Big Brother & The Holding Company - Cheap Thrills

Cheap Thrills on numbered limited edition Hybrid SACD

Quintessential 1968 record a potent mix of psychedelia, blues, folk, and rock

Janis Joplin Delivers cathartic vocal performance on major-label debut!

Includes the powerhouse "Piece of My Heart"

Ranked No. 338 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

In many facets, Big Brother and the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills is the quintessential album to spring from the outcome of the Summer of Love. Best known as Janis Joplin's major-label debut, the 1968 set arrived when the countercultural movement was in full swing and before co-optation, drugs, and violence signaled the fall of the era.

Mobile Fidelity's SACD reissue intensifies the quintet's storied sophomore effort, enhancing airiness, punch, energy, pacing, and dynamics. Joplin's hurricane-force singing reverberates with texture, grittiness, and volume. An arresting array of instrumental colors and tones comes on with clearer separation and depth.

While previous pressings find the band and Joplin's voice in competition with one another for room, both emerge here as distinct entities. Always noted for its rawness, Cheap Thrills sounds as close to live as it gets, an unadulterated portrait of nervy rock n' roll delivered with exuberant enthusiasm and all-out determination. This is music at is most visceral.

1. Combination of the Two

2. I Need a Man to Love

3. Summertime

4. Piece of My Heart

5. Turtle Blues

6. Oh, Sweet Mary

7. Ball and Chain

Be the first to write a review for this item OR just rate it