@Giorgio, both your promo copies are 100% original and not counterfeit: the SIAE statement into a square box was perfectly legitimate. But it would be very strange to find the round SIAE stamp affixed on white labels promo.
Just discovered that my copy of Queen's "A Night At The Opera" is in fact Italian. The cover looks very British, heavy, embossed gatefold, rounded corners on a solid card board innersleeve. Apparently Italy didn't release it before 1976. Maybe it was such a successful import that they decided to have a domestic pressing. Not rare by any means but it looks fantastic. And Italy and Opera always went well together
A Night at the Opera was released in November 21, 1975 in the UK. Based on discogs.com, in Italy this album came out in February 1976. Well: I just asked some information to Ferdinando Frega (perhaps the greatest or one of the top Queen collector in the world...) and he told me that really A Night at the Opera came out in Italy a few months later than in the UK.
You should use a host site. Then, simply copy (from the host site) and paste (here, into the message box) the image you want to show here.
This my copy is without the round SIAE logo stamped on the label. Dead wax info: Side 1: S 6079 1 20.10.70 Side 2: S 6079 2 20.10.70 (the date is hand etched) The cover is fully laminated. Release date is 15 December 1970 (WiKi). Do you think it is a genuine first pressing? (pics taken in different days...this is why they are different in colour...) Thanks for your help!
Yes it is, Giorgio, no doubt. Later batches had different labels perimeter print and later cutting date in the runout. You're welcome.
Bonjour, Ce message, même si il est un peu ancien, a éveillé ma curiosité. Vous faites une allusion à deux albums du groupe Creedence Clearwater Revival. Quels sont ces albums et pouvez-vous communiquer les références et les matrices ? Avez-vous eu l'occasion de les comparer aux pressages originaux US ( Label Fantasy)? Je ne serai pas surpris qu'ils les égalent, voire soit légèrement supérieur ! J'ai eu l'occasion de comparer récemment trois pressages différents du soundtrack " The good the bad and the ugly" d'Ennio Morricone. Un pressage américain, anglais et français. Sortis sensiblement à la même période (fin année 60,début des années 70). Le pressage américain avait une image stéréophonique plus étroite que les autres mais pas plus de profondeur pour autant. Pire, les titres les plus calmes étaient gravés aussi fort que les titres épiques. Qui plus est, il était horriblement bruyant ( pourtant le seul acheté scellé !?). Par contre un excellent équilibre tonal bien maîtrisé. Le pressage anglais était pas trop mal ( moins bruyant aussi !) mais hélas, assez compressé et donc ayant une image stéréo trop large et manquant singulièrement de profondeur. Le troisième pressage est le français. Il est facile à reconnaître car il possède un fond blanc à la place du traditionnel fond orange que l'on trouve habituellement. Qualité de pressage très bonne, seulement quelques micro craquements presque inaudibles. Image stéréophonique grandiose ( surtout au casque) avec beaucoup de profondeur et de largeur. L'équilibre tonal est étonnant. L'ingénieur a légèrement atténué le médium et surtout le bas-médium au profit des fréquences basses là aussi légèrement augmentées. De prime abord cela va à l'encontre d'une certaine conception du son audiophile ( la recherche d'un équilibre tonal parfait) mais ce parti pris, assez subtil quand même, allié à une maîtrise du niveau sonore en adéquation avec la bande originale ( belle maîtrise de la normalisation et des crescendos) font de ce pressage presque une expérience ! On peut littéralement sentir le vent et la poussière à l'écoute ! As say our American friends... It's a keeper ! À la lumière de cette expérience et dans les mains d'un grand ingénieur, je ne suis pas surpris que certains pressages, étrangers au pays d'origine de l'enregistrement, sonnent aussi bien ( mais parfois différents) voire subliment la copie originale... même si il peut s'agir d'une copie de première génération ! Maintenant je me demande comment le mythique score de Morricone sonne sur les différents pressages italiens !? Merci d'avance pour votre attention. JG
Ciao Stefano How do you know so much about records?Your erudition is astonishing. Tell me,are song titles translated into Italian on record covers? That's the worst thing about records made in Spain. Thus,Santana's Evil Ways becomes "Formas Endemoniadas" or something. You should see what they did to Hunky Dory.
Many thanks! Unfortunately, often the opposite happened: Italian albums were translated in English... This is not necessarily a bad thing. From the collectors point of view, many Spanish records are sought precisely because of this particular feature...
