| October 1998
by Marc Mickelson
Of course, great sound alone can’t carry a recording -- at least not in my listening room -- and Dad Loves His Work showcases Taylor at his most grounded and, as the title suggests, utterly self-assured in his craft. The songs are diverse, from the bittersweet "Her Town Too" with vocals by Taylor and J.D. Souther, to the infectiously happy "Summer’s Here." I am especially fond of the historical chronicle "Sugar Trade," a subject Taylor treats with insight, never sounding overly sentimental. And on the a cappella opening to "That Lonesome Road," you can pick out the individual performers in the soundstage and even have fun figuring out where the two most famous voices, those of Taylor and Jennifer Warnes, reside. MoFi’s remastered version of Dad Loves his Work is a gift to audiophiles and music lovers. If MoFi were to give Taylor’s Flag, one of my guilty pleasures, the same treatment, I’d be the first in line to buy it (hint, hint). GO BACK TO: |
James
Taylor - Dad Loves His Work
![[Reviewed on Gold CD]](../format/goldcd.gif)
No amount
of money spent on your audio system can accomplish what
Mobile Fidelity has with James Taylor’s Dad Loves
His Work. They’ve taken an enjoyable but
dark-sounding recording and turned it into a disc you can
use to demonstrate your audio system -- or just listen to
over and over again. The music is great -- Dad Loves
His Work is my favorite James Taylor recording -- but
the remastering job is amazing. I’ve owned
both the original LP and Columbia/Sony CD, but
MoFi’s gold CD is full of nuance that I never
noticed in the thick mix of the originals. Air has always
been a problem with Dad, but not with the MoFi
remaster. And perhaps an even greater improvement is the
bottom end, which is deep and taut where it used
to be overripe and diffuse. Dynamic contrasts are greatly
improved, as are overall resolution and tonality --
Taylor has rarely been in better voice than on Dad
Loves His Work. But you’ll never know it unless
you break free from the shackles of the far inferior
regular issue to hear the MoFi version.