Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

Simon and Garfunkel — Bridge Over Toubled Water

Limited numbered edition Hybrid SACD

Sourced from the master tapes and housed in mini-gatefold LP packaging

Unifying, soothing, comforting: Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water quickly became the album of an era upon its release in 1970, the benchmark set serving as a beacon of hope and hymn of reassurance during a time marked by polarizing changes, social unrest, uncertain politics, and the dawn of a new era. These uplifting reasons — to say nothing about the gorgeous songwriting, meticulous production, and watershed performances — attest to why it is more relevant than ever in our current climate. Bridge over Troubled Water simultaneously suggests and proves that music heals all wounds and lifts all boats.

Sourced from the original master tapes and housed in mini-LP gatefold-sleeve packaging, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition Hybrid SACD elevates the sonic and emotional impact of this epochal album. You'll enjoy deep-black backgrounds, wide soundstages, pointillist details, and broad dynamics.

Not for nothing is Bridge over Troubled Water one of the finest-sounding albums ever made. Featuring instrumentation helmed by members of Los Angeles' fabled Wrecking Crew as well as multiple choral and string sections, songs took hundreds of hours to complete and involved pioneering recording techniques. Evoking Phil Spector's live "Wall of Sound" approach as well as inventive effects, Bridge over Troubled Water is a triumph of texture, atmosphere, and architecture.

Mobile Fidelity's SACD brings the record's traits to the fore. Whether the reverberation generated by Garfunkel's cassette recorder on "Cecilia," echoing drums captured in a corridor heard throughout "The Boxer," automobile noises peppering "Baby Driver," layers of voices dotting "The Only Living Boy in New York," or echo-chamber percussion on the title track, everything comes across with audiophile-grade accuracy, clarity, and presence.

The best-selling record in the U.S. for several years running, and winner of six Grammy Awards — including nods for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Engineered Recording — Bridge over Troubled Water endures as a staple of accessible sophistication, angelic elegance, effortless singing, unhinged ambition, and therapeutic spirit. Simon and Garfunkel's collaborative ethos and soaring harmonies — combined with reflective narratives centered on the American experience, friendship, romance, and farewells — combine to turn the 11-track work into a paean to resolution, reconciliation, calm, and balance.

Home to the legendary title track graced by Garfunkel's pacifying solo lead vocals as well as the equally famous folk ballad "The Boxer," Peruvian-based "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)," upbeat "Cecilia," and rock 'n' rolling "Baby Driver," Bridge over Troubled Water remains as renowned for its musical diversity as its lyrical poignancy. Moving beyond the templates they'd perfected on four prior albums, Simon and Garfunkel embrace a then-unimaginable swath of styles. Rock, pop, gospel, country, R&B, South American, and jazz strains course throughout the songs, each sparked with bold experiments yet grounded in a well-orchestrated melange of melody, rhythm, and classicism that makes each song feel personal, familiar, and warm.

 

1. Bridge over Troubled Water

2. El Condor Pasa (If I Could)

3. Cecilia

4. Keep the Customer Satisfied

5. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright

6. The Boxer

7. Baby Driver

8. The Only Boy Living in New York

9. You Don't Write Me

10. Bye Bye Love

11. Song for the Asking

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