Little Feat Albums We’ve Reviewed
How does the MoFi pressing sound?
We have no idea; we’ve never bothered to order one, for at least one very good reason. This is an album about rhythm.
Half-Speed mastered records have sloppy bass and, consequently, lack rhythmic drive.
Who is his right mind would want to half-speed master an album by Little Feat, one of the most rhythmically accomplished bands in rock and roll history?
The obvious answer is that it was a bad idea. But, if you’re Mobile Fidelity, and that’s the only idea you’ve ever had because you are in the half-speed mastering business, then what else can you do?
As the old saying goes, to a hammer everything looks like a nail.
OUR PREVIOUS HOT STAMPER COMMENTARY
Folks, this is no demo disc by any means, but the later pressings strip away the two qualities that really make this music work and bring it to life: Tubey Magic and Big Bass. This side two has both in SPADES.
Listen to how breathy and transparent the chorus is on the first track. Now layer that sound on top of a fat and punchy bottom end and you have the formula for Little Feat Magic at its funky best. This is the sound they heard in the control room, of that I have no doubt, and it is all over this side two. No side of any copy we played was better.
Personally
The All Music Guide (and lots of other critics) think this is Little Feat at their best. With tracks such as Two Trains, Dixie Chicken, Fat Man in the Bathtub and Roll Um Easy, who’s gonna disagree!? (I guess I am. I prefer Waiting for Columbus and The Last Record Album but cannot deny that Dixie Chicken is probably the best of the albums that came before them.)
Some Relevant Commentaries
A Technological Fix for a Non-Existent Problem
How to Make All Your Records Sound Like Mobile Fidelity Pressings – For Free!
A Half-Speed that Actually Beats Most Originals
Adding 10k Was a Dumb Idea, But They Did It Anyway
Half-Speed Stamper Variations Are Real
Where Did All the Musical Information Go?
Why Is This Album So Compressed?
This Beatles’ Albums Are Consistently Spittier on Mobile Fidelity – Why Is That?
Head to Head It’s No Contest
Visit our Hall of Shame (300+ strong) to see what, in our opinion, are some of the worst sounding records ever made.
Note that most of the entries are audiophile remasterings of one kind or another.
The reason for this is simple: we’ve gone through the all-too-often unpleasant experience of comparing them head to head with our best Hot Stamper pressings.
When you can hear them that way, up against an exceptionally good record, their flaws become that much more obvious and, frankly, that much more intolerable.
FURTHER READING
Half-Speed Mastered Mediocrities
Half-Speed Masters – The Complete List
To learn more about records that sound dramatically better than any Half-Speed ever made (with one rare exception, John Klemmer’s Touch), please consult our FAQs, found here: