Behind the Lens

MUSIC
Elvis Costello
Imperial Bedroom
HD Tracks, 24/192 download
Elvis Costello
Some music lovers have multiple pressings
of Dark Side of the Moon; others have
countless copies of favorite Beatles and
Led Zeppelin albums. I won’t call anyone
a bad Smurf for that; I’ve got way too
many copies of Kiss’ Alive! and Elvis
Costello’s Imperial Bedroom. Of course,
the gravitational pull of the latter on the HD
Tracks proved too much to resist (don’t get
me started on the unavailable DSD copy of
the first Boston album) in the 24/192 format.
If you haven’t purchased a title from HD
Tracks in the last few months, you will be
pleased that you no longer need to go out
for sushi or do a load of laundry to pass
the time while the download takes place.
This selection took about five minutes to
complete in 24/192 FLAC. Impressive. More
impressive is that the sound of this remaster
truly sounds like a high-resolution file. HD
Tracks has been taken to task in the past
for merely upsampling CD-resolution files,
a charge they repeatedly deny while stating
they only use what has been supplied by
record companies. This time, Costello lovers
will strike gold. The download even sounds
a bit livelier than the excellent, recent version
on Mobile Fidelity vinyl.
By comparison, the standard Columbia
LP and CD sound dreadfully flat and lifeless.
The 1982 Japanese CD (if you can find one)
possesses more dynamics than the original,
yet remains somewhat flat tonally and has
a small soundstage. Dark Side of the Moon
it isn’t. While all versions but the MoFi LP
lack bass weight, the HD Tracks download
boasts power and texture, tremendously
adding to the music’s impact. Still, the biggest
overall improvement comes via the lowlevel
detail now available. Every cut is awash
in sparkle and texture, with backing vocal,
guitar, and keyboard bits all previously inaudible.
The decay in the bells at the end of
“Human Hands” is lovely.
The Tidal download is flat and lacks
pace. It also suffers from weak bass and a
one-dimensional quality barely better than
the original pre-recorded cassette tape.
Honestly, in terms of palpability, the cassette
doesn’t sound half bad, but that’s crazy talk.
Should Imperial Bedroom be near the
top of your favorites, Costello’s five-star masterpiece
finally has the sonics it deserves.
And it’s only minutes away from your server.
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