Monkees Record Store Day exclusives 2016

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by JDistheone, Mar 9, 2016.

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  1. David P. Hill

    David P. Hill Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irving, Tx
    How much did you give for it? Was the other one in good shape too, exterior box - not bent edges or tears in the clear wrap? Thanks for the finding! I'll check with
    them now.
     
  2. GreenGringo

    GreenGringo Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Shenendoh, PA
    The implication is that he found a "better tape" with "better balance".

    ...which is completely meaningless when this "better tape" also has a narrower stereo spread, more hiss and the wrong mixes on it.

    I tend to make up my own mind rather than listening to hype. If that method works fine for you, then congratulations.
     
  3. David P. Hill

    David P. Hill Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irving, Tx
    Yeah I called, got the price, good price, but he was afraid to ship it to me because of the weight, might get damaged, ugh! I understand very well. I have had
    Elusive Disc and Acoustics Sounds ship box set like the LZ new ones and the Doors, not damage there.
     
  4. dasacco

    dasacco Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachussetts
    Tonight it was the Pisces LP, and sure enough, same as Headquarters, the bass has been centered here as well. Again, while it provides a more solid foundation, some stereo spread is lost. Personally I'm grateful that it's at least something different than the zillion other copies I have.

    Can anybody who has the CD set confirm if the same thing happened there?
     
  5. Charlie Z.

    Charlie Z. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Central NJ
    I just found the 50th anniversary vinyl box at Princeton Record Exchange tonight for $124.99! I was amazed to see it just sitting there on the shelf and couldn't give them my money fast enough. Can't wait to spend the day spinning it tomorrow.
     
    kouzie likes this.
  6. GreenGringo

    GreenGringo Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Shenendoh, PA
    Centered bass information implies that an LP cutting copy tape was used. This should not be the case for "Pisces", so that would imply that a random tape was pulled, or possibly the Rhino LP master like the first album (which would have some songs remixed or in mono!).

    Personally, I have not been impressed with any Monkees product since the mid-90's. They have not been making product with audiophiles/sound quality enthusiasts in mind, to say the least. If they haven't used the wrong tapes altogether, something is always done to it in mastering to screw it up. This of course does not stop them from hyping every new release as if some top-secret tape vault was discovered in the center of the earth.
     
  7. Were they ever intended to be audiophile recordings? Listening for 50 years now it seems they were just made great fun sounding rock pop records.
     
  8. GreenGringo

    GreenGringo Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Shenendoh, PA
    I will never understand the ridiculous "defense" that people use here that it's okay for something to be mastered like crap as long as the original source was crap in the first place, as if it doesn't make any difference at all.
     
  9. I haven't heard the new set. My old originals from the 60s are trashed. I love the mono box. The best I've heard so far
     
  10. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI

    I really should pick up a copy of that 45... It does look cool in the pictures I've seen *and* it's two good cuts to boot...
     
    George C. likes this.
  11. sonofjim

    sonofjim Senior Member

    I haven't heard the new set or the mono set. I usually avoid anything from Friday but their mono box seems to be pretty well thought of and it's available. I just may end up going for the monos.
     
  12. dasacco

    dasacco Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachussetts
    I found this post from Steve Hoffman in a thread about the Doors remasters:

    The old LPs had the bass "summed" at 250 cycles or lower depending on the mood of the cutter. In other words, anything under this was mono on the LP. All stereo LP's have this or else each side would only be 5 minutes long..

    Nothing to do with the bass (or lack of) on any album. That's a personal choice of the mixing engineer and the cutting engineer. If it is the same person, well, that's why mixers don't usually do the cutting. Hard to be objective.
    .

    It sounds to me like not necessarily a different tape, but whoever cut these new Monkees LP's summed the bass differently than anyone else had ever done, confirmed on Headquarters and Pisces. I have to go back to the debut and More Of and check those out again.
     
    cwitt1980 and stinsojd like this.
  13. yellowballoon

    yellowballoon Senior Member

    Location:
    Maine
    Just expect to pay a little more of a premium price for a 5 LP stripped box set in a thin slip case.
     
