Vinyl Reissues: Sorting Wheat from Chaff.

Posted by: kevin J Carden on 21 June 2018

Many Vinyl-using forum contributors have highlighted the highly varied and rather inconsistent quality of many Classic Album Vinyl reissues. I’m thinking there should be value in starting a thread where folk can highlight the ones that they’ve found to be particularly good. I’d certainly find this enormously helpful. Hopefully, others might too.

Posted on: 13 July 2018 by Richard Dane

A few months ago I posted regarding Donald Fagen's Cheap Xmas box set.  At the time I thought the Chris Bellman cut reissue of The Nightfly sounded really good, maybe even as good or perhaps better than my early UK/Europe Alsdorf Masterdisk issue. Well, I finally got to compare the two and yes, in isolation the recent CB reissue is excellent, and you could easily be very happy with it. I know I am. However, listening to the early Masterdisk and it has more sparkle and is marginally more dynamic, if maybe a lacking a little of the warmth of the CB reissue. There's possibly just a little extra inner detail with the CB, but that may be down to being fresh and relatively unplayed (my Alsdorf/Masterdisk copy is in lovely nick but has had a LOT of plays over the years, albeit always on a good deck/arm and cart).  It's pretty close really, but overall I think I tip my hat in the direction of the earlier pressing as giving me just a bit more of the "tingle" factor.  I don't have a US pressing with which to compare though - that might be interesting.  

Posted on: 18 July 2018 by kevin J Carden
Richard Dane posted:

Kevin, look out for the EMI Millennium vinyl reissue of Lennon's Walls and Bridges. Also, look out for the EMI 100 reissue series of Lennon's Imagine.  These were "analogue cut from analogue tape" and very nicely pressed on virgin vinyl. 

Well, whaddayaknow... I just discovered that I DO have a copy of this very disc Richard! I bought a bunch of Vinyl about 15years ago from a record collection that Graham’s HiFi had bought in from a customer going digital. A very pleasant surprise indeed. My 18month old Granddaughter is staying with us for the next few weeks, so the LP12 is locked away, but I’ll give this Millenium reissue a spin after that.

Posted on: 18 July 2018 by Richard Dane

What a great result Kevin. Do let us know what you think of it.

Posted on: 19 July 2018 by Bob the Builder

I’ve discovered a few titles remastered by Kevin Grey’s Cohearant Audio that aren’t easily recognizable and can be had relatively cheaply under £30 inc p&p.

I have bought Kind of Blue and Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus so far  but there are many non jazz titles that some of you may be interested in all of the recent Prince reissues for instance  

Go to Discogs and search Kind of Blue and I think it is the 2010 US copy that had Cohearent Audio in the listing somewhere click on this and it will take you to all of the CA releases.

As I have said I can only recommend the 2 I have bought especially the Sonny Rollins both disc and cover are excellent quality and sound great .

 

Posted on: 19 July 2018 by SamS
kevin J Carden posted:
Richard Dane posted:

Kevin, look out for the EMI Millennium vinyl reissue of Lennon's Walls and Bridges. Also, look out for the EMI 100 reissue series of Lennon's Imagine.  These were "analogue cut from analogue tape" and very nicely pressed on virgin vinyl. 

Well, whaddayaknow... I just discovered that I DO have a copy of this very disc Richard! I bought a bunch of Vinyl about 15years ago from a record collection that Graham’s HiFi had bought in from a customer going digital. A very pleasant surprise indeed. My 18month old Granddaughter is staying with us for the next few weeks, so the LP12 is locked away, but I’ll give this Millenium reissue a spin after that.

Kevin - If you happen to find an EMI 100 of Bowie - Hunky Dory in there, then you hit the jackpot. Beautiful sounding re-issue and considered superior to originals. 

Quite expensive now.

 

Posted on: 19 July 2018 by Richard Dane
SamS posted:
kevin J Carden posted:
Richard Dane posted:

Kevin, look out for the EMI Millennium vinyl reissue of Lennon's Walls and Bridges. Also, look out for the EMI 100 reissue series of Lennon's Imagine.  These were "analogue cut from analogue tape" and very nicely pressed on virgin vinyl. 

