LP Reissues to hunt for and to avoid

Art_Chicago · « **on:** 1 Mar 2012, 05:19 am »

There are a lot of reissued LP's on the market, and a "common" opinion is that SQ is not always great. I'll be putting my first vinyl setup together and would appreciate your opinions on jazz and rock music record reissues
Thanks

orthobiz · « **Reply #1 on:** 3 Mar 2012, 01:51 am »

The first four Elvis Costello albums are fantastic.
So is Fleetwood Mac Rumors.
And the Canadian Classic Reissues of Elton John's first album is out of this world.
Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman is also very good.

Paul

S Clark · « **Reply #2 on:** 3 Mar 2012, 02:22 am »

Quote from: Art_Chicago on 1 Mar 2012, 05:19 am

There are a lot of reissued LP's on the market, and a "common" opinion is that SQ is not always great. I'll be putting my first vinyl setup together and would appreciate your opinions on jazz and rock music record reissues
Thanks

I think member jsaliga had the best handle on reissues of anyone around AC. Unfortunately, he got mad at some of the moderators and no longer post here. He still hangs around AN. I know he has posted about this, and looked back at some of his post, but he has 50 pages of them...

joegator81 · « **Reply #3 on:** 4 Mar 2012, 02:20 pm »

I definitely second the Elvis Costello Recommendations and the Fleetwood Mac. I would also recommend pink floyd's "Wish you were here". I just received a reissue of the who "quadrophenia" that is great. There is a lot of great vinyl reissues out there especially if you stick w/ certain quality companies.

There are a few very cheap jazz reissues to watch out for. i can't remember the labels that put them out but they are usually retailed for $12-15. They are always shrink wrapped way too tightly. The records are warped and an art pepper record had little pimple-like bumps all over both sides of the disc.

I have disagree w/ the virtually absolute majority in that i absolutely disliked the reissue of cat stevens "tea for the tillerman". I found it too be mastered way too hot, bright, and thin. it seems to me like all the detail was just a jacked up presence region. The was a lot of sibilance too. A friend of mine felt the same way. Seems that harry pearson is the only reviewer that i've found that feels this way. Also, wasnt as quiet as i had hoped, surface noise-wise. However, 99% of the reviews i've read from hobbyists and reviewers seem to like it.

Maceo23 · « **Reply #4 on:** 4 Mar 2012, 05:11 pm »

I second the "Wish You Were Here," it sounds great. I have to throw in Nirvana "MTV Unplugged." It really blew me away. One of the blackest backgrounds I have ever heard on LP.

joegator81 · « **Reply #5 on:** 4 Mar 2012, 06:07 pm »

Quote from: Maceo23 on 4 Mar 2012, 05:11 pm

I second the "Wish You Were Here," it sounds great. I have to throw in Nirvana "MTV Unplugged." It really blew me away. One of the blackest backgrounds I have ever heard on LP.

I have to agree, the Nirvana Unplugged disc is great. If you thought that one was quiet though you should check out Alice and Chains MTV unplugged. One of the best sounding acoustic rock records i have ever heard - hands down.

I would also like to add that the Marc Cohn mofi reissue is phenomenal. The vocals are incredibly smooth and the soundstage is very large. Great music too.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #6 on:** 4 Mar 2012, 07:01 pm »

Quote from: S Clark on 3 Mar 2012, 02:22 am

I think member jsaliga had the best handle on reissues of anyone around AC. Unfortunately, he got mad at some of the moderators and no longer post here. He still hangs around AN. I know he has posted about this, and looked back at some of his post, but he has 50 pages of them...

Too bad about jsaliga. Too bad for us. He has a HUGE record collection, well organized, and is very savvy. I hate to see guys go away just cause they can get tempermental, or a moderator might.

Miney · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 Mar 2012, 01:31 am »

Here are a few I'd recommend not only for the music but also SQ:
- Dave Mason / Alone Together - only $5.50 @ Acoustic Sounds!
- Rickie Lee Jones / Rickie Lee Jones
- Jeff Buckley / Grace
- Jethro Tull Aqualung 45rpm 200g 4lp

On the other hand, I was thoroughly disappointed with Bad Company / Bad Company... FLAT.

SteveFord · « **Reply #8 on:** 5 Mar 2012, 01:46 am »

The entire Doors collection on Rhino
The entire Jefferson Airplane on Sundazed
all of The Who 150/180 gm I've heard has been really good
180 gm Cream albums
180 gm Neil Young 1st 4 albums plus Live at Massey Hall is good
Allman Bros 180gm Live at the Fillmore East
Frank Zappa - 200gm Hot Rats
Pink Floyd - DSOTM 25th Anniversary
Rolling Stones - 180gm Get Yer Ya Yas Out, Let It Bleed (that's all I've heard of the remastered ones)
The Van Morrison 180gm releases are pretty good, too.

