All Things Vinyl

[Zzzptm]

Wow, cool!

[Vyn]

Going through my Black Sabbath records, and thought I'd post a picture comparing posters that came with Master of Reality.

The large poster is from a first pressing of Master of Reality (labels give extra song titles, name as Masters of Reality, Iommi spelled Ioomi on credits for After Forever). Small one is from Rhino Records' 2010 reissue on 180g vinyl. The reissued poster, in addition to being significantly smaller, is darker and is on textured paper - it's like corduroy. Plus, it has a very small attribution printed in the lower right corner. The original does not have any printing on it at all.

I included a copy of the record to give a sense of size. Apologies for the glare.

[Zzzptm]

An album with a poster was always top shelf stuff when I was growing up. Give me substance that I might cover my beige walls thereof.

[Charger]

Interesting that they went for so much smaller size on the reprint. My The Devil You Know LP poster is full size like the original MOR...so it's not like it's something that's wildly done in modern days.



I got the vinyl "display" done today... It turned out okay...not great but okay....

[Zzzptm]

It's still going to look quite nice on the wall.

[Vyn]

Looks great to me! I need one, haha!

[Charger]

It looks quite nice on the wall yes.

[Zzzptm]

Nice wall, by the way!

[Vyn]

It looks quite nice on the wall yes.

That is awesome!

----

Today has been a bit out of the ordinary, in a positive way. Had to do some stuff for work, the nature of which involved a lot of sitting around waiting, so I decided to do a comparison test. Specifically, a listening test of three versions of the Blue Oyster Cult song, "Godzilla," that I have.

The first is a first pressing on the Columbia label of their album Spectres. I'll call it A.

Next is a test pressing of that same LP. I'll call it B.

Last is a 12" 33 and a third rpm white label promo of, "Godzilla Live," backed with the studio version. This one is C.

I played their album Mirrors, in its entirety first, just to get primed. Then I spun A. It sounded great, I've had that disk since it was new, and I've always felt it sounded clear with a lot of dynamic range.

I played B next. I've had this for years, but cannot remember where or exactly when I picked it up. The label is the typical plain white with Columbia Test Pressing and the year printed on it, nothing else. The only thing that identifies it (other than listening to it) is the matrix numbers in the dead wax. If I had ever listened to it before I can't remember.

It blew me away. It was such a difference to A's sound, that what I initially called, "clear with a lot of dynamic range," turned into, "band recorded while playing underwater." Not wanting to lose the plot, I tossed C on the turntable.

C sounded slightly better than A, but well below B.

It was an ear-opening test! I typically don't find that much difference in sound quality from test pressings to stock copies. It is usually a lot more subtle, but this was such a noticeable improvement to what I always felt, and still feel, is a great sounding record to begin with that I'm hornswoggled but it all.

I finished up the work I was doing, then played the entire Spectres test pressing, properly seated in my, "listening chair," eyes closed, reaching for an imaginary cowbell. A top-notch recording that made me feel that I was hearing those songs for the first time.

Hell yeah!

[Zzzptm]

I'm curious now... are there differences in the quality of digital reproductions of those different sources?

[Vyn]

Not exactly vinyl, but I'm feeling rebellious, so here's a CD signed by the four original Sabs. And, which is what prompted me to post this here because I have never seen such a thing, Sharon Osbourne signed it as well!

Give those guys at Rockaway 450 United States dollar bills and it can be yours!

https://www.rockaway.com/black-sabbath/autograph-36116

[Zzzptm]

Hi-yo! At that price, Gene Simmons better be personally delivering it to me!

[Vyn]

That sure seems steep to me, too. Another autographed item they have for sale is AC/DC's, "Live From Atlantic Studios". It has always been a tasty collectible. The one they have is signed by Angus, Malcolm, and...Brian.

Brian?!

I would not have defaced such an awesome collectible by having a person sign it who wasn't even in the band at that juncture.

Regardless, Rockaway wants $1,800 for it. That is super-steep. BUT, it comes with both inserts that originally accompanied the vinyl. I've seen over the decades, combined in-person and online, maybe five of those records for sale that were legit. I have never seen one that still had both of those inserts. That is rare as hen's teeth, and somebody is going to pick up a great addition to their collection, even at the price they are asking.

But not me! I have a copy of it, sadly with no inserts at all, and I'm OK with that. I also never toted it along with myself to a performance by Van Dyke Parks so he could sign it. Because he wasn't in the band...

[Zzzptm]

Not supposed to sign what ain't yours...

[Charger]

Someone should pay ME 450€ for accepting something with $haron's signature on it!