OK. They're all up on Amazon now. Captain Fantastic ordered. One of my Holy Grails in a quiet vinyl version. Hopefully.
Whoooooo hoooooo me too!! Thanks!! I managed to get mine over two years ago from a chap who was some music marketing guy for a radio company. He had kept this and Honky Chateau in pristine condition. One of the few that I will keep as a double. This is great!
Robert Ludwig did the remastering - not the cutting. From the original master tapes. This was mentioned in one of the promo pieces when the box set was announced (I believe on EJ.com).
Thanks for the update. It's great that RL dis the remastering. Wonder if these are digital and who cut them?
I found this online about the box set: "The albums were remastered from the original tapes by legendary engineer Bob Ludwig, and the vinyl cut at the renowned Abbey Road Studios in London." Does not answer the question of analog vs. digital, or exactly who cut them, or where they are pressed, but the cutting at Abbey Road is a good sign. http://www.eltonjohn.com/burberry-releases-limited-edition-box-set-of-elton-vinyls/
I suspect these have been much better handled than the dreaded 40th anniversary Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. God I was upset at that one. If they do these (regardless off of the tape or from a file replica) like the Gabriel, Floyd and Rush reissues we will be fine. At least Bob Ludwig did the remastering which is the secret ingredient to these reissues.
But IIRC Ludwig did the 40th anniversary GYBR. I suspect these will sound similar to that vinyl release. As for their being cut at Abbey Road, that's fine but it doesn't guarantee an AAA release (I'm of the opinion that it's at least 99.999% the mastering that defines how it will sound and not the all-analog thing, which is mostly of expectation bias). For these to have been AAA releases, Ludwig would have to have hopped on a plane and gone to Abbey Road and sat there doing his mastering moves while someone assisted him in the cutting. It's possible for him to do his mastering to analog tape and send it over, but otherwise, it'd be digital to analog.
See?? I had no idea he was involved with GYBR 40th. I learn something new everyday. Ok...scrap these....originals all the way....LOL I can't put my finger on why I didn't like it...I just chalked it up to a bad remaster.....plus the vinyl quality was something to be desired. Having said that when I compared it to Speakers Corner it was night and day. Although I would be curious as to hear what an MFSL copy sounds like but sooner or later I have to settle in with one copy. Why can't they just get it right once and be done with it??
I didn't care for that 40th anniversary GYBR at all. It had a ton of compression on it with a big smiley face EQ....sounded terrible IMO. Absolutely crushed by any old analogue version. Now that I know these are done by the same team I cancelled my ore-orders with Bull Moose.
Bernie Grundman cut 17/11/70 - I haven't looked at the dead wax of the other 5 albums. They all sound amazing (SFTWC was the only one I wasn't super thrilled with - not awful, but felt 'noisy' at times).
I'm willing to bet that Bernie Grundman did not cut that record. He doesn't work for Abbey Road. The BG at the beginning of the dead wax is Abbey Road's matrix code style. Your previous post listed the deadwax info for 11-17-70. That is merely Abbey Road's style. I have many other discs cut at Abbey Road. They are not cut by Bernie Grundman, even with a BG in at the beginning of the matrix number. A sure sign of his cuts... He makes he twos look like upside down backwards fives. Also.. the BG is written completely separately at the end of the matrix number with a great deal of space between it and the number. It is never at the very beginning.
In this case, BG would be the prefix for pressed at Optimal Media for vinyl in 2016. (B) = Vinyl (G) = 2016 The funny looking "OΛ AΛ" is actually the way they write the number 1. so it's really BG 42048-01 A1
I bet they sound incredible but as per the comments I suspect this is not a Grundman cut and BG just happens to part of the cat# series. Have you compared any of them to originals?? Curious at your findings.
I believe it's more likely the matrix code for Optimal Media, who pressed them. Optimal Media GmbH Matrix scheme: XY#####-ZZ (Single letter format identifier, followed by single character year identifier, followed by a 5 digit numeral code, followed by an appended two digit disc numbering). X is the format identifier: "A" = CDs "B" = Vinyl records "D" = DVDs "E" = Blu-ray Discs Y is the manufacturing year identifier, since 2010 a single letter (A to Z): (before 2010 see Optimal Media Production listings) A = 2010 B = 2011 C = 2012 D = 2013 E = 2014 F = 2015 G = 2016 H = 2017
That was an utter waste of ££ which I no longer listen to. Not sure what they did to it, but it sucked the life out of it. Obviously I'll be rubbing my chin in serious contemplation at buying these. Well, SFTWC at very least.
So we're finally getting some vinyl releases from Elton. Now if we could just get them to release those surround mixes for Don't Shoot Me, Caribou, Rock of the Westies and Blue Moves! I just sent an e-mail to [email protected] to remind them the mixes are done already and just sitting in the "can" so all they'd need to do is release them then rake in the cash for all concerned! If they don't want to release SACDs, it should be easy enough for them to at least offer hi-res downloads on HDTracks, and other vendors. I also put a plug in for additional vinyl titles over and above the handful announced for April.
I didn't bother with the vinyl for the 40th since I already have an original DJM red vinyl pressing that sounds very nice. I did eventually add the Pure Audio Blu-Ray version to a Christmas list and received it as a gift. I did see some folks around here saying they liked the 40th vinyl release.
Yes.. my mistake.. Optimal's pressing code, not Abbey Road's.. I believe some of my other discs are BC or BD, etc..
Yeah.. I figured out that triangle thing as a one a little while back. I have a disc pressed at Optimal and cut by Abbey Road. It has a more clear number 1 and I just surmised that it would be 01-a1 or b1 or something on the other discs that look like a triangle.
