Janet Jackson Vinyl Reissues - July 2019

Finally! Janet's albums from Control to All for You are being reissued. I've been struggling for a while to find clean pressings of Rhythm Nation or any decent-c0ndition pressings of Velvet Rope that aren't $100+.

Control
Control: The Remixes
Rhythm Nation 1814
janet.
The Velvet Rope
All for You

You can find them for pre-order at your various usual stores:
Vinyl Records, SACDs, DVD Audio, Audiophile Equipment|Acoustic Sounds

Or PopMarket has a bundle for all of them (excluding the original LP of Control): Janet Jackson Janet Jackson Vinyl Bundle on PopMarket

That bundle works perfectly for me, since I have an original of Control that sounds great, but that's a lot of sides... is PopMarket still good about working with you to replace problematic discs? It's been years since I ordered from them...

Does anyone have the new issue of Control? How's it sound, and does the deadwax tells us anything?

 

The full, expanded track list for Control: The Remixes, collecting all the tracks for the variant international releases of the album:

Side A
1. Control – The Video Mix
2. When I Think of You – Dance Remix
3. The Pleasure Principle – Long Vocal Remix (The Shep Pettibone Mix)

Side B
1. What Have You Done For Me Lately – Extended Mix
2. Nasty – Cool Summer Mix Part 2
3. When I Think of You – Extra Beats

Side C
1. Control – Extended Version
2. Nasty – Extended Mix
3. Let’s Wait Awhile – Remix

Side D
1. Nasty – Cool Summer Mix Part 1
2. The Pleasure Principle – Dub Edit (The Shep Pettibone Mix)
3. Control – Acapella



Seems like a weird order—why is Cool Summer Mix Part 2 before Part 1 and two sides away?

Still, listening to this via streaming and they're surprisingly worthwhile. The Control - Video mix and Nasty - Cool Summer Mix Pts. 1 & 2 are great.

 

Bad news to report on the "Control" reissue.
The North American edition was pressed by the worst pressing plant in the world, Rainbo Records. It's a shame that UMe allowed such incompetent people to press this iconic LP. They must not rate Janet very highly these days. While it's not the noisiest pressing I've heard from Rainbo, it could be so much better.
It appears the European edition was pressed by GZ, so those probably sound a bit better. GZ isn't the greatest, but they are 1000000 times better than Rainbo.

I did a comparison with my Canadian original of "Control" and the original pressing blows this crummy reissue out of the water. The reissue sounds very tinny in comparison. The only initials I could determine from the deadwax of the reissue was "ISB". Not sure who they are, but they did a terrible job.

Sadly, this likely means all of the reissues will be done by Rainbo and will likely be shoddy as per their usual standard. I'm going to be cancelling all of my pre-orders, it's a shame because I got them for a great pre-order price, but Rainbo crap is absolutely worthless to me.

 

That explains their low suggested retail prices.

 

Yep, I knew it was too good to be true. I'd rather pay a few more dollars for a well-pressed LP. UMe is the absolute worst when it comes to vinyl.

 

...and storing master tapes, but that's another story...

 

And I just put it an order for the PopMarket bundle with the 15% off code they sent out this morning. Let's see how canceling with them goes now.

Maybe they thought that, since Control originals are still readily available, they didn't need to bother too much with this one, and the rest will be pressed somewhere better.

Otherwise, maybe someone like Vinyl Me, Please can get their hands on these for a decent reissue...

I guess if anyone decides to spring for the other LPs, let us know if they're also Rainbo...




While any Janet fans are here, how does the original EU vinyl release of Velvet Rope sound?

 

Anyone pick up any of these?

Any thoughts on the audio quality?

 

Well, looking at the pictures on discogs, it appears that "The Velvet Rope" was pressed at Precision Record Pressing instead of Rainbo. Now I regret cancelling my pre-order! LOL

 

I don't know that plant...

I also don't see that info for either of the listing for the repress, black or colored vinyl?

Janet Jackson - The Velvet Rope
Janet Jackson - The Velvet Rope

Nor do I see any runout/pressing info yet for any of the other reissues...

 

In the second link (black vinyl), I can see the runouts in the last picture. It matches those from Precision (Theirs are always like this: 10-#####/B0030250-01). They are a Canadian pressing plant, partially owned by GZ. The records are plated at GZ and then pressed at Precision, and they do very nice pressings (better than GZ, IME).

