Jackson Browne: Late For The Sky

Late for the Sky was Jackson Browne’s third studio album and most successful to that point in his career, reaching number 14 on Billboard’s Pop Albums chart. The album contains eight songs, of which five are longer than five minutes, which was uncommon for the era. The album’s namesake song was used in Martin Scorsese’s highly successful and controversial film Taxi Driver.

The album was voted number 594 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums and ranked number 372 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Late for the Sky is considered by many to be Browne’s "masterpiece".

Unfortunately, the mastering and subsequent vinyl pressing of many of Jackson Browne’s albums are notoriously poor. Besides the vinyl being noisy, the dynamic range is typically lacking, as is sound separation and detail.

The 2018 reissue of Late for the Sky is slightly better than many past reissues. The vinyl is quieter than most, however, it requires a good cleaning to get it where it needs to be to not be a distraction. The lack of dynamic range, sound separation and detail are still an issue, which may always be an issue due to the poor source quality. That is unless the original master becomes the source. Then, we may experience a difference.

If you’re a fan of this album, you may find it to be better than most. The experience may include a few pops and cracks, but you might that to be acceptable given the improvements in dynamic range and separation. 💵

💰 Invest
 💵 Consider
💸 Pass