James Taylor - Hourglass Album

James Taylor's best album since the early 70's, finally on Vinyl; but is it a hit or miss?
Even though I’m not an aficionado I have longed for this release since I sold my CD collection in 2005 and 2006. The music in itself is very good; but primary the original CD was also very well mastered and mixed and a great one to use when comparing and listening to different systems.

This release has been promoted by Analog Spark as “the best” when it comes to the soundstage; pressing and packaging (Just read the sticker on the shrink wrap!). So you are more than tempted to intentionally inspect and listen closely to the record rather than enjoying the music – and this is actually the most disturbing thing about this release – it is treated as a super Hi-Fi record, pushing the bass and vocals up front and forgetting the music a bit. My review of each component of the record will follow below.

The Packing:

The first noticeable thing about the packing is the very slack shrink-wrap. It’s the same kind that Mobile Fidelity are using and the main problem with this kind of wrap is that the record cannot be kept in the shrink unless your intention is to use it as an outer-plastic sleeve. This means that the sticker needs to be cut off from the wrap and saved separately

The jacket is made out of really thick American cardboard (completed with the wonderful smell of late 60’s American releases). The problem is that the paper inside the gatefold gets really strained and as soon as you open it wide it will crack. Otherwise it’s a very nice looking sleeve and delivering on the promise of being a high-quality sleeve.

The inner sleeves are plain anti-static plastic sleeve, similar to the ones MOFI are using. The main problem with these inners together with a very stiff outer jacket is that the record moves alot during transit – causing seamsplits. All of my new MOFIs are split and this release from Analog Spark is no exception. This IS awfully annoying and many of you who purchase this release will be experiencing this.

The Master and soundstage:

This is where the original CD excelled. It was musical but also very likable when it came to Hi-Fi. The main problem this time around is that Analog Spark and their mastering engineer has treated this release as super Hi-fi record – losing some of its original musicality. So ask yourself, do you listen to Hi-fi or music? If the answer is the later, choose the CD.

The first thing you will notice is wonderful separation, great middles and highs; but also a VERY projecting bass. It’s very deep-toned and the lower frequencies are felt like an earth-quake in the floor even on low volumes. So if you intend to crank the volume up you might need to alarm the neighbors. Some songs in particular are very bass-heavy – like “jump up behind me”, almost making it distracting at times. The good thing though is that for the first time I am really hearing how extremely tight the band is playing; and when Edgar Meyers is playing the acoustic bass everything falls into place. There is also a BIG miss in A2 where the bassdrum in the intro is distorted on 2 places!!! Aside from this the pressing is dead-silent.

Verdict:
I would say that it’s somewhere between hit and miss… If you’re a Hi-Fi specialist you would like to own this release for Gaia and Ananas alone. If I would like to enjoy the music I would listen to the original CD. That’s my personal opinion.