Elton John Vinyl Reissues

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Sunsales, Feb 15, 2017.

  1. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Ooooh, what a nasty piece of work! :eek::eek::eek:
     
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  2. JamesRR

    JamesRR Trashcan Dream

    Location:
    NYC
    So for Empty Sky, we've got the '69 UK issue, the '75 US issue, and this new one to compare. I wonder if the '75 was an improvement over the '69 version - and were the mixes all the same??
     
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  3. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    Czech pressing, as are all in the latest batch. Sticker on back states it also.
     
  4. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Got to admit that £28 on Amazon for Blue Moves is ridiculous....this vinyl revival has gone mad!
     
  5. e.s.

    e.s. Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    In the UK it certainly has. Looking just now, the same album is only $23.99 on Amazon in the US, which is a great price for a double album. (Well, any double album that isn't Blue Moves...) The standard albums are generally around $18-20 over here.
     
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  6. spaulding

    spaulding Hoi Polloi

    Location:
    The Windy City
    Side 2-4 of Blue Moves sound superb.
    Pressing probs on Side 1 - some distortion, possible non-fill in spots - anyone else?

    BTW - put me in the "why does everyone hate this lp" camp.
    I've ignored it for awhile and really enjoyed spinning it.
     
  7. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Yeah we're getting ripped off right now. I shop in Fopp a lot, a sister company of HMV in the U.K, and I no longer go in there and pick up 4 or 5 LP's. Now, its the odd 1 or 2 and I'll be picky. Everything else is ordered online. If I im spending my hard earned money on vinyl, I tend to be more specific and buy only the things that I really want online..often cheaper and I can get the more obscure things.
     
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  8. Solly Bridgetower

    Solly Bridgetower Elton is my golden God of music. Deal with it.

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Your cousins were I Mother Earth? Or fans thereof? My sister loved them, and collected their stuff in high school. I wasn't into them too much. But a classmate of mine was related to them (her name was Tara, if I recall) and my math teacher claimed to be a good friend of the band's -- he ended up in one of their music videos, actually ("Levitate", I think it was).

    Yes, that's all true. But Elton's record sales in 1980 weren't anything like they'd been in 1976, so MCA wouldn't have had the same optimism at that point. Elton was interested in putting out a double-album with all his 21 at 33 material, but MCA wouldn't do it. They were referring to him in inter-office memos as "the Languishing Giant", which soured him and later convinced him to release 21 at 33 as a nine-track, single LP and move on to Geffen in the US and Canada, saving much of his better material from those sessions for what would later become The Fox. Geffen wasn't interested in a double-LP either, but Elton was nevertheless grateful to get away from MCA. They were not supporting him the way he wanted them to.

    Quickly, my opinions on the three new ones: Blue Moves looks fantastic but sounds too murky (my copy, anyway) to my ears. Very disappointed. Not only is the mid-range too muffled, but Sides 1 and 3 on my copy are very noisy. Too much crackle for newly pressed records, even after rigorous cleaning. Empty Sky sounds better, but not as fresh as my DJM copy (red translucent vinyl, ca. 1972). The best sounding of the three, in my opinion, is The Big Picture -- which puzzles me, since it's one of Elton's least favorites. But it's the only one of the three new ones that actually sounds better than a CD copy. I'm also puzzled at why Picture got a gatefold sleeve while Songs From the West Coast didn't. ??
     
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  9. Darrin Crawford

    Darrin Crawford Forum Resident

    Hahah Tara is my second cousin to Chris and Jag (my first). Too funny.
     
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  10. JamesRR

    JamesRR Trashcan Dream

    Location:
    NYC
    Too bad about Blue Moves - that's one that needed a good reissue. Funny that The Big Picture is the best and got such nice treatment. Elton disowned it, Bernie is very critical of it - but I always thought the songwriting was strong, so I'm looking forward to playing it.
     
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  11. soundQman

    soundQman Senior Member

    Location:
    Arlington, VA, USA
    I thought it was a fine album, kind of in the middle ranking in his catalog.
     
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  12. Solly Bridgetower

    Solly Bridgetower Elton is my golden God of music. Deal with it.

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Small world, man. Small world!

    I suppose that's how I feel about it too. I liked it when it first came out, more than I do now anyway. Rollingstone gave it a very good review back in 1997, comparing its quality to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (which made me laugh, since they panned GYBR back in 1973). Sure it's not his worst, but when I place it next to Made In England or Songs From the West Coast, it just doesn't compare. Not for my money, anyway. I know EJ/BT are pop-rock songwriters, but so much of the songwriting on Picture seems really formulaic to me, and not in a good way. Almost disposable, like most of those songs were originally written for other albums but just didn't make the grade (in fact, I remember reading somewhere that "Live Like Horses" was a Made In England leftover). That said, "Wicked Dreams" is one of my favorite Elton John songs. Should have been a single. But my love for Picture begins and ends there.

