Thanks for another interesting reply Rob! I'm 36 (soon 37). Don't envy me the "Ring, Ring" LP, It's a fairly weak album compared to later ones. Except for "Waterloo" which, in my opinion, is their weakest. I must say I like "Ring, Ring" anyway. It's varied and the voices of the women is lovely as always. It differs in many ways from the better known albums. Weak lyrics is one thing. (At least the english recording of "Ring, Ring" was written by english speaking men. A great track!). I gave "ABBA the Album" (Polar, Denmark), 1977, a listen. The matrix says A7 / B7. I bought 2 copies in denmark. The inner bags are both printed in Sweden. My sealed swedish copy does not say "Distribution: EMI" to the left of the polar logo. The "denmark copies" also differ in that: -one (the one I just played) has weaker, thinner printing on the back. -the other has thicker printing. The matrix of the other copy also says A7 / B7. I guess these things happen when a record are pressed in such big quantities as "The Album". The sound was just lovely compared to the Deluxe CD. I guess I didn't have to mention that But, it did not have the same feeling of "being in the studio" as on "Arrival". It came very close, though. I like the SQ very much. It was the 1st time, for me, listening to the album on an LP record. It heightened my appreciation for this album Now, I want to crack open the sealing of the Swedish copy. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on "Arrival", Rob
sathvyre was correct regarding the french "Voulez-Vous". It sounds just lovely and I'm at loss if it sounds better or worse than the canadian LP. They're both great. A digression: Afterwards, I tried playing a CD "More ABBA Gold" (1993) Polar / Polydor, 1993 european 1st release. It was mastered by Tretow and sounds closed in. It's supposed to be one of the better sounding ABBA cds, but the saxes on "I Do, I Do..." sounds ear piercing and it's mastered too sharp. The Deluxe CD of "ABBA" (1975), Polar 2012, is mastered at louder volume and has it's share of weaknesses. It may be one of the best CD masterings of that album though. I'll try out the swedish Polar LP record tomorrow. I bet it sounds great compared to the CDs
Thanks for the tip, Claus! But, I think I'll stick to the LP releases. I bet they sound even better than the 1988 CD. The LP releases I own of "ABBA" (1975) are the swedish Polar pressings.
I have not heard vinyl pressings that beat the Polar cds of Waterloo and ABBA. they are some of the best sounding ABBA cds and they sound much better than the more common Polydor cds of the two albums.
By the way, I had a look at the dead wax of the swedish Polar pressing of "ABBA" (1975) I bought in Oslo recently. To my surprise a handwritten engraving on side 2 bears a signature and PRIME CUT. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow! I'm curious to know if it sounds better than the copy sathvyre has, which he don't like.
With this discovery I had to look at my other swedish copy of "ABBA". No mention of PRIME CUT on that one...
I listened to the PRIME CUT "ABBA" release. Unfortunately, my copy is in only VG / VG+ condition. There is crackling noise on side 1, a bit better on side 2 but the needle jumped on "I Do, I Do...". A bit too hissy on the vocals. I wish I had a NM copy of the prime cut release. I had a look at other releases in my collection. One swedish copy of "The Visitors" has a sealing tape / plombing over the opening. It says "LP 8". That sounds promising! In the dead wax it says CUTTING ROOM PS Interesting... The other swedish copy I have of this album also says CUTTING ROOM PS.
I suspect that of the 3 danish copies I have of "Arrival", the two bearing only POLS - 272 - A / POLS - 272 - B in the dead wax sounds the best.
I put on a cleaner copy of the Danish "Ring Ring". It was clean and quiet, but I've come to the conclusion that it sounds kinda muddy. It's not as clear sounding as the swedish Polars. Anyway, since the Vogue "Voulez-Vous" sounded so good I ordered these french pressings today: Abba - LP - EX/EX [8 EUR x 1] Waterloo - LP - VG++/EX [9 EUR x 1] Arrival - LP - EX/EX [5 EUR x 1] Abba The Album - LP - EX/EX [5 EUR x 1] A couple of them is on the Melba label, I can't remember which ones. They may be italian. I hope they'll sound just as great. I'm looking forward to the "ABBA" album especially.
Hi Mr. Even B, During the comparison of my two Arrival records I committed a crime, I forgot why I was doing it and got sucked into the music. I just enjoyed the album front to back. I will say this much, the Atlantic pressing seems o.k. until you compare it to the Polydor, then you realise that the Atlantic version sounds artificial. It lacks harmony and bass. The Polydor version displays a harmonious full sound with warmth to voices and a nice strong bass. This caused me to stop comparing and start listening. The numbers in the deadwax of the Atlantic pressing were ST-A-763767-F and 768F for the other side also an autograph which unfortunately I was unable to make something of. The Polydor numbers were for side A POLS 272A 9P76 274F 710 *** side B read POLS 272A 9P76 F 710 *** 14 lM. On the issue of VG+ NM- or M, I can tell you that some of the records I bought sounded soo bad on initial playback that I contacted the seller that no way was this NM-. Most of these records are graded visually so it means very little. Until I cleaned them properly, cleaning makes a world of difference, even to brand new pressings. Just imagine your run of the mill Abba record it has been around for 40+ years in some cases and has been exposed to dust, grime, skin particles, particles of a favorite pet, maybe even food and mould in some cases. And the we expect this record to produce any kind of nice sounding music? It is not going to happen. I have about 400 pcs of vinyl so I am a real beginner, although my wife thinks I already have too much. Despite the small number I invested in an RCM, cost me about € 1100.00, believe me it is worth it. Happy listening.
