Prisoner in Disguise Includes Covers of “Love Is a Rose” and “I Will Always Love You”
Reissued at 45RPM for the First Time for Its 50th Anniversary and Elektra 75
Mobile Fidelity 180G 45RPM 2LP Set of 1975 Record
1/4” / 15 IPS Dolby A analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe
If there was any doubt whether Linda Ronstadt would emerge as the premier female vocalist of the 1970s, the question became moot when she dropped Prisoner in Disguise in 1975. Picking up exactly where she left off on Heart Like a Wheel, the singer pairs with the same perfectionist-oriented producer and many of the same session pros on a follow-up in every way the equal of her 1974 breakthrough. The platinum-certified set not only established Ronstadt as an all-time great. It confirmed her as the voice of the decade, a performer the press soon deemed “The First Lady of Rock.”
Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, and reissued to celebrate Elektra 75, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents the Top 5 album with extra groove space via 45RPM speed for the first time. This special 50th anniversary version plays with reference-caliber definition, depth, and dimensionality. The definitive vinyl edition of Prisoner in Disguise, it lifts prior veils that impeded the gorgeous singing and spectacular craftsmanship gracing the 11 songs.
The elevated degrees of clarity, presence, and separation exceed those of even Mobile Fidelity’s long-out-of-print 33RPM reissue. Vocals — often the most difficult instrument to faithfully portray — resonate with superb tonality, openness, and naturalism. Here, there’s practically nothing between you and Ronstadt’s whippoorwill deliveries. Her wide-spanning range and varied subtleties — vibrato, hiccups, shivers, falsetto fades — come across with rich, transparent detail. They affirm why Prisoner in Disguise is one of the four consecutive albums she made that sold a million or more copies, making her the first female artist to achieve that feat.
Tracks
Side One:
Love Is a Rose
Hey Mister, That's Me Up on the Jukebox
Roll Um Easy
Side Two:
Tracks of My Tears
Prisoner in Disguise
Side Three:
Heat Wave
Many Rivers to Cross
The Sweetest Gift
Side Four:
You Tell Me That I'm Falling Down
I Will Always Love You
Silver Blue
UPC: 821797260817