Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed Original Mix question

Yes, I saw that. So I guess we need Steve H to clarify how he knows

 

Most Deram and London easy listening, classical, and pop and rock records are inferior to their UK, Dutch, and German cousins. Deram's DSS is much better in fine UK masterings and pressings than the Crunchy sounding US pressings we were saddled with. There is a reason why I pay good money in shipping for UK pressings of those titles. On the Moody Blues LP discs, I much prefer UK to any US pressings ever made. Both in mastering and in pressing.

 

I listened to my old stereo LP last night and I forgot how much I liked the original mix. It didn't sound dull at all.

 

I'm wondering if anyone else has ever noticed this: on my CD versions of this (both 80's 90's, but different sounding from one another) in the song "Dawn is a Feeling", in the middle of the song the there is a short tom fill before the lyric "Do you understand that all over this land there's a feeling...". I SWEAR this used to have a wet reverb on it. It grates every time this part passes and it's completely dry, non-dimensional and un-dramatic.

Is it just me? Anyone else remember those toms with reverb?

 

Dawn Is A Feeling (original mix) toms clip

 

Well, thank JHVH for that one, friend. 1 sanity restored.

I guess that affirms that my original vinyl is an early 1st mix copy.

 

I like the original mix best on the rock side of the fence. The remix does a better job on the orchestral side of this album. If a few critical elements had been dealt with better, the remix would erase for me any memory of the original mix. I do maintain that the UK pressings of Moodies albums are technically superior over the US versions. And have quieter surfaces and better tonality.

 

Funny, from a purely sound quality perspective, it's the band portions of the original mix that sound the worst.

 

Wait a minute...:

According to both BSN and Discogs, the MFSL LP wasn't released until *1981*. A quick glance at sources in Google Books also pegs the date around 1980 or 1981. So the MFSL LP does *not* rule out a 1978 date for the remix.

There's also this. Some of it seems sketchy, but note the dates:

"So on 2, 3 and 4 August 1978 in Remix Room 1 with Roy Ponton assisting, I remixed the album again. Tony Clarke was not present. Rather than risk using the final 4 track masters which also might have the same sticking problem, (we didn’t know about baking the tapes at 55 degrees centigrade then), I used the synchronized 16 track tape, as used 5 years before for the quad mix. So if anything is missing on the new mix, then the quad would also have the same bits missing. All the orchestral links were re-synchronized on the new mix as all the links and Moodies recordings were on separate tapes, and saved a generation. "

http://www.freewebs.com/rainbow_glo/6910derekvarnalsqa.htm

That is, he doesn't just mention 1978 in passing, but rather specifically mentions that the remix was done 5 years after the quad mix.

 

I too have that version, among other. A later reply noted that they thought it has "Bell Sound" in the deadwax, but if you look closely, it is stamped "Best Way". My copy has no suffix to the matrix #, only ZAL 8078-but has ZAL-8078-BW on the label. Does your copy match this info? Any info on "Best Way"? I have not seen this on any other LP.

 

Bestway= Bestway Records, a pressing plant which was located in Mountainside, New Jersey. Best known for Bell and London 45 and LP pressings and their pressings for Private Stock Records.

 

Thank you-I will add that to my deadwax list. Is the 11-6-69 a pressing date? I do not believe I have ever seen a date in the deadwax before.

 

I picked up a copy of the lp yesterday at a garage sale. It has ZAL 8079 (PR) etched and STERLING stamped on both sides. Does anyone have a idea when this might have been pressed. I looked on Discogs and could not find a similar pressing. I have not played it yet, but it looks great.

 

When? No. Where? Presswell Records and Manufacturing, Ancora, NJ

 

Thanks, hopefully this thing sounds as good as it looks.

 

Listening to side two of the 1978 UK pressing, original mix, and I agree with this assessment. The weird thing I hear is that the bad sound varies somewhat in just how it sounds bad. For example, in "Tuesday Afternoon" I hear the harsh mids that Steve noted in an earlier post. Very painful to hear, actually. Then again, in "Nights in White Satin," I can barely hear any band at all until the last verse. At times it's not easy even to hear Justin Hayward's vocals. The levels are low compared to the orchestra, but the highs are also very rolled off, and it sounds like the band tracks are limited almost to death at times. Graeme Edge's snare sounds like someone hitting a pillow, and the cymbals have no distinct ring, but rather a kind of ffflllllaaaaaaap sound to them. Very strange. But then in the last verse, just before the big orchestral climax, suddenly the band track (esp. the vocal) comes up in level and gets brighter, though no less compressed.

Oh, and Mike Pinder's lovely flourish that answers Hayward's melody in the verse is almost nonexistent the first time through.

Edge's famous poem, then, sounds fine.

Very strange and erratic mix!

 

Sounds like the band section is mixed in very narrow stereo - almost mono, in the original mix. After careful listening on headphones, sounds like the original orchestra mix was basically untouched in remix, other than a few instances.

 

With apologies for sounding like the Moody Blues newbie that I am (my 'expertise' is in Beatles...) could someone help me identify which edition of DOFP I own? I purchased it BELIEVING its an early UK pressing (though likely an era re-issue), and the hearing original mix is really quite a revelation.

 

Checkout the internet web site Discogs.
They should have the info on the releases
but this looks like 1967 UK issue.

 

Here's a rather complete and succinct list of the mix differences, from Wikipedia. For me, the quickest and easiest way to tell is the backing vocals on "Time to Get Away" (the fourth bullet point below).

 

Ironically thats exactly where I purchased it from! But from research, this label is a variant to the ones I'm seeing online. Other copies have the word STEREO on the left (or center) of the label and mine is on the right.

Incidentally here's the cover.....

 

I think the original UK cover looks like this....

 

So I think I have this pressing: The Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed

The thing is, the band sounds extremely muted and there's no detail at all in the sound while the orchestra and vocalists sound fine. However, when I listen on Spotify, everything sounds very clear. Sorry if this has already been covered, but is there this much of a difference between the sound of different releases of this album, or is my pressing defective or something?

 

Spotify would have the remix. The original mix sounds very different.

 

I have the original mix in both covers.