An Audiophile Go-To!
The Record You Grab When You Want To Show Off Your System!
All-Time Classic Performances And Recordings By All-Time Great Female Singers
Each Track Selected By Acoustic Sounds Owner Chad Kassem
Lacquers Cut By Kevin Gray
Pressed At Quality Record Pressings On 200-gram vinyl
Packaged In A Gatefold, Deluxe, Stoughton Tip-On Jacket
Liner Notes By Michael Fremer
“At first, you might think this is simply a compilation promoting Analogue Productions’ catalogue, which it does. But they packed it with 22 exalted distaff classics such as Patsy Cline’s original ‘Crazy,’ Julie London’s ‘Cry Me A River,’ and others of that calibre — no fillers. AP’s artists also include Joan Baez, Shelby Lynne, Phoebe Snow, Rickie Lee Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Bryan, Jennifer Warnes, Diana Krall, Janis Ian, Joan Armatrading, Judy Collins and Holly Cole, so this really is A-list stuff. Best of all? You get two of the greatest performances ever: Dusty Springfield’s ‘Son Of A Preacher Man’ and yes, ‘The Look Of Love.’ This isn’t just a taster for AP: it’s a phenomenal package by any standards.” — Sound Quality = 90% – Ken Kessler, HiFi News Album Choice for October 2019
“(Kevin) Gray has few peers and the two-LP set is as sharp a calling card as exists for experiencing how good older recordings can be made to sound when the care and skill of an exceptional mastering engineer is at the helm. If this album doesn’t make your stereo sound fantastic, don’t blame it on the LPs!” — Music = 4.5/5; Sound = 5/5; Pressing = 5/5; Jacket = 3/5 — Dennis Davis, vinylreviews.com, August 2018
“Humungous conflict of interest alert! I wrote this compilation’s liner notes and created the 22 song track order. … The sources all were high-resolution files, some DSD, some PCM, depending upon what (Chad) Kassem was originally given in the digital domain, or in most cases what Gus Skinas produced in DSD using the original analog tapes. … This double LP set works well as entertainment and as a great sampler of the LPs mostly released by Analogue Productions and mostly AAA (where there’s tape to begin with). You can’t go wrong.” — Music = 10/11; Sound = 10/11 – Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com. Read the whole review here.
I’ve been doing this (cherry picking great recordings for reissue) for a long time, and I think I’ve got a good idea of what audiophiles like to hear. This is all of your female vocal demo cuts in one place.” — Chad Kassem, Acoustic Sounds owner
Female vocalists have forever been celebrated by audiophiles and music lovers alike. Whether the delivery is delicate or bombastic, a great female vocal well-recorded is just so sensuous. It’s the genre that most often typifies the potential of hi-fi and what it can do to engage our emotions. It’s no wonder the hallways of any hi-fi show will be resonating with the sounds of sparsely-arranged recordings of great women singers. It’s the genre that best shows off the systems that manufacturers and dealers are trying to sell.
Now, you can have all of those best demo tracks on one record. Show stoppers by Julie London, Diana Krall, Rickie Lee Jones, Nina Simone, Janis Ian, Phoebe Snow, Jennifer Warnes, Dusty Springfield, Shelby Lynne and many more. Every single track is an audiophile demo classic. Drop the needle and drop your friend’s jaw!
Michael Fremer, of AnalogPlanet.com and Stereophile Magazine, walks you through each track and its historic place with very thorough and entertaining liners.
Plating and pressing was done at Quality Record Pressings.
Ever have that moment where you want to really light up your system — either for a late-night session by yourself or for when you’ve got company — and you don’t want to keep changing records to keep the hit parade going? This record ends that issue. You’ve only got to make one selection.
