More of the Music of Loggins and Messina
- L&M’s 1974 release comes to life on this vintage copy with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER on both sides – fairly quiet vinyl too
- A surprisingly dynamic, well-recorded album – with Demo Disc quality sound – and a personal favorite from way back
- I can’t recall another pop or rock recording that better captures both the plucked energy and the harmonic nuances of the mandolin
- Never a band to find favor with the critics, even AllMusic had to concede that the album was “Elegantly, tastefully accomplished.”
- If I were to compile a list of my favorite rock and pop albums from 1974, this album would definitely be on it
- Mother Load is one of the records that helped us dramatically improve the quality of our playback, along with scores of others you can read about here on the blog.
This superb Hot Stamper pressing of L&M’s fourth release demonstrates pretty convincingly just how well-recorded this album is! The bottom end is tight and punchy, and the clarity and transparency are truly off-the-charts.
When Jim Messina rips into his mandolin solo halfway through “Be Free,” your jaw is likely to hit the ground. On the better copies, it positively leaps out of the left speaker. I can’t recall another pop or rock recording that captures either the plucked energy or the harmonic nuances of the instrument better. To hear such a well-recorded mandolin on a copy of this quality is nothing less than a thrillL.
This copy gives us full-bodied pianos; rich, lively vocals, full of presence and brimming with enthusiasm; harmonically-rich guitars, mandolins, dobros and the like, as well as a three-dimensional soundstage that reveals the space around them all.
