So, just where do we stand? One track man for you. Two track for me as I think in stereo…
Lily is moving in with Bud and we’ll have some fun with that aspect of Bud’s life for a bit. Rose has not gone away, she’ll be back soon. The last time both Lily and Rose appeared in the comic, Bud ended up in the shower on Mother’s Day with Rose, so we can only hope for a few more antics along that line. We’ll see.
Al Stewart’s 1976 release “Year of the Cat” was not only engineered by Alan Parsons, which made me check the album out just on that merit alone, but was also the first album I purchased on “virgin vinyl”. Virgin vinyl was one of those ploys to get us consumers to part with even MORE of our money on albums back in the day. Kinda like releasing albums on CD, then re-releasing them as “digitally remastered” and then mucking up the entire mix. Supposedly the albums were pressed from direct to master patterns and with heavier, virgin vinyl. They certainly were heavier. I have one album that is also done in white vinyl. Slick album.
I still have the over priced Al Stewart album today and it’s seen a needle only three times in its entire life. Was it worth the extra money? I doubt it, but it was more to impress the audiophiles at parties. I also have the “virgin” version of “Dark Side of the Moon” and that one I’d swear was 100% better than a normal vinyl release. Oddly enough, both engineered by Alan Parsons.
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Discussion (9) ¬
Aww, such a cute cat!
He’s a pain in the ass, aint he?
The cat or Bud? They’re both going to a pain in the tuchus by the end of the day…
😛
Its all about the negotiation.
Damn straight! Stay on topic. Women will turn the subject on you in a hot second. We men aren’t that smart, so stay focused for God’s sake… Oh, look! A kitty!
😛
That’s right bud, don’t move on from this conversation until you get your first question answered. I know people love their pets, but if she’s producing the cat from a carry bag, she’s probably got a bit more love to give to the cat than she will you Bud. Your not gonna be able to compete with the Cat, so you have two choices here:
1. It’s not gonna work and cut your losses
2. Let the cat in and see which cat you see more of in the long run. 🙂 I don’t think you’ll be happy with the end result of that one.
Ahem, perhaps you speak from some sort of personal experience on this topic?
🙂
BTW, I fought the urge to go for the obvious “pussy” jokes in this one, and I’m glad you did too!
Virgin, “first run” vinyl did make a difference, especially if you had a good system & sensitive stylus. Having worked in the retail music biz for many years & while vinyl was still king, I know first hand. The TV & “Best Of Collection” budget labels (anyone remember K-tel & Pickwick?…) independents like Cameo, Bell, Roulette et al, & the major label budget lines – usually selling older back catalog lp’s from well known or best selling acts, would keep costs down by 1: issuing or reissuing without any bells & whistles – no fancy covers or sleeves, or, originally issued picture sleeves, lyric sheets, gate fold covers or whatnot, would be done away with, and 2: they used reprocessed/recycled vinyl – stuff basically melted down & reused from retailers’ defective returns, bad recording runs, unsold recordings & overstocked inventory, etc. The reprocessed vinyl was usually not as dense, and the lp’s were also just a tad bit thinner: less vinyl = more lp’s that could pressed. This not only made them more susceptible to warping & easier to scratch, but if there was any impurities in the vinyl (remainders of labels and/or adhesive that glued them to the record, bits of paper or pulp from sleeves & covers, etc.), a sensitive stylus would pick it up as a snap, crackle or pop… It was more noticeable on classical music, & we’d get a ton more returns from the classical budget lines due to those folks usually having more expensive sound systems capable of picking up sound glitches, & also, being a bit more discerning & discriminating in their listening habits (they hadn’t blasted their hearing like us rockers…) wouldn’t crank the music to the max & could actually hear the defects! Volume could mask a multitude of sins sometimes…
Also Byron, as far as “audiophile” recordings being worth the extra beer money… they were only as good as the original masters. If the original recording was well produced & engineered (like Alan Parson’s work) then the improved fidelity from such audiophile-impressing hooks like virgin & high density vinyl, 1/2 speed mastering, original master pressings, etc., worked. But if you started with a turd, trying to polish it up usually just meant that you ended up with a shiny expensive turd!
I agree… garbage in = garbage out.
Parsons was a quality engineer and was worth the investment. But with that said, his work was so good, that even a standard pressing sounded great. I usually bought albums when they were first released and normally did not have many complaints. I had a Led Zep III album that actually had a thumb print on side one of the pressing. Funny as hell and it did manage to play the track, albeit noisily.
So I think my comment on whether they were worth it or not was based on if someone like Parsons was behind the wheel, you were getting a really great recording already. The virgin vinyl and original master pressings were just icing on the cake.
Someday I’m gonna make the trek to meet you and buy you a beer! Seems we have a lot in common!
🙂