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PO: Pearl Jam reissues


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1 hour ago, timsimmons said:

To be fair Doby, weren't you complaining about DMB doing it poorly before Crash? You went off on the UTTD pressing. its nice that they course corrected though. 

 

I mean, yes, for a band that supposedly cares about vinyl, PJ could do things better ( though I'd argue that they have always cared more about vinyl for the aesthetic pleasures than the aural pleasures and that it was more of a nostalgic love because of the 90s and in subsequent decades, they started to care less about it today).

Definitely complaining with regards to UTTAD, very disappointing given the previous year's releases leading up to that one had shown such promise (Live Trax using fully dynamic masterings from the original 16/44.1 mix files mastered by Scott Hull @ MASTERDISK, moving pressing from URP to Record Industry, etc) but UTTAD had some pretty God-awful mishaps - using the wrong master tape resulting in the deletion of 2 mins of sax from one of your deceased founding members! I did also note what was being done right (http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2WU0KTOS4WXO/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00O5HX2EK)
 

But at the end of the day, we still got more info about UTTAD than we're getting about a single PJ vinyl. :)

And this isn't directed at you, but people have pretty tender sensibilities if they get their knickers in a twist so badly they think I'm telling them whether or not they should buy it.

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2 hours ago, timsimmons said:

I mean, yes, for a band that supposedly cares about vinyl, PJ could do things better ( though I'd argue that they have always cared more about vinyl for the aesthetic pleasures than the aural pleasures and that it was more of a nostalgic love because of the 90s and in subsequent decades, they started to care less about it today). 

I think you're onto it here--for Pearl Jam (and especially Vedder), it seems like vinyl records are more of a fetish object, which is something we can all relate to in some respect. I think the lyrics to "Spin the Black Circle" lay this out pretty plainly; when I was young, I was certain that the song was about drug use and only used the language of playing records to get a point across...it took me many years to realize that it's actually the opposite.

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On 5/11/2016 at 9:49 AM, dobyblue said:

Another impossibly vague vinyl announcement by a major artist. Pearl Jam care more about offering vinyl than the execution of it.

What's the source material? Where is it being pressed? Is this the first time No Code is being specifically mastered for vinyl in which case the original is the CD cut to vinyl, or is this the first time No Code is being specifically mastered for vinyl by Bob Ludwig? Again, impossibly vague.

How do they reissue Ten and not realize that 28 minutes for SIDE A is far too long? Vs. was WB@NRP and that was pressed at URP, pretty soundly panned.

There hasn't been a single title in the Pearl Jam vinyl reissue series that has mentioned the source material, not once.

How does Pearl Jam, the band who released Vitalogy in 1995 with a two week exclusive vinyl window get vinyl so wrong while Dave Matthews Band, who didn't even do a single widescale vinyl release until 2009, are doing vinyl so right (Crash has been cut all analogue from the original stereo master tape by Chris Bellman @ Bernie Grundman Mastering and pressed at MPO)

Hopefully in a few years a specialty label like MFSL, Analogue Productions, ORG Music, Audio Fidelity, etc., may license these for AAA vinyl and analogue > DSD SACD Hybrid releases. AF licensed the 1/2" 30ips analogue master tapes for RATM's debut for a direct to DSD Hybrid SACD release coming out June 17th, mastered by Steve Hoffman, and so there is a whimper of hope that these incredible Pearl Jam albums, coming under the same label umbrella, may some day get the treatment they deserve.

If anyone wants to retire their original pressings, I'll buy them off you for the cost of the new pressings. :)

Honestly, I agree with most of this post. The OP of Ten blows away the new reissue, which shouldn't EVER happen if a band of PJ's stature actually cares about the quality of their vinyl pressings. The last few releases (Backspacer, LB) haven't been great from an audio standpoint. I'm still hunting an OP of Vs. for a cheap price, rather than wasting $$ on what I know from countless sources is a bad reissue. It is a shame that the one band championing vinyl during the dark days of the 90's doesn't seem to care about quality now that we're in a resurgence.

 

To offer a more accurate counterpoint than DMB (who actually put out BTCS in 1998, definitely a widespread vinyl release for the time).... Nirvana's catalog on ORG sounds pretty fantastic. And those were recent reissues... But all-analog and done with care.

On the flipside, Soundgarden's reissues haven't been anything to write home about. Alice In Chains is all MOV, with mixed results. The Black Crowes reissues (which coincide with the same era of PJ reissues) missed the boat too. Pearl Jam isn't the only band putting out half-assed reissues... But they seem like the one that SHOULD care more.

 

I would love to see an analog specialty label get a crack at PJ's back catalog. I'm fine with paying $30 for a record with top-notch sound, versus $20 for another reissue that sounds like the CD on vinyl. But I don't see it happening anytime soon.

 

 

Edited by filthyrich
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Great post, and the reaction to the crappy mastering for Nevermind's 20th anniversary release clearly got to UMe's ears because they re-used the ORG stampers for Nevermind under the UMe/Geffen label in 2013, pressed at Pallas. It's only $21.99 on Amazon.

 

For BTCS it's estimated only around 1,000 to 2,000 copies at most of BTCS ever saw release in stores, the vast majority were sent out in boxes of QTY=30 with promo notches in them already. Consider only 180 people have it on Discogs, most of those acquiring it within the past 5 years or so, vs. 1100 for BWGK. Seems like it was more for people like Letterman to hold up when introducing the band. 

I snagged an OP of Vs recently for US$30 shipped on Discogs, worth putting an e-mail notification and placing it in your "wantlist" as then you'll see every copy that's listed.

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Fine, But I'm not talking about hype stickers. I'm talking about a concerted effort to make their stuff the highest quality. Early albums may sound great, but that's because those pressings were closer to the era where people still made records. By 02/03 when the industry had basically given up on vinyl (coincidently around the time they were wrapping up their Sony contract) that's when their stuff took a significant nose dive. 

 

Im just saying, I don't think quality is something they ever really cared about when it came to their vinyl. They just fetishized the nostalgia of the artifact. But their contrary to the popular culture support of the format has somehow evolved, in many fans minds, as them leading the charge for audiophiles. And now they are held up to some standard that they never really intentionally met. 

Edited by timsimmons
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3 hours ago, timsimmons said:

Im just saying, I don't think quality is something they ever really cared about when it came to their vinyl. They just fetishized the nostalgia of the artifact. But their contrary to the popular culture support of the format has somehow evolved, in many fans minds, as them leading the charge for audiophiles. And now they are held up to some standard that they never really intentionally met. 

This. We all probably wish they'd text Neil Young, ask, "u up?" and then ask his vinyl guys to handle their reissues, but it just doesn't seem like the band cares that much.

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20 hours ago, timsimmons said:

I'd love for them to do some serious all analog reissues pressed at Pallas Germany on 200g. I'm just never surprised when stuff just sounds ok or sub par and pressed at United or Golden. 

Golden is a mastering engineer. Both he and his son do tons of indie stuff and they do a good job most of the time.  Maybe you were thinking of Rainbo? 

Edited by kannibal
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  • 1 month later...
16 minutes ago, dobyblue said:

Decent pricing on the two new reissues today on Popmarket as well as the 5 7" singles
https://www.popmarket.com/collections/pearl-jam-vinyl-reissues-collection

They two albums are both a few bucks cheaper in the PJ store. The good thing is that popmarket has free shipping. I went right away with 10c on the off chance that they slip in some variants. Probably won't happen, but you never know with them.

 

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