Christophe's post in English via Google Translate: Hello, This message, even if it is older, has aroused my curiosity. You made an allusion to two Creedence Clearwater Revival band's albums. What are these albums and can you provide references and dies? Have you had the opportunity to compare the original pressings US (Label Fantasy)? I will not be surprised that they equal them or even slightly higher! I had the opportunity recently to compare three different pressings of the soundtrack "The good the bad and the ugly" of Ennio Morricone. A US pressing, English and French. Out at about the same period (year end 60, early 70s). The American press had a stereo image narrower than the others but no more depth so far. Worse, the quieter songs were engraved as strong as the epic titles. Moreover, it was terribly noisy (though only bought sealed!?). As against an excellent tonal balance mastered. The English press was not too bad (less noisy too!) But alas, quite compressed and thus having too wide stereo image and singularly lacking in depth. The third pressing is French. It is easy to recognize because it has a white background instead of the traditional orange background that is usually found. very good quality press, only a few almost inaudible micro cracking. great stereo image (especially with headphones) with a lot of depth and width. The tonal balance is amazing. The engineer was slightly attenuated the medium and above the midbass in favor of low frequencies again slightly increased. At first it goes against a certain conception of its audiophile (looking for a perfect tonal balance) but this bias, subtle enough anyway, combined with noise control in line with the soundtrack (good control of standardization and crescendos) makes this pressing almost an experience! You can literally feel the wind and dust tuned! As our American friends say ... It's a keeper! In light of this experience and in the hands of a great engineer, I'm not surprised that some pressings, the foreign country of registration, sound as good (sometimes different) or sublimate the original copy. .. although it may be a first generation copy! Now I wonder how the legendary score Morricone sounds on various Italian pressings? Thank you in advance for your attention. JG
I have an Italian Reprise LP, lacquer date machine stamped: 10 3 76 on both sides. There is also what looks like a stylized AR scribed there. I've sketched it out: Catalog number machine stamped on both sides of the runout area. Here's side one: 559 54062 ♦ 1L (W54062 is the catalog number on the label, which has, very faintly SAIE stamp style #3, which I think indicates a circa 1978 pressing.) Hand-written in the runout, there is this: ▲▲▲*** followed by a box with a diagonal slash through it. Any idea who/what "AR" is, or what the triangles and stars mean? Thanks!
Triangles and stars do probably indicate a specific cutting machine and a specific mastering studio. No idea as for the presumed AR signature.
[QUOTE = "Stefano G., poste: 10360216, membre: 43905"] Oui, c'est OK si vous recherchez la qualité audio (bien que je pense vraiment que les vinyles italiens ne sont pas pour les audiophiles ...); mais si vous êtes juste un collectionneur qui regarde les premiers pressages (et très souvent les premiers numéros italiens sont très chers, regardez les prix des albums prog-rock et des bandes sonores sur vinyl italien), vous trouverez peut-être utile Autres détails. Cependant: y a-t-il du vinyle italien que vous avez particulièrement aimé pour sa qualité de pressage? Personnellement, je pense que les versions italiennes de tous les albums de Led Zeppelin sont très bonnes, par exemple .... [/ QUOTE] Bonjour cher contributeur, Je pense que le deuxième pressing italien de Led Zeppelin ll est exceptionnel. L'ingénieur local a fait un travail remarquable avec une approche différente, il me semble. Gumming jusqu'à la pulsation bombastic du pressage célèbre de Robert Ludwig, il lui a donné une coupe plus audiophile. Comme si Pink Floyd avait re-enregistré le score! Beau pressage, sous-estimé à mon humble avis. Christophe
Hello dear contributor, I think Led Zeppelin ll's second Italian pressing is exceptional. The local engineer did a remarkable job with a different approach, it seems to me. Gumming up the bombastic pulsation of Robert Ludwig's famous pressing, he gave it a more audiophile cut. As if Pink Floyd had re-recorded the score! Beautiful pressing, underestimated in my humble opinion. Christophe
So glad I found this thread. Here’s an interesting one...I have a 1992 Italian pressing of Iron Maiden’s Fear of the Dark that has no SIAE stamp on either of the two LPs. The pictures on Discogs clearly show the stamps but my copy has none. That said, I have every reason to believe it to be a legit pressing since the dead wax all matches up perfectly and it has the plain white die cut inner sleeves with the corners cropped at the top and a hole on only one side. @Stefano G. Hai qualche idea sul perché i timbri sarebbero mancanti? È possibile che l'inchiostro fosse asciutto quando sono state timbrate le etichette?
FWIK, usually the stamp is on one label's side only for each disc...and it is often printed so light that it is (almost)invisible...maybe this is your case...do you have very carefully checked both labels?
