The domestic MCA CDs of Steppenwolf’s first two albums offered surprisingly good sound quality for 1960s reissues of the late ’80s. That must be testament to the sheer power of the master tapes, which overcame most of the limitations of late-’80s digital audio and the usual timidity of the engineers of that era. The music fairly burned, it’s sheer loudness and impact overpowering even on those early CDs. Beat Goes On’s reissue of the two albums in a narrow double-CD package does offer improved fidelity (especially on Steppenwolf the Second), but it won’t prove quite as big a revelation as one would expect, except for the discriminating listener. The music is mastered at a higher volume, but the MCA discs were done at a pretty high volume as well – the big difference, especially on the second album, is the volume and presence of the rhythm instruments; you can practically hear the action on Jerry Edmonton’s drum kit on much of the second album, and Rus