Derek And The Dominoes - Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs VINYL LP 2LP MFSL 2-470
Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's 180g 2LP set exposes the brilliance of Tom Dowd's original production and the scope of the virtuoso musicians' playing. You've never been closer to the aching vocals, stinging leads, tormented emotions, or wowing intensity that grace every track. Clapton's tones emerge with unprecedented soulfulness. Afforded its own space in the mix, Allman's slide guitar passages crackle with urgency. All-important sonic components such as soundstaging, imaging, and dynamics transport you to the actual event.
Then, of course, there's the title track – crowned the 27th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone. What to say about the outro – arguably the most famous, passionately penetrating, visceral, double-edged guitar solo in history. Clapton's strings weeping with longing, hope, regret, unrequited love. It deserves the best-possible sonic platform, and receives it here, on a pressing that brings Slowhand's every finger moment into great relief. Get inside Clapton's head, burrow into the conflicted emotions fluttering in his heart as he pines for another man's wife, and in the process, produces an album that forever lives in the souls of anyone who's ever loved and lost.
Clapton's pained yearning permeates everything here. Works such as the swampy "Tell the Truth," the pleading "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?," and blues-drenched "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?" attest to his raw-nerve discomfort, guilt, and desire. He leaves teardrops on the microphone stand and blood on the floor, singing and playing as if his life depends on it and if, by some miracle, the music will serve as both a confessional and apology to Harrison. It's all magnified by Clapton achieving a spiritual and sonic oneness with his band, which matches his high-stakes precision with a rolling, tumbling looseness.
Tracklist
A1 I Looked Away
A2 Bell Bottom Blues
A3 Keep On Growing
A4 Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
B1 I Am Yours
B2 Anyday
B3 Key To The Highway
C1 Tell The Truth
C2 Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?
C3 Have You Ever Loved A Woman
D1 Little Wing
D2 It's Too Late
D3 Layla
D4 Thorn Tree In The Garden
