She was far away and sounded as if she had a burka on over her mouth or something. When it got to 'Lo Siento Mi Vida', the whole song seemed muffled. I started to notice that with the instruments, as well. She was so muffled and her voice completely lacked top end sparkle, and that quality in her voice to cut through was missing.

But on 'If He's Ever Near', I suddenly noticed that it sounded as if Ronstadt's voice was wrapped in a blanket. 'The Tattler' was next and Ronstadt's voice was closer recorded, but a bit more mellow, but nothing all that noticeably bad. I did notice a bit more warmth to go along with the other stuff, but it was a promising start. Ronstadt's voice is back in the mix, but I was focusing on the greater impact, richness and depth of the instruments. In the guitar solo on that song, the initial pluck of the note is felt, not just heard. It was as though already good dynamics were just let loose. And when I heard the kick drum on 'Lose Again', I was pretty floored with its deep impact. I also heard greater depth to the bass, and a more layered, sophisticated soundstage. I immediately heard a much more sophisticated harmonic presentation. After a quick cleaning, I put on the record. So with the Mobile Fidelity release, I was at least expecting something as good. It's not the richest sounding record, nor does it have the deepest soundstage, but it's still close to demo quality, minus the overproduction and processed sound of some of Rondstadt's vocals. Each vocalist is huge and present, each one easy to pick out, all sounding very immediate as if they are in the room (for the most part, but I'll expand on this later).Īll in all, instruments image large and sound natural, albeit a bit thin. On side 2, the a capella 'Rivers Of Babylon' sounds stunning. On 'The Tattler', her vocal sounds quite natural, present and up front, without much reverb. On 'Lose Again', her voice is presented farther back, but again, she cuts through. 'Lo Siento Mi Vida' renders her vocal with a bit too much reverb, but she is easily heard, the top edge of her voice cutting through, and the midrange of her voice still solid. On my original, however, her voice is mostly present and cuts through. In any case, on Hasten Down The Wind, Ronstadt's voice is sometimes fairly simply recorded and, at other times, too processed, oversaturated with reverb. Overall, Running On Empty is a very good sounding album. The instruments sound great, but his voice, at times, sounds somewhat processed (though not on all the songs - certain songs sound quite good, though again, sometimes a bit thin). I have Jackson Browne's 'Running On Empty'. It was the Dynagroove of its day, I suppose. It has been written in this forum about how the Aurex Exciter, whether well-intended, kind of botched the sound. Still, in spite of the Aurex Exciter, or whatever it's called that the vocals were processed through, it's a pretty good sounding album. It's also reasonably extended in the bass and quite extended on top, even a hair bright, but I find that to be consistent with Bernie Grundman's work, particularly his earlier work.

No slouch, right? For a commercial release, it sounds pretty tonally natural, although a bit thin at times, as well as quite dynamic. To me, and I remember when it came out, 'That'll Be The Day' was more of a required hit and, to me, not really in keeping with the rest of the album.Īnyway, I have an original of this and it was mastered by Bernie Grundman. So this album is not one of Ronstadt's lighter albums, and I find that, between the songs, the album photos and her ability to nail every emotional note required of her, it's a very sexy album, too. While I like many of her other albums, this one is less poppy and more dark, partly due to the three Karla Bonoff songs, but you also have Tracy Nelson's 'Down So Low' and Ronstadt's own co-written composition 'Try Me Again', not to mention the Warren Zevon title tune. I just got a new vinyl copy of Mobile Fidelity's release of Linda Ronstadt's 'Hasten Down The Wind'. I'd like to hear from those who have this record, preferably on vinyl, but I suppose those with the digital versions can chime in as well.

Ronstadt cd hasten down the wind