My Bloody Valentine Loveless Vinyl Reissue

A bit annoyed with my copy of Isn’t Anything. Although the surface is largely quiet, there is clearly scratching and residue on it. Also there’s one of those classic brown spots pressed deeply into the records surface that won’t come dislodged that’s causing pops on the second cut. Anyone else have this issue?

 

After comparing my 2018 Loveless with a quality needledrop of the original TOWNHOUSE, here are my thoughts:

- New Loveless has much wider soundstage (given it's not from DAT), bigger bass, wide vocals and a warm tonality . This pressing is a very immersive experience, but sometimes I feel that it sounds a little muddier than usual.

- DMM TOWNHOUSE is thinner sounding, brighter, has more attack, drums sound sharper, and everything sounds more clear. The high frequencies have a metallic quality (maybe due to the pressing being a DMM). For example, the guitars on "What You Want" sound like they're tearing your ears while they sound a lot softer on the new pressing.

Overall, I think both are worth having if you really love this album.

 

Sounds like they attempted to "audiophile up" Loveless. Sometimes with Kevin's mastering that can equal a bit of bloated sound. Thats not a knock against KG neccessarily but rather his mastering style doesnt work for everything. Loveless is what it is.

 

This is dated the 15/2/18.

Mine looks like this

 

Mmm. Similar issue, but mine is localized to only one spot. I’m am only getting the right channel crackle towards the end of side A. Side B is alright, a bit noisy in places but nothing that’s absurd like the first side. I would expect this kind of crud out of uninterrupted but not any of the Euro plants. Kind of upsetting, as I actually found the “approved” cut to be better, more open, enveloping and dynamic than the softer Abbey Road pressing.

Are you pursuing a return/refund?

 

Sorry, are you saying this mastering sounds like a Kevin Grey master?

It was mastered by Matt Colton if that's not clear to anyone, because I was confused by what you meant.

 

I also have similar spots on the other side. The picture is that of the official version of Isn't Anything. I only asked for replacement of the sleeves not the vinyl. The TP is flawless. Thus I can always fall back on that.

 

Oops! My mistake. And my apologies to Kevin. Obviously doesnt apply here. Not sure why I had in my brain he did this one.

 

Would also like to state I am still getting some crackles and pops towards the end of side A (especially prevalent in All I Need) on Isn't Anything. Usually I hear a few of these listening to brand new LP's, but they go away after one or two subsequent playthroughs, and I always brush off my records before dropping the needle, but they seem to have remained for this record. They don't ruin my enjoyment of the music but they are a bit distracting. It's unfortunate the pressing isn't perfect because I really love the way the new Isn't Anything sounds, ESPECIALLY When You Wake (You're Still in a Dream) and Feed Me With Your Kiss. Haven't really listened to my test pressing yet so I'll see if they're on there as well.

 

Listening to Isn’t Anything now. The sound is pretty great on this. I find, I guess due to the nature of the recording, that some tracks sound better than others. The highlight for me was ‘No more sorry’....that one sounds absolutely amazing to me. It’s one of the best things I’ve heard on my system for a while....that lovely bass!

The vinyl does have some slight quality issues (don’t know what’s up with Optimal at the moment) so the end of side 1 had some strange crackling noise. Luckily it wasn’t too bad and was largely obscured by sound.

 

My bundle came in today. I was busy with work as I noticed a coworker walking towards me with the familiar vinyl parcel . I knew exactly what it was and I grew a giant smile on my face. Very excited...I did get the extra free disc. Today has been a very great day indeed, first I have pho for lunch then I'm having sushi afterword with friends and girlfriend and now I get my records of my favorite band.

 

Got the bundle today with the extra disc. Isn't Anything Test Pressing is gorgeous (and I can compare with the creation original and the plain reissue).
I couldn't have a sharp listening session but I can tell it sounds on side b like vocals are more upfront. Belinda's heaven.

 

Call me lucky — all 3 records arrived completely FLAT and nearly noiseless (this is a physical media people), save for the sound of tape (always a good sign in my book). No non-fill to speak of.

To be honest, my ears prefer the FINAL/OFFICIAL pressing of IA (although it's hard to compare with other member's comments, as we know there are SEVERAL different rejected test pressings. It's important to compare apples to apples). Aside from Sean Magee's inscription in the dead wax (of the reject) I'm not seeing any other markings to identify the pressing plant – unless MBV02-A1 and MBV02-B1 are written in dramatically different ways.

How to know?

 

Do you have a source for this? I was under the assumption that only one rejected pressing was distributed. This is not a 'test' pressing from what i can tell.

 

Finally had a chance to sit down with Loveless. What a revelation. There is so much more separation and detail in this 2018 pressing. The vocals are clear and perfectly centered on “loomer” with a field of distortion swirling around the room. “to here knows when” has always been a pile of mud. Here it still sounds a little sticky but the soundstage is so much more present. The bass drop at the end of the intro to “when you sleep” hits hard. The track plays so clear that the timing seems off/slow. The distorted guitars on “i only said” create massive boundary walls on the edge of the soundstage while the rest of the track plays centered. “sometimes” pushes the detail limit of my cartridge. I can’t possibly get a wider image. The vocal drop out towards the end of the track helps bring out the keyboard.

So many improvements I noticed throughout, “soon” being the most improved overall. Only complaint is this thing needs to be cranked up a little (especially on “Sometimes”) but the soundstage opens up the louder it gets. My pressing was flawless, everything is A+++

Won’t be til Thurs until I get a chance to listen to both Isn’t Anything pressings but Loveless has me excited.

