Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle – One From the Heart ( 180g LP)

Label: Mobile Fidelity – MFSL 1-448 – 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl – AAA 100% Analogue

Mastered by Kreig Wunderlich from the Original Master tape

AAA 100% Analogue – Numbered Limited Edition

Half Speed Mastered on the Mobile Fidelity The Gain 2 Ultra Analog System

This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only, from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head

2017 Stereophile Magazine Record to Die For!

The Absolute Sound Super Disc List TAS Harry Pearson Super LP List

Sound 90% HIFI News – thanks to this releases sound quality and genius juxtaposition of Waits with Gayle
Mobile Fidelity’s pressing of One from the Heart sounds so impressively deep and large that the CD sounds flat by comparison. Greg Cohen’s bass has so much more low-end force that it ends up sounding tame on CD. The textural qualities of Waits’s voice are more focused, giving his performances greater emotional force: He sounds more regretful in “I Beg Your Pardon,” more wistful in “Little Boy Blue.” Gayle’s vocal technique is also clearer here, as are the expressive qualities of her singing. One from the Heart was very well recorded, and the CD captures much of the richness of the sound, but Krieg Wunderlich’s mastering for the MoFi LP gives even more life to the music, and the larger soundstage gives it a grander presentation. The nuances of the horns’ sounds are rendered much more powerfully — Jack Sheldon’s trumpet is fuller and has timbral accuracy, and Teddy Edwards’ tenor sax is sharper and grittier. Both instruments have a holographic impact that puts them in the room with me – Soundstage
One From the Heart ranks among the best soundtracks in history. Essential for any Tom Waits or Crystal Gayle devotee, it sets an example of what’s not only possible, but should be expected and demanded, when two likeminded artists collaborate. Heartstrings are tugged, passions kindled and lost, sentiments exchanged, skeletons dragged out of closets, seasons changed, romantic truisms cited. And its wide-open sound is supreme, the result of most tracks being recorded live in the studio, free of after-effects and interference.
Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g LP presents the Academy Award-nominated One From the Heart in stunning sonic relief. You’ll be able to gauge the signature tones of the guitars and hear inside the cavity of Waits’ piano. Perhaps most importantly, Gayle and Waits’ voices now sound just feet away, with your room converted into the world’s coolest late-night lounge. Spatial cues, background accents, and studio dimensions emerge with striking realism.
Inspired by a track Waits cut with Bette Midler on his Foreign Affairs effort, One From the Heart overflows with simpatico chemistry, poignant contrast, elegant atmospherics, and awestruck intimacy. On their four vocal duets, Gayle and Waits inhabit the personas of a man and woman breaking apart yet sharing common bonds. Their singing plumbs emotional depths that traverse melancholy, sensuality, and understanding. Made before Waits’ baritone turned into a deep, gravel-laden instrument, the songs are more smoke than whiskey, more piano-man empathy than hipster growler.
Written by Waits, the music occupies a common ground between laidback small-combo jazz, lounge pop, and downbeat blues. Classy string orchestrations abet a crack ensemble comprised of saxophonist Terry Edwards, drummer Shelly Manne, pianist Pete Jolly, bassist Greg Cohen, and others. The arrangements seamlessly melt into both vocalists’ leads, allowing every note-every piano clink, acoustic bass ripple, brushed snare drum-to register with utmost magnitude.
Experienced on stunning soliloquy pieces such as Gayle’s mournful ballad “Is There Any Way Out of This Dream?” and back-and-forth collaborative efforts like the breakup take “Picking Up After You,” beautiful instrumentation, spacious production, and flawless vocal phrasing take hold. You can picture the broken dreams exiting out the side doors of the dim bars and abandoned houses that pepper the narratives. Renowned for his sad songs, Waits has never been in better form, the goodbye fare clicking with unflinching honesty and personality.