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Mobile Fidelity -  UDSACD 2046 - SACD Hybrid Stereo

Mastered by Shawn R. Britton from the Original Master Tape

Numbered Limited  Edition - Plays On All CD Players 

Mobile Fidelity GAIN 2™ Mastering Technology for Ultradisc UHR™ Hybrid SACD

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab  has a reputation for obtaining the best quality sound reproduction from original master tapes and the SACD of "Rock of Ages" is a winner..... the mastering by Shawn Britton is superb. The sound has a warm, natural tone and the dynamics are exemplary at the upper end. Also, as a personal preference, I felt this album does not require a subwoofer  as these recordings exhibits a well-defined, 'fat' bass that I prefer in live music.  "Rock of Ages" is a well recorded live album that rightfully shines in the capable hands of MFSL. In my opinion, MFSL has successfully captured the intricacies of both the high and low frequencies. The end result is a superlative concert with great sonics that calls for a very high recommendation Sound 5/5 HRaudio

MoFi also makes SACDs and sent me two of its recent remasters: The Band's "Rock of Ages" and the Pixies' "Doolittle." They both have an analog warmth that you never hear from CDs CNET Review

The Band's Ultimate Live Album Recorded at Its Career Peak! Legendary Live Set Features Horn Arrangements by Allen Toussaint

Incredible Sound and Virtuosic Performances

The Last Waltz gets bigger billing, but The Band’s 1972 live album Rock of Ages is actually the better representation of a live Band album. Recorded at the tail end of the group’s Cahoots tour and over the course of four nights at New York’s Academy of Music at the end of December 1971, the incendiary concert set bookmarks the close of the first phase of the collective’s career.

Rather than follow the lead of most other live records made at the time (and many since), The Band resists any temptation to improvise or extend its material. Instead, the group plays with an intensity, chemistry, and spirit that’s nearly unrivaled by any other live album. The quintet also draws on a secret weapon: One Allen Toussaint, who tailors expert horn arrangements for multiple songs, a move that spices renditions of classics such as “Don’t Do It” and “Chest Fever.” To top it all off, the horn charts are performed by the Rock of Ages Horn Section—a five-piece ensemble that includes legendary trumpeter Snooky Young (Count Basie, Lionel Hampton) and saxophonist Joe Farrell (Charles Mingus, Elvin Jones).

“I felt very much at home with The Band. You could tell in their music they know where they’re coming from and they know where they’re going. Each one had an extremely special interest in what they were doing.”–Toussaint, as told to Rob Bowman

Do they ever. Unencumbered by the myriad guests and grandiose sense that define The Last Waltz, and energized by Toussaint’s invaluable work, Rock of Ages is the sound of a great band pulling out all the stops. Robbie Robertson’s guitar solos take “Unfaithful Servant” to a higher ground; “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show” kicks with raunchy R&B abandon; Garth Hudson delivers a show-stealing performance on “The Genetic Method,” a thrilling organ piece that incorporates elements of Anglican church music, folk, classical, and pop—as well as “Auld Lang Syne,” due to its being recorded on New Year’s Eve.

After various inferior editions and reissues, Rock of Ages is finally presented on an immaculate-sounding set from Mobile Fidelity that lets Toussaint’s contributions, horn section’s energy, and the Band’s feverish interplay shine like never before. Mastered from the original tapes, the open, airy, natural, and balanced sound will have you returning to Rock of Ages again and again.

"Live albums tend to gloss over the depth, mystery and emotional intensity found on studio versions of the same songs, particularly when the group speeds things up to cover its inability to produce the desired results live. Here, The Band slows everything down, producing even more intense, deliberate and emotionally satisfying versions of familiar songs. Each play reveals more gems hidden within the musical folds. Be sure to crank it up! " - Michael Fremer, .analogplanet

Selections: 
1. Introduction / Don't Do It
2. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
3. Caledonia Mission
4. Get Up Jake
5. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show
6. Stage Fright
7. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
8. Across The Great Divide
9. This Wheel's On Fire
10. Rag Mama Rag
11. The Weight
12. The Shape I'm In
13. Unfaithful Servant
14. Life Is A Carnival
15. The Genetic Method
16. Chest Fever
17. (I Don't Want To) Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes

Mobile Fidelity believes that mastering systems should be neutral and transparent. The essential idea is to unveil all the detailed musical information on the original master recording without adding deterioration, coloration or other sonic artifacts. 

It is worth noting that Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab stands out as one of few record labels that independently invests in research and development of audio technology. With proprietary innovations such as GAIN 2™, general music enthusiasts and audiophiles alike have reaped the benefit of a higher consumer audio standard without investing in costly new hardware. Mobile Fidelity is pleased to work with a variety of engineering legends and companies including Tim de Paravicini, Ed Meitner, Pass Labs, Theta Digital and Sony Electronics. 

Our joint efforts to seek out the ultimate audio experience, has resulted in significant advances for the technology of music reproduction. 

GAIN 2™ Mastering Technology for Ultradisc UHR™ Hybrid SACD and Ultradisc II™ 24kt Gold CDs 

For over twenty years, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has continually searched for the ultimate audio experience. During this search MFSL engineers and associates created The GAIN™ System, a proprietary mastering technology which brought warmth and ambience to the compact disc format. A few years ago - with higher resolution formats on the horizon - the vision of GAIN 2™ began. As it stands today, GAIN 2™ is one of the greatest technical advancements in analogue and digital technology in the last ten years. It consists of a series of critical modifications and new components to Mobile Fidelity's proprietary mastering chain. 

We feel that GAIN 2™ has come extremely close to meeting this goal. The key accomplishments of GAIN 2™ System are 1) the ability to extract all the musical information as possible through the Ultra High bandwidth analogue tape playback system with proprietary custom tape playback heads, reproducer electronics and 2) transparently capturing and storing that information with the Direct Stream Digital recording system.