Yeah this is an astonishly great reissue. Perfectly flat, noise free , centered, typical great Kevin mastering. Beautiful high gloss cover. Outstanding.
Picked this up at Barnes & Noble today because of all the love here, and damn it sounds nice. Music ain't bad either...
I give up. I'll go get it, tomorrow. Resistance is futile. Hell, no one besides me will know that I have 12 versions of this album instead of 11.
Got mine earlier this week, but need a block of time to spin it. Can't wait! Just have an original U.S. pressing and a German min-lp sleeve cd.
Well I already have 6 versions - A Canadian Reprise, Two UK's one original, one later, The 2012 and two CD versions!
If I lived in the US this would be a "no brainer" for me, would love to get a clean AAA copy of this album for a reasonable price.
Problem with ordering stuff from places like the USA is there's a good chance of getting clobbered for 'import tax', which can be quite a lot, not just a couple of quid. I'm pondering whether to take that chance or not.
Amazon.com charge you the import duty upfront, so it's £34.63 (or $44.32) and no surprises. Depends if you consider that reasonable. I've taken a chance with Barnes & Noble at $32.22 (about £25) and figure I can sell the 2LP version from a few years back to cover some of the cost.
Ok. Here goes my review of German / UK Fly / AAA 2017. Incoherent thoughts and ramblings below... I did first two tracks of all three and "Jeepster" on U.K. and AAA. Mambo sun: German. - Sibilant... drums and overall muffled sound. Tape copy? Backing vocals are nice, defined! Guitar not bad. Bass is good. Right channel viola / orchestral overdub is not too prevalent...or is this a doubled guitar? Ending strings are ok... UK - sibilant (more?). Much less muffled, and lots more detail. Backing vocals are even more distinguishable - right channel guitar details and super fuzzy (in a good way!). Larger soundstage (small room so hard to get great idea here...). Ending strings more detailed. Overall can crank more and retain lots more detail! AAA 2017 - drums still great and huge. Sound very similar to U.K. Maybe overall less high end EQ here? Cymbals don't "crash" as much... super smooth. Seems more crankable than UK and definitely German. Backing vocal overdubs best here. Small guitar fills and mutes on guitar strings can be heard here not on previous versions, ending strings more detailed. Cosmic dancer: German - Vocals sound good. Bass muddy... orchestra / strings ok. Drums large. Backing conga not well defined. Acoustic guitars ok. Ending reverse guitar part and vocals sound just ok... muddy, not clear. UK - vocals great (sibilant). Acoustic guitar better (clearer left - right separation). Large improvement of orchestra / strings! Bass muddy ... on the tape this way I think. Drums large and improved over German copy. Sounds "faster" (not speed)... and more musical. Ending reverse guitar part and vocals are much improved - clarity on both left and right parts, easily distinguishable - haunting end vocals... AAA 2017 - natural sound here. Vocals are great (less sibilant). Bass still muddy ish, not bad (on the tape). Strings best here, can here more details. Sounds cleaner and less bright than UK... maybe EQ difference? Kick drum is nice, Tom fills better too! End reverse guitar part - even better than U.K. Soundstage seems wider too on this section. Jeepster: UK and AAA have great "space" and air between drums, congas, handclaps, and foot stomps? Bass sounds good. Easy to pick out and pay attention to Left right guitars and orchestra on AAA! Someone shouting in background I don't think I had heard before? Overall I prefer the AAA - clarity and overall listenability (hahaha). But the U.K. sounds great as well. Maybe a fresher tape? Maybe EQ changes? Anyway, hope you enjoyed my breakdown. I love this album so much! I've played it so many times and always hear different things - especially for many of the songs being so structurally simple and blues based.
I've always thought of T. Rex's "electric" records as the aural equivalent of a Betty Page pinup: juicy, bodacious, with a tatty come-on!
Not really a bargain....but I decided to go for it anyway. A good copy of this album is going to be difficult to find for less anyway.
The above isn't an album. And the "hippie-starchild-folk thing" was called Tyrannosaurus Rex, wasn't it?
It is often the way he performed the songs live as the 'album' is made up of live radio shows/outtakes with crowd noise added. It is an interesting listen.
