+1 for "Heartbeat City"
Showing 50 responses by reubent
Hey "turntable tonight?" thread guys. Anyone else annoyed by this recent practice of placing a standard LP length recording onto 2 disks (4 sides)? 2-3 songs on a side makes for lots of up/downs to swap sides. I can understand it for records that are significantly longer than a typical LP. However, standard record length releases spread across 4 sides seems like a marketing ploy to me. Does anyone think/know if there is a significant Sound Quality improvement to having more available space to spread the track across? Also, what are your thoughts on records that have the album spread across only 3 sides of a double LP? I have a few like this. Anyway, maybe I'm just getting lazy. But changing sides after only 10-12 minutes, or so, seems excessive to me.
Thoughts? Pro or Con.... |
@big_greg - Are you mocking me? ;~) Anyway, you can't do that with modern records as they are pressed - Disk 1 (side 1, side 2) and Disk 2 (side 3, side 4). It would play out of order on a stacker. Now, if you have old double LPs, most of them were pressed - Disk 1 (side 1, side 4) and Disk 2 (side 2, side 3). This way you could play them on a stacker, listen to the first 2 LPs, flip the stack and listen to the rest, in order! |
I wonder if there is a sweet spot regarding how many minutes of content are optimal when considering maximizing content, without affecting Sound Quality. I'm likely not as critical of a listener as some of you, so I find it annoying when there is only 10/12/13 minutes of content on a side, pushing the album to two disks unnecessarily. However, if the Sound Quality is noticeably improved (even though I don't necessarily hear it), I'm all for it. |
@tomic601 - You're a dangerous man! Just sayin'... |
@spiritofradio - Thanks for the link. Per the article, about 22-24 minutes per side before there is any effect on SQ. So, at least some of the offending albums had some "extras" thrown-in to make the 4 sides at least reasonable long. Still wish they would have just put the original content on 2 sides (or 3, if 2 would have been over about 23 minutes per side). Anyone have any 3 sided records with cool artwork pressed into side 4?
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@lnitm @spiritofradio Exile played at one of my High School Dances before they became famous (the first time). The band members were from nearby my home town in Central Kentucky. |
Matthew Sweet - "Girlfriend"
Intervention Records - IR-021 Man, this is a great pressing. 2xLP, so it has all 15 tracks from the original album, plus 3 bonus tracks. OK, so here's a good use for the 2xLP format I complained about a couple of days ago. I have this record on MOV, but it only contains 12 tracks, not the original 15. |
@sbank and All, The Intervention Records 2xLP of Matthew Sweet - "Girlfriend" is available on eBay right now. I don't know the original MSRP, but they are selling for $56 plus shipping right now and they have multiple copies available. I do not enjoy paying "collector pricing". However, it's a really good example of the album for someone who is a big fan. It is remastered from the original analog tapes. Also, it contains all 15 tracks from the original CD only release, plus 3 bonus tracks. I think the Intervention Records release is the only vinyl release containing all 15 of the original tracks. I could be wrong about this, but I did do some cursory research. |
This is my 5000th post! Glad to be doing it in the best thread on A-goN......... For my happy 5000th benchmark I decided to play one of my favorite albums, by one of my favorite artists....... Without further ado, I present...... Elvis Costello - "All This Useless Beauty" - M.O.V. 180 gram audiophile pressing |
Bruce Springsteen - "High Hopes" Last of the Christmas/Birthday present LP haul. I know this is not one of Bruce's best sellers. However, it's a solid album and having Tom Morello as special guest didn't hurt. I saw the 2014 Springsteen High Hopes tour w/Tom Morello. It was my first Springsteen show. Honestly, never had much interest prior to seeing this show. However, seeing this Springsteen show completely changed my opinion of "The Boss". Was a magical show. Springsteen could do a "Greatest Hits" show every night of the year and fill arenas. But for this show, the 3 show-stoppers for me were 3 songs off of the title LP. 1). "American Skin(41 Shots)", 2). "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (with a blazing guitar solo by Morello) and 3). the walk-off solo closer "Dream Baby Dream". Great Show and a pretty good album. Although, none of the studio versions reach the intensity of the live versions. Now, regarding my comment about "last presents". This does not count the 2 LP's I bought for myself over the Holidays! Still inbound are "The Hot Spot" (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, featuring Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis) and Robbie Robertson - S/T, both of which have been on my wishlist for a long time. |
@slaw Surprised you never mentioned them? Well, this is a vinyl thread and I don't have any of their albums on vinyl. Actually, haven't listened to them in years. I have their first and second CDs from 1991 and 92, then "Ohio" from 2003 and lastly "The Trumpet Child" from 2007. Kind of lost track of them at that point. I'm listening to them now via streaming and reading about their later albums. I see that Joe Henry produced their 2011 and 2013 efforts and that Lucinda Williams and Aimee Mann are credited as guest vocalist. I think I'll check those two out, as well as their latest 2019 release to see how they sound today. Although I always found Karin Bergquist's vocal style to be a bit over-dramatic on the early albums, I do think that the song - "Rhapsodie" from their 1992 album - "Patience" is a stunningly beautiful song. Thanks for reminding me of Over the Rhine. |