Mr. Even B, A jumping needle is mostly caused by a dirt particle lodged deep in the groove, or a scratch. Dirt can be removed by cleaning, sometimes even by playing it back a few times. If the record keeps skipping because of a scratch, you can fix this too, the scratch is often not deep enough to damage the grooves. It is mostly in the "land" the flat part of the record, the top of the groove if you will. But a scratch in the land causes the needle to be pushed out of the groove and skip. You can sometimes fix this by going over the scratch with your nail. You need to get over something, but in most cases I got a skipping record back to playable. There is some nice information to be found on the web. The link below from "instructables" shows clearly what I mean. http://cdn.instructables.com/FBM/A738/GXUZEQTM/FBMA738GXUZEQTM.LARGE.jpg So a jumping needle does not always mean the end to musical enjoyment.
Hi, Rob! Nice hearing from you. Maybe, the German Polydor of "Arrival" is better? I haven't listened to it yet. The Polydor I've got has a sticker on the sleeve. It may be an early pressing. This is what it reads in the dead wax: side A: 153 2344 058 S1 320 R 1 . 3 side B: 153 2344 058 S2 320 B E 1 . 3A
Here's what I found in the dead wax of the "Arrival", Atlantic KSD 19115, Canada: side 1: ST - A - 763767 - 1C - 2GH DM - 2 (all handwritten). side 2: ST - A - 763768 - 1A - 2HG DM (all handwritten). (2)
When I'm cleanign my records I use a Groov=Kleen Bib - Carbon fibre & Velvet disc cleaning pad. It's a brush and it works fine, except for leaving a line of dust on the record. Maybe a disc cleaning machine would remove some of the crackling from the PRIME CUT of "ABBA"? I'm not going to buy one at the moment. Anyway, thanks for the tip! I'll try playing the german Polydor of Arrival. But, as great an album as it is. It gets a bit tiresome hearing the same recordings over and over.
As for the 1975 "ABBA" album, I do have a domestic copy at home. It's not great. From what I recall, off the top of my head, it is an original copy, and it's a bit on the muddy side. I think the channels also have an imbalance. Anyway, I'd reach for the Polar CD over the domestic vinyl any day Rob, Apparently you have the US Atlantic pressing of "Arrival". My copy says the same as yours in the dead wax. As for the signature, it looks like CTGP or close to it. This is taken from page 7 of this thread and concerns canadian pressings: Unfortunately, the above does not concern the US pressing.... From the above I can venture a guess on CTGP: C = cutting T ? G ? P = plant Who knows?
Save yourself the Agro and buy the Back To Black versions. Think they are better than the UK pressings (but don't have the first two to compare) apart from The Visitors.
The swedish Polar pressing of the 1975 album sounds horrible. Search for either a german, durch or canadian pressing.
Thanks, sathvyre. I'll try the French one first. I'd like the to get a Canadian pressing, though. But, it's harder to get. I played the German Polydor "Arrival". It sounds good. Natural sound and nice bass. Unfortunately, my brush couldn't remove all the dust and grime in the grooves. Nonetheless, it can't beat the danish copy. I'm not so sure that the Swedish pressing of the 1975 album sounds horrible. Maybe I'll try the cleaner regular swedish copy I have. Yes, I'll try it right now!
sathvyre, I don't know how you got that bad sounding swedish Polar pressing. I tried out my plain / regular "Abba" (1975) Polar pressing, and it sounds great! Not anywhere near "horrible" (except for a certain last track on side 1... Now, that is horrible!) I could not hear any distortion on the last track, side 2 "So Long" (except for it being the last track). Maybe my issue is norwegian? The outer sleeve does not indicate the country of origin anywhere. I bought it used in Oslo, Norway. The inner sleeve is plain white and scraps of tape over the opening says: "H. P. HA... Bogstadveien" (it is partly cut.) Bogstadveien is in Oslo. I took a pic of the dead wax, but how to upload it? I wish I could upload it directly from a file on the PC.
sathvyre, Heres what the runout groove on side 1 of my copy says: POLS 262 A 4 P75 F RS 710 2 //T and side 2: POLS 262 B 4 P75 F RS 710 2 *T All pressed into the wax, no handwriting. Confusing, isn't it?
