Mobile Fidelity - UDSACD 2212  - SACD Hybrid Stereo 

Numbered Limited  Edition - Hybrid SACD Plays on All CD Players

Half Speed Mastered by Shawn R.Britton  from the Original Master Tape at MFSL

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

Streets ahead of the 2004 CD remaster of this album, which ended up a little too compressed and in the process sucked some of the life out of the album. The average DR is now back to 13 - the same as the original vinyl. Shawn R. Britton did the mastering on this one and it sounds excellent 5/5 HRaudio

Mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's numbered hybrid SACD enhances the music for generations to come. Featuring sublime sonics, it strips away remaining film and limitations to provide a clear, transparent, ultra-dynamic view of a record that won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The expanse and depth of the soundstage, fullness of detail, reach of the omnipresent electric piano, and natural rise and decay of individual notes will leave you breathless.

The newfound immediacy, presence, texture, and dark-black backgrounds showcase the scope and craft of Simon's alluring melodies – as well as the intentional conflict between the tense lyrical content and the deceivingly pleasant aura. Still Crazy After All These Years resonates with a decided nasty streak and delves into adult romance with rapier wit. Indeed, in its original review of the album, Rolling Stone pertinently observes, "There is something ominous about the disparity between Simon and Phil Ramone's typically elaborate, creamy production and the downbeat theme of the album."

Nowhere is the distinction more pronounced than on the seductive, irony-rich smash "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." Interviewed decades ago about its creation and appeal, Simon explained what makes the track structurally distinct. "I was studying harmony with [bassist Chuck Israels]. Instead of using a minor chord, I use a major chord and go up a step. It is hard to get an interesting key change. I also like to write a bridge and just jump a whole tone up." Needless to say, the approach worked. The song remains Simon's most successful solo hit, and joins three other tunes from the record to have climbed into the Top 40.

The other charting numbers – the loose-limbed title track (complete with a Michael Brecker saxophone solo), "Gone at Last" (a duet with Phoebe Snow), and "My Little Town" (which reunited Simon with his former partner Art Garfunkel for the first time in nearly five years) – prove equally sharp. In certain ways, Still Crazy After All These Years plays as the musical complement to Woody Allen's signature film Annie Hall, which, coincidentally, Simon would appear as a sleazy record producer. Relatedly, "Have a Good Time" witnesses Simon laughing his way through thinly disguised depression while the kiss-off "You're Kind" distills a splintered romance down to the preference of keeping a window open or closed.

"And you're good, you're so good/You introduced me to your neighborhood" Simon sings, slicing through pain with stinging zingers and a coy grin that announce the turning over of a new leaf, which culminated with his performing on "Saturday Night Live" in a turkey costume. But that's a story for another day.

Vocal & Acoustic Guitar – Paul Simon 
Bass – Tony Levin 

Drums – Steve Gadd 
Electric Guitar – Hugh McCracken 
Percussion – Ralph MacDonald
Producer – Paul Simon
Producer, Engineer – Phil Ramone

Still Crazy After All These Years

My Little Town
I Do It for Your Love
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Night Game
Gone at Last
Some Folks' Lives Roll Easy
Have a Good Time
You're Kind
Silent Eyes

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.