Yes. I'll reveal more details in a future video. Certain tracks show significant differences (mono vs. stereo); others show little to no difference, in terms of track length or of elements/stems used or not used in one mix vs. the other.
Superb video Matt, and thanks for the plug! I'm with you on the low end needing more boost. They focused on the high end and sound stage at the expense of the low end... But never the less it's a very good job for a reissue considering how muffled the 1981 UK reissues sounds. As for the perfect copy of Madman, I'm still searching. I had a original UK but it was a later pressing with plenty of service noise. My DJC SA press is now my go too, but there's room for improvement. Regards Robert
My best vinyl copy of _Madman_ is my original UK DJM by Pye. But yes, it took me a while to find a copy that hadn't been scratched up. The 2016 reissue sounds almost as good, if you don't mind LPs cut from digital sources. One thing I cut from my voiceover (the video was getting long) was that I suspect that the masters sources for these 1987 DJM reissues may have been digital. It's just something about their sound; despite the clarity in these discs' upper ranges, they have a sterility to them that some early digital sources tended to have, back when the technology was still in its infancy.
Great to hear from you again with something new to me! This is kind of a “missing link” between the originals and the more recent reissues. Please don’t let these sound great, because I can’t afford to collect a new series of albums! p.s. Is that a new knife??
"Missing link" is definitely a good term. -- now I wish I'd thought of it while recording the voiceover! That knife is *the* new knife I got back in October and feel so proud of myself for getting. It's so good that I used it to cut some pretty thick carpet the other day when I was making improvements to this room. And it's still as sharp as it was when I took it out of the Amazon package!
Another CARIBOU for your collection! How many copies, now? Everything about that cover "should" be blurry...very blurry. I agree with Gus Dudgeon's assessment about the CARIBOU cover! Too bad that these issues didn't come fully packaged (eg. gatefold and insert for MADMAN ACRROSS THE WATER, etc.). Those re-issues were at a time when CDs had become the dominant sellers. Being in Canada, I never came across these re-issues when hanging around "Records on Wheels" and "Sams." All this was new for me. Thanks for posting.
I'd have been surprised if any of these 1987 discs turned up as imports in Canada, even at the big Sam's in Toronto. Even in 1987, we still had that line of MCA budget issues in stores, albeit some titles had long since disappeared from MCA's catalogue by then. I believe that's my eleventh or twelfth vinyl copy of Caribou. It sold so well in the 1970s of course, and remained available on vinyl in so many parts of the world up to the end of the 1980s, that I really shouldn't feel as surprised as I do that I have so many copies -- or that they're seldom expensive! It's the vinyl copies of _Goodbye Yellow Brick Road_ that -- no matter how many copies of those have been pressed since 1973 -- go for so much, even dull-sounding MCA copies in less-than-great condition. You make a good point, one that I forgot to make in the video: Another big difference between then 2016+ Universal/Mercury vinyl reissues and these 1987 reissues is the artwork and packaging. We were spoiled back in the late 2010s! Those were luxurious reissues in every way. Now I see some the earliest of the 2016-17 reissues still available but in "reduced" sleeves, _Madman_ being one of them. It's not a gatefold anymore. I think I've also seen the standard black vinyl 2017 _Captain Fantastic_ in a non-gatefold sleeve too. I guess Universal can't justify the ongoing cost of printing those sleeves, which makes sense. For those albums to remain available new for newer listeners, Universal must cut corners I guess. It's really amazing that, eight years later, so many of those are still available at all.
We had them in Australia too. Under the budget “Priceless Recordings” line. Commencing in January 1988. Catalogue numbers are the same. I don’t have Madman or Caribou but I do have Don’t Shoot Me and the cover art is identical. All of the ones I have had new lacquers cut and were pressed locally. I don’t know the source so they might be new analogue cuts or cut from digital files. I think they sound great.
Now, that's interesting. The Dutch copies were for mainland Europe (including the UK), I believe; but if they appeared with the same cat. numbers in other parts of the world, that's something I'll want to look into further. For some reason, Australian Phonogram seems to have rarely (if ever) pressed using Aus's Polygram facility; so, I'd be curious to know whether it was Aus CBS or another plant that did the Aus copies. One thing I cut from my voiceover (the video was getting long) was that I suspect that the masters sources for these 1987 DJM reissues may have been digital. It's just something about their sound; despite the clarity in these discs' upper ranges, they have a sterility to them typical of some early digital sources, back when the technology was still in its infancy.
For the Caribou, in making the effort to get the text so similar to the original, you'd think that they would have taken the extra minute to obtain the original photo proofs to get that right as well. As for the inner sleeve, I have seen many examples of albums having different intensity of colors when produced in different countries. Perhaps it's the quality of the printing machine that is key, whereas different copier models produce different color schemes. One country might have a superior machine over another.
