1. I Feel the Earth Move

2. So Far Away

3. Its Too Late

4. Home Again

5. Beautiful

6. Way Over Yonder

7. You've Got a Friend

8. Where You Lead

9. Will You Love Me Tomorrow?

10. Smackwater Jack

11. Tapestry

12. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

 

The title "On the Border" already suggests that the Eagles are making a musical crossing of boundaries with this album. The band adopts a harder-edged approach that takes them beyond their previously relaxed territory and establishes the Americans as a rock band. Glenn Frey, Don Henley, new member Don Felder and the rest of the group announce their intentions right away with the defiant opening hit "Already Gone", and they never look back. "On the Border" is arguably the Eagles’ most consistent and well-balanced work from beginning to end. The original analog master tape is transferred by MFSL to a 4x DSD file, after individually adjusting the tape alignment and bias settings for each track. From this, the lacquer cut is then produced at the studio in Sebastopol.

MFSL’s One-Step LP box sets are considered the benchmark in the field of audiophile reissues and, in terms of quality, are regarded as being even above the other productions of what is probably the world’s best-known remastering studio. What makes these LPs special is not only the new vinyl compound without carbon-based coloring, used by RTI in Camarillo, but above all the One-Step process used in LP manufacturing. The only way to get closer to the sound of the master tape is to be in MFSL’s studio in California.

This is what that means: in normal LP production, the lacquer cut is first turned into a “father stamper with inverted groove structure.” From that, a “mother stamper” with the correct groove structure is created. From this, the actual pressing stamper with inverted groove structure is then made and used to press the final LP with the correct groove structure. This method makes it possible to press almost any number of LPs from a single lacquer cut.

In the One-Step process, all of this is done much more simply. The lacquer cut itself is converted directly into the pressing stamper used to manufacture the LP. This eliminates two stages of mechanical conversion. Unfortunately, each lacquer cut can only be used to produce a limited number of LPs. So, if more than a few hundred LPs are to be made, multiple lacquer cuts are required accordingly. MFSL has set the principle that a new set of press stampers should be used every 500 copies. This means that for a run of 7,500 copies, fifteen sets of four lacquer cuts each are used. Since things can occasionally go wrong during production, 18 sets are usually created from the outset. This means that 72 lacquer cutsare made for the double LP. By hand, one after another. Every day, the completed lacquer cuts are flown by express to RTI for processing, and then a test pressing must be produced for each side and also listened to in MFSL’s studio. It is a time-consuming and expensive process that results in a costly product and high demand among collectors. The record is delivered in an elaborate box. The serial number is entered by hand on the back. MFSL states that there will be no further repressings.