That should keep you out of mischief for a bit.
Make sure your turntable has VTA adjustment.

vinyl_guy · « **Reply #9 on:** 5 Mar 2012, 04:14 am »

+1 on the Doors box set, Fleetwood Mac Rumours 45rpm, all Jefferson Airplane/Starship, Yes and just about anything on Friday Music, Chicago (CTA) I & II on Rhino, Bob Dylan's first 8 mono albums, Grateful Dead Box set of studio albums, Traveling Wilburys, first 5 U2 albums, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Damn the Torpedoes, Pink Floyd WYWH, The Wall and 25th Anniversary of DSOTM, Neil Young Archieve Series

TONEPUB · « **Reply #10 on:** 5 Mar 2012, 04:54 am »

I would avoid almost everything on the Friday Music label. Darn near everything I've purchased for review from that label has been a clunker, except the Robin Trower "Bridge of Sighs" LP. Everything else, dreadful. Compressed, and either rolled off or glaringly bright high end.

orientalexpress · « **Reply #11 on:** 5 Mar 2012, 02:34 pm »

Rush ,Moving picture ,flight by night are really good
Journey ,Escape is one the best album Journey ever made
Armor Saint,Delirious Nomad is one best metal album i ever heard
those three i just listening over the weekend that fresh off my mind.

lapsan

joegator81 · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Mar 2012, 08:11 pm »

Just listened to the Pink Floyd The Wall reissue. It has a very full and lush sound. Going on memory, i think it might be a bit fuller and rounder in the lower end than my original copy but i'll have to double check when i get a chance. Its dead quiet and all in all sounds pretty good.

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #13 on:** 10 Mar 2012, 08:18 pm »

Just listened to the reissue of Joni Mitchell's "The Hissing of Summer Lawns"... marvelous sound and silent surfaces.

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #14 on:** 12 Mar 2012, 01:10 pm »

Bought the 180g issue of Patricia Barbers Mythologies and, although the sound is decent, the level of the recording is particularly low. This is making me turn the volume knob on my preamp up to 3:00 to get a decent volume level out if it.

Now you would think that the dynamics would be particularly big on crescendo's, but that is not the case. This whole album is presented very low. I suggest sticking with the CD version which is very good indeed.

Wayner · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 Mar 2012, 06:25 pm »

Genesis - 1970-1975 box set from Rhino Records...awesome (includes: Trespass, Nursery Crimes, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.) Way better then any of the original releases (which I also have).

While Jeff is down on the Friday Label, I like most of the Yes releases, including Tales from Topographic Oceans, Relayer (a hot recording anyway), 90125 (better then the original release, more air), and Drama. Maybe not so good is Close to the Edge, but Friday got lots of complaints on the sonics of this remaster, so they re-remastered it and it is suppose to be way better. The Analog Productions of Fragile, sounds different from the original release and maybe sounds a bit too dark. The Yes Album original sounds better then the remaster.

Depesche Mode done on Stumm records (I think, cause you can't make heads nor tales out it) with most of the records done on 180 gram, EU pressings from the beginnings up to Exciter are some of the best pressings I've head in a long time. Most may be OOP, but I did get these from Music Direct, check with them.

Traveling Wilburys box set (3LPs) is done very well, on heavy vinyl and I'd think is a collector's set.

David Gilmour - Live in Gdansk is a 5LP box set, but IMHO, a very poor set of recordings and not much fun to listen to.

The Queen LPs on Hollywood records are a hit and a miss, depending on what quality control problem it has (warped, scratches, off center). If you can get a good copy, it can be better then some of the original releases.

Supertramp - Breakfast in America is a poor remastering as is the new Crime of the Century.

The Cars on MOFI- collector items all the way, tho they need to do Door to Door and HeartBreak City.

America and America-Homecoming on Friday Music is good, only because it's impossible to find a decent shape original anymore. These are maybe not as airy, but still acceptable, also remember, the time frame in which they were recorded, and that goes for the Yes LPs, too.

Dead Can Dance - all pretty good.

Wayner

TONEPUB · « **Reply #16 on:** 12 Mar 2012, 06:56 pm »

Friday Music at your own peril. Consistently the worst remaster label out there.
All of that Yes stuff can be found in the used bins for $5 each and if you dig carefully for low
number stampers will far exceed the Friday stuff. Especially Tales. You can probably find a great
copy of that for $2.

The America stuff is dreadful as well. Millions of these were pressed and again if you live in
any major market, you should be able to find clean early stamper examples for a very reasonable
amount.

jazzerdave · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 Mar 2012, 08:11 pm »

For jazz, the current 180g pressing of Bill Evans Walt for Debby is just excellent. To be fair, I've never encountered a version of this that I didn't like, but I prefer this one. I've ABed it against an earlier pressing, two CD's, a gold CD, and a Japanese SACD. The only version I imagine would beat this hands down is the tape project master tapes version, and I'm not spending $300 on an album.

I'll definitely second the recommendations of Jeff Bukley's Grace, Zappa's Hot Rats (200g), the Allman Bros 180gm Live at the Fillmore East, and Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here.

I've found that many of the Beatles reissues are very inconsistent. The sound can be pretty good, but the quality control seems to be awful. It seems to be almost impossible to find a non-warped copy.

audiobat · « **Reply #18 on:** 12 Mar 2012, 08:47 pm »

Yeah, reissues are a tough one to call.
Anyone had any experience with the LP's from Acoustic Sounds new pressing plant?
I haven't tried them yet.

TONEPUB · « **Reply #19 on:** 12 Mar 2012, 09:47 pm »

Chad is doing an excellent job so far. The first couple of things we've heard from his plant have been produced with meticulous care.