Vinyl Reissues: Sorting Wheat from Chaff.

Loki posted:

Richard Dane posted:

Loki posted:

How do you think the compression compares with Jeff Lynne's reworkings on Mr Blue Sky, The Very Best of ELO?

I haven't heard that one.  What's your view on it?

It's a while since I played it. JL plays all the instruments and arranged it with modern techniques to give the sound he was trying to achieve in the 70s. it offers an interesting insight into some absolute classics. Overall clearer and more dynamic; similar but different. I liked the album but prefer the originals, probably because I know them off by heart!

Just listening to it again now. Yes, clearer, warmer, different emphases and moments of clarity, and better dynamics, all with the authentic JL/ELO sound. At least it's a first pressing in transparent blue vinyl.

Joni Mitchell - Blue. 2007 US Rhino Reissue. 

This one has been around a while now, and has gained some notoriety.  Mastered and cut by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray at AcousTech mastering.  This reissue is a straight cut to vinyl of the master tape - warts 'n all. It's both wonderfully immediate yet also uncompromising.  Its cut pretty hot and demands a top quality front end to really get the best from it. Nicely pressed, although I think I detected a second or two of no-fill on one track.  I didn't even bother comparing with my '80s UK pressing. This is far superior and may well be the definitive release on any format for this album.

antony d posted:

for me at the very, very top of the quality on re issues are St Pepper - a real WOW with out losing the music

Is that Sgt Pepper 50th anniversary?

Wondering if anyone has any experience/views on this album on vinyl. Reviews claim outstanding SQ, half speed mastering etc, but it’s a 4LP set and costs £60, so not keen to jump in unless I know it’s musically worthwhile. Anyone?

Kevin, I have it. Very good recording and pressing. I was unlucky and one of the records has a serious warp but I was enjoying it too much to take it back...

Stu

Richard Dane posted:

So here's another really excellent reissue that I bought recently.  Frank Zappa's Hot Rats.

Compared to my 1970 UK 2nd issue (admittedly getting on a bit and has seen some play over the years), it's like listening to a completely new performance - clarity and dynamics are much improved as is the apparent bandwidth.

This is a good sounding record even on my CD from the 80s is pretty good. I was listening to one just a few days ago. Then again most 70s rock/pop records sound great. ( pity they don't make like that any more )

As you say, it would be interesting to compare it to the minty original US pressing. UK pressing tends to be very different from the US EQ.

joerand posted:

OTOH, I would be interested in a more lively re-issue Deja Vu as you suggested. I have two original LPs and the original CD of that album. Each is a similar standout for vocal quality, but any tightening of the percussion and speedier bounce of bass lines would be welcomed. 

You got me curious. I bought the original just for the 'Our House' and never bother to play the rest of the album. :/ I think I'm gonna spin the whole thing and see if i can hear soft bassline and transient attacks.

You are right, the vocal is just outstanding. this is a good example of 70s era natural sounding recording.

Joni Mitchell - Ladies Of The Canyon.  US Rhino reissue from 2009. 

My favourite JM album.  Compared to my '80s R/S Alsdorf pressed issue, this one brings the music to life - a superb cut and issue. So well done Chris Bellman, and well done RTI for a beautifully flat, centred and noise-free pressing. Get this one while it's still available at a reasonable price.

It makes me wonder just how many albums I don't play because they are poorly recorded/pressed and as such offer an underwhelming sonic experience. Time to start a 'test record' thread methinks, although the term is somewhat pedestrian if not downright blasphemous in some circles!

Richard Dane posted:

Joni Mitchell - Ladies Of The Canyon.  US Rhino reissue from 2009. 

My favourite JM album.  Compared to my '80s R/S Alsdorf pressed issue, this one brings the music to life - a superb cut and issue. So well done Chris Bellman, and well done RTI for a beautifully flat, centred and noise-free pressing. Get this one while it's still available at a reasonable price.

Thanks Richard, this is v. useful for me. I have a few Joni albums, but not this one. I like the 3 tracks highlighted in the sticker on the album in your pic, so I think this is a safe bet for me. I see a 2009 release on What Records site, but not many details there. label is Warners. Do we think that’s likely the right one ? If not, any steer on where I can buy it please?

