Awesome show! Steve any chance you could encourage your Rhino ppl to announce their hi fi titles a little more in advance? I love the AP 75, but I would DEFINITELY grab the Rhino hi fi 33 if i had the choice…. Its a bummer when an A 75 title comes out on Rhino hi fi after A 75 released it.
Great show, guys! I agree with the Rickie Lee Jones self-titled, but also Pop Pop is an amazing sounding RLJ album, although only have it on CD. Admittedly, I like anything with Charlie Haden on bass.
A little anecdote about the Beatles Mono Box. A year before the box came out Sean Magee became a member of the Steve Hoffman Forum. Of course he was inundated with questions about any possibilities of all analog reissues of the Beatles in mono. He said that it was unequivocally impossible for the Beatles to have an all analog reissue of their albums in mono. So I asked him if the tapes still existed and in usable condition. He said yes they were. And so I said it is "possible" but perhaps it's extremely unlikely. We argued back and forth over whether or not it was actually "POSSIBLE" and Sean got pissed off at me and left the forum. Then Steve and a few others got pissed off at me for chasing him away. And then a year later (I think it was about a year) We got the box set. I was right.... ;-)
For the Inxs - Kick album I have the Atlantic 75th 33 rpm clear vinyl version which I think sounds great but cannot seem to find out who cut it. There isn’t anything in the dead wax and there isn’t any info in Discogs
*Brian Needle Meets Vinyl* just said it's high time *The Beatles EP* box set was reissued, & predicts its re-release soon. I watched Brian show the original 1981 box set, then checked the going price for it, & when I picked myself up off the floor I agreed: it's high time!
It is a toss up for me between the RSD Talking Heads' "Live at WCOZ77" 45rpm & the Atlantic 75 STP "Core" 45 RPM I am equally stunned by sonically. MoFi just released more Natalie Merchant "Tigerlilly" 45 RPM...total stunner pressing! As far as new music, Vampire Weekend's "Only God Was Above Us" takes the cake easily (Cage The Elephant's "Neon Pill" too).
Why wouldn’t Abbey Road work at 45 rpm? I realize “the long one” has “you never give me your money” on the front end, but I’ve always thought the length of “yngmym” when compared to “sun king” and subsequent songs makes it a stand alone song. I think a side break between “yngmym” and “sun king” would work well. Just my two cents. Thanks for the good work on the roundtables.
IMO George Borden makes some important points here about how and under what conditions most of us listen to music in our day to day lives. I no longer buy UHQRs or One Steps because I can't justify the price (admittedly I'll have difficulty resisting the AP 'Royal Scam' when it's released, but at the end of the day I can live with my '70s Japanese pressing and SHM CD just fine). I've been seeking out quiet pressings since about '73, but I no longer care one way or the other about premium vinyl except in rare cases, and 45 rpm is just plain stupid for all but the most classic albums (the UHQR Kind of Blue comes to mind). I like the Rhino Hi Fi titles I have so far, but I'm being selective about what I buy.
It's a personal thing and we all have to do what is best for ourselves. These shows are all about just saying what is out there and available, with a slant on quality. Thanks for your comment and for being involved. It is appreciated.
My experience with the AP 45 Bill Evans Riverside box was bad. I had 4 badly warped discs, I had 5 discs that had severe scratches and 3 discs that had very bad non-fill. All separate discs! I did not feel like playing Chad 'roulette' of getting replacements, then getting replacements for replacements etc. so I returned the whole box for a refund. My experience over the past 3 years with RTI pressings has been poor, especially the last 2 years since Rick Hashimoto (RTI Manager/Master Presser) left RTI to help design/build the Fidelity Record Pressing plant which he Manages, with two of his sons. I have had very bad luck with AP releases pressed at RTI... I would say about 30% of the albums needs a replacement disc. I went thru many replacements with the RTI pressed AP 45rpm Roger Waters Amused to Death and never got copies without audible defects.
Are we really back to complaining about 45rpm? Does AP sometimes choose to do audiophile reissues at 45rpm? Yes. But many times it is their ONLY option as a way to get the rights to do a reissue. Both the Steely Dan and Atlantic 75th campaigns had 33rpm reissues coming from the parent label. The ONLY way AP was gonna get to do those titles was at 45rpm! Would we really rather not get them at all? Or be stuck with the average to crappy masterings from the parent label at 33rpm? I would not!
Awesome show! Steve any chance you could encourage your Rhino ppl to announce their hi fi titles a little more in advance? I love the AP 75, but I would DEFINITELY grab the Rhino hi fi 33 if i had the choice…. Its a bummer when an A 75 title comes out on Rhino hi fi after A 75 released it.
