B-52's, The - The B-52's [LP] Limited Audiophile Vinyl, Numbered (Mobile Fidelity)

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 Audio Beat Rated 4.5/5 Music, 4.5/5 Sound!

Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 152/500!

Numbered, Limited Edition! Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's World-Renowned Mastering System and Pressed at RTI!

The B-52’s The B-52’s on Numbered Limited Edition LP from Mobile Fidelity Silver Label!

Ranked at #152 on Rolling Stone’s List of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Delightfully Campy, Intentionally Goofy, Lyrically Kitschy: 1979 Set Is Nothing But a Good Time!

Mastered on Mobile Fidelity’s World-Renowned Mastering System and Pressed at RTI (America's Best Record Plant): LP Bursts Forth With the Color and Vibrancy of the Brilliant Pop Within!

Boffo! Beehive hairdos, goofy sci-fi humor, lava-lamp kitsch, thrift-store fashions, party-starting tunes, unconventional perspectives, and the unique blending of the underground aesthetic with mainstream accessibility: The B-52’s mix all this and more into a dizzying cocktail on their self-titled debut, which remains one of the most ahead-of-its-time, endlessly enjoyable, and vividly colorful albums ever released.

Ranked at #152 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, The B-52’s has its roots in the band’s improbable genesis, itself reflective of the record’s gleeful moods and quirky charms. The five members first played after sharing a tropical alcoholic beverage at a Chinese restaurant, the ironic silliness and spontaneous irreverence indicative of the music on its breakthrough record. Not to mention how it mirrors the unusual hodgepodge of instrumentation: organs, walkie talkies, bongos, glockenspiels, tambourines, toy pianos, smoke alarms, and more!

Musically, the band proves just as adventurous and whimsical. Using pleasant harmonies as a backdrop and Kate Pierson’s squealing organ as a starting point, the B-52’s draw upon surf-rock grooves, beach-bound soul-pop, herky-jerky funk riffs, minimalist rhythms, and Ricky Wilson’s unusual guitar lines to craft songs that tower above the sarcastic suggestiveness and campy declarations. Of course, the latter are plenty entertaining on their own, but there’s no denying the dance-bound persuasiveness and melodic shimmy associated with the classic cult single “Rock Lobster” and splendid cover of the ubiquitous Petula Clark standard “Downtown.” You’ve never heard anything like this.

Indeed, the B-52s were about a decade ahead of the alt-rock revolution when they recorded this delightfully campy, intentionally goofy, lyrically tawdry, and undeniably harmonic 1979 new-wave set that comes off as the best dance party you might ever hear. This is 40 minutes of nothing but a good time.

Mastered on Mobile Fidelity’s world-renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI (America's best record plant), Silver Label numbered limited edition LP presents the B-52’s brilliant debut in a fidelity it’s never previously enjoyed. So detailed and realistic are the timbres, accents, and harmonies, you’ll think the band’s bright outfits are appearing right in front of you. Plus, the LP is worth the cost alone for the iconic album cover, which spotlights those bouffant ‘dos.

About Silver Series: Coming from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, the MoFi Silver Label Vinyl Series features an eclectic mix of recordings. This series is mastered and cut on the famous Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab state-of-the-art Tim de Paravacini-designed mastering system. Vinyl is pressed at RTI on audiophile-grade standard vinyl and are numbered limited-editions. Future releases will continue to stretch stylistic boundaries, as the MoFi Silver Label continues to explore music from many different genres. Expand your musical horizons with the Silver Label!

"The B-52's' debut sounds like a bunch of high school friends cramming all their running jokes, goofy sounds and private nicknames into a New Wave record. "We never thought it would get past our circle of friends in Athens [Georgia]," vocalist Fred Schneider told Rolling Stone. It turned out that nobody could resist the band's campy, arty funk, or the eccentric squeals and bouffant hairdos of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson. (Playing organ, Pierson also defined the band's sound.) They played toy instruments, and their thrift-store image was as inventive and colorful as their music —which, with "Rock Lobster," was pretty inventive and colorful." - www.rollingstone.com

"The B-52s sounds as otherworldly today as it did when it was released over 30 years ago. It's a dizzying, headlong ride without brakes, a melange of dance beats, surf guitar licks, vocals that teeter between news-anchor recitation and near-falsetto warbling, and an array of instruments that includes glockenspiel and toy piano, all filtered through a campy sense of humor. Beginning to end, there is nothing else quite like it... Each instrumental line of this busy music is supremely delineated, and the bass is quick-paced and potent." - Mark Mickelson, theaudiobeat.com, 4.5/5 Music, 4.5/5 Sound


Features:
• Limited Edition
• Numbered
• MoFi Silver Label Vinyl Series
• Mastered and Cut on the famous MoFi Sound Lab state-of-the-art Tim de Paravacini-designed mastering system.
• Pressed at RTI on Audiophile-Grade Standard Vinyl

Selections:
1. Planet Claire
2. 52 Girls
3. Dance This Mess Around
4. Rock Lobster
5. Lava
6. There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)
7. Hero Worship
8. 6060-842
9. Downtown

 

2011 Mobile Fidelity