Black Sabbath 180 gram lps

I saw some Black Sabbath albums on ebay last night that were pressed on 180gram vinyl. I was wondering if anyone here has heard them and what their thoughts were.

 

Rhino's CD remasters are the best pressings!!!

 

These are the Castle/Sanctuary vinyl pressings? They're probably made from the same source as their CDs, which is to say, wait for the inevitable Rhino LPs to come out.

 

The original Green WB US pressings are very impressive considering they're most likely from tape copies...

 

Have you compared them to the Earmark pressings on vinyl? I got Paranoid for Christmas and it sounds pretty good.

 

I just finally scored a mint green label WB debut, and it *is* pretty darn impressive.. I do miss Evil Woman though!

 

If these are the Earmarks,then they are great and are supposedly from the original master tapes!!The Castle /Santuary LPS SUCK!!!!!They have that darker British mastering style with a few unwanted bonuses.The Black Sabbath album sounded like it was mastered from an out of phase CD COPY!!!Ask the seller what these are.....GOOD LUCK.

 

Re: Re: Black Sabbath 180 gram lps

I have quite a few of the Black Sabbath Earmark vinyl - and to me they sound very very good.

(Even so I am still planning on getting the Black Sabbath CD box set that is due out in a few months from Rhino).

 

These were the pressings from earmark that I was looking at.
I think I'll bite on Black Sabbath and Master of Reality.

 

Don't have an Earmark LP to compare, but I've heard good things about them. Definitely the way to go if you don't want to spend the money on a mint Vertigo pressing of their first 3.

Not to steer the thread totally off-topic, but does anyone here have any Black Sabbath Vertigo CD's of the first 6 albums? There are catalog numbers listed online for these CDs, as well as in a CD compilation I have called "Blackest Sabbath", which is also on Vertigo.

I have "Heaven and Hell", "Born Again", and "Seventh Star" on W. German Vertigo "Swirl" CDs. Also, I have "Technical Ecstasy" and "Never Say Die" Vertigo CDs shipping to me as I type. The sound quality on these CDs is great... "Heaven and Hell" sounds better than the Warners CD, and without the aggressive EQ of the new '98 Castle remasters. I expect the same for TE and NSD once I get them. Too bad I never really listen to post-Dio Sabbath albums. I'd give an arm and a leg for a copy of their first or Paranoid on a Vertigo CD, assuming they do exist. Anyone have any info on these?

 

I found some Near Mint copies of the first 4 on Vertigo with the swirl label. If that's the way to go, I'll place a bid and try my luck and see what happens.

 

I think I read somewhere that no Vertigo CD exists for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, but they do for all the others...? I'm at work, so I can't give you the URL, but it's the "Sleeping Village - Remaster Of Reality - Hole In The Sound" site that I recall has info on that.

 

Thanks Michael, I've already been to the Sleeping Village site.

It *does* say that, and the reason it gave, from what I can recall, is that they signed an exclusive deal with Warners at the time, and Vertigo didn't own the rights to that album. The thing is, if Vertigo didn't own the rights in Europe/rest-of-the-world, than *who* did at that time? I think the first pressings of SBS were on WWA, but I could be wrong. I know Sabotage and after (until Eternal Idol) were on Vertigo in Europe. Also, some were on NEMS in parts of the world.

Man, after Vol. 4, Sabbath's labels get quite confusing. I'm sure it's in no small part due to their corrupt management, and the fact that Sabbath were zonked out on drugs at that point in time...

 

Well, as I understand it, the reason why Vertigo no longer has any Sabbath, and the reason why Castle/Sanctuary now does, is that the management company for Sabbath retained the rights to the masters for the UK and Europe (Patrick Meehan's company, IIRC). This is also why you can get the first six Sabbath albums in very poor quality semi-bootlegs for five bucks in any Sam Goody - Meehan's still ostensibly is a rightsholder. I'm sure Sharon Osbourne is busy suing his pants off, though, so perhaps we'll get some closure in the matter.

I have a NM copy of NSD on Vertigo vinyl that I haven't played yet. Is it any good?

 

Thanks for the info. How did Castle gain the rights to Sabbath's catalog? I know Sabbath ditched their management after Sabotage, so I wonder why they own post-Sabotage stuff. Or am I misunderstanding something. Man, I just want some audiophile Sabbath CDs (or SACDs) . The quest continues...

Couldn't say, do you have a copy of the Warners to compare?

 

Here is a good Sabbath discography (vinyl only) that may serve as reference as to which label did the first pressings for which album.

 

Well, if you look carefully at the Essential! CDs, albums 1-6 have "Castle Copyrights Ltd." as the (P) (Publishers), whereas later albums have "Gimcastle Ltd." My theory (though I have no confirmation of this) is that for TE onwards, they licensed from Tony Iommi (or the new management company). As to why Castle is in on this at all, your guess is as good as mine.