You're probably correct about the large image on the inner sleeve. In fact, it's the only image in the 1987 copy that isn't that fuzzy or weird with colors; it's just a boldness/intensity thing. About white gloves: I have considered using them; but I always handle these with clean (i.e. recently washed) hands. Plus I try my best not to remove LPs from their sleeves by "pinching" the edges but rather via the "proper" way, which (I'm told) is to reach into the inner sleeve or bag, place the tip of your middle finger into the spindle hole, place your thumb on the LP's edge, and remove the disc. It took me a few years to get the hang of that, actually, but it's better than "pinching". I used to "pinch" all the time! I'm glad that I reformed.
Are you aware of the UK versions? Same catalogue numbers but released under the 'Priceless' series. Generic series inner sleeves. Often cut by Jack Adams and people like that at Tape1One. The Caribou cover is similarly blurry. The labels are the DJM wedge type. All the DJM titles were involved except Greatest Hits 1 and 2 and for some reason Rock of the Westies. In fact I've never seen a UK released version of Rock of the Westies that wasn't just an original DJM pressing in the heavy gauge sleeve but with a tiny sticker placed over the original catalogue number. My guess is that they grossly over manufactured ROTW so had stock that lasted them through until vinyl pretty much died. The 'Priceless' series (also marked Phonogram) all sound pretty good; WAY better than some of the late 70s DJMs that are often very veiled in the upper frequencies. I've often wondered, even at the time of their release, whether they might have used early digital masters for these Phonogram releases. There's something a bit glassy about the sound.
I’d come across one or two of them but never considered them a UK counterpart to the 1987 series done at PRS Baarn. In my mind, the UK issues weren’t their own series. It seemed like PolyGram - having just acquired DJM Records in 1986 - simply added a few of EJ’s more popular titles from the early ‘70s into its pre-existing budget series (“Priceless”), which comprised albums from many artists. They didn't use Phonogram matrix codes, and the (re)use of the "wedge" label for those UK issues further suggested to me that PolyGram had no serious interest in continuing the DJM brand in the UK, at least not on vinyl. That said, those “Priceless” issues were clearly made by PolyGram for the UK market and post-date the PolyGram acquisition of DJM Records. Looks like four former DJM EJ titles were added to the “Priceless” series in 1986 and then _Caribou_ in 1987, the last year PolyGram issued any of its “Priceless” titles on vinyl. So, I guess I’ll have to get them for my collection… aarggh!! Lol. Edit: MCA overproduced _Westies_ too. Some of the later copies that shipped were just ca. 1975 originals with updated catalogue numbers gold-stamped across their covers.
Another great video! I'm excited to see what's coming from the channel in 2025.
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Great to see a dive into more obscure pressings of popular records! Have you or your friend ever discussed the mono pressing of Empty Sky?
Yes. I'll reveal more details in a future video. Certain tracks show significant differences (mono vs. stereo); others show little to no difference, in terms of track length or of elements/stems used or not used in one mix vs. the other.
Superb video Matt, and thanks for the plug! I'm with you on the low end needing more boost. They focused on the high end and sound stage at the expense of the low end...
But never the less it's a very good job for a reissue considering how muffled the 1981 UK reissues sounds.
As for the perfect copy of Madman, I'm still searching. I had a original UK but it was a later pressing with plenty of service noise. My DJC SA press is now my go too, but there's room for improvement.
Regards Robert
My best vinyl copy of _Madman_ is my original UK DJM by Pye. But yes, it took me a while to find a copy that hadn't been scratched up. The 2016 reissue sounds almost as good, if you don't mind LPs cut from digital sources.
One thing I cut from my voiceover (the video was getting long) was that I suspect that the masters sources for these 1987 DJM reissues may have been digital. It's just something about their sound; despite the clarity in these discs' upper ranges, they have a sterility to them that some early digital sources tended to have, back when the technology was still in its infancy.
Great to hear from you again with something new to me! This is kind of a “missing link” between the originals and the more recent reissues. Please don’t let these sound great, because I can’t afford to collect a new series of albums!
p.s. Is that a new knife??
"Missing link" is definitely a good term. -- now I wish I'd thought of it while recording the voiceover! That knife is *the* new knife I got back in October and feel so proud of myself for getting. It's so good that I used it to cut some pretty thick carpet the other day when I was making improvements to this room. And it's still as sharp as it was when I took it out of the Amazon package!
Another CARIBOU for your collection! How many copies, now? Everything about that cover "should" be blurry...very blurry. I agree with Gus Dudgeon's assessment about the CARIBOU cover! Too bad that these issues didn't come fully packaged (eg. gatefold and insert for MADMAN ACRROSS THE WATER, etc.). Those re-issues were at a time when CDs had become the dominant sellers. Being in Canada, I never came across these re-issues when hanging around "Records on Wheels" and "Sams." All this was new for me. Thanks for posting.
I'd have been surprised if any of these 1987 discs turned up as imports in Canada, even at the big Sam's in Toronto. Even in 1987, we still had that line of MCA budget issues in stores, albeit some titles had long since disappeared from MCA's catalogue by then.
I believe that's my eleventh or twelfth vinyl copy of Caribou. It sold so well in the 1970s of course, and remained available on vinyl in so many parts of the world up to the end of the 1980s, that I really shouldn't feel as surprised as I do that I have so many copies -- or that they're seldom expensive! It's the vinyl copies of _Goodbye Yellow Brick Road_ that -- no matter how many copies of those have been pressed since 1973 -- go for so much, even dull-sounding MCA copies in less-than-great condition.
