Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (MOFI Silver Label, Ultra Analog, Half-speed Mastering, 140g)
ORDER LIMITED TO ONE ITEM PER CUSTOMER
Cyndi Lauper – lead vocals, backing vocals, arrangements
Rob Hyman – keyboards, backing vocals, arrangements (A1-2, A4-B6)
Richard Termini – synthesizers
Peter Wood – synthesizers
Eric Bazilian – arrangements (A1, A2, A4-B6), melodica, guitars, bass, saxophone (B6), backing vocals
Rick DiFonzo – guitars
Neil Jason – guitars, bass
William Wittman – guitars, arrangements (A3)
Anton Fig – drums, percussion
Rick Chertoff – percussion, arrangements
Krystal Davis – backing vocals
Ellie Greenwich – backing vocals
Jules Shear – backing vocals
Maeretha Stewart – backing vocals
Diane Wilson – backing vocals
1 LP, gatefold jacket
Limited numbered edition
Original analog Master tape : Silver Label (Copy of original Mastertape)
Gain 2 Ultra Analog
Record Press : RTI
Label : MOFI
Original Label : Portrait
Recorded May–August 1983 at Record Plant, New York City
Engineered & mixed by : William Wittman
Produced by Rick Chertoff
Originally released in 1983
Reissued in 2012
Money Changes Everything
She Bop
All Through The Night
I'll Kiss You
He's So Unusual
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 487/500
1000 Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die - Ranked 523
"Mobile Fidelity has done a superb job here, revealing a lot of interesting detail, promoting three dimensionality and warmth without covering up the embedded processing. Lauper's voice has never sounded more intact, with the processing seeming to ride well on top of her voice, instead of hopelessly polluting it. Clarity, dynamics, instrumental separation, every aspect of the production has been spruced up without making it sound like an unwanted historical revision." - Michael Fremer, www.analogplanet.com
"One of the great new wave/early MTV records, She's So Unusual is a giddy mix of self-confidence, effervescent popcraft, unabashed sentimentality, subversiveness, and clever humor. In short, it's a multifaceted portrait of a multifaceted talent, an artist that's far more clever than her thin, deliberately girly voice would indicate. Then again, Lauper's voice suits her musical persona, since its chirpiness adds depth, or reconfigures the songs, whether it's the call to arms of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" or the tearjerking "Time After Time." Lauper is at her very best on the first side, all of which were singles or received airplay, and this collection of songs -- "Money Changes Everything," "Girls," "When You Were Mine," "Time," "She Bop," "All Through the Night" -- is astonishing in its consistency, so strong that it makes the remaining tracks -- all enjoyable, but rather pedestrian -- charming by their association with songs so brilliantly alive. If Lauper couldn't maintain this level of consistency, it's because this captured her persona better than anyone could imagine -- when a debut captures a personality so well, let alone a personality so tied to its time, the successive work can't help but pale in comparison. Still, when it's captured as brightly and brilliantly as it is here, it does result in a debut that retains its potency, long after its production seems a little dated." AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Ultra Analog™ : The GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ Series stems from the use of the Gain 2 system, mastered at half speed from the original master tapes where possible, capturing and uncovering as before undiscovered sonic information.
Half-speed mastering. In half-speed mastering, the whole process is slowed down to half of the original speed. A typical 33 1/3 rpm record is cut at 16 2/3 rpm. The source material is also slowed down (reducing the pitch in the process) meaning the final record will still sound normal when played back. Slowing the whole process down allows more time, which means the end result sounds better and is more efficient — allowing engineering to minimize the effects of inherent limitations within the vinyl format. The result is a more accurate and more open high-frequency response in the half speed vinyl when compared with a normal speed recording.
Ratings :
AllMusic : 3,5 / 5 , Discogs : 4,09 / 5 , Michael Fremer Rated 8/11 Music, 8/11 Sound