Carly Simon’s 1971 sophomore album ‘Anticipation’ arrives in definitive form this May. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has announced a strictly limited 180g 45RPM 2LP reissue of the gold-certified classic, sourced from the original master tapes and pressed to just 3,000 numbered copies. It marks the first time ‘Anticipation’ has been presented in audiophile-grade 45RPM sound, and it’s available to order May 1.
The reissue was sourced from the original quarter-inch/15 IPS Dolby A analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket. The wider grooves of the 45RPM format bring out the full richness of the album’s spare soft guitars, mellow orchestration, and dreamy melodies, with Andy Newmark’s drumming sounding dynamic and balanced throughout, and Simon’s vocal investment in every lyric rendered with genuine intimacy.
Released before the singer-songwriter movement reached full bloom, ‘Anticipation’ stands as a courageous, deeply personal statement. Simon drew from her own experiences, including her relationship with Cat Stevens in the lead-up to recording, crafting songs of honesty, romantic yearning, and hard-won identity. The Grammy-nominated title track, written in just 15 minutes while Simon waited for Stevens to pick her up for a date, captures the record’s core in one extraordinary song. From the soulful “Legend in Your Own Time” to her cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “I’ve Got to Have You,” the album’s emotional directness remains remarkable more than 50 years on.
Simon would reach international fame with ‘No Secrets,’ but as this reissue makes clear, the rest of the world was simply catching up. Limited to 3,000 copies, order opens May 1.
‘Anticipation’ Track Listing:
Side One:
Anticipation
Legend in Your Own Time
Side Two:
Our First Day Together
The Girl You Think You See
Summer’s Coming Around Again
Side Three:
Share the End
The Garden
Side Four:
Three Days
Julie Through the Glass
I’ve Got to Have You