Well, whaddayaknow... I just discovered that I DO have a copy of this very disc Richard! I bought a bunch of Vinyl about 15years ago from a record collection that Graham’s HiFi had bought in from a customer going digital. A very pleasant surprise indeed. My 18month old Granddaughter is staying with us for the next few weeks, so the LP12 is locked away, but I’ll give this Millenium reissue a spin after that.

Kevin - If you happen to find an EMI 100 of Bowie - Hunky Dory in there, then you hit the jackpot. Beautiful sounding re-issue and considered superior to originals. 

Quite expensive now.

 

Ha!  Yes, I know!  I ordered a bunch of the EMI100s from an early online vinyl seller years ago but had to wait ages until they finally told me they had run out of stock of the Bowie (they went under not long afterwards).  By then everyone had run out, so I was a bit peeved to miss out.  In more recent years I've tried to track down a decent copy but the prices have got way out of hand.  I have an early UK press in good, if not mint condition, and also a copy I bought in the States back in the early '80s which sounds really good.  I guess they'll have to do until I get lucky...

Posted on: 19 July 2018 by French Rooster

i would go for japan 1976 or 1982 , rca, reissues, for honky dory at discogs.  

Posted on: 19 July 2018 by Yetizone

I've just had a nosey on Discogs and the EMI100 Bowie issue for Hunky Dory have quite the price range - Lowest: £125.00. Median: £159.53. Highest: £311.82. Blimey. Some ambitious pricing there! Was playing my first pressing orange label HD (non laminated - hangs head in shame) late last night and that sounds pretty good. I've also got a 2016 Parlophone issue waiting in the wings to come out to play. 

Were there many Bowie EMI 100 albums?

 

 

Posted on: 19 July 2018 by Kevin-W
Yetizone posted:

Were there many Bowie EMI 100 albums?

 

 

Ziggy was an EMI 100 Yeti, but it wasn't as good as the Hunky.

The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and Surf's Up were also pretty good; as was The Dark Side of The Moon, Blondie's Parallel Lines, Iggy's Lust For Life, Band on The Run by Wings and Lennon's Rock & Roll and Imagine. The two Syd Barrett titles are OK.

The Stones' Sticky Fingers isn't great, nor is Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols - but on the whole, the series was pretty well done.

Posted on: 19 July 2018 by Yetizone

Thanks Kevin, very much appreciated. I've got all of DAVE'S albums on orange label first pressings anyway, plus a few Japanese copies too, so the EMI 100 editions would be a nice find but not at the current prices!

I'm awaiting delivery of a first pressing of Blackstar and also a 2016 Parlophone copy of Hunky Dory, so will be interesting to find out how this compares to the orange label HDory disc, and Blackstar to the HD download.

Posted on: 19 July 2018 by Richard Dane

The Beach Boys Surf's Up on EMI100 is really good - way better than the Capitol "Audiophile" reissue and in some ways I prefer it to the recent Analogue Productions issue.  

EMI got some flack for the first series as they were cut digitally, and many from digital files.  So for the second series (from LPCENT21 onwards, IIRC) they made sure that for most all of them the chain was kept analogue.  Another superb one worth looking out for is The Waterboys This Is The Sea.  

Also look out for the EMI Millennium Vinyl Collection series.  Again they tried to stick to an all analogue chain and well pressed in virgin vinyl.  These came with a heavy PVC folder-style cover. As well as the Lennon, I can highly recommend R.E.M.'s Document from this series.

Posted on: 19 July 2018 by kevin J Carden
SamS posted:
kevin J Carden posted:
Richard Dane posted:

Kevin, look out for the EMI Millennium vinyl reissue of Lennon's Walls and Bridges. Also, look out for the EMI 100 reissue series of Lennon's Imagine.  These were "analogue cut from analogue tape" and very nicely pressed on virgin vinyl. 

Well, whaddayaknow... I just discovered that I DO have a copy of this very disc Richard! I bought a bunch of Vinyl about 15years ago from a record collection that Graham’s HiFi had bought in from a customer going digital. A very pleasant surprise indeed. My 18month old Granddaughter is staying with us for the next few weeks, so the LP12 is locked away, but I’ll give this Millenium reissue a spin after that.

