I've decided I need to address the criminal lack of Gene Clark vinyl in my collection. Are any of the current reissues any good? I notice the dreaded 4 Men With Beards have reissued No Other, is it best to seek out an original copy?
I do not recommend the Sundazed reissue of The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark. That's the only recent reissue I've heard. I've got a U.K. Edsel reissue of Through The Morning Through The Night (likely from the 80's) that sounds pretty ok. Might be a viable alternative to an original U.S. A&M, but I've never heard an A&M so I can't really say. I've got a Japanese Polydor pressing of Two Sides To Every Story that sounds pretty good, but I strongly suspect it would be bettered by an original U.S pressing. Reviews of the recent reissue (forget by who) were pretty positive IIRC. An original Asylum pressing of the Byrds 1973 reunion album should be easy to find cheap and sounds pretty good. Nice Gene performances there. I hope someone with a little broader GC listening experience can weigh in on the relative merits of the original U.S. pressings versus the various alternatives. They are pricey and hard to come by in good condition in my experience, so I don't have any.
Just one man's opinion. Some other guys liked it if you can find the thread from when these came out. I preferred the sound of my U.K. A&M two-fer cd overall. Unusual for me to prefer a cd and not the result I'm hoping for when I plunk down $20 for a new lp As to specific criticisms, I don't clearly recall since it was a while ago and I returned the record. At the time I posted some thoughts, so they should be preserved for posterity in the earlier thread
Right. I checked that thread, and the reviews were mixed. You were disappointed, others thought it was an upgrade from the cd, a disc I find lacking in tonality and dynamics. Only thing to do is crack it open and see for myself. It's funny -- the Gene Clark album-by-album thread was abandoned quite awhile ago, and yet I'm still exploring all the riches discussed therein.
Yeah, I would not have expected that cd to be my preferred D&C listening experience. There is no way that U. K. cd could be from the master tapes. I was expecting the lp to be a revelation. Maybe an original would be. . . I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the Sundazed lp since you'll be comparing to the same digital reference.
I just bought the vinyl LP Two Sides to Every Story on High Moon Records, the credits say... Tape Transfer by John Strother, Penguin Studios, CA. Mastered by Dan Hersch at D2 Mastered for Vinyl by Doug Sax, The Mastering Lab. The Front Sleeve has a sticker stating ''Remastered from the original analog tapes - a sonic revelation'' A bit of a misnomer if you ask me, obviously Doug Sax mastered the vinyl from a high res file! I have to say the 16-page booklet is beautiful with some great photos of Gene, I haven't played it yet so here's hoping it is a 'sonic revelation'! JG
There's also a Music on Vinyl reissue of No Other. I've been thinking about buying it. I emailed MOV asking about the source, and got this reply: Anyone got this one, or have any opinion on it? I'm guessing it will be better than the 4Men With Beards?
I picked up the MOV No Other today, listening to it now and it's incredible. Amazing quiet pressing and wonderful sound.
The orig No Other sounds great, and they are out there, didn't sell well, so there are plenty of cut outs in great shape around. Should be easily found on ebay in the $20s , bout the same price as one of the digital ******** reissues.
I have No Other on CD and I don't like it that much at all. Never have. It puzzles me why Roadmaster gets less attention when it sounds like the superior album by some distance. But yeah, perhaps it's the digitized thing. I'd snap it up on vinyl like a shot of course, never seen one yet in the musty second hand record shops I frequent though.
White Light Demos is a pretty spectacular piece of plastic. I have to agree with the earlier post about the '73 Byrds vinyl. Should have been a bigger deal but it was no fault of Gene's
I saw a new No Other vinyl reissue last week and didn't buy it...cant remember why . Must have been a 4 Men or otherwise I would have picked it up. Been looking for an original for some time but no luck. I'd buy a well-done reissue.
Can anyone comment further on the Music On Vinyl "No Other" reissue? Seems we have one yay vote. Always need at least two for me when a record is digitally sourced. I will say I have Dylan's "Time Out of Mind" and "Love and Theft" via MOV both of which are digital and they sound great.
I haven't heard an original LP but the MOV sounds quite good on its own terms. The bass certainly rumbles convincingly on the title track.
I thought Sundazed did a good job on the With The Gosdin Brothers LP reissue. I have the original A&M first Expedition vinyl so no reason to buy any reissues of that.