Mobile Fidelity - UDSACD 2094 - SACD Hybrid Stereo

Numbered Limited  Edition - Plays On All CD Players

Half Speed  Mastered by Kreig Wunderlich from the Original Master Tape at MFSL

Mastered on the Mobile Fidelity GAIN 2™ Mastering Technology for Ultradisc UHR SACD   

Infectious Doo-Wop, carefree Soul, harmonious Pop give testament to the music of Billy Joel's childhood.  This Mobile Fidelity reissue allows you to hear this pleasing set with fresh ears!

Another blockbuster by Joel this 1983 album became seven-times platinum and includes "Uptown Girl", "For the Longest Time", "An Innocent Man", and "Tell Her About It".

After making The Nylon Curtain, Billy Joel felt the need to exhale and get back to the carefree music of his childhood. He also met supermodel Christie Brinkley, who brought serious degrees of levity and romance to his world. In love, relaxed, and out to have fun, the singer crafted An Innocent Man, arguably the most easygoing and pleasing album of his career. Featuring four Top 40 pop singles and the same number of Top 5 Adult Contemporary hits to grace the Billboard charts, the record remains a commercial staple. 

An essential title in Mobile Fidelity’s Billy Joel catalog restoration series, An Innocent Man is mastered from the original master tapes

.  The effervescent harmonies now possess an airiness and extension that lends to realistic tonal decay. Instruments are balanced and placed on a wider, deeper soundstage, contributing improved to improved imaging and spaciousness. Joel’s voice, too, comes across with tremendous clarity, presence, and body. These songs have never sounded so contagious.

Per usual, Joel proves a melodic jukebox. The vocalist’s grasp on structure, hooks, and delivery help make this batch of songs among his most beloved, easy to hum, and impossible to ignore. Much of the appeal resides in Joel’s understanding of the early rock and roll, doo-wop, and soul that he grew up hearing in New York, and the manners in which the popular songwriters favored simplicity over complexity, good-natured vibes over seriousness, and romantic charm over introspective sadness. 

Whether floating on a cloud on the giddy “Uptown Girl” (check out his falsetto), doubling as both the lead and background vocalist on the reminiscent-themed “The Longest Time,” or tapping gospel undercurrents on the tribute “Keeping the Faith,” Joel revels in 50s and 60s pop constructs, turning out amiable refrains and unforgettable moods. Love perfumes the air, and Joel can’t get enough, and it's a feeling he passes on to his listeners. 

As the calm before stormier periods in his life, and a timeless connection to America’s finest pop music traditions, An Innocent Man is indeed innocent—a guiltless pleasure that keeps on giving.

• Mastered from the Original Master Tapes

Saxophone – Mark Rivera
Baritone Saxophone – Ronnie Cuber
Bass – Doug Stegmeyer
Drums – Liberty DeVitto
Guitar – David Brown
Producer – Phil Ramone
Vocals, Electric Piano – Billy Joel

Selections: 
1. Easy Money
2. An Innocent Man
3. The Longest Time
4. This Night
5. Tell Her About It
6. Uptown Girl
7. Careless Talk
8. Christie Lee
9. Leave A Tender Moment Alone
10. Keeping the Faith

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.