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Any discussion about the finest psychedelic rock record ever recorded is incomplete if it doesn’t grant consideration to Love’s Forever Changes. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the 40th greatest album ever made, and named by Mojo the second-greatest psychedelic set in history, the effort is an internationally recognized seminal work of art. Transcending language and convention, its magnitude and magnificence need to be heard again and again. For here is an effort whose mind-boggling acoustic complexities and kaleidoscopic nuances are tailored for high-fidelity playback.
Nearly unlimited headroom, vast instrumental separation, transparent clarity, artifact-free atmospherics, and faithful balances appear out of jet-black backgrounds. The music appears to float on clouds, with the woody tones emanated by the acoustic guitars and brassy signatures of horns emerging with lifelike detail. Turn it up as loud as you want; the sole limitation will be your system’s potential.
Commercially ignored upon release in November 1967, Forever Changes confronts the alienation, paranoia, violence, and strife that would soon plague the countercultural movement and send the Summer of Love into a tailspin. Apart from its lyrical themes and prescient malaise, the record’s enduring nature equally owes to intertwined arrangements sewn together with Latin guitar-picked lines, finessed folk harmonies, mariachi-inspired horn charts, and subdued strings.
The seemingly opposing combination – ominous, dark reflections situated amidst lush, light melodic beds – affords Forever Changes a distinguished tension of claustrophobia and openness, dourness and ecstasy, ugliness and elegance enjoyed by no other record in the rock canon. Much of the contrast owes to leader Arthur Lee’s mental state and pertinent observations. Lee, whose suppressed romanticism often surfaces even amidst the blackest shadows and most cynical moments, believed he would soon die, and hence channeled everything from lasting hopes to acid-addled decay to the chilling testimony of a Vietnam veteran in his narratives.
Alternatively sad and beautiful, the album-opening and flamenco-inspired “Alone Again Or” establishes the mood for what follows. Vocals overlap and soar; tempos rise and fall; surrealism trades places with reality.Forever Changes thrives both because of and in spite of a surfeit of labyrinthine chords and difficult notes that never repeat. Its ambitious construction almost forced the already fractured band to cede responsibilities to session musicians, which appear on two tracks. The quintet’s resolve to not only complete the album, but to do so with such poignancy and curiosity, further enhances Forever Changes‘ standing.
No wonder that, in the twilight of his troubled career, Lee performed the record in its entirely during concerts met with overwhelming critical acclaim. It was, and will always be, a personal manifesto of timeless relevance and appeal.
Track Listing
Alone Again Or
A House Is Not a Motel
Andmoreagain
The Daily Planet
Old Man
The Red Telephone
Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale
Live and Let Live
The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This
Bummer in the Summer
You Set the Scene
Music Vinyl LP's
Alan Parsons – I Robot – MoFi Ultradisc 180g 33RPM Vinyl Box Set
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MASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES: ULTRADISC ONE-STEP LP ELEVATES THE AUDIOPHILE STANDARD WHILE OFFERING ONE-FLIP CONVENIENCE Most audiophiles know Alan Parsons Project’s I Robot by heart. Engineered by Parsons after he performed the same duties on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, the 1977 record reigns as a disc whose taut bass, crisp highs, clean production, and seemingly limitless dynamic range are matched only by the sensational prog-rock fare helmed by the keyboardist. Not surprisingly, it’s been issued myriad times. Can it be improved? Relish Mobile Fidelity’s stupendous UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM box set and the question becomes moot.
Alan Parsons – I Robot – MoFi Ultradisc 180g 45RPM 2LP Box Set
AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER
MASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES: ULTRADISC ONE-STEP SET IS THE ULTIMATE ANALOG VERSION OF 1977 AUDIOPHILE STANDARD Audiophiles don’t need any introduction to the Alan Parsons Project’s I Robot. Engineered by Parsons after he performed the same duties on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, the 1977 record reigns as a disc whose taut bass, crisp highs, clean production, and seemingly limitless dynamic range are matched only by the sensational prog-rock fare helmed by the keyboardist. Not surprisingly, it’s been issued myriad times. Can it be improved? Relish Mobile Fidelity’s stupendous UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set and the question becomes irrelevant.
Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie – 180g 33RPM 2LP Mofi Vinyl
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Alanis Morissette Delivers the Equivalent of a Spiritual Awakening on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie: Introspective Themes and Compassionate Emotions on Eastern-Tinged Album Have Grown More Relevant
1998 Smash Plays with Enhanced Detail, Rich Textures, and Sharp Focus on Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM 2LP Set: First-Ever Audiophile Edition Strictly Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies
1/2" / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe
Bill Evans and Jim Hall – Undercurrent – Mofi Vinyl
Special Offer While Stocks Last
Diverse Set Encompasses Ballads, Waltzes, Hard-Swinging Bop
Bill Evans catapulted to the top of the jazz world in June 1961 after reeling off three straight masterpiece sessions at New York’s Village Vanguard with his trio. Yet the emotional highs came to a screeching halt shortly thereafter when bassist Scott LaFaro died in a car accident. Devastated, Evans refrained from playing for nearly a year. If not for an inspirational collaboration of tremendous creative outpouring, one wonders what fate may have befallen Evans. Undercurrent, the outcome of two studio sessions with guitarist Jim Hall, is that project.
Bill Withers – Still Bill – 180g Mofi Vinyl
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Mastered On Mobile Fidelity's Renowned Mastering System And Pressed At Rti For Definitive Sound.
As it celebrates its 50th anniversary, Bill Withers' Still Bill remains true to its title – and stands as the greatest male-fronted soul album not made by a singer named Marvin, Al, Sam, James, or Ray. Though the saying "keeping it real" did not exist in popular parlance when Withers released his sophomore effort on Sussex Records, no words better capture the music's approach, mindset, and value. Every facet of Still Bill radiates honesty, truth, and emotion. These characteristics – along with Withers' strong singing, hybrid arrangements, and deceptively simple songwriting – have allowed the album to endure to the point where it sounds as fresh today as in 1972.
Billy Joel – Turnstiles Mofi SACD
Experience The Orchestral Sweep, Ravishing Poignancy Like Never Before
By 1976, Billy Joel had proven his merit as an auteur of California-based singer-songwriter pop-rock. On Turnstiles, the legend focuses his attention on more ambitious matters: Making an album whose scope and range dwarf that of his previous work, and shot his star into the stratosphere. Encompassing everything from urgent rock to soft pop and saloon fare, Turnstiles is a classic of major proportions. We have gone back to the original master tapes to present Joel's encompassing music the way it was always intended to be experienced: Intimate, detailed, expressive, warm. The record's widescreen sonics are at last properly cinematic, flush with colors, textures, and atmosphere.
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