Chicago Transit Authority

Chicago’s 1969 debut album on Hybrid Stereo SACD! Mastered from original master tapes!

1969 double-album debut broke the ground for rock, pop, and jazz fusion

Mastered from the original master tapes: Longtime audiophile favorite now possesses reference-caliber separation, tonalities, balance

As the 1960s prepared to give way to the ’70s, a myriad of artists explored the idea of fusing together several seemingly disparate styles. Yet no band bridged so many gaps and did so with such precision, vision, and skill as Chicago. One of the only groups to ever release a debut filled with such ambition, greatness, and enthusiasm that it got the go-ahead to make a double-album, the ensemble parlayed jazz, classical, rock, and pop elements into an eclectic blend that appealed equally to both mainstream tastes as well as hardcore music aficionados. The set also launched the ongoing career of the second-most commercially successful American rock band in history.

Mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity’s Hybrid Stereo SACD lavishes Chicago Transit Authority with a clarity, transparency, and detail no previous digital edition has ever enjoyed. Pulling back the curtain on the recordings, this collector’s version exponentially expands the soundstaging dimensions, imaging proportions, and dynamic information, allowing the songs to breathe and enjoy a roominess that enhances the stellar interplay and complex arrangements. Everything from tautly sculpted material such as “Listen” to the adventurous, free-form 14-plus-minute “Liberation” emerges anew, anchored by lifelike tonalities, full-range frequency responses, and stellar balances.