 

Finally got in some good listening time with these. For IA I have an A2/B2 pressing bought in 1991. The 2018 official pressing is down a dB or two, has more air on top like an analogue pressing should. The test pressing (I got two but they are the same) does sound a little better, with the voices a little more clear. Both the 2018's sound less etched in the highs too.

For Loveless I have the DMM Townhouse (2nd press) and the crossed out "MPO C" (1st or 3rd press from 1991). The MPOC is cut about 3 dB louder and has more slam in the bass, so it was my favorite for that. The 2018 is cut about as loud as the DMM, and like the new IA, has more air on top, more clarity in the vocals, and better separation in the guitars. It was first obvious that it was better for the little snippets between songs.

And after a good cleaning on my RCM the new ones are all quiet.

 

Yes. See the article from RS:

My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields on Remastering 'Loveless,' New Music

<excerpt>
The final hurtle this time was in physical production. He found that manufacturers each had unique sounds. "If you go to a French manufacturer, it's gonna come across a lot softer sounding and warmer than if you go to a British manufacturer, where it's gonna come across a lot more high end," he says. They eventually settled on a German facility because it was the most accurate. Throughout the process he went through various test pressings and later realized that full runs also sounded different, so they began doing short runs of 100. "We literally have a few thousand records lying around," he says. "All experiments and failures."
</excerpt>

I'm GUESSING, of course, but it sure sounds like various pressing were sent out in the white sleeve especially given the number of pre-orders.

 

I received my Loveless, Isn't Anything and IA test press all today. All three are flat and quiet, no crackling that others have complained about.

Loveless has two tiny "paper cut"-size marks about 1/16th" diagonal across "Only Shallow." The IA test press has a rather large set of vaguely circular scratches 2/3rds of the way across Side B. I was understandably dismayed at both of these upon first inspection, but they don't affect playback on either disc. Part of this may have something to do with my generally unflappable H/K ST-7 linear tracker, but I can listen to the records with no issues, so I'm happy.

I'm tempted to attempt to exchange Loveless on the basis of the scratches as defective, but as playback is not affected and I'm not particularly concerned with resale value I'll probably just accept the minor imperfection. I would never dream of trying to exchange the test pressing in that it was an unexpected freebie and, again, it plays fine.

The official IA is the immediate winner here, SQ wise. It sounds really great.
Loveless sounds very good, very dynamic. It's more brash than IA. I think I'll need a few more listens to let it settle in. I am used to the original 1991 CD.
IA test pressing sounds OK, but I'm very glad they kept working on the official pressing.

All jackets look beautiful and arrived with no scrunches or creases.

 

Got my copies yesterday. Put on IA in the background when doing some stuff around the house. I'll listen closely later.

Loveless though...wow. I'd be surprised to hear if any compressors were used in the mastering process. Everything sounds so full and dynamic. Loveless is notoriously pretty squashed, but quiet. This master really lets each sound shine through in its own place. The guitars don't mix together, and the vocals are airy and forward. Some songs are louder than others, intentionally. The dip in volume on some songs creates an emotional effect that you don't get with digital masters, where everything is squashed to listen in noisy environments. Just set the volume to something enjoyable during the opening bars of Only Shallow and sit back and enjoy the ride.

For the record, my official copy of IA skipped in one place because of a chunk of residue in between tracks that made the needle jump. I cleaned all the records with a brush and solution after reading what others have posted, and still had some residue. Maybe too much of that mold agent was applied to the records. Loveless was still kinda noisy and distorted (no it wasn't just the mix), but I'm sure things will clear up after a couple of listens. It wasn't enough to detract from the experience. It is vinyl after all.

Overall, kudos to the band for going so DIY with this. Kevin's work on mastering these is unprecedented. And getting records directly from the band is also an incredible experience. (And the tshirts are pretty great too!)

 

The bass on this pressing of Loveless is huge. I can almost feel it in my guts. Amazing sounding record has been made that much better.
Do I feel bad for buying this record a fourth time? No.

 

One should NEVER feel bad about that! The more the merrier!

 

Mine arrived Monday. Haven't tried the bonus IA, but both Loveless and the Kevin Shields approved Isn't Anything are aces on my system. No issues.

Highly recommended, especially as I don't trust these will ever make it to stores in any conventional sense.

 

They will

 

The lack of barcode makes me wonder.

 

Not trying to be snarky, just wondering how getting records directly from a band is an "incredible" experience? I say this because the records come in a package the same as a record purchased from any other concern. Nothing really is different about the experience.

I can agree that buying direct from the artist, the artist gets more money from the transaction (I would hope), and in the case of buying the MBV records, if you purchased Isn't Anything - you probably got a bonus "test" pressing that wouldn't be available elsewhere.. but again, the actual "experience" isn't anything special. In fact, in the case of getting these records from MBV, it was actually frustrating, as they overcharged for shipping, yet didn't deliver a great shipping experience (no tracking, late deliveries, etc.).

Again - not trying to stir things up, I personally don't think buying records directly from the band (unless the service is personalized in some way different from the "normal" method of purchasing music) is particularly incredible.

Maybe you meant, you felt a different feeling knowing you were dealing with the artist directly - where in the case of mbv could be true, but I suspect the packing and shipping of the product was probably done by a hired source or employees working in accordance with the band. I really doubt Kevin Shields was packing and shipping these LPs himself.