Kevin, for the Chris Bellman cut, make sure it's the 2009 US Rhino issue, not the UK/Europe issue. It's still available  in a few places for around £20-30. What Records have it at £24.99. One thing I forgot to mention is the card stock used for the gatefold - really nice and heavy, like US albums of old.

Thanks Richard. I’ll grab one now. Kevin

Richard Dane posted:

Kevin, for the Chris Bellman cut, make sure it's the 2009 US Rhino issue, not the UK/Europe issue. It's still available  in a few places for around £20-30. What Records have it at £24.99. One thing I forgot to mention is the card stock used for the gatefold - really nice and heavy, like US albums of old.

I don’t have Ladies of the Canyon but several of the other US Rhino pressings of J Mitchell and they are excellent.

I can recommend the vinyl issue of Dylan’s More Blood, More Tracks. The vinyl from the Dylan Bootleg series is generally well mastered and pressed. The music here is stunning and I think I may have to get the 6 CD version too!

Clive

kuma posted:

Richard Dane posted:

So here's another really excellent reissue that I bought recently.  Frank Zappa's Hot Rats.

Compared to my 1970 UK 2nd issue (admittedly getting on a bit and has seen some play over the years), it's like listening to a completely new performance - clarity and dynamics are much improved as is the apparent bandwidth.

This is a good sounding record even on my CD from the 80s is pretty good. I was listening to one just a few days ago. Then again most 70s rock/pop records sound great. ( pity they don't make like that any more )

As you say, it would be interesting to compare it to the minty original US pressing. UK pressing tends to be very different from the US EQ.

Plenty of differences between US and UK issues.  Sometimes subtle, but often not. Unfortunately UK issues of US albums were regularly cut from later generation tapes (similar situation vice versa - but not always).  Best scenario was when a US album was pressed in the UK from US metalwork. I have a fair number like that - some of the '70s and early '80s UK Masterdisk, Sterling and TML pressings were killer. And the vinyl itself was quite different; US vinyl tended to be slightly more pliant, whereas UK vinyl was harder - take the same album pressed from equivalent metalwork but on US and UK vinyl, and you get a subtly different sound to each, the US sounding slightly "creamier", but often with a softer, less concise top end.

Richard Dane posted:

Kevin, for the Chris Bellman cut, make sure it's the 2009 US Rhino issue, not the UK/Europe issue. It's still available  in a few places for around £20-30. What Records have it at £24.99. One thing I forgot to mention is the card stock used for the gatefold - really nice and heavy, like US albums of old.

Whilst on the subject may I ask, are the Rhino issues generally good? I was looking at getting a heavy metal album (Sepultura-Chaos AD) but dont want to get it if it's just an average quality.

I paid for my copy of this back in September sometime but am still eagerly waiting for it to arrive has anyone bought any One Step Ultra Discs and compared them to other remasters.

iliria posted:

Richard Dane posted:

Kevin, for the Chris Bellman cut, make sure it's the 2009 US Rhino issue, not the UK/Europe issue. It's still available  in a few places for around £20-30. What Records have it at £24.99. One thing I forgot to mention is the card stock used for the gatefold - really nice and heavy, like US albums of old.

Whilst on the subject may I ask, are the Rhino issues generally good? I was looking at getting a heavy metal album (Sepultura-Chaos AD) but dont want to get it if it's just an average quality.

Over all, I'd rate Rhino as good to great, with some duffers here and there.  There are some really superb reissues from Rhino, up there with the best, but there are also exceptions, and I know that their earlier reissues had problems, however, if you look for cuts by Chris Bellman, Bernie Grundman, Kevin Gray, Steve Hoffman etc.. and pressing by RTI in the US, or Optimal in Europe, then you're usually on fairly safe ground.  It's useful to check on a site such as Discogs for whichever issue you're interested in. Check the dead wax info carefully. What can be frustrating is that there are some reissues, such as the Joni Mitchell Ladies Of The Canyon discussed above, where the US issue is cut from the analogue tapes by Chris Bellman, yet the European issue is cut at Optimal by someone else from what is presumably a digital file.  They will certainly sound different, and usually favouring the US issue.  To confuse further, other EU Joni Mitchell reissues, such as Hissing of Summer Lawns use US metalwork for the Optimal pressings, and the quality is superb, any differences really just boiling down to vinyl formulation and pressing.  So it pays to do your homework.

