They have a big display of these in my local HMV. I can't help but think it's a bit dishonest. I do not buy them. If I want a Blue Note album I'll get a proper reissue. I consider spending money of labels like this as just a waste. I might as well buy an old CD for £1 if I want the music.
I've listened to Miles Davis' Seven Steps to Heaven Dolchess pressing versus the Analogue Productions before. The Dolchess sounds very anemic and flat sounding, very likely taken from a bog standard CD, while the Analogue Productions is actually superior sounding.
Bootlegs. Legal in the EU at the moment but still bootlegs. I have a few (didn`t realise they were boots at the time). Cut/Press is fine on the examples I have (all John Coltrane). However, sourced from CD`s most likely, so no point buying any of them.
You could buy Little Girl Blue from Analogue Productions. The price tag will be higher but you will be buying a legitimate, authorized reissue and one that is cut in all analog.
Yeah same, I've got a few, the last I picked up was 'Take 5' Dave Brubeck, the picture disc. Sounded great for a picture disc. Sure is no audiophile disc, but I get that it's a grey label, but I loved the look of it all. Surprised it sounded half decent too. Take it all with a grain of salt.
I didn’t know that DOL was a Russian label. I know that Lilith is. I avoid all those s**t labels like the plague. Stores in my area stock titles from these labels. It’s sad to see. They must be making money on them. Basically, it’s duping an unsuspecting buyer
I've had a couple very unsatisfactory ones. I did keep In the wee small Hours on mint green vinyl. I know this sounds funny but I'm most put off by the ugly generic labels. Very unappealing.
Some stores stock them knowing full well what they are selling. Other stores place an order from a one stop distro using a spreadsheet catalog (sometimes where the label isn't even listed clearly) and stock them without knowing what they are. It happened to someone I know. Even some of the online distro catalogs will simply list a product as "import" without further info, so watch out doing special orders from your local record shop. Some of these DOLs et. al were even on display at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame store when I visited not too long ago. Like I said these labels have weaseled their way into legit distribution systems here in the U.S. Forced Exposure, for one, carries a lot of these types of pressings (they also have legit stuff).
Doesn't sound funny to me. If the labels weren't meant to be a part of the overall aesthetic, they'd all be identically boring with plain-type song titles and such.
I am aware of that but I wanted the green vinyl. I fully support buying the AP version for sound quality and legitimacy, I personally have orig mono and stereo pressings and the legit cd, I'm covered on this title at this point
The only positive thing about these records is they sometimes have decently quiet pressings, but who really cares when the mastering is so poor, the artwork is bad, and there are significant ethical concerns? I know some people label these types of critiques as elitist, but I don't think it's elitist to resist a cynical, lazy cash grab that only profits a few shady labels. The other thing that kills me about DOL and Waxtime is that most of their releases are painfully common on cheap CDs and vinyl reissues, so you can't even argue the rarity factor adds any value like with Scorpio or Plain / 4MWB.
Utterly pointless. Let's not kid ourselves that these labels are actually taking the time to rip CDs. I wouldn't be surprised if they were using MP3 as a source!
I’ll just echo the preceding sentiments in this thread and say that I really can’t fathom why anyone, providing that they understand what grey market reissues are, would buy these. If you can’t find superior versions on vinyl, then just get the CDs which these awful bootlegs are ripped from! At least that way you’ll be one generation closer to the original tapes, and the artwork won’t have been scanned from who knows where! Even if you can’t bear the thought of buying a CD or an MP3, and must own everything on vinyl without exception, then consider that: A. There’s absolutely no guarantee as far as quality control is concerned, which could result in terrible pressings regardless of the source, as previous posters have confirmed. And B. No royalties are paid to either the artist’s estate or the record company which holds the original master tapes. Consequently, official, high-quality reissues are discouraged, and garbage labels like DOL and others are encouraged to continue churning out records. Like what you will, but everyone loses when you buy these grey market releases. You end up with an inferior product, those who deserve your money don’t see any of it, and similar wretched reissues flood the market for the concerned consumer to have to try and avoid.
In a couple of my local stores, the Jazz sections are comprised of nothing but DOL and other grey market reissues. If you’re just getting into collecting records and have no knowledge of this sort of thing, then you could easily end up buying countless glorified bootlegs because you trust that your store wouldn’t sell you an inferior product. It’s completely unfair.
It's not just brick and mortar stores (see Amazon and people ordering the cheapest copy with 2 day shipping), though I wish some stores would do a bit more research before stocking this stuff. Again, they may or may not know what they are selling depending on the shop. It's similar to Scorpio reissues filling up the bins, though they don't fill up the bins like they did a few years ago. Although many of the Scorpio reissues were legitimately licensed, the quality was often poor but they were cheap. Stores knew that cheap reissues sold well so they stocked up on those for awhile to fill the bins. Some stores might be doing the same thing with these DOL boots/counterfeits.
The logical solution to this is for the major labels to reissue deep catalog titles at low prices. They're too greedy and stupid to do so, so these labels are gladly meeting the demand. A few years ago I was on the hunt for a decent copy of Jimmy Giuffre's "Free Fall". The CD reissue was long out of print and no legal download was available at the time either. I saw the Wax Time reissue (probably cut from the European CD) at Half Price Books for $12. All I can say is I wish Sundazed and Rhino did this level of quality.
Looks like a legit CD was pressed at least 3 times and copies are available on the secondhand market for less than $10. Qobuz's store has a legit FLAC download for $13, might even be cheaper elsewhere.