaw is in the editing and the assembly of the notes -- near as one can tell, something between part of a line and a paragraph is missing from the front-end of the essay. But considering the rarity of the records involved and the quality of the music, that's no more than a hiccup in the enjoyment process that will ensue for fans hearing this CD.