Michael Jackson Thriller vinyl- sibilance?

My At440mla was the only cartridge I ever had that could track it well. Mind you, I'm not spending $500+ on my carts. The Denon DL110 I have now can track almost anything like a champ except the sibilance on Thriller.

 

@Strat-Mangler , you lost me as well so I guess it wasn't that obvious.

Does any Beatleology collector have the 1999 edition featuring the butcher cover on the front? I know I'm 75% or more right even though I read it it almost 20 years ago, I was fascinated by the article. So unless the the article was wrong or Q was lying, there is mostly truth in what I detailed. My main reason to reply to the OP, however, was to bring up 3 points:

1/ Maybe the user has groove damaged record/s
2/ It was a bear to mix\master (and Michael did cry about loss of sound, according to Q.)
3/ It's been talked about on this site before but sound quality does go down after 17-18 minutes per side and more agree with that than people who disagree. That's not to say it's un-listenable after 17-18 minutes but this record is longer.

 

I'm not disputing what you read but QJ has a lengthy history of saying rather strange things, exaggerating facts, and purely making stuff up. I'd take what he says with a grain of salt. Or perhaps even the entire salt shaker.

#1 is possible, though it seems to be a record experienced by many with sibilance so I doubt that's it.
#2 is correct as Mr Swedien mentioned. Doing 91 mixes of any song would drive me crazy.
#3 is kind of debatable to a degree. Compromises might be made but there are so many factors. I skimmed over Kevin Gray's essay on cutting a record and it made my head spin.

 

Agree Strat, I think the record may have inherent issues with sibilance.

Looks like you have to pay for back issue content from Beatleology but I did find this nice brief overview of the making of Thriller. Anyone with any interest in this album should check it out. Neat stuff.

'Thriller': How Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones Made the Bestselling Album of All Time

Unfortunately, this late in the game, the album didn't have the punch they were hoping for. It was too long to fit on a standard LP, for one thing, requiring thin grooves that produced tinny sound. They decided to cut a verse from "The Lady in My Life" and shorten that contested introduction on "Billie Jean." Then, as the clock continued to tick, they opted to remix the entire album (except for "The Girl Is Mine," which was already all over the radio), one track a day for eight days. The final day of mixing was Monday, November 8th, 1982. Twenty-two days later, Thriller was available in stores. Michael Jackson was 24 years old.

 

Thanks for this. Pretty cool read.

Mr Swedien's account seems to differ as mix #2 for Billie Jean was used for the record according to him. TGIM and BJ are 2 songs which wouldn't have needed a remix in this case.

Anyway, I won't play detective as I'm more interested in who has sibilance issues and who doesn't.

 

My copy of Thriller EPC 85930 is full of Sibilance. Billy Jean is also much louder than the other tracks.

 

I have the Dutch print. Sibilance!

 

I sold my Dutch Thriller.
Sibilance all over the record.

 

I have a Japanese press, Sony 'Mastersound' from 1983. No sibilance 'ere!

 

No sibilance on my UK copy. Great sounding record. Incidentally, my copy has about the faintest matrices I have ever seen. I can just make out A2/B1 if that helps.

 

It’s probably prudent to keep in mind that Thriller was released at the end of 1982, and by the end of 1983 was already the biggest album the world had ever seen. So there were pressing plants all over the world working overtime to press this one album (as it predates the CD boom, most of which were on vinyl).

 

As far as I remember, the east german pressing on AMIGA has no sibilance. I always enjoy this album from my old USA CD...sounds simply perfect

 

Over a year since my last post so thought I should flag this thread with an update. I recently picked up a mint and seemingly un-played vintage Canadian copy. No spindle marks, no groove damage or visible non-fill and no fingerprints. I've noted 3 or 4 posters claiming the CDN original sounds great so I'll finally have a chance to put it to the test myself. Stay tuned.

 

Played at moderate level then replayed Human Nature again louder. No Sibilance on the stock CDN copy.

Michael Jackson - Thriller

 

Yup, I've noticed that Billie Jean is louder on both copies I have of this album. Also the sibliance is bad on Billie Jean. I have this pressing:

Michael Jackson - Thriller