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"Hard At Play" is the sixth studio album by the American band Huey Lewis And The News and was intended to mark the beginning of their association with EMI Records following their separation from the Chrysalis label. "Hard At Play" went gold in the USA and peaked at number 14 in the German album charts. For reasons unknown, however, it remained the only album the band recorded for EMI. Stylistically, "Hard At Play" marked a return to the direct, blues-influenced sound of "Sports" and "Fore!", the band's two most successful releases. The album was recorded and produced by Bill Schnee at the Skywalker Sound studio. Most of the songs were written by outside musicians.
The band was formed in 1979 through the merger of members of the group “Clover,” which included Huey Lewis (vocals) and Sean Hopper (keyboards), and “Sound Hole,” which included Johnny Colla (saxophone, guitar), Mario Cipollina (bass), and Bill Gibson (percussion). A year later, Chris Hayes (guitar) joined the band, which was then renamed “Huey Lewis And The American Express.” Bob Brown, the band's manager, secured a record deal with Chrysalis, who insisted on a name change: “Huey Lewis And The News”.
As part of the “High Resolution Masterpiece Series” Universal Music Japan presents the sonically impressive reworking of this pop-rock classic. The limited edition MQA-UHQCD features the 2023 DSD master (352.8 kHz/24 bit) converted from the digital files (44,1 kHz/16 bit) made of the original analog tapes. The exclusive Japan edition comes in mini LP format (cardboard sleeve with OBI stripe), based on the cover of the original US LP release. The booklet contains liner notes and lyrics from the album. The original album is complemented by a bonus track.
1. Build Me Up
2. It Hit Me Like A Hammer
3. Attitude
4. He Don't Know
5. Couple Days Off
6. That's Not Me
7. We Should Be Making Love
8. Best Of Me
9. Do You Love Me, Or What?
10. Don't Look Back
11. Time Ain't Money
Bonus Track
12. It Hit Me Like A Hammer (Sax Version)