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Mobile Fidelity - UDSACD 2068 - SACD Hybrid Stereo
Numbered Limited Edition - Plays On All CD Players
Mastered on the Mobile Fidelity GAIN 2™ Mastering Technology for Ultradisc UHR™ Hybrid SACD
King's 1971 Studio Album a Model of Impeccable Songwriting, Fluent Melodies, Unfettered Expression Released on the heels of her breakthrough, Tapestry, Carole King’s Music is every bit the equal of its more famous predecessor, a Number One smash that features impeccable songwriting, infallible melodies, and extraordinary piano playing. In short, everything that’s made King an institution.
After of years of being overshadowed, this 1971 singer-songwriter classic has finally been given the audiophile treatment it’s long deserved. mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered limited-edition of King’s second solo masterpiece is rife with intimacy, transparency, soulfulness, and you-are-there sound. Never before remastered, Music seems like a brand-new album, King’s familiar voice, intelligent arrangements, and ravishing support band presented on a deep, three-dimensional soundstage.
Your appreciation for and understanding of King’s inspirational lyrics and ravishing performances will increase tenfold. Mobile Fidelity’s brings you that much closer. Accompanied by percussionist Bobbye Hall, drummer Russ Kinkel, guitarist/vocalist James Taylor, and a cavalcade of professional wind musicians, King delves further into R&B and jazz-derived pop, coming up aces every time. Warm, intelligent, and cohesive, songs echo with simplicity and honesty. And as is typical of much of King’s work, several of tunes here were later covered by other artists, including “It’s Going To Take Some Time” (the Carpenters). Yet the originals trump the later renditions, and the rendition of the standard “Some Kind of Wonderful” stands as the best ever recorded.
With Taylor lending more of a hand on Music than he does on Tapestry, King expands her confident reach on the piano and peppers the songs with graceful touches of saxophone, flute, pedal-steel guitar, and woodwinds. Ballads sway (“Surely”), gospel brightness lifts spirits (“Brighter”), and backup vocals float heavenly pop (“Song of Long Ago”). Yet the best aspect is King’s voice, infused with fondness, concern, joy, and a quiet power that parallels the delicacy and deliberate nature that define Music.
Mobile Fidelity’s audiophile edition is free of the limiting artifacts that have helped keep this record in the dark for the better part of the past few decades. Previously diminished, acoustic guitars, subtle brass elements, and soft percussion contribute to the enjoyment of the songs, and King’s voice—pleasant, assuring, emotional—comes through with incredible clarity and inflection. The brilliance of the legendary Lou Adler’s original production is restored to its full glory.
If it’s at all possible—and it is—this treasure now sounds even more heartwarming than it did upon original release. The companion to Tapestry, Music is an aural—and sonic—delight.
Carole King Music Track Listing:
1. "Brother, Brother" – 3:00
2. "It's Going to Take Some Time" – 3:35
3. "Sweet Seasons" – 3:15
4. "Some Kind of Wonderful" – 3:07
5. "Surely" – 4:58
6. "Carry Your Load" – 2:52
7. "Music" – 3:50
8. "Song of Long Ago" – 2:44
9. "Brighter" – 2:46
10. "Growing Away from Me" – 3:03
11. "Too Much Rain" – 3:35
12. "Back to California" – 3:23
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.
