Vinyl Me Please Anthology

Dang, I signed up for the Metal Blade anthology (my first), and they definitely still advertise the "weeks" all up and down the Anthology page. That's definitely misleading.
There have been a few of us that have complained to them about this. They are still advertising the available sets as being a weekly journey, and even the sheet that came with the Herbie Hancock set has it outlined that way.

Very misleading IMO, especially when you consider that the podcast is advertised as an exclusive part of the set which is available once bought.
 
There have been a few of us that have complained to them about this. They are still advertising the available sets as being a weekly journey, and even the sheet that came with the Herbie Hancock set has it outlined that way.

Very misleading IMO, especially when you consider that the podcast is advertised as an exclusive part of the set which is available once bought.
Yeah I kinda want to write them an email myself (I as completely out of the loop on anthologys untill Metal blade). Honestly part of the reason I bit the bullet and got the anthology was because of the week system: Getting 2 records a week to really sink your teeth into, for a genre im starting to love was really appealing to me. Getting them all at once...less so.
 
Starting to dig into the anthology with my first play through of Takin' Off. It sounds absolutely killer, such an outstanding pressing. The only downside is that there is a slight dishwarp which I might end up raising (its minor enough that I normally wouldn't, but as a high-priced set I might do so anyway).

Seriously though, if the others sound as good as this I will be super happy!

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Starting to dig into the anthology with my first play through of Takin' Off. It sounds absolutely killer, such an outstanding pressing. The only downside is that there is a slight dishwarp which I might end up raising (its minor enough that I normally wouldn't, but as a high-priced set I might do so anyway).

Seriously though, if the others sound as good as this I will be super happy!

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Glad to hear it sounds good.

If you get any replacements & need to clear some shelf space, I'd be happy to purchase some slightly dished Herbie
 
Starting to dig into the anthology with my first play through of Takin' Off. It sounds absolutely killer, such an outstanding pressing. The only downside is that there is a slight dishwarp which I might end up raising (its minor enough that I normally wouldn't, but as a high-priced set I might do so anyway).

Oh I'm sorry, somehow they must've sent you my copy by mistake.
 
Starting to dig into the anthology with my first play through of Takin' Off. It sounds absolutely killer, such an outstanding pressing. The only downside is that there is a slight dishwarp which I might end up raising (its minor enough that I normally wouldn't, but as a high-priced set I might do so anyway).

Seriously though, if the others sound as good as this I will be super happy!

View attachment 97559

Agree. I’m 3 records in and these sound great (the mastering). Takin’ Off and Maiden Voyage could give my MMJ 45s a run for the money and I would say Headhunters beats the AP 45. Unfortunately all 3 have a slight edge warp, Takin Off has quite a bit of vinyl surface noise and MV had some non-fill. I will at least be asking for a replacement of MV. Really wish these had been pressed by RTI or QRP... they could be the definitive 33 versions of these albums.
 
Yeah, I'm now starting on a second pass with some of these. I'm on Future Shock right now and it appears the side A skip is gone after a cleaning, so I've got my fingers crossed that Side B will also sound good too.

I'm with you on Maiden Voyage, on second listen I think the surface noise is worse than I had originally noticed. I might try another cleaning but that might be a replacement request.

Edit: No more skips on Future Shock, yay! Maiden Voyage's fate still tbd
 
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So far I’m really blown away by the sound on these. If I am able to ultimately get clean copies of all of these through replacements then I think this will be one of the best boxset purchases I’ve made in years.

If anyone is on the fence about buying this set GET IT NOW while it is still at retail prices and you can request replacements for any issues. These will definitely appreciate in price once sold out and I can’t imagine some of these albums sounding any better than this.
 
I'm glad you're all enjoying your Herbie records. TBH it kind of makes me want to buy it, as he's one of my favorite artists of all time, and I don't have most of these albums. But then I see the price, and I remember why I haven't purchased a single Anthology so far. In my mind boxsets are supposed to be cheaper than buying all records separately, and this is definitely not the case. > $40 USD per album is crazy, especially when these records are pressed at GZ and have issues such as warps and surface noise. I bet you will eventually get a good copy, but for that price one would expect a premium product where defects are not the norm.
 