Bob the Builder posted:

I paid for my copy of this back in September sometime but am still eagerly waiting for it to arrive has anyone bought any One Step Ultra Discs and compared them to other remasters.

Bob, yes, I know that at least a couple of us here have got the One Step Simon & Garfunkel BOTW.   I haven't opened it yet. I have only original UK issues with which to compare, not the other currently available reissues.

Now these were a very pleasant surprise. The Cure - Seventeen Seconds & Faith, UK reissues on Fiction, "Remastered by Robert Smith".

My originals to both of these are long gone, having not made it back to the UK from the States. I did sell quite a few of my UK LPs to friends, thinking I could replace them (the LPs, not the friends) back home. I didn't replace them immediately - instead I bought the Standing On The Beach, Staring At The Sea compilation of A and B sides on cassette, then bought the CDs. In more recent years I bought the expanded deluxe CD reissues and the Join the Dots B side and rarities set. So, while the music is ever so familiar,  coming back to the first three Cure albums on vinyl was nostalgic.  Why did I bother?  Well, they were selling cheap at a tenner a piece or less, so how could I resist? Sadly the copy I received of Three Imaginary Boys had a terrible tearing noise during the intro to Meat Hook - probably non-fill -  so a new copy is on the way.  No quibbles and great service from Universal/Sound of Vinyl.  Anyway, I wasn't expecting too much from these, so the clean, flat and centred pressings (TIB issue notwithstanding), decent presentation with nicely printed inners, and great sound was a revelation.  I don't know whether these were cut from tape or file, likely the latter, but that doesn't matter, because these issues can stand for themselves purely on what you hear from the grooves.  It took me right back to hearing these albums for the first time, something the CDs, whether original or remastered, never quite managed to do. On the basis of these two reissues I have decided to delve further into the series.  I'm just hoping that my replacement copy of Three Imaginary Boys is not similarly afflicted  with non-fill.  

Richard Dane posted:

Over all, I'd rate Rhino as good to great, with some duffers here and there.  There are some really superb reissues from Rhino, up there with the best, but there are also exceptions, and I know that their earlier reissues had problems, however, if you look for cuts by Chris Bellman, Bernie Grundman, Kevin Gray, Steve Hoffman etc.. and pressing by RTI in the US, or Optimal in Europe, then you're usually on fairly safe ground.  It's useful to check on a site such as Discogs for whichever issue you're interested in. Check the dead wax info carefully. What can be frustrating is that there are some reissues, such as the Joni Mitchell Ladies Of The Canyon discussed above, where the US issue is cut from the analogue tapes by Chris Bellman, yet the European issue is cut at Optimal by someone else from what is presumably a digital file.  They will certainly sound different, and usually favouring the US issue.  To confuse further, other EU Joni Mitchell reissues, such as Hissing of Summer Lawns use US metalwork for the Optimal pressings, and the quality is superb, any differences really just boiling down to vinyl formulation and pressing.  So it pays to do your homework.

Thank you very much Richard. Very useful info to someone like me who is just starting the vinyl journey. Out of curiosity is there a pressing of Hejira album that you would recommend? I have been looking at the 2014 reissues. Whatrecords have it but they dont give much info and Amazon also have it and it's the European version (pressed at Record Industry).

Coincidentally, I recently ordered a copy of the Rhino reissue of Hejira from What Records.  I ordered the 2014 European reissue as, according to Discogs, it seems it's the same as the US one - Chris Bellman cut and RTI pressed. Let's hope that's right...

Richard Dane posted:

Coincidentally, I recently ordered a copy of the Rhino reissue of Hejira from What Records.  I ordered the 2014 European reissue as, according to Discogs, it seems it's the same as the US one - Chris Bellman cut and RTI pressed. Let's hope that's right...

Richard, is that Hejira numbered 8122795858 ?

Kevin, yes, that’s the one.

Richard Dane posted:

Kevin, yes, that’s the one.

Cool. By luck more than judgement that’s the one I bought a few weeks ago from What Records. Agreed , it does sound very good indeed and stood out from a bunch of purchases along with this one: Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. A 2016 Sony Issue #8985378491. Vivid sound takes you ‘Cell side’ at the event ..