You make a good point, one that I forgot to make in the video: Another big difference between then 2016+ Universal/Mercury vinyl reissues and these 1987 reissues is the artwork and packaging. We were spoiled back in the late 2010s! Those were luxurious reissues in every way. Now I see some the earliest of the 2016-17 reissues still available but in "reduced" sleeves, _Madman_ being one of them. It's not a gatefold anymore. I think I've also seen the standard black vinyl 2017 _Captain Fantastic_ in a non-gatefold sleeve too. I guess Universal can't justify the ongoing cost of printing those sleeves, which makes sense. For those albums to remain available new for newer listeners, Universal must cut corners I guess. It's really amazing that, eight years later, so many of those are still available at all.
We had them in Australia too. Under the budget “Priceless Recordings” line. Commencing in January 1988. Catalogue numbers are the same. I don’t have Madman or Caribou but I do have Don’t Shoot Me and the cover art is identical.
All of the ones I have had new lacquers cut and were pressed locally. I don’t know the source so they might be new analogue cuts or cut from digital files.
I think they sound great.
Now, that's interesting. The Dutch copies were for mainland Europe (including the UK), I believe; but if they appeared with the same cat. numbers in other parts of the world, that's something I'll want to look into further. For some reason, Australian Phonogram seems to have rarely (if ever) pressed using Aus's Polygram facility; so, I'd be curious to know whether it was Aus CBS or another plant that did the Aus copies.
One thing I cut from my voiceover (the video was getting long) was that I suspect that the masters sources for these 1987 DJM reissues may have been digital. It's just something about their sound; despite the clarity in these discs' upper ranges, they have a sterility to them typical of some early digital sources, back when the technology was still in its infancy.
For the Caribou, in making the effort to get the text so similar to the original, you'd think that they would have taken the extra minute to obtain the original photo proofs to get that right as well. As for the inner sleeve, I have seen many examples of albums having different intensity of colors when produced in different countries. Perhaps it's the quality of the printing machine that is key, whereas different copier models produce different color schemes. One country might have a superior machine over another.
And when I kept seeing you handle the discs with your bare hands, I kept thinking "Shouldn't you be wearing white gloves?" LOL
You're probably correct about the large image on the inner sleeve. In fact, it's the only image in the 1987 copy that isn't that fuzzy or weird with colors; it's just a boldness/intensity thing.
About white gloves: I have considered using them; but I always handle these with clean (i.e. recently washed) hands. Plus I try my best not to remove LPs from their sleeves by "pinching" the edges but rather via the "proper" way, which (I'm told) is to reach into the inner sleeve or bag, place the tip of your middle finger into the spindle hole, place your thumb on the LP's edge, and remove the disc. It took me a few years to get the hang of that, actually, but it's better than "pinching". I used to "pinch" all the time! I'm glad that I reformed.
Are you aware of the UK versions? Same catalogue numbers but released under the 'Priceless' series. Generic series inner sleeves. Often cut by Jack Adams and people like that at Tape1One. The Caribou cover is similarly blurry. The labels are the DJM wedge type. All the DJM titles were involved except Greatest Hits 1 and 2 and for some reason Rock of the Westies. In fact I've never seen a UK released version of Rock of the Westies that wasn't just an original DJM pressing in the heavy gauge sleeve but with a tiny sticker placed over the original catalogue number. My guess is that they grossly over manufactured ROTW so had stock that lasted them through until vinyl pretty much died.
The 'Priceless' series (also marked Phonogram) all sound pretty good; WAY better than some of the late 70s DJMs that are often very veiled in the upper frequencies. I've often wondered, even at the time of their release, whether they might have used early digital masters for these Phonogram releases. There's something a bit glassy about the sound.
I’d come across one or two of them but never considered them a UK counterpart to the 1987 series done at PRS Baarn. In my mind, the UK issues weren’t their own series. It seemed like PolyGram - having just acquired DJM Records in 1986 - simply added a few of EJ’s more popular titles from the early ‘70s into its pre-existing budget series (“Priceless”), which comprised albums from many artists. They didn't use Phonogram matrix codes, and the (re)use of the "wedge" label for those UK issues further suggested to me that PolyGram had no serious interest in continuing the DJM brand in the UK, at least not on vinyl.
That said, those “Priceless” issues were clearly made by PolyGram for the UK market and post-date the PolyGram acquisition of DJM Records. Looks like four former DJM EJ titles were added to the “Priceless” series in 1986 and then _Caribou_ in 1987, the last year PolyGram issued any of its “Priceless” titles on vinyl.
So, I guess I’ll have to get them for my collection… aarggh!! Lol.
Edit: MCA overproduced _Westies_ too. Some of the later copies that shipped were just ca. 1975 originals with updated catalogue numbers gold-stamped across their covers.
PS - I should have added thanks for mentioning those. I'll mention them in the revised video description.