Peter Gabriel - Passion 45rpm reissue.

Hi there!

PG's "Passion" has always been my favourite record ever since I was a kid and I always dreamed that one day, I'll have it in my collection.

Well, after all these years, I've finally received a reissue copy of it and boy, does the cover and inserts look good!


However, same cannot be said about pressing. They are incredibly noisy with lots of pops and crackles that while tolerable on the first disk, become a lot worse on the other two. I've tried cleaning them, but to no avail.

Needless to say, I am very very disappointed.

Just wondering if anyone else has bought this reissue and experienced the same problem ? If not, perhaps I should just return it and order another one.

Thanks!

 

Well I have this reissue and my experience is different to yours - clean, quiet and flat - so I would try for another copy

 

I have heard various complaints about the 45rpm Peter Gabriel reissues in general on here and elsewhere. It seems the luck of the draw whether you get a good one or not. I haven't tried one yet personally, as defective vinyl is a huge pet peeve of mine...

I can confirm that the old CD and old U.S. 2xLP both sound great, so I see no reason to upgrade. I'm sure a "good" 45rpm sounds marginally better but I have a tough time believing it's a night and day thing because there was really nothing wrong with the old versions.

 

Thanks!

I am going to write to Amazon and either ask for a different copy or get a refund.

 

My copy is quiet-nice pressing. Looks like you got a lemon...try again?
ATB,
Mark

 

Try another copy. I have one and it sounds really good - no pressing issues and amazing sonics. I soon after parted with my original LP.

 

Thanks folks, I'll be ordering another copy soon.

 

Definitely a let down on this one.
Even though it looks very good on the outside (and on paper), i can also confirm i had a very bad copy...

Not only the records are noisy as mentioned earlier, there are also traces of saturation here and there... plus, i have a huge pop (probably a pressing defect) between the 1st and 2nd track (1st record, A side).

Gonna return it and ask for a new copy. We'll see if i have better luck this time.

 

Question: Since you haven't heard the 45rpm reissue, how can you know that it would sound "marginally" better?

 

I don't even find the original LP to be that much better than the original CD FWIW. I feel the same way about a lot of albums from the 80s also.

Maybe I'm wrong and the 45 is a huge revelation, but I somehow doubt it.

You wanna tell us about your experience with the 45 vs. the original LP?

 

My copy is fine though not dead quiet. I think these are Optimal pressings and frankly I have had a stack of bad copies pressed there in the last year or two. Sometimes replacements are as bad. Most variable plant out there - you can get a great pressing or a crackle and pop fest. Most often I find visible scratches towards centre of discs. Frankly any other plant is better these days.

 

The 45 rpm is quite an improvement on the original IMO though that itself sounds fine.

 

Often recordings from this era are digital mixdowns to stereo. So there is not a whole lot that can be done to improve things - especially when the original comes out well. The few times that they have taken it to a new level and improved the sound, it was a total remix like XTC "Oranges and Lemons" which was a treblely mess in it's original mix.

So I agree with you on this one and it's potential for improvement.

 

My copy sounds fantastic, Passion was the highlight of the Gabriel reissue campaign. I only kept this, Up and Us. The Quiex 200g are the ones to go for on the other titles though...

 

Peter Gabriel's "Passion" Reissued at 45rpm, Half-Speed Mastered

 

I had a few issues with the 45rpms... however, RealWorld were very easy to deal with and everything was sorted out without fuss.
And..... the pressings, to my my ears, sound wonderful!

 

I have both, the original pressing and the 45rpm reissue.

The new version does sound "fuller" (if there is such a thing), although there is quite a bit of hum between tracks. That until the 2nd disk where things start sounding really bad. Again, all due to a bad copy that I have.

PS. I was digging through my CD collection and found that I also have an SACD copy of that album. I guess I need to troll through eBay and see if I can buy a second-hand player.

 

I thought the first set of four Gabriel solo LPs put out at 45rpm by Real World were awful.

I just played the first side of the Passion 45rpm, having picked it up this week on Amazon for ~$30. I have a UK and a US set of this as well. The UK and US are very close, and very good. I don't have a Classic Records reissue. They have been the gold reference for me, though.

The 1st side of this 45 has MUCH greater depth, soundstage, and instrumental separation. It's quite a bit more than marginally better to the original vinyl in that regards. I'm going to have to listen to the rest of the album to get a better gauge of its tonality, an area where the 45s of I - IV really failed.

 

How did the other sides sound? Tonality?

 

Oh. Sorry. Very, very good.

This is definitely an improvement on originals. It's not perfect, but where it's really improved is that the music has even more room to breathe. There's space in the midrange.

I recommend this overall.