Search - Debbie Jacobs :: Undercover Lover

This is a classic disco album that's unfortunately butchered

Music Fan Jeff | San Francisco, CA United States | 10/17/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"How disappointed I was when I finally got this disc and put it in my player. My first clue that this was a shoddy release was the quality of the graphics. The blacks in the cover art have an odd uneveness to them. I would not be surprised to learn that the disc inserts (which only include the back card and front cover; no liner notes or other photos included) were printed on a home printer by whomever is running this "getdisconnected" label.



When the first note of "Undercover Lover" began, I immediately thought that perhaps I had not listened carefully. How could it be that part of the first note could be cut off? So I hit the "back up" button on my cd player remote and discovered that, in fact, the first note is slightly truncated.



I was listening with a friend who doesn't even know the title track of this album that well, though he did recently buy the original 45 rpm single after I played him my copy of the 12" single. We both quickly noticed that the tape (or turntable, since I'm not actually convinced that this cd came from a master tape) used to source the cd was running fast.



Only 30 seconds into playing this cd and I was already lamenting having purchased. I continued playing the title track and was unimpressed with the sound quality. If this was taken from a master tape, the EQ choices used in the remastering were poor. This cd sounds much more "thin" than the original vinyl and, though I didn't think it possible, sounds worse than the title track does on an early Unidisc label compilation I have that is notorious for marginal sound quality. I would not be surprised to learn that this cd was sourced from vinyl and processed using consumer level computer tools to attempt to mask the noise from the vinyl playback. (This would also explain the truncation of the first note.) Even if this cd is vinyl sourced, the quality of the cartridge used and/or the EQ choices were poor since good vinyl playback is much, much better than what's delivered here.



The kicker for me was that when the title track was ending, I got the feeling that it was faded early. I'll have to check it out again later to be certain, but the fade certainly didn't match my memory.



If you're interested in this cd, you probably already have the vinyl lp. If you do already have the vinyl lp, don't bother with this cd. Perhaps someday Universal Music (which now presumably controls this material having acquired the MCA catalog) will give this a proper cd release. For now, however, the original album is the way to go."

Disco Classic

Music Fan | Washington, DC | 06/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Undercover Lover" and "Don't You Want My Love" were Number 1 Disco Hits back in the day. They still hold up today. Great release! Buy it, you won't regret it."

Disco doesn't get much better than this

Steven R. Smiss | 08/04/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I disagree with the viewers reviews of this cd. I have an $8000.00 B/O stereo, & I think it sounds great. Much better than all my cds prior to the mid-nineties. Yes the first thing I noticed is that the first beat of Undercover Lover is cut & the songs are slightly shorter. I was a little diappointed, but I've been waiting over 20 years for this cd. This label Has released all the Sabu productions. I feel they'er all impeccable. By the way, Unidisc has always been known for their import quality being better than domestic releases! I highly recommend all these Sabu produced releases."