(Rock) The Millennium - Begin (Japanese Remaster with Bonus Tracks, DSD) - 1968, APE (image+.cue), lossless

Influenced by psychedelia and California rock, pop/rock producer Curt Boettcher (the Association) decided to assemble a studio supergroup who would explore progressive sounds in 1968. Millennium's resultant album would find no commercial success and only half-baked artistic success, but nonetheless retains some period charm. Influenced in roughly equal measures by the Association, the Mamas and the Papas, the Smile-era Beach Boys, Nilsson, the Left Banke, and the Fifth Dimension, Boettcher and his friends came up with a hybrid that was at once too unabashedly commercial for underground FM radio and too weird for the AM dial. It would have fit in better on the AM airwaves, though; the almost too-cheerful sunshine harmonies and catchy melodies dominate the suite-like, diverse set of elaborately produced '60s pop/rock tunes.

The Millennium's Begin can truly be described as a bona fide lost classic. The brainchild of producers Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher, the group was formed out of the remnants of their previous studio project, Sagittarius, which was preceded by yet another aggregation, the Ballroom. On Begin, hard rock, breezy ballads, and psychedelia all merge into an absolutely air-tight concept album, easily on the level of other, more widely popular albums from the era such as The Notorious Byrd Brothers, which share not only Usher's production skills, but similarities in concept and construction. The songwriting, mostly by Joey Stec and Curt Boettcher, is sterling and innovative, never straying into the type of psychedelic overindulgence which marred so many records from this era. For example, "It's You," by Stec, is as powerful and fully realized as the era ever produced, easily on par with songs by the Beach Boys and the Byrds — and, yes, even the Beatles. At the time the most expensive album Columbia ever produced (and it sounds like it), Begin is an absolute necessity for any fan of late-'60s psychedelia and a wonderful rediscovery that sounds as vital today as it did the day it was released.

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008

EAC extraction logfile from 23. November 2008, 22:21

The Millennium / Begin

Used drive : TSSTcorpCD/DVDW SH-W162C Adapter: 0 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface

Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
Use compression offset : 0

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
---------------------------------------------------------
1 | 0:00.00 | 1:18.11 | 0 | 5860
2 | 1:18.11 | 3:25.39 | 5861 | 21274
3 | 4:43.50 | 2:36.57 | 21275 | 33031
4 | 7:20.32 | 2:39.34 | 33032 | 44990
5 | 9:59.66 | 2:35.25 | 44991 | 56640
6 | 12:35.16 | 3:18.50 | 56641 | 71540
7 | 15:53.66 | 2:16.04 | 71541 | 81744
8 | 18:09.70 | 3:21.00 | 81745 | 96819
9 | 21:30.70 | 3:21.35 | 96820 | 111929
10 | 24:52.30 | 2:57.71 | 111930 | 125275
11 | 27:50.26 | 2:41.12 | 125276 | 137362
12 | 30:31.38 | 5:56.32 | 137363 | 164094
13 | 36:27.70 | 2:23.59 | 164095 | 174878
14 | 38:51.54 | 2:41.55 | 174879 | 187008
15 | 41:33.34 | 2:21.08 | 187009 | 197591
16 | 43:54.42 | 3:01.51 | 197592 | 211217
17 | 46:56.18 | 3:12.67 | 211218 | 225684
18 | 50:09.10 | 2:35.16 | 225685 | 237325
19 | 52:44.26 | 2:43.54 | 237326 | 249604
20 | 55:28.05 | 1:17.59 | 249605 | 255438
21 | 56:45.64 | 3:00.28 | 255439 | 268966
22 | 59:46.17 | 3:08.63 | 268967 | 283129
23 | 62:55.05 | 2:25.35 | 283130 | 294039

Range status and errors

Selected range

Filename C:\The Millennium (1968) Begin\The Millennium - Begin.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Range quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 85ABE6CB
Copy OK

No errors occurred

End of status report