I have read some mixed reviews on the new MoFi vinyl recordings, and recieved a copy of Rush "Permanant Waves" for Xmas and love it.
Some of the "disc expert" sites have dumped on these recordings, but after getting this one, which I think has an unbelievably deep, rich, round, analog sound I ordered some other vinyl copies of MoFi recordings.
I always thought the older MoFi offerings were benchmarks, is that not the case? I loved the SACD's from them when I was using that format more often.
BTW, I don't really like Rush, my wife does ALOT, but I have really been listening to this a ton because of the sound quality.
The new Rhino stuff has been great. ZZ Top, The Replacements, Black Sabbath all have been great. I can't wait for my Van Halen to show up on Monday!!! I have also been waiting for the Faith No More, I think I will wait for Patrick to give us a review of it....
I am actually listening to the Joshua Tree right now, the current reissue on 2 discs, and it's just sublime. Great pressing, of course the first one I got was terrible and I returned it to MusicDirect.
I'm personally curious about the 2xLP of Faith No More's 'Angel Dust' that MoFi recently released, mostly because it's their first step into remastering heavy metal (along with the Megadeth album they just issued). It's one of my favorite albums, and even at $40 it's cheaper than buying an original.
IMHO, I think one of the reasons MoFi's selections are so odd (at least currently) is that the big record companies have realized they can release high-quality reissues themselves at a lower cost and tap into the current vinyl resurgence. For instance, all of the WB/Rhino reissue LPs I have sound great and are about half the cost. (Note: I've never been a huge MoFi fan).
sony has a vinyl agreement with scorpio in perpituity for thousands of sony/cbs/columbia titles(so mofi may indeed be restricted). on the pink floyd stuff(then and now) the band controls who gets what. sublicensing is an incredibly convoluted process, and every 'title'(even from the same artist) is really indeed a different bag of worms.
when you do the math, its a miracle we;re getting as many cool new vinyl titles as we are. god bless, mofi and anyone big or small with enough passion to get these titles through the legal sausage factory and into production.
It has to do with cost and if the manufacturer would bring out thier own audiophile version. If they were thinking about it or some other company offered more money then they would revoke the licence on the spot, like the Columbia Halfspeed, Direct Disk & others.Thats what happened to MFSL Janis Joplin's Pearl. How much money would you gamble if that happened to your company?
There is nothing at all wrong sound wise with the original cd of 'Tiger lily' by Natalie Merchant it sounds superb. Mastered by Bob Ludwig. If one has to keep resorting to 'souped' up versions then there must be something amiss in the hi-fi chain. Funnily enough I was listening to Paula Cole's 'this fire' cd and the tracks are well recorded, ie not complaints, except for track 4 'Carmen', mastered by Mr Ludwig, It is the weakest mastered track on the cd, especially if one compares it to track 5. 'Mississippi', Mr Ludwigs track whilst by means is it bad it seems he likes a duller sound as it sounds like someone has taken the fluff out of a male belly button and put it on a stylus, or should that be styli? as it is well duller, I prefer the snare 'snap' to have a real 'snap', seems like Mr Ludwig prefers the the snare drum sound to have a towel placed over it. Makes me wonder why Ms Cole chose the services of Mr Ludwig when the rest of the cd is excellent. I am a little grumpy today because I am having a girlie cd listening sesh and I can't find any of my Lisa Loeb cd's.............. Sorry this thread has nothing to do with Mofi (who ever they are?).Apology. All IMHO, naturally.
Ps- I never really got into Rush, saw them way way 70's?, they were very good live, but boy where they LOUD! I think my ears are still ringing, oh no that's from when The Who played at a Football (soccer to Americans, football to the rest of the world) ground in London in the 70's, now THAT was more than loud!
No Doubt Rush is a GREAT band. Great musicians, not just good, all of them. But I can't stand Geddy Lee's voice. Grates on my nerves, but I will probabably grab some more Rush vinyl after listening to this album.
UNless I miss my guess, some of the reason behind the eclectic "repertoire" if you will, was the ability to obtain the rights to high quality analog masters. I could be wrong, but that's my guess.
Viridian, you have hit the nail on the head. I too have shook my head at alot of the selections from MOFI. I am not sure who does the selecting of such albums but I think we need some new thinking....
I agree with Jaybo. I have just about every new, (and old) MOFI release and they are quite good. The 45rpm reissue of Natalie Merchant-Tigerlily is stunning. The Marc Cohn and Linda Ronstadt are standouts too.
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