  14. yellowballoon

    yellowballoon Senior Member

    Location:
    Maine
    Thanks for the work you're doing instead of others who don't have the set and throw their bias up on the wall. Sour grapes like they know it all.
     
    stinsojd and dasacco like this.
  15. Mr. Webster the Poster

    Mr. Webster the Poster Well-Known Member

    Location:
    USA
    Sandoval, being the big Monkees fan that he his, who has put his heart and soul into preserving their legacy, has no reason to lie to us or hype up something that isn't true.
     
  16. yellowballoon

    yellowballoon Senior Member

    Location:
    Maine
    Thank you
     
  17. bonjo

    bonjo Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    That makes sense, because it would have been a hard mistake to make in the first place.

    The real question is, -why- was it used?
     
  18. yellowballoon

    yellowballoon Senior Member

    Location:
    Maine
    The geeky 1986 fan
     
    John Bliss, marc with a c and JuanTCB like this.
  19. George C.

    George C. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Littleton, CO
    It was confirmed earlier that this new set doesn't use the '80s Rhino master for Pisces:

     
    JDistheone likes this.
  20. semidetached

    semidetached Monkees Mixographist

    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Still making my way through these, but the version of Head used in both the CD and LP set appear to be the 2010 version used in the Handmade set (including the incorrect mix of As We Go Along). Will give a listen to the 180 gram, but I was fairly certain that was the original mix.
     
    George C. likes this.
  21. semidetached

    semidetached Monkees Mixographist

    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Also, pulling the 1986 master for the first album makes NO sense.
     
    Smartin62 likes this.
  22. GreenGringo

    GreenGringo Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Shenendoh, PA
    I don't believe that Andrew has lied to us at all. He has been very forthcoming about all the facts, and diligent at finding all of the correct sources.

    I am just saying that sometimes the hype misses the mark, and he is just as prone to human error as anyone else. The "Head" remaster is disappointing because it doesn't sound as good as previous versions. I cannot say if this is because of the source, or because of the mastering. The thing that seemed to excite Andrew the most was that he found a tape with "better balance". That is fine, but there are various other problems with this source that didn't exist on previous versions, in addition to the wrong mix of AWGA, that makes the "better balance" issue completely moot for me.

    I am just saying that it is wise to use your ears to make comparisons and draw your own conclusions, rather than relying on what the record company or artist has to say about it. I have found that more often than not, they can be mistaken about something.
     
    George C. likes this.
  23. yellowballoon

    yellowballoon Senior Member

    Location:
    Maine
    Right but this is still Your Opinion. Not an opinion shared by others. So right, we all make our own conclusions by what we have collected together. Others have every right to their opinion. So I'm still looking for the hype and have yet to find it.
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2016
  24. yellowballoon

    yellowballoon Senior Member

    Location:
    Maine
    Well no sense to you, but the geeky play of its producers sure had fun with it at the expense of some fans. I get it . At the end of the day, big deal. The value of the box was way below typical retail for a box of its type. The Friday Muisc mono set for 5 albums cost twice as much. No one ever marketed this set as an audiophile box set. Who said it was ??? Freaking colored vinyl on light weight vinyl? Who would've expected the set to actually turn out sounding pretty damn good? First World Problems.
     
  25. readr

    readr Forum Resident

    It seems to me using the original stereo master tapes for all the albums for this set would have been the correct move. That has not been done before in 180 gram (except HEAD). This "all of the place" approach makes me even more certain I won't need these. However, for those who got these, they are going to be valued collectables, and having an IR copy with a missing track, and then getting a replacement, will increase it's value even more. That I totally can get behind. It's like having the bad "Sally" 45 and getting the correct replacement.....what's more valuable? Probably the replacement.
     
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