Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has issued a new Hybrid Stereo SACD of Earth, Wind & Fire’s classic album “That’s The Way of the World”. The new SACD is an “Audiophile Limited Edition” SACD release which celebrates the 30th Anniversary of both this album and the 1975 movie of the same name starring Harvey Keitel that it was featured in. The disc is also the first in a series of upcoming releases from Sony Music that Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs has licensed for Hybrid Stereo SACD release.
Comments from Mobile Fidelity
Mobile Fidelity describes the new SACD by noting that
Thirty Years ago in March of 1975 the landmark album That’s the Way of the World by Earth, Wind and Fire was released and catapulted the band into super-stardom. That’s the Way of the World features the title track as well as the pop ballad “Reasons”. During the Caribou Ranch recording sessions, Maurice White was so overwhelmed by all the beauty of the stars in the clear mountainous skies of Colorado. It inspired him to write the bands first crossover Number 1 Hit “Shining Star” which White co-wrote with Philip Bailey and Larry Dunn. This Grammy Award-winning album was produced by the bands founder Maurice White and Charles Stepney and engineered by the legendary George Massenburg.
This newly remastered Audiophile Limited Edition will be the first time That’s the Way of the World will be available on Dual Layer Hybrid SACD featuring original master tape transfers on the GAIN 2™ System and available on the ULTRADISC UHR™ Dual Layer Hybrid SACD format.
That’s The Way of the World (30th Anniversary Audiophile Limited Edition)
Earth Wind & Fire
SACD Stereo/CD Stereo
(Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2016)
As noted above, That’s The Way of the World is one of Earth, Wind and Fire’s best known albums. It was the soundtrack of a now out-of-print movie of the same name that featured the group as well as Harvey Keitel. The first 8 cuts on the album were on the original 1975 edition of this album while the 5 bonus tracks first appeared on a 1999 re-release of the album on Sony’s Columbia Legacy Records label.
The Stereo SACD tracks on the new album provide a new appreciation of the songs on the disc. Of particular note is Track 7 (Africano) which features some excellent Stereo imaging and transient response. The 5 bonus tracks on the disc also provide a different spin on some familiar favorites including a bossa nova treatment of That’s The Way of the World and a funky deep bass line at the start of Happy Feelin’.
For the new Stereo SACD edition, the album was remastered on the GAIN 2 System with DSD by Mobile Fidelity’s Chief Engineer Shawn Britton. The SACD was made by Sony DADC at their Hybrid SACD replication facility in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Album Selections
- Shining Star
- That’s the Way of the World
- Happy Feelin’
- All About Love
- Yearnin’ Learnin’
- Reasons
- Africano
- See the Light
Bonus Tracks (Original Sketches)
- 9. Shining Star (Future Star)
- 10. All About Love (First Impression)
- 11. Happy Feelin’ (Anatomy of a Groove)
- 12. Caribou Chaser (Jazzy Jam)
- 13. That’s The Way of the World (Latin Expression)
Availability
The new 30th Anniversary Hybrid Stereo SACD edition of That’s The Way of The World is now available at music stores such as Tower Records. You’ll find it in the regular CD music section at Tower Records rather than in the Audiophile – SACD section of the store. It is also available at web sites that carry Super Audio CD releases including Acoustic Sounds, CD Universe, Elusive Disc and Music Direct.
3 More Sony Music Classic Albums Coming to SACD Disc
While That’s The Way of the World is kicking off the Mobile Fidelity SACD series from Sony Music’s vaults, there are 3 more Super Audio CD discs coming in the weeks ahead. Included will be classic titles by The Byrds, Blood, Sweat & Tears and The Edgar Winter Group. These should also be worth the wait.
Mobile Fidelity Mono/Stereo SACD – October 18, 2005 Release
- The Byrds – Mr. Tambourine Man (Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2014)
Mobile Fidelity Stereo SACD – October 18, 2005 Releases
- Blood, Sweat & Tears – Blood, Sweat & Tears (Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2009)
- Edgar Winter Group – They Only Come Out At Night (Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2011)