This Columbia Red Label pressing was a MAJOR step up just about everything we could throw at it in a recent shootout, with side one earning an A++ grade and side two coming out even better! If you enjoy Herbie’s funky work in the ’70s (think Head Hunters, natch) then you’re going to love hearing this music really come to life on a Super Hot Stamper copy. Most copies we played were dry and grainy, but this one was richer and smoother by a good amount.

Side one is very rich and full-bodied with some seriously punchy bass. There’s tons of energy, major presence and real weight to the bottom. This one’s got the warm, sweet sound of ’70s analog, and that puts well it ahead of the average pressing.

Side two is even better, adding an amazing three-dimensional quality to the soundfield that we just didn’t get on most copies. It’s dramatically more open, spacious, and transparent than we expected after hearing so many pressings with “closed-in” sound.

If you’re a fan of the sound of synthesizers, you’ll appreciate the transparency and clarity of this copy, which allows you to identify the textures of the various synths and follow them over the course of the songs.

AMG Review

Perhaps the funkiest album of Herbie Hancock’s early- to mid-’70s jazz/funk/fusion era Man-Child starts off with the unforgettable “Hang Up Your Hang Ups,” and the beat just keeps coming until the album’s end. “Sun Touch” and “Bubbles” are slower, but funky nonetheless. Hancock is the star on his arsenal of keyboards, but guitarist Wah Wah Watson’s presence is what puts a new sheen on this recording, distinguishing it from its predecessors, Head Hunters and Thrust. Others among the all-star cast of soloists and accompanists include Wayne Shorter on soprano sax, Stevie Wonder on chromatic harmonica, and longtime Hancock cohort Bennie Maupin on an arsenal of woodwinds.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

Hang Up Your Hang Ups 
Sun Touch 
The Traitor

Side Two

Bubbles 
Steppin’ in It 
Heartbeat