Dylan- Blood on the Tracks - "Test Pressing" version - RSD 2019*

For me comparing the basement tapes to BOTT is like comparing apples to oranges. I love both though .

 

I was in no way comparing BOTT and the Basement Tapes. I merely noted that the truly exciting RSD release of the original Basement Tapes received relatively little attention.

 

And it should have received less attention. I simply noted.

 

Ohhhh, ok. It was early and I wasn't properly caffeinated. Good point!

 

Just a reminder that nonfill was only one of the potential issues. My first lp was almost comically off-center, as posted previously...
Dylan- Blood on the Tracks - "Test Pressing" version - RSD 2019*

 

I got 2 replacement copies from an outfit in Michigan.
I still have the name on the box they came in sitting around somewhere in this mass I have accumulated....lol
Will have to dig it out for all you replacement seekers!!

 

Is non-fill the same thing as the "string of pearls" phenomenon that produces those sccccraaatch pops?

 

Yeah my copy is a filthy little turd I bought sealed on Ebay. And I do mean filthy. When I opened it up and cleaned it there was tons of dirt/dust on it and full of all sorts of ticks and pops.

 

"Noiseland" Industries. That made me snicker. What an apropos name.

 

Yes.

 

The "string of pearls" is called "stitching", but that is indeed the common issue with the BOTT TP. Causes a ripping sound that I personally find very jarring.

Non-fill is usually a speckly patch that covers an area of the disc surface, usually near the start or end of the side. Usually causes many light ticks over the affected area.

Different causes, different signatures, but both unwelcome.

FTR, my replacement from Noiseland was excellent, and I'm very thankful to have a good copy of this, as I really like the New York tracks at their proper speed, and the alternates are great. I really hope they either repress this or put it out in digital form, so everyone can enjoy it.

 

And it’s Minnesota, not Michigan.

 

Thanks for the explanation. I've heard non-fill on Marvin Gaye's first album reissue but I won't complain because it's at the end of one side and that tick only last for a five or six revolutions. (I can't afford an original pressing of that album and even if I did Motown/Tamla had its own issues.) I also heard non-fill on my Stooges first album John Cale mix from Vinyl Me Please (I normally love this label so much!). I don't like non-fill but it's not as bad as the string of pearls in my opinion. The former is irritating; the latter devastating.

 

Hi NewWarden, it is Take 1 in both cases (thus a different version of "Quinn The Eskimo" than the one on BIOGRAPH). Many greetings Dirk

 

Are you saying that the 1968 demo LP was a fold-down, or just that fold-downs from the CD box sound close enough? For me, the Basement Tape LP being a vintage 1968 artifact is part of what makes it important; saying it's "essentially" buried in the CDs is kinda like saying that the NYT BOTT is "essentially" in the More Blood box (except for a couple of renegade organ overdubs, of course). I still say both "test pressing" LPs are significant enough to warrant inclusion in their respective boxes as bonus CDs; if Bob Inc. is going to make me do the work, I'd rather do a good needledrop of the mono Basement Tape LP and "master" it to match the box's CDs (which I did). I'd have done the same with the BOTT test pressing, but like many others, my copy was riddled with non-fill (and I missed the deadline for exchange). Oh well, life goes on...

 

How many listen to this test pressing RSD release more than More Blood, More Tracks?

 

Me.

 

Me.

 

Hahaha! Oh to have had a crystal ball nack then, eh?

 

The RSD version is my favourite by far.

 

I listen to the test pressing way more than More Blood, More Tracks

 

Me as well. But I do/did jump around on the box set to listen to certain takes.

 

Me too. There's something magical about how the tracks sound on the test pressing. Something Phil Ramone did I guess, but it's great to have both.