Well, I have to admit that I am a big Livingston Taylor fan. Ever since my freshman year of college when the "Taylor" phenomenon was starting to capture the nation and his first album echoed through the dorm room in 1970, I always searched his music out. His re-emergence in the late '70s led to a "comeback" of sorts, and his concerts, mostly in small clubs, continue to this day to be joyous events. If you have never seen him in person, you should go. You don't need to know any of his songs, it won't matter, you'll still love it.
That being said, this SACD is a disappointment to me, as a Liv fan. First off, I think that this is the weakest of his 16 or so released albums. It's mostly covers of songs he really should not be singing. Some of them make me cringe! Of course, I am not a fan of people singing other peoples "hit" songs. Why bother?
Since this was one of the first DAD titles (now out of print), I would guess that Chesky wanted a "pop" artist to release in 96/24, and since they had already released his "Good Friends" CD (both silver and gold), they commissioned him to record popular songs of the time in HiRez, allowing him to sneak in a few of his own tunes.
Of the non-penned Liv tunes on this disc, the only one I really like is "Fly Away". The rest are not too engaging. His own "I Must Be Doing Something Right" is a fantastic song, but much better heard on his "Our Turn to Dance" CD on Vanguard.
As far as surround goes, it's strictly a front presentation, with very little in the rears. A few tunes use the rears more so than others, but nothing to get excited about.
It's really a shame, I think the artist is great, I think SACD is great, but this combination is very disappointing. It does SOUND good, however, so, with that being said, I'm giving it a 5.
1. Isn't She Lovely
2. First Time Love
3. Hallelujah I Love Her So
4. Fly Away
5. Our Turn To Dance
6. Must Be Doing Something Right
7. The Biggest Part of Me
8. Get Here
9. Baker Street
10. The More I See You
11. The End of the Innocence
12. Never Can Say Good-bye
13. Walkin' My Baby
P.S. Chesky has just released Liv's new CD, titled "Best of Friends", which is a truely worthy disc. However, there seems to be no SACD in sight of this one. It's a shame, because it's a good disc, and the title track is a duet with Carly Simon.