Kevin - If you happen to find an EMI 100 of Bowie - Hunky Dory in there, then you hit the jackpot. Beautiful sounding re-issue and considered superior to originals. 

Quite expensive now.

 

Sadly not Sam. However, That’s one crucial album that I do have a nice copy of ; an original Orange label RCA. Owned for more than 40 years, it’s been heavily played and has many ticks and pops, but still a great experience to play 

Posted on: 20 July 2018 by SamS
kevin J Carden posted:

Sadly not Sam. However, That’s one crucial album that I do have a nice copy of ; an original Orange label RCA. Owned for more than 40 years, it’s been heavily played and has many ticks and pops, but still a great experience to play 

In the end Kevin, that's all that matters. I am constantly delighted by records I pull off the shelf that haven't seen light in decades, yet still manage to make me smile when they play.  

Back on thread - there is a small reissue label in the US called Intervention Records who have been doing some very fine sounding work. The chap who runs it, Shane Buettner, is very committed to the task and can be found on a somewhat dedicated thread over on the Hoffman forum. The catalog is small but growing, and everything he touches is done with great care. I have Joe Jackson - Look Sharp, I'm the Man and Night and Day and there is a definite improvement on the originals, particularly in the 1st 2 titles and most notably in the bass which really highlights what great playing was on these records. Night and Day  is perhaps not as large an improvement - in fact my bog standard CD of that sounds pretty good but the reissue is welcome nonetheless. 

I also picked up the Murray Head, Nigel Lived  more out of curiosity than anything else as it had been referenced in the recording engineer, Phil Brown's book Are We still Rolling. It is indeed interesting, and perhaps a bit more of its time, but sound-wise (field recordings etc.)  a treat. My previous knowledge of Murray beginning and ending with his role as Judas in 'Jesus Christ Superstar' - an album I have owned for 40+ years that still gets an airing every year around Easter (much to my family's chagrin).

Other titles such as those form Judee Sill also get high praise but I had to draw the line as they are expensive to get into the UK unfortunately. 

Posted on: 20 July 2018 by kevin J Carden

Thanks Sam. I took a look at the Intervention Records website. I’d happily pay the disc prices for those two Stealers Wheel records, but postage is virtually the same price as the records. Shame, but I don’t think I’m quite ready to go there yet. But I will remember it for a potential future purchase. They are fabulous albums...

Posted on: 31 July 2018 by kevin J Carden

Browsing the Vinyl section in HMV today and notice a huge amount of Rory Gallagher’s back catalogue has been reissued including the wonderful Irish Tour. The stickers on the discs say the source is the original tape. Anyone know these Reissues and whether or not they are good?

Posted on: 31 July 2018 by jatrt21

I bought the Blueprint LP and it’s superb. Good dynamics and a classic kick off with  Walk on Hot Coals and Daughter of the Everglades. I don’t have this one on cd so can’t compare but bought the reissued Tattoo on cd and it’s a great sounding reissue too. I have Irish Tour on a previous cd version and Rory was some player. I missed him the few times he came to my part of Scotland. Big mistake.....

 

jatr

Posted on: 01 August 2018 by Bob the Builder

Gearbox records are a small English reissue label who take great care over their all Analogue mastering and cutting. 

I personally have their Nitin Sawney - live at Ronnie Scotts which is excellent. 

Posted on: 01 August 2018 by Bob the Builder

Be with are another small English reissue specialists who again take great care with their releases 

I have Ahmad Jamal Trio - Awakenings which is excellent. 

Posted on: 12 October 2018 by Richard Dane

I've come across a few really good reissues lately.  I'll get too the others in due course, but first up, the Talking Heads reissues from Rhino.  I've mentioned some of these before, but tonight was my first listen to Speaking in Tongues.  Mastered by Sterling Sound, cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, and pressed by Optimal, you'd be expecting something really good, and you won't be disappointed. It's a favourite album of mine, evoking a particular time in my life out in the US when the album was first released.  Listening to it always brings back memories of good times.  As such, I find I have a few copies; my original copy bought in the US is gone - maybe I left it at the radio station or someone borrowed it and never returned it.  Anyway,  my local shop in the UK had put a copy aside for me when I came home for the holidays, and that's the one pictured here with the DMM sticker. It's still in really great condition even though it has been played a lot over the years.  There's also another German pressed original that I found about 6 or 7 years ago still sealed - I played it a couple of times at most.  And then of course the most recent Rhino reissue.

