If that's the price, it's a steal. Not sure why anyone would have a prob with the MC5 LP. It sounds great and the packaging is beautiful.
Yeah, it’s a crazy price so I had to order both. Based on the other ROG titles I have (Marshall Crenshaw, Delaney & Bonnie and Dr. John) I’m looking forward to checking these out. Still in stock at $10.47 each for anyone interested.
I asked Run Out Groove regarding the upcoming Ministry's Greatest Fits release on double LP and its original audio source material that they used. Here is their response: "High resolution audio files, and unfortunately the master tapes could not be located. All of our titles are mastered for vinyl by two experts, with lacquers cut on a lathe at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis." Hopefully that release will have better dynamic range since the original CD release that has previous tracks that were "remastered" (read: brickwalled to death).
I ordered the Ministry release and am patiently waiting for it. But, I don't know that I was ever under the impression that it would be a straight analog cut from master tapes. A number of the releases on this label are compilations (Dr. John, Ministry, Solomon Burke, MC5...) and I can't imagine anyone going back to the original reels and cutting out tracks and assembling a new compilation 'master' from those tapes. Its just cost prohibitive these days. Some labels may spend the extra cash and do it. But I never really expected much more than digital files from this label. Now.. I can't give a review on sound quality since the Ministry and Solomon Burke releases were the first that I have bought from ROG. Since I haven't gotten them yet, I can't comment. They may still sound really good. But I somehow knew they wouldn't be purely analog.
My two $10.47 ROG LPs arrived today, MC5 and Echo and the Bunnymen. Both are well pressed and quiet. The cover art is vivid and bright. Very nice packaging as you’d now expect from ROG. The splatter vinyl on MC5 is pretty cool. Sound wise, Echo and the Bunnymen is better. Especially for a live show, it’s pretty good. The MC5 varies quite a bit across the Disc. I can see both sides of the coin here. I thought songs like High School, Shakin’ Street and Teenage Lust sounded very good. Others, like Sister Anne sound like a bad CD. At $10.47 on Amazon (you will pay shipping) these are both well worth checking out.
Morphine-Live at the Warfield seems to be getting a bit hard to find but a local Barnes & Noble had one so I snagged it. (Acoustic Sounds is the only site I know of to have this in stock). It’s a fantastic release. Very innovative band and surprisingly good recording. The pressing is essentially flawless and the packaging impressive as well. This is my first exposure to Morphine. I had no idea what I was missing.
Ministry Greatest Fits was at a local shop yesterday so I picked it up. Very typical of ROG releases, the vinyl looks nice and plays extremely quietly. The sound quality is really very good for this type of music. My musical taste is very eclectic. I’m really enjoying this release but this is a good sample and will be enough Ministry for me. BTW, if you can find them, the Baby Huey and Beau Brummels RSD releases are excellent.
Morphine is so good. And there is not a lot of it available on vinyl. I preordered that one and the Dr John. Both are great releases.
Thank you very much for the sound quality review of Ministry's Greatest Fits DLP! I'll have to get this one sometime once I see it in the wild.
I remember hearing from someone at ROG that they had a lot more Morphine to potentially come...here's hoping/praying they choose to make a new release soon! I've been wishing/hoping for a Yes reissue and vinyl issues of Like Swimming and the Night.
Amen to that. There is quite a bit of Morpine that has never been pressed. I’d be down for a copy if the B Sides album as well
You realize, at least now (other than the RSD releases), Run Out Groove put three titles (every month or so) they might release up for a vote - and they only seemingly release a title from those three that garners the most votes. So they would have to put any titles expected up for a vote and they would have to "win" that vote to be released.
In concept, what Run Out Groove are doing is a great idea. My only problem with it so far, is that for the most part, the titles they are selecting to choose from leaves a lot to be desired. Sure, there are the occasional ones that I'd be interested in, by artists I've actually know about - The Stooges, MC5, Secret Machines, Golden Smog, Morphine. However most of what they are offering up is stuff I've never even heard of, where I question how many other people would even care enough about them to begin with. Sure, perhaps the reason they are going after lesser known releases is because they are likely cheaper to obtain. Still, there are plenty of far more deserving titles by low to mid selling artist that they, and their customers, could be benefitting from. One would think that picking less obscure material would drive far more interest in their business.
They are a subsidiary of Warner, so I'm not sure how much they truly care about more interest in their business. In that, ROG has pretty big pockets backing it, so they can afford to put out more obscure stuff.
My quick review of Ministry's Greatest Fits: Excellent, excellent dynamic range and sound quality. Pressing quality is truly top notch and is thus quiet, flat, no warps nor off-centeredness. Do note: Stigmata in this pressing is the "Update Mix" from the Rantology compilation released in 2005! The CD version of Greatest Fits contains the original Stigmata song from The Land of Rape and Honey! Be aware of this before you pick this one up.
Solomon Burke on ROG vinyl out now, just got a copy for $23...nice package. Very limited on this one...have not listened yet...got the Baby Huey on RSD, happy with that one! Had nothing by Solomon Burke in my collection, this looked like a good one to get.
At CD Warehouse in Atlanta (my main local shop, fantastic people), $23.99 to be exact, so not bad from what I've seen elsewhere...
Listened to the Solomon Burke yesterday...packaging is excellent, vinyl 180G nice and quiet and flat as can be. This is in stereo, but it sounds sweet as can be. No wonder Mick and the boys dig him as well as many others. No doubt this is a digital transfer (somebody correct me if I am wrong), but as I said, the sound is very good. Nice addition to the collection! ROG is doing a very nice job with there releases!
I got mine too and it's excellent. I have a question for you - are you sure your copy is stereo? Because mine sure is mono. In the Elusive ad they show a stereo cover: Solomon Burke The Best of Atlantic Soul 1962-1965 Numbered Limited Edition 180g LP-Elusive Disc but if you look at the Discogs listing that I added the pics to you'll see that the stereo banner on top is gone: Solomon Burke - The Best Of Atlantic Soul 1962-1965 . Also, the red & purple Atlantic labels were only used for mono releases (stereo at this point were blue & green). In any case the sound is great, the fit & finish is terrific and the vinyl is heavy, flat, and dead quiet. Get one before they're gone!
I had stereo separation while playing it, at least I thought I did...if this was mono, they most likely would have called it out. I will spin again today, this time changing my system to pure mono, if it is mono, I will know for sure then. thanks for pointing this out, I might have been having too much fun yesterday and missed it, but I was listening closely and had distinctive separation of piano on the right channel, at least I thought so... I hope the heck you are right, maybe mono being played through a stereo read on this one, separates still a bit...will post back and thanks for your feedback! My copy is #491 by the way...
BOY IS MY FACE RED! I had my turntable summed to mono yesterday when I was playing it and totally forgot! It is stereo - pretty narrow but definitely stereo.