 

First reviews for "The Velvet Rope" on discogs indicate that it's a good pressing. I have a copy coming tomorrow from Amazon so I'll report back when I've listened to it!

 

I can definitely vouch for "The Velvet Rope" reissue. Got my copy today. It was indeed pressed by Precision and it sounds really good! I cranked it up and enjoyed every moment. Hopefully "Control" was just a one off, and the other reissues will be pressed nicely and sound as good as this one!

 

I was debating grabbing The Velvet Rope at some point when it comes down in price but even the black vinyl seems to be instantly sold out at most retailers in the UK. Surely they can't have barely pressed any?

 

Did anyone get a copy of the "janet" repress? Curious who pressed that one.

Hoping to get both janet and Velvet Rope.

 

Picked up Velvet Rope, JANET, and All for You locally

Velvet Rope and All For One have stickers that say Made In Canada is that bad?!

 

The Janet and Velvet Rope pressings sound better than my original European ones. Those always sounded like they were cut from CD sources to my ears. I need to live with Rhythm Nation some more. Its not bad but not great either. They get more breathing room here certainly but something just feels off to me. I'll be curious to see if any other forum member has both versions and can give their thoughts.

 

I also picked up the new CD edition of CONTROL the REMIXES

I expected the Dynamic Range on the new disc to have #'s 4-7 at the highest...

Control - 9
When I Think of You - 9
Pleasure Principal - 9
What Have You Done for Me Lately - 10
Nasty - 8
When I Think of You - 11
Control - 10
Nasty - 10
Let's Wait Awhile - 8
Nasty - 10
Pleasure Principal - 9
Control - 13


Sadly I can't do dynamic range with LPs only have the program on my computer for CDs

 

Really impressed with THE VELVET ROPE so far.

I really didn't expect it to sound this good. Really curious about the dynamic range.

 

Interesting... I picked up the Euro janet. issue since prices have been dropping on it, and it sounds fine, but as you said, it certainly doesn’t have the notable improvement that, say, the Control lp has over digital versions I’ve heard.

Velvet Rope prices have been holding steady, though, which may be a blessing in disguise?

The only copy of Rhythm I had was too noisy to bother with, so I returned it, and from what I’ve heard they had to compress and truncate so much to get it on the original single LP at all, I can’t imagine this wouldn’t be an improvement by default, if only for having more breathing room and the full tracks.

I’ve got Rhythm and Velvet coming to me this week. I may eventually pick up the janet. reissue just to compare.

 

Just picked up Rhythm Nation. It's the full, unedited album spread over 2 LPs. I believe it's pressed by Precision in Canada. Don't know who mastered it, the liner notes credit the original, Brian Gardner at Bernie Grundman. It's a nice quiet pressing, nicely centered. It's not flat by any stretch, but it's packaged in a gatefold and I've not seen an unwarped record come out of a gatefold cover since I started buying in the early 70s (some are close to flat, but not completely flat). Anyway, it plays just fine and more importantly, it sounds great. At least in my opinion. And it's crankable.

Hard to believe it's 30 years old. The video for "Miss You Much" inspired me to grow out my hair so I could have a ponytail just like Terry Bixler (of the chair dance fame). 30 years later, I'm buying this album on LP and I have a 'tail again. What goes around...

If you like this album and you like vinyl, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

I have a US original of Rhythm Nation and just got the silver colored reissue, will give it a good listen this week and post my impressions. I haven't listened yet but so far I'm a bit disappointed with the packaging and pressing quality -- for $30 the sleeve is a bit flimsy, and the records come in cheapo paper sleeves.

I also got in Velvet Rope (red vinyl), sound quality is really impressive - clear, smooth, and no surface noise. Bass feels just right. Also really like the printed inner sleeves.

 

Oooh boy. Velvet Rope sounds fantastic. Happily and heartily recommended if you've been hunting this one. My copy's pressed perfectly, and it has all the expanded soundstage, bass depth, and delicate layering I was hoping for.

Looks like it was cut by Kevin Bartley at Capitol, according to the initials in the deadwax and a little searching around the forums. That's a new name to me, but he did good here.

And for those that care, VR comes in laminated inner sleeves.



Rhythm is up next, but I may not get to it today.

 

It's also got KB in the deadwax, like Velvet Rope, so presumably Kevin Bartley.