Vinyl Me Please Essentials

[jamieanderson1968]

M

Our December Essentials Record of the Month will feature Bob Dylan’s highly regarded Blonde on Blonde, the last of three albums Dylan recorded between 1965 and 1966. The album is pressed on 2LP “Blonde on Blonde'' vinyl from AAA lacquers cut from the original mono master tapes by Ryan Smith at GZ Vinyl. The record comes with a Listening Notes booklet written by Michael Simmons and an art print by Elio Moavero.

I have a stereo copy so will probably grab this to upgrade to mono (as long as GZ doesn’t royally screw it up)

 

[Joe Mac]

Our December Essentials Record of the Month will feature Bob Dylan’s highly regarded Blonde on Blonde, the last of three albums Dylan recorded between 1965 and 1966. The album is pressed on 2LP “Blonde on Blonde'' vinyl from AAA lacquers cut from the original mono master tapes by Ryan Smith at GZ Vinyl. The record comes with a Listening Notes booklet written by Michael Simmons and an art print by Elio Moavero.

No mention of mono or stereo?

 

[MikeH]

No mention of mono or stereo?

says from original mono masters in the description!

 

[MikeH]

M

I have a stereo copy so will probably grab this to upgrade to mono (as long as GZ doesn’t royally screw it up)

yea the mono is nice to have vs stereo. i have the mono box so skipping will be skipping this one.

 

[hlaveta]

says from original mono masters in the description!

Definitely don't need to upgrade the Mono box copy.

 

[Joe Mac]

says from original mono masters in the description!

You expect me to read! Pffft!

I may do a one month jump in for this. My mono cut is one of my first buys, I wasn’t always as careful with records as I’ve become and it has had a lot of time on the table so a fresh one might not be a bad idea. Plus I think last time RKS was a trainee being overseen by George Marino, be interesting to see if he’s able to a better job as a more experienced mastering engineer.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

Beastie Boys:

The album is pressed on exclusive 2LP Burgundy vinyl with AAA lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Ryan Smith. This anniversary edition record includes a Listening Notes booklet written by DJ, artist and producer Mark Ronson along with a show poster.

I am good with my 2009 RTI pressed remaster. That I paid like $24 for. Great album but this ain’t gonna cut it in terms of an “upgrade”.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

Definitely don't need to upgrade the Mono box copy.

Same

 

[hlaveta]

I am good with my 2009 RTI pressed remaster. That I paid like $24 for. Great album but this ain’t gonna cut it in terms of an “upgrade”.

Likewise!

 

[keylime_5]

I am good with my 2009 RTI pressed remaster. That I paid like $24 for. Great album but this ain’t gonna cut it in terms of an “upgrade”.

Was the 2009 AAA. The hype on this reissue is pretty much as high as Storf could possibly set the bar:

“The thing that is most mind-blowing about our edition of Check Your Head is that we’ve remastered it AAA all analog, as the Beasties were one of a decreasing number of rap artists recording direct to tape in 1992,” Winistorfer said. “Our edition sounds as good as the best of our Classics pressings, the best of our Anthologies; I kept playing “So What’cha Want” on my turntable and laughing at how good it sounds. Our 30th Anniversary Edition will go down as one of the best VMP Essentials releases we’ve ever done.”

 

[jamieanderson1968]

Was the 2009 AAA. The hype on this reissue is pretty much as high as Storf could possibly set the bar:

“The thing that is most mind-blowing about our edition of Check Your Head is that we’ve remastered it AAA all analog, as the Beasties were one of a decreasing number of rap artists recording direct to tape in 1992,” Winistorfer said. “Our edition sounds as good as the best of our Classics pressings, the best of our Anthologies; I kept playing “So What’cha Want” on my turntable and laughing at how good it sounds. Our 30th Anniversary Edition will go down as one of the best VMP Essentials releases we’ve ever done.”

Hype man is gonna hype

 

[Mather]

Hype man is gonna hype

Yeah I don't know how the the 2009 one was sourced. But it's also Sterling and it's pressed at RTI and sounds pretty dang good. I'd be surprised even if the new master is better, that GZ doesn't fuck it up in its usual way.

 

[hayema7]

Nebraska details say Lacquers Cut At Half-Speed From The Plangent Processed Masters. I'm pretty excited for this one now, knowing the quality could be up there with the Plangent press others having been talking up.

 

[Ghost]

Got a lot of listening to do.

Got to see if I'm keeping Nebraska, if not then its a swap toss up between Aretha's Spirit In The Dark and Daniel Rossen's solo album

 

[hayema7]

Anyone got any questions for Storf? Happy to ask them and get answers via the discord Q&A.

 

[TCell]

I give VMP a lot of shit, but can we give VMP a little credit for nailing 3 Essential "Essentials"?

Nebraska, Check Your Head, and Blonde on Blonde are all 10/10 albums.

 

[hayema7]

I give VMP a lot of shit, but can we give VMP a little credit for nailing 3 Essential "Essentials"?

Nebraska, Check Your Head, and Blonde on Blonde are all 10/10 albums.

I think the details released are pretty great too. About as good as you can get for source material.

 

[keylime_5]

I give VMP a lot of shit, but can we give VMP a little credit for nailing 3 Essential "Essentials"?

Nebraska, Check Your Head, and Blonde on Blonde are all 10/10 albums.

Well we're either complain about their Essentials not being "essential" — or about them being widely available as great sounding pressings already.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

Was the 2009 AAA. The hype on this reissue is pretty much as high as Storf could possibly set the bar:

“The thing that is most mind-blowing about our edition of Check Your Head is that we’ve remastered it AAA all analog, as the Beasties were one of a decreasing number of rap artists recording direct to tape in 1992,” Winistorfer said. “Our edition sounds as good as the best of our Classics pressings, the best of our Anthologies; I kept playing “So What’cha Want” on my turntable and laughing at how good it sounds. Our 30th Anniversary Edition will go down as one of the best VMP Essentials releases we’ve ever done.”

Not sure. The Hype doesn’t specify…

All I know is it sounds excellent and The Beastie Boys seem like people that respect the vinyl format. The VMP version might sound as good but I would be surprised if it surpasses it.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

Well we're either complain about their Essentials not being "essential" — or about them being widely available as great sounding pressings already.

From a macro standpoint these are excellent choices from a Micro (me, personally) standpoint these are unnecessary and not better than what I already have.