The Rhino is notable for being considerably heavier and thicker than the two originals.  However, the originals are flawlessly pressed.  The Rhino is close enough to perfect. Playing the Rhino first, I was really impressed with the impact and clarity.  I don't know what they source was but it didn't sound like it had suffered much over the years.  Compared to the German pressed original it added a hint of extra warmth to the upper bass and had a bit less stage width, but it was a touch more natural.   However, my original DMM seemed to eek out just a smidge more excitement - and putting me just a touch more "there".  But overall, I'm splitting hairs here.  What's remarkable is just how close they are overall. On that basis, short of finding another sealed original, the Rhino is a sure fire recommendation.  

Posted on: 12 October 2018 by Bob the Builder

I bought the Rhino one when it came out a few years ago and it is really very good.  A firm favourite of mine too evoking many very happy teenage memories                                                

Posted on: 16 October 2018 by Richard Dane

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

Remastered by Bernie Grundman and pressed by Pallas in the US, this is as nice a slab on vinyl as I've come across in recent years; a nicely printed gatefold sleeve, a poly-lined inner (hooray!) and an LP that's perfectly flat, perfectly centred and totally silent bar the music.  And what music!  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. I don't know how it compares to an original US copy, but even if it matched this reissue. I'd be surprised if the surfaces were as quiet.  Oh, and joy of joy, at last a new LP where the record slides easily out of the inner sleeve without feeling like you've put hand onto a van de graf generator - no static cling!! All in all, a stunningly good reissue. Could it be that things are beginning to look up?

Posted on: 16 October 2018 by Loki

In my quest for the perfect vinyl Abba recording (not an oxymoron, I promise you) I seem to be eternally frustrated. Having just taken delivery of Abba Gold, as reissued by Back to Black, I have once again discovered the pitch inconstancy of an off centre pressig. Honestly it's enough to tip a demigod to embrace Streaming! Have any of you earthlings had the same issue, is it a byproduct of intergalactic travel?

Posted on: 17 October 2018 by Richard Dane

Loki, of all the many pressing issues that can occur, an off-centre hole I find the most annoying by far.  I guess I may be rather pitch sensitive.  Unfortunately it has always been something of an issue, probably at its worst during the '70s.  IIRC UK ELO LPs on Jet Records were some of the worst culprits. Of course, there is an end-user solution; You can either painstakingly open up the hole and then mark the edge that needs to be closest to the spindle.  It's not exact, but it can really help, but it's tedious.  Or, you could track down one of these...

Image of Nakamichi TX-1000 linked from Vinylengine.

Posted on: 17 October 2018 by Loki
Richard Dane posted:

Loki, of all the many pressing issues that can occur, an off-centre hole I find the most annoying by far.  I guess I may be rather pitch sensitive.  Unfortunately it has always been something of an issue, probably at its worst during the '70s.  IIRC UK ELO LPs on Jet Records were some of the worst culprits. Of course, there is an end-user solution; You can either painstakingly open up the hole and then mark the edge that needs to be closest to the spindle.  It's not exact, but it can really help, but it's tedious.  Or, you could track down one of these...

Image of Nakamichi TX-1000 linked from Vinylengine.

Definitely worth it for a bit of Abba magic! These off-world ears are particularly pitch sensitive. It's one of the [many] reasons I graduated from the Planar 3 to the LP12 in 89. On the other hand I might just ask Direct Vinyl for a swap

Posted on: 17 October 2018 by tonyi
Richard Dane posted:

Loki, of all the many pressing issues that can occur, an off-centre hole I find the most annoying by far.  I guess I may be rather pitch sensitive.  Unfortunately it has always been something of an issue, probably at its worst during the '70s.  IIRC UK ELO LPs on Jet Records were some of the worst culprits. Of course, there is an end-user solution; You can either painstakingly open up the hole and then mark the edge that needs to be closest to the spindle.  It's not exact, but it can really help, but it's tedious.  Or, you could track down one of these...

Image of Nakamichi TX-1000 linked from Vinylengine.

You'll be lucky.