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Why are some albums pressed on more than 1 LP?


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sitting here listening to Crimson by Alk3 which clocks in at 42:50 and wondering to myself why they decided to put it across 4 sides instead of 2, when there's not even a special edition artwork for the vinyl version, just two LPs sandwiched into a regular jacket with the orig art?

there are plenty of examples of records that could have gone on a single LP that get put on 2... anyone understand the logic behind it?

are the grooves roomier? or perhaps something to do with better/less sound compression?

i've always wondered this.

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It could be a timing thing, like the way the songs are sequenced they would've had 26 minutes on one side or something like that. Regardless, past that 40 minute mark it's a safe bet to space it out so it doesn't sound like shit, I own a few records that get crummy at the end of each side. Although, the Beloved LP that Brent put out sounds pretty good and that's a 44 minute album, so it probably comes down to who's cutting the stampers and whether they can make it work.

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This also depends on the volume of the album. The grooves are more tightly-packed for quiet sections and more spread out for loud sections, that's why sometimes longer acoustic/drone/ambient/etc albums are pressed on single vinyl and sound fine. For example, Brian Eno's "Discreet Music" has a 30-minute song on the A-side and it sounds great.

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This also depends on the volume of the album. The grooves are more tightly-packed for quiet sections and more spread out for loud sections, that's why sometimes longer acoustic/drone/ambient/etc albums are pressed on single vinyl and sound fine. For example, Brian Eno's "Discreet Music" has a 30-minute song on the A-side and it sounds great.

ahh, this makes total sense...louder sections cause more vibrations thus needing more groove spacing. never even considered this before. thanks for that insight

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I have the first press of this album - pretty sure it's only a single LP. I'm gonna throw any superior quality argument out the window and assume they made it a double LP so they could charge more for it.

Anything involving logic with a dubmaverick release is thrown out the window.

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Found on the back of Elvis Costello And The Attractions "Get Happy!!!"

“You’ll have noticed that there are ten (?) tracks on each side of this, Elvis’ new LP, making it a real “long player.”

Elvis and I talked long and hard about the wisdom of taking this unusual step and are proud that we can now reassure hi-fi enthusiasts and/or people who never bought a record before 1967 that with the inclusion of this extra music time they will find no loss of sound quality due to “groove cramming” as the record nears the end of each face (i.e. the hole in the middle).

Now get happy.

Your friend,

Producer Nick Lowe”

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