Today I received a set of the most recent Blue Nile LP reissues. First to go on the RCM was naturally A walk Across the Rooftops. Compared to my original copies this latest one is on thicker vinyl but pressing quality looks good. Mine is very slightly off centre, but not enough to annoy too much.
It’s certainly a very quiet piece of vinyl and it seems to be cut at a slightly higher level than the original, although that might deceive as while it sounds excellent in isolation, it’s not quite up there with the original. Hardly a failure as the original was perhaps one of the best sounding LPs ever. The new reissue is perhaps a little less dynamic, a tad warmer too, and a touch smoothed over. Its close though, and if the original rates a 10, this reissue is an easy 9, maybe little higher. If you have a mint original then you don’t need this one unless, like me, you’re a bit of a Blue Nile fan.
I have an original '83 AWATR (the one with a slightly different cover), plus an '84 repress but both are a bit battered, so I bought the Confetti '19 re-release, which I am looking forward to hearing very soon.
Kev, the Confetti is very good indeed. It’s just that you feel just a tiny bit removed from the performance compared to the intense immediacy of the original. If your original is worn and past it’s best though, this will do very nicely indeed.
@Richard.Dane - Listening to it now. I like it, and as reissues go it’s very good; but to me it just doesn’t have the slight hardness and huge open spaces of the '83 and '84 Linn pressings.
Still, it’s great to have it on such quiet, scratch-free vinyl – especially for “Easter Parade” (one of my favourite Nile songs).
Yup, I agree. We should be thankful for it, and as reissues go, it’s excellent (apart from no poly-lined inner - why not??) Although, if you want the very best it’s still got to be an LKH1 or LKH001 original.
This evening I had a listen to the new reissue of Hats. On the face of it, it’s an excellent reissue, nicely pressed on quiet thick vinyl. However, the comparison with a mint original is a similar story to the first LP. The original, while cut st a slightly lower level, is just more dynamic, lively and present. The gap here is perhaps even just a tad wider between original and reissue. And against the original 12” of Downtown Lights, while the reissue is excellent, the 12” (especially the mint very early promo) is astonishing - probably the best sounding slab of vinyl I own.
I don’t know. Without having any further details on the reissue, it’s hard to speculate. But don’t get me wrong. By any other standard it’s a superb sounding reissue. Truly Mint copies of Hats are not easy to find and usually much more expensive than this reissue.
As the year approaches its end, I was thinking back to the wonderful vinyl reissues that we’ve had over the past 12 months. For Jazz fans we had the heaven sent Ian Carr and Don Rendell box set from Jazzman at the very start of the year, to the Blue Note Tone Poet and 80th anniversary reissues that just keep on coming (and more Tone Poets due for 2020, so I hear). There was a soul treat in the form of the Curtis Mayfield box set, as well as the MoFi Super Fly. We’ve had the Blue Nile reissues, but still waiting on a vinyl issue of High. There was the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ Abbey Road along with a number of fine vinyl reissue sets to choose from. Oh, and the James Tailor box set was also wonderful too. There are of course many others too, so just wondering what might be the vinyl reissue of the year for other members here.
Probably for me Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures as it was such an important album in my youth. Chemical Brothers - Surrender and Florence and the Machine - Lungs mainly because I cant believe they were celebrating 20 and 10 years after initial release, makes me feel VERY old.
I agree regarding the Ian Carr/Don Rendell reissues and the blue Note Tone Poet reissues a great year for Jazz fans.
My favourite was the UHQR Hendrix Axis Bold As Love. I got the stereo but wish I had got the mono as well after hearing it.
Ok, so not technically a reissue in the normal sense because it was originally only issued on CD. John Martyn’s final posthumous album release, Heaven & Earth. For me, this is up there with his best by virtue of the title track and JM’s take on pal Phil Collins’ “Can’t turn back the Years”. Honest, raw and at times painful, but all the better for it. This Music on Vinyl reissue is excellent. RIP John Martyn.
A bit of a long shot, but has anyone heard the Music on Vinyl reissue of Spirit, The Family That Plays Together? I’m tempted because it is a gatefold and only the original US issue was a gatefold, but MoV can be a bit variable.
Bruce, Tunnel of Love 2018 reissue.
This is a really good reissue. There’s not too much wrong with my original 1987 copy, but with the 12 songs now spread over 4 sides, there’s no doubt that the original end of side tracks benefit from being given more room. The whole album sounds more ‘stable’ and real, with greater air and imaging. My copy has flat, quiet and centred discs. Highly recommended.
Prefab Sprout’s Steve McQueen is one of my all time favourite records. I decided to buy the remastered vinyl copy released a month or two back. It’s not clear from the sleeve notes, but a search on the internet reveals it has been half-speed remastered. I thought it would be hard to improve on the original, but to my ears it’s superb - a lovely vibrant sound with more detail revealed.
