The 33 1/3 thread.... (the book series)

Lee Newman said:
@MikeH
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coming round to side two. I quite like this. The pressing is very nice. There’s a slight warp but I don’t think I’ll bother putting it under the michell, weight seems fine. The imaging is very nice - which I noticed somewhere in the talk of the new mono version for rocktober, Simone has complained about it being an early stereo mix (which always makes me think of Sgt Peppers)... I have no idea if Bellman did something different here, but it’s quite nice. There is some phase shifting, but nothing jarring and honestly, given that this is a “psychedelic” record - I’m sure what’s there is quite entertaining in the right atmosphere. Nice instrument separation. Nice soundstage. No pressing noise. I’m still a spin clean user and I definitely introduced some static in the drying process.
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@wmeugene did you get your copy yet? What did you think?
 
Probably won’t dig into the book till tomorrow. I think with these albums I don’t know, based on my listening preferences... it makes sense to give the album a dedicated listen before I fill my head with someone else’s thoughts about it. Of the less out there psychedelic stuff, I think this is great. It strikes a balance between pop and psychedelia that I’ve not really experienced before, I think The Moody Blues err on the side of pop and The Zombies err on the side of fucking weird. This isn’t the same kind of thing that Hendrix and company were doing. Honestly this hits a nice sweet spot between the classic rock and singer singer writer stuff that I dig. It’s one of those things I wish I had discovered before now. For those of you who are big into Love, I know this is the “masterpiece,” are the other records worth exploring?
 
Lee Newman said:
@MikeH
View attachment 64884
coming round to side two. I quite like this. The pressing is very nice. There’s a slight warp but I don’t think I’ll bother putting it under the michell, weight seems fine. The imaging is very nice - which I noticed somewhere in the talk of the new mono version for rocktober, Someone had complained about it being an early stereo mix (which always makes me think of Sgt Peppers)... I have no idea if Bellman did something different here, but it’s quite nice. There is some phase shifting, but nothing jarring and honestly, given that this is a “psychedelic” record - I’m sure what’s there is quite entertaining in the right atmosphere. Nice instrument separation. Nice soundstage. No pressing noise. I’m still a spin clean user and I definitely introduced some static in the drying process.
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Over the years that’s become one of my favourites..particularly love the final track ..the 33 1/3 book is a good read too ..enjoy
 
I put on my Buffalo Springfield Mono immediately after which is cut a little hot and it makes me realize how much I like the engineering done on Love and like Sticky Fingers where the dynamics are allowed to breath and if you want it loud you can crank it and maybe notice more where as this Buffalo Springfield is just a bit of an all out assault.
 
Lee Newman said:
For those of you who are big into Love, I know this is the “masterpiece,” are the other records worth exploring?
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2nd album da capo for sure, first album yesish, post- forever changes albums are more hit and miss. He had a brilliant idea for a double album and the record company decided to split it between two albums so the post FC albums feel uneven. You can definitely feel them maturing into forever changes. Da capo has their legitimate "hit", "7 and 7 is", which is you're a Rush fan, they covered on their covers EP, feedback.
 
Well this was an unexpected rabbit hole to come across and fall into, lol. These look great, after reading most of the comments in this thread, I think I'm going to take @Lee Newman's point of not worrying about reviews and just take each one on it's own.

Now I just need to decide on a couple, I figured 2 at a time would be a decent pace :)
 
About half way though the Forever Changes book. A few thoughts, I almost wish I’d spent some more time with the album before I read the book. It’s shifty, one or twice before now I have given it a background listen in the car or work and it pretty much lived up to the Muzak impressions from the old Crawdaddy review. The first listen on vinyl was pretty revelatory. It opened up and I got why people were into it, but there was a brightness that the book has stolen from if. Part of it I just think this is one of those works of art that shifts and can communicate to your current mindset and has a little bit of the eyes that follow you around the room ness to it. However, the excess and darkness of 67-69 LA and understanding Lee’s mindset at the recording and then isolation afterwards changes the whole context and now four listens in, it’s getting very dark - not just lyrically, there’s a bit of charismatic doom to the whole poppy orchestration feel. Despite the fact that I’m a little sad I didn’t get to develop my own theories about what it all means before reading the book, I’m fairly certain that it’s going to be an album that I pretty much live with the rest of my life and might never really fully understand. Honestly, that’s a good thing.
 
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I'm going to dump my music book pics in the music books thread as well, I think I already dumped a picture of my 33 1/3 collection here. The second shelf is mostly music transcription books. There's a local "tiny free library" where I drop off the unwanted old books.
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I'm still organizing, I know there's stuff I have that isn't here ("England's hidden reverse", jazz anecdotes volumes etc)
 
So in the book club format, I kicked off with the Beach Boys - Pet Sounds, due to having picked up the AP 45 rpm Mono. I also read Wouldn't It Be Nice by Charles Granata to really deep dive.

I though both the Granata and 33 1/3 book (Jim Fusili) to be worthwhile reads. Granata's was more detailed and focused on the art of Pet Sounds, whereas the 33 1/3 contextualized Pet Sounds within the context of the 60s, the Beach Boys' other works, and the narrative of the albums songs. I know that I won't get lucky with other albums to have 300 or so pages of well written material, but this was a treat.

I did get a newfound appreciation for Pet Sounds, which is odd for me to say since I always thought it was one of the greatest albums of all time. But I definitely get it even more so now and probably think even higher of the album's accomplishments and pure artistry.

Next up is Dusty Springfield's Dusty In Memphis (conveniently enough, I had recently ordered the AP 45 rpm edition as well) and I've read the first two chapters today. Definitely a different perspective than the Pet Sounds entry, but I am enjoying it for what it is.
 
Just finished Harvest. Was an enjoyable read (not the best written) and probably the way most people want these books laid out. Context in NY’s discography and in the Classic Rick canon. In depth dives in each song. Pretty solid critical analysis. I don’t know why but I never placed Danny’s death as close to Harvest before now.

Kinks next month.

Neil is always mainstay in the house. Yesterday I listened to everything I had in release to Harvest. This morning I’ve listened from Harvest (will probably stop at Tonight’s the night) recorded order (although I’m not exactly sure where On the Beach happened, recording wise). I’ve left out Journey to the Past because it’s weird. I’d also like to take a stab at the Harvest lineage so like After the Gold Rush to Prairie Wind... before moving on.
 
Ive bought a few of these recently cheap from ebay and only read Harvest so far.

I really enjoyed Harvest, although im a bit of a NY nut so expected I would. Agree with Lee's sentiments, its very well laid out and gives in depth analysis on each track.

Next up for me is Abba Gold! 20201019_083826.jpg
 
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