    In his Rollingstone interview in 2010, Elton implied that Picture was his worst album. I wouldn't necessarily agree: I think Leather Jackets was rock-bottom for him in just about every way, from the songwriting and production values to the artwork. But when he released West Coast in 2001, he said something to the effect that his previous studio album left him feeling like he could do better.
     
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  13. JamesRR

    JamesRR Trashcan Dream

    Location:
    NYC
    Funny - because when he promoted TBP he mentioned it included some of his most complex songs (I Can't Steer My Heart Clear of You) and he also mentioned that he re-wrote Recover Your Soul after feeling like it wasn't as good as the lyric deserved. He went back to the studio and rewrote it days later (something he almost never does).

    Bernie has said it's "more machine than man" and that's true - for example, so much of Bob Birch's bass was replaced. Shame, because I wonder if you combined the approach of Made in England with the songs from Big Picture, what a great album that would have been.
     
  14. CBackley

    CBackley Chairman of the Bored

    I’d love to hear more feedback on the quality (both pressing and sound) of the Blue Moves reissue. It’s one of my favorite Elton albums. I’m not making that up. I love it from start to finish, and have loved it ever since I first heard it back in 1998. I have an original pressing that fortunately sounds good. But I’d like to get a reissue as well.

    Again, I love Blue Moves. Hate me! :)
     
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  15. JamesRR

    JamesRR Trashcan Dream

    Location:
    NYC
    As mentioned earlier in the thread, my Blue Moves had a lot of surface noise on Side 1, too. Sides 2, 3, and 4 were okay. But not 1. I put on a pair of headphones, and listened close on Tonight (one of the quieter songs on the album), and it's filled with surface noise. Washed the record, cleaned my stylus, and no improvement. It's a shame because otherwise the album sounds great. And even Side 1 was good aside from the noise. I just don't know if exchanging will improve anything or it's a bad batch. But it's unacceptable as is, and I'm not one of the super picky people about noise.

    The Big Picture is good so far - through disc 1. Though a couple of light noises here and there, nothing major. But I have a feeling this batch of releases isn't super high on the QC charts. The sleeves on this album are also really tight - who measures these things? And they go all the way through - so if you're not careful, the disc on the left pocket can partially slide through to the right, and then you can't close the thing.

    You can tell we're getting to the end of the releases with these...they saved the least popular albums for last.
     
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  16. Darrin Crawford

    Darrin Crawford Forum Resident

    Although I am so sorry about Blue Moves for you, this gives me a bit of hope because it seems to me us Canadians are getting the European presses which are appear to be different from the States. I will know more tomorrow when I pick it up tomorrow.
     
  17. JamesRR

    JamesRR Trashcan Dream

    Location:
    NYC
    I'm anxious to hear how your release is. There are different issues - in Europe, they come with download cards, which we don't get in the U.S. If the European releases are better, I might buy one from Amazon UK (even though it's more money than our US counterpart version). Or I might return this and buy it later when possibly they've done another run.
     
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  18. ego1jr

    ego1jr Forum Resident

    My copy of Blue Moves is excellent. No surface noise. Very impressed actually.
     
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  19. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    This matches the initial impression I posted earlier comparing the original US MCA LP to the new one.
     
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  20. JamesRR

    JamesRR Trashcan Dream

    Location:
    NYC
    Did you purchase in the US or Europe (or anywhere else for that matter) - curious if there's a difference between countries.
     
  21. ego1jr

    ego1jr Forum Resident

    I purchased from Amazon U.S. and the discs were manufactured in Czechoslovakia I believe.
     
  22. JamesRR

    JamesRR Trashcan Dream

    Location:
    NYC
    Interesting - I'm going to exchange mine and see what happens.

    So you had no surface noise on Side 1? On Tonight it was so evident during the quiet passages.
     
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  23. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    These QC issues are typical of GZ im afraid. They can press a very good record but they're very hit and miss....
     
  24. JamesRR

    JamesRR Trashcan Dream

    Location:
    NYC
    This is the first problem I've had in 14 of the EJ reissues I've purchased. Granted, the early ones were pressed somewhere else (in Germany I believe). But even the GZ ones haven't been a problem. I guess this is one of the "misses."
     
  25. so they’re picking on Blue Moves ?
     
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