Janis Ian’s Breaking Silence was released in 1992. It contains very personal songs, the title is to be taken literally. Janis had gone through a few years of illness and financial fraud and after her coming-out about it she recorded this record. At that moment she thought she was going to get only one chance to state what she wanted, so (and I cite) “I wanted to make it count”.
“His Hands” deals with spousal abuse, “Breaking Silence” with incest, “Tattoo” with the Holocaust. Check out her website if you like to learn more, also for the lyrics.
I love this record. It is honest, forthright, emotional. It is also very very well recorded and I don’t know about the original pressing but the 180 gr Analogue Productions version I have (mastered by Bob Ludwig) is excellent. But be warned: technically it goes to the limit! It can be a killer for phono cartridges and preamps. To be honest it was quite revealing while designing the PW1 and taught us a lot.
For a description of the challenges this recording poses I’ll quote the words John French (Jay Jay) from his PW1 review as I couldn’t have said it better:
“… I have rarely, if ever, heard an album with such dynamic range and clarity. It is a real workout for any cartridge and especially any phono stage. Differentiating the bottom end sonics—separating the bass guitar and the slide bass— is a real phono preamp test. The Pass again sounded just fine until I connected the PW1. Tonal separation, especially in the bottom region, was simply far better defined through the PW1. Both units reproduced vocals with similar sonic excellence, however.”
Let me add that side 2 of this LP seems to be even slightly louder / more dynamic than side 1. Especially track 2 (“This Train Still Runs”) appears to have peaks almost 3 dB heavier modulated than elsewhere. Note that the CD is fine too, but it seems slightly more polished.
Finally, if Janis’ voice does not sound caressing, velvety (except when she cries out, of course), with lots of air surrounding her, you have work to do…..
Peter van Willenswaard
