Announced for release in July, is this a recommended purchase - based on other albums released in this format - and does anyone know yet whether this is the original mix?
I normally judge releases on individual merit but the half speed Stones releases were not to my liking at all. It seemed to me like all the life and verve had been sucked out of them, especially in comparison to the original UK cuts. The 2014 Kevin Grey cut of Tommy is a good sounding press if you are looking for a recent release.
I have half speeds by McCartney… for what it’s worth, the archive reissued vinyl sounds better. I also have Exile and Leeds. The latter was worth it…the former not so much.
...and has been mastered by long time Who engineer Jon Astley from the original tapes and is packaged in original sleeve with obi and certificate of authenticity. This black vinyl version is engineered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios using a half-speed mastering technique which produces a superior vinyl cut. July 8th 2022 release date.
I’m passing on this. It’s not going to better the Kevin Gray version. Miles Showell isn’t in the same league.
I’m hoping that should the Beatles stereo albums be cut again that Apple does not resort to this gimmickry. I can see it now. He’ll cut them and tell you how great the half speed cutting process from high resolution digital sources sounds the best, blah, blah, blah. And in the end they won’t sound better than any late 1970s or 1980s UK reissues
Everyone should stop buying these Showell 1/2-speed monstrosities. They all sound atrocious... and I bought a *dozen* before calling it quits. Trust me: they all stink to high heaven with this dull boring lifeless sound with crappy dynamics and this one will predictably be destroyed easily by a far superior recent release... nevermind an original pressing.
I couldn’t agree more I was being kind with the word lackluster They butchered a number of catalogs Unfortunately those are now deemed the “definitive copy” Hey it’s Abbey Road So we won’t get a better new release It’s a shame really
Is this a widely-held view on this portal of the Showell HSMs? It's certainly a view of the many I own that I simply can't agree with. (I don't own any of the Rolling Stones HSMs LPs, by the way)
The Sade box set is Showell HSM and sounds very good. I saw somewhere on the forum that he’s made some corrections. Don’t know if this is fact or not, however.
No idea if it's a widely held belief but I've had a dozen different ones and they all stank to high heaven. In every case either first pressings or other remasters were exponentially superior. I'll never spend a dime on any Showell remasters ever again. A dozen chances is far too many.
I was disappointed in the first two Brian Eno half-speed remasters, I actually prefer my original U.S. pressings! The one exception I've heard is the Siouxsie catalogue, almost every one of those Abby Road half-speeds sounds pretty amazing. They are better than my original U.S., U.K., and Japanese pressings for the most part. I thought I had Siouxsie pretty well covered since I've collected most of her stuff since the late 70's, and only bought them after reading so many glowing reviews on here.
What about the The Specials and Solid Air? Both half-speed remasters got near unanimous praise on this very forum. Are they no good now?
Oh yeah, I forgot about the 1st Specials LP, it is another outstanding pressing from Abby Road. I only have an original U.S. pressing on Chrysalis to compare it to, but the half-speed is definitely superior. And on those Siouxsie's, I read on here the original Hedges masters were never that hot to begin with, so it wasn't hard to improve on them.
I agree with this. I have a lot of vinyl with "Miles Half-Speed Abbey Road Rm 30" in the dead wax and none of it is great. I especially agree with your "dull boring lifeless sound" description. Very well-said.
Atrocious? No. There are mixed feelings/view points. Some are better than others. The ones that I own do not sound atrocious. That being said, over time, I’ve found that most do not better the originals, although there are a few exceptions. 3-4 years ago I purchased the CCR and Police box sets that were cut by Showell. I found that the CCR albums that were mastered by Hoffman/Gray for AP were better sounding. The original Police albums from back in the day sounded better to me than Showell’s versions. I ended up getting rid of both boxes. I do feel that Universal, Abbey Road, and Miles Showell are pushing a gimmick.
yeah, of the few Abbey Road HSM's I own the first Specials and Kaleidoscope by Siouxsie do sound excellent. The Police and the Stones not so much.
