This is my second favorite Bowie album and I'd like to find it on vinyl but I'm confused as to which pressings are worth my $. Is the 1990 EMI RM worth picking on vinyl or should I wait for an original Orange Label pressing? Or wait it out for a reissue?
If I were lacking a copy (I have an '80s German budget reissue), I would be on the lookout for a clean US pressing. The '80s "Best Buy" reissues are very good quality and can be had for reasonable prices (provided you can live without the original inner sleeve). If you don't own this already, I can't in good conscience recommend waiting. Life is too short to be without this masterpiece.
as an alternative, the EMI Millennium has been recommended here, I believe ... goes for $$$ now, though.
Yeah, the EMI100 from 1997 is terrific but not easy to find. As soon as it is advertised as EMI100 the price goes UP. Sometimes people don't recognize what they have and treat it as a run of the mill later pressing. A friend bought one recently for 15€. The 1990 EMI pressing adds bonus tracks at the end and messes up the original's sequence. Which is a complete no-go. Even IF the sound was good For a start I'd recommend an orange RCA, preferably British but my German copy is good as well. There are options People also said good things about later black and green label pressings but I've never heard one.
sorry -- I think it's Aladdin Sane that's the Millennium series, then. I have a US black label, not that clean... it gets the job done but I wouldn't mind an upgrade!
Yeah I don't like bonus tracks either. I'll see what I can find, but it seems as if this album is in dire need of a proper re-press.
i am happy with my early 80s black label copy, should be a hair cheaper then the orange. it seems hard to find this lp in nice shape under $30 for any copy these days.
The bonustracks are fantastic but "Quicksand" and "Bewley Brothers" simply HAVE to be the last tracks on their sides. Everything else is dead wrong
I've been trying to find an EMI Centenary copy for several years. They don't pop up often. I think they only pressed 1000? I wish they'd pull out the stampers and do another run. A 70s UK orange label is a good bet. I found a 4th pressing that sounds great. People seem to like those green label RCA International copies, too. If you can even find a nice playable US copy, you're probably going to be charged too much for it. They sound OK, but not great. If it's one of your favorites, invest in a UK copy.
I was very happy with my green label RCA International pressing until I was lucky enough to find a mint EMI100 on Discogs. Nothing else I've heard comes close.
I was lucky to find a EMI 100 copy last spring for around 50$, I have no idea how many were pressed but it was the first one in that series to be cut from analog tapes, http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/emi-centenary-lps.11580/ (see post # 5 for some juicy info) which is why I looked hard and heavy for it. The recommendation above sounds right to go for an '80s US Best Buy series if they are as good as Sid says -US RCAs can sound fantastic, and an lp like that could be had for relatively cheap. There are also late '70s or early '80s pressings from the EU possibly France, Belgium or the UK, where the deadwax has something like 'Bilbo' (not sure) in the deadwax that are supposed to sound great. A later German pressing might also be a deal for sure. also there is this: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/hunky-dory-black-label-vinyl-sq.325046/
I'm one of the lucky who owns the EMI 100 reissue of Hunky Dory and indeed it really sounds great. Are you sure only 1000 copies were pressed of the EMI 100 Centenary version?
nearest I could find info wise anywhere was 'limited edition' mentioned in post #11: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/how-good-were-the-emi-milinium-lps.6675/
I'm really interested in this, I've all the EMI 100's but one and would like to know how many that EMI pressed of each. Does anyone else out there know anything about this?
I picked up this one when I was in Barcelona a few years back: It's got a bit of surface noise but sounds great otherwise. Plus I love the alternate title in Spanish!
I recently purchased a Japanese orange label original pressing on eBay for $28 shipped. It sounds absolutely terrific. One of my all-time favorite albums.
I think I read this here on the forum but I could be wrong. It was 1997, so I wouldn't be surprised if "limited edition" really meant 1000 copies. They don't come up on eBay or Discogs very often. I see one every three or four months, if that. They're usually in the EU and they're usually way too expensive. One sold for a reasonable amount here in Portland last year, but I didn't see the auction until after it closed!!
it's hard to find a bad sounding pressing of this album. avoid the bonus track options, especially the EMI 1990 which crams everything onto a single LP (the Ryko is 3-sided). NB: be aware that there are coloured vinyl pirate releases of the Spanish edition and a counterfeit of the Simply Vinyl edition.
The original RCA does sound great. I did have a Ryko copy (which I sold to finance buying some hifi) & that sounded good too. Buy the EMI one if is in good condition.
Interesting. Sorry this is maybe a little off topic. I've since I started to buy the EMI 100's way back in 1997 been very curious about how many that EMI pressed of each of these beautiful reissues. Even many of the digital remasters of this series sounds great but it's with the last 18 all analogue remasters that these reissues really shines. Does someone in here know if the EMI 100 Centenary Series all were pressed in Hayes, UK?
I'm not sure, but I would just want to state for the thread that unlike the Hunky Dory, the EMI 100 Ziggy Stardust is one of the digital masters, and imo it sounds poor. I avoided the whole series after that ... wish I had been clued in to the later entries being analog and more well done.
Yes unfortunately the EMI 100 Ziggy Stardust was very disappointing, it is IMHO one of the worst sounding of the whole series. Another very good sounding Bowie reissue is Aladdin Sane which was from the following series EMI Millenium that was released 1999 if I remember correctly. It is also all analogue and is on par with EMI 100 Hunky Dory soundwise.
Besides the original UK, the original Canadian is also good and less money. It is not commonly offered though it can be found with a bit of a search. I also strongly recommend the second UK 70s pressing called a Bobil or 3T press because of the deadwax inscription. It's a bit smoother and punchier than the slightly more atmospheric UK original.