I'm glad you're all enjoying your Herbie records. TBH it kind of makes me want to buy it, as he's one of my favorite artists of all time, and I don't have most of these albums. But then I see the price, and I remember why I haven't purchased a single Anthology so far. In my mind boxsets are supposed to be cheaper than buying all records separately, and this is definitely not the case. > $40 USD per album is crazy, especially when these records are pressed at GZ and have issues such as warps and surface noise. I bet you will eventually get a good copy, but for that price one would expect a premium product where defects are not the norm.
I’m on exactly the same boat, down to pulling out the calculator to verify that they’re indeed > $40 per record (not including sales tax). I like Herbie alright and have cheaper pressings off several of those records, but I cannot see myself dropping $43 and change on a copy of Future Shock or The River even if those were Mofi pressings. VMP Anthologies are weird.
 
I’m on exactly the same boat, down to pulling out the calculator to verify that they’re indeed > $40 per record (not including sales tax). I like Herbie alright and have cheaper pressings off several of those records, but I cannot see myself dropping $43 and change on a copy of Future Shock or The River even if those were Mofi pressings. VMP Anthologies are weird.
I would actually pay that price for a Mofi pressing of some of these albums. But if I'm buying them in batch and getting them "curated" (ie. Being forced to buy some albums I wouldn't necessarily buy) I would expect them to be significantly cheaper. And if I was paying that price for a Mofi I would expect the absolute best quality straight out of the box, not after a series of emails with Pauly and defective replacements to the original defective records.
 
Im on to Headhunter's now.

Maiden Voyage was very good and I'm lucky enough to have a first mono copy to compare it to (which I obviously did being the geek that I am). The separation of the instruments sounds really great on the anthology pressing. Unfortunately my copy also had a few ticks. I thought I might just need to clean it again but seeing comments here it might just be that particular title.

Headhunters is on another level completely. It's a big claim but this might just be the best sound record that I have ever had from VMP. It just blows me away how fantastic it sounds. I'm so glad I held back over the years, I was always overwhelmed by all the pressings of this and wanted to get the best sounding version. I'm certainly glad I waited.
 
I would actually pay that price for a Mofi pressing of some of these albums. But if I'm buying them in batch and getting them "curated" (ie. Being forced to buy some albums I wouldn't necessarily buy) I would expect them to be significantly cheaper. And if I was paying that price for a Mofi I would expect the absolute best quality straight out of the box, not after a series of emails with Pauly and defective replacements to the original defective records.
Agreed, a Mofi Headhunters or Maiden Voyage at that price would be an absolute steal. I was just singling out two of the box’s ugly ducklings IMO.
 
Oof... so here's currently what I'm going to look to get replaced:

-Maiden Voyage has some surface noise, particularly on the opening track.
-1+1 - both records probably have the worst warps in the box and the first record in particular has some terrible pops on Side A.
-The River - first record is fine but the second record is ATROCIOUS. Just this horrible swooshing and distortion all throughout Side C. Is this surface noise? An off-center record? I have no idea but it really, really sucks. I haven't even listened to Side D yet, not sure if I should even bother.

I need to give VSOP another listen before making videos of everything. In my email to VMP I also might gripe a bit about Head Hunters' warp as well but at least it's listenable unlike the above.

Because I want to try and be a glass-is-half-full sort of fella, I will again state The Piano is amazing, Takin' Off and Future Shock have no issues of note, and Head Hunters would be perfect if it didn't have that dish warp. Oh and no complaints on the packaging, everything is absolutely beautiful.
 
Oof... so here's currently what I'm going to look to get replaced:

-Maiden Voyage has some surface noise, particularly on the opening track.
-1+1 - both records probably have the worst warps in the box and the first record in particular has some terrible pops on Side A.
-The River - first record is fine but the second record is ATROCIOUS. Just this horrible swooshing and distortion all throughout Side C. Is this surface noise? An off-center record? I have no idea but it really, really sucks. I haven't even listened to Side D yet, not sure if I should even bother.

I need to give VSOP another listen before making videos of everything. In my email to VMP I also might gripe a bit about Head Hunters' warp as well but at least it's listenable unlike the above.

Because I want to try and be a glass-is-half-full sort of fella, I will again state The Piano is amazing, Takin' Off and Future Shock have no issues of note, and Head Hunters would be perfect if it didn't have that dish warp. Oh and no complaints on the packaging, everything is absolutely beautiful.
I have similar issues...all are pressing issues ultimately and all are on GZ. I have no qualms with requesting replacements.
 
Just submitted my request for replacements. I did include Head Hunters because seriously, guys:



Update: I'm getting me some replacements! Based on the shipping notification they're only going to be the records themselves, hopefully they'll be well packed (and flat).
 
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