Pixies – Doolittle [Stereo] (Mobile Fidelity GAIN 2 Series Half-Speed Mastered Edition)

(AAA) — Lacquers cut from the original analog master tapes at half speed by Rob LoVerde at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.

La La Love It: Pixies Doolittle Paved the Way for Alt-Rock Explosion, Regularly Ranked Among the Greatest Albums of All Time

Mastered from the Original Master Tapes: Mobile Fidelity's Numbered-Edition 180g 33RPM LP of Remains the Sonic Standard of This Classic

1/2" / 30 IPS analog master to analog console to lathe

More than three decades removed from its original release, the Pixies’ 1989 sophomore record, Doolittle, remains among the best and most important albums ever made. The accolades span continents. Q magazine declared the rock landmark as one of the 100 Greatest Albums Ever. Mojo inducted the record into its Hall of Fame. Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain cited it as a primary influence. Most prestigiously, Rolling Stone placed Doolittle high on its highly regarded 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, where the hyper-melodic record landed ahead of familiar classics by the likes of dozens of household-name artists.

Mobile Fidelity is proud to honor this distinguished effort with a sonic treatment that presents Doolittle as it was always meant to be heard. Mastered from the original master tapes, the label's numbered-edition 180g 33RPM LP of the cleanly produced record yields see-through clarity, vibrant immediacy, stunning transparency, and tonal punch. Every note and passage is greatly improved and properly scaled, be it vocal textures, life-size drum beats, or the multitude of musical elements that, on previous incarnations of the record, went unheard.

Need examples? Check out leader Black Francis and bassist Kim Deal’s back-and-forth gasps on “Gouge Away,” the solar-plexus-hitting guitar effects on the anything-but “Tame,” and atmospheric vibes on “Wave of Mutilation.” Of course, the content is deserving of the brilliant sound.

Chock full with violent surrealism, religious symbolism, and a head-spinning range of material that encompasses atomic pop, theatrical country and western, abrasive post-punk, and giddy surf rock, the record is a synthesis of contagious tunefulness and linguistic wit. If that’s not enough, fits of romance, humor, and glee balance the addictively fun narratives of now-standard tunes such as “Here Comes Your Man,” “Debaser,” and “Monkey Gone to Heaven.”

(Above description from MusicDirect.com)