Jimi Hendrix's 'The Cry of Love' and 'Rainbow Bridge' Treated to Reissues (pt2)

This thread's been quiet for a while but I've recently been adding on to my Hendrix vinyl collection (added this week the EH analog editions of the US stereo Are You Experienced? and the stereo Axis) and want to get thoughts on the following (note, I did read through quite a bit of the thread history but it's really a lot to get through, so apologies if something along these lines was already discussed)...

If you were going to add (from the most recent vinyl reissues) either only First Rays... or BOTH Rainbow Bridge and Cry of Love, which would be the most recommended in terms of sound quality?

I do have a Cry of Love Reprise which I believe is from around 79 (perhaps this one Jimi Hendrix - The Cry Of Love ) so I would be doubling up on this one, something I generally try to avoid, but I am extremely fond of CoL so I'm ok with that if the new issue is generally highly regarded. Note, I also have the reissues of Electric Ladyland and both the Axis stereo & mono editions, as well as probably late 70s pressings of both of these albums, so clearly I'm willing to violate my duplication principle, but, let's say I am opposed to getting all three albums from the question posed above.

 

All three are good,but the latest COL is really,really good IMO. I sold my original COL without hesitation when I purchased the latest version.

 

I sat once again with these pressings, well two of them at least!

The difference between the RL cut and the BG cut is greater than I first thought / commented on.

I found the RL cut a more appealing listen over the full album, that's not being critical of the Grundman cut which is excellent. I'd recommend both [a clean playable RL is not overly expensive] as it covers all bases.

I'm still convinced that the more recent release has been in the digital domain at some point, probably even more convinced now than ever.
Anyone else sat with both of these and made a real assessment?

 

So did I.

Without anything more than an occasional guess the Col and RB sound like they have a touch of hi-res in them. (and if I'm wrong I don't care cos it sounds good). I'm finding this on more newly pressed vinyl . In this case it is used well.
Other cases I can hear an extended top and bottom end, altho the bottom is less defined, and an overall 'smoothness'. That's fine but when compared to a good older version it also sounds less 'immediate' on vocals or 'attack' on lead guitar for example, less 'alive'.

I was making this comment on a release on an Aussie forum and it was confirmed by someone who had known digital vinyl releases that I had never even heard of who said he agreed. (for what it's worth).

 

I have an original press and the recent BG release. Both sound great. The original is a bit more compressed, while the BG is more dynamic. Both titles are verified AAA.

 

I thought the RL sounded better than the reissue.

 

Not so.
Who verified that the BG cut is AAA?
Apologies to tbize who are tired of this debate.

 

Personally so do I, though its all subjective as to preference which is why I think both are worth owning. That and the fact both bring a little difference to the listening experience.

 

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on First Rays and RB since I don't have either, the local shop hand some new numbered copies, low 200s for RB and forgot on the FR. CoL I want to give my old pressing a listen again to see what condition it is in, it's been a while since I've broken it out.

Sorry, the abbreviations kill me some times, does the RL refer to Robert Ludwig? And to which album are we referring?

Thanks for feedback, but sorry, not sure exactly which are album are we referring to: CoL, RB or First Rays.

 

Yes, Roberts mastered cry of love.

 

The US versions of COL and RB, right? I find the original European issues of both titles fine too, but maybe that's just me.

 

The reissue sounds fine, but it has been the RL I've pulled out whenever I want to hear it, so I guess that says something about which one I enjoy more in the long term.

BTW I found one of your issues of Jimi Press a few weeks ago, with a thanks for looking into the Classic Records Singles Collection you had a question on

 

CoL.
I have sat with the RL, BG and a number of European pressings. In this instance I found / heard a noticeable difference ( for the better) with the RL against the European pressings. That is the reason I only pulled the RL and BG pressings for the last listening session.

 

There was a used German Reprise of Rainbow Bridge for $12 (US) at the shop when I was there earlier, I still opted to go for the new US reissue though. They also had a Columbia 6-eye of Kind of Blue for only $40 but listening to it was like taking a ride in the Rice Cripies mobile (even after I ran it through the Klaudio ultrasonic cleaner, which has done magic on every record I've ever put in it, at the HiFi shop next door) so I passed on that too.

 

Cool. I enjoy this one (no gatefold though)
Jimi Hendrix - The Cry Of Love

 

This is absolutely my last post to you on this subject. Michael Fremer wrote to me personally and verified that this title is indeed AAA. Fremer is in the know on this one, after all he has a personal relationship with BG.

Now, who do I believe, Michael Fremer or an anonymous person on the internet?

 

Your last post? That's cool with me! At least we wont be cluttering up the thread with this worthless debate.
Firstly, between the two of us, I'm not the anonymous one, you understand that Tullman?

Nice of Michael to take time out to drop you a line. Great that he is a friend of BG too. Those points change nothing and certainly are far from verification of any sort.

BG mastered this from tape but we know this for a fact already, that does not make for an AAA product!
MF reviewed this but if I recall never put the review in his ALL ANALOGUE section of reviews, why is that?

But i'll go with my own findings and continue to say this is unlikely to be an all analogue issue. Given the EK procedure, that lack of statement and that if you take the time and listen closely to both this BG cut and an RL cut [which is obviously AAA] you may well [depending on playback set up] hear what is also present in other analogue recordings that have a digital footprint of some sort EVEN WHEN MASTERED FROM TAPE!
Verification? That'll have to be a clear and unambiguous statement from Experience Hendrix which I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for. You know that saying, CAN OF WORMS ..................

Me? I'll continue to question the credentials of these releases while we have little more than soundbite comments on shrink wrap stickers that are utterly meaningless to the purchaser. That is not me saying that there is any fault with the release itself.

 

Which Jimpress? I did a review of the CR VOL2 initially on release and had to return to the topic in the following JP issue and also at a later date. So you may be reading just part of the topic.

In essence, there are a good number of the numbered coloured box sets that have a mispress amongst them. This was corrected before the end of the run.

 

Then ................................

Ha ha. Is this your way of verification?

 

Issue 96 Autumn 2011, "Here's a little more mispress madness" on page 4.

 

I decided to go back out and pick up the CoL reissue and just gave it a little AB comparison with my earlier pressing from '79. At this point, I didn't find that I had a clear preference for one over the other.

Generally, on most tracks I felt like I could maybe hear the individual instruments more clearly and with maybe slightly more detail on the BG. For example, on Ezy Rider I don't recall ever really noticing this before, but when listening to the BG, I immediately picked up on either a wah or auto-wahed bass panned hard in the right channel and its texture was a lot more evident. Once I noticed, it was obvious on the earlier pressing too, but the wah texture was less prominent. On Freedom, on the BG, as a whole I felt like I could hear more separation between the instruments and could pick out each one better. On Drifting, I had a hard time picking out any obvious difference between the two. Night Bird Flying and My Friend I only gave a brief listen to the start of each and was ready to call it quits.

Of course, I was only playing a section of each track, stopping the table, swapping the record, and starting the same section, so it is a little harder to pick out the differences with so much time going on between each that your ear has kinda reset itself by the time the swap is made...

 

JP 83 and 85 have the review / updates of the Classic Box set vol 2.
The JP issue 96 also has the mispress detail of the white vinyl 45 that came with some [all?] of the Classic Woodstock box sets.

 

Picked up both of these LP reissues and all I can say is there is a HUGE difference between Rainbow Bridge and The Cry Of Love.

Rainbow Bridge is the better sounding record by far. I don’t hear much in this version of The Cry Of Love that makes me want to hear it again. Just sounds kind of thin and empty compared to Rainbow Bridge.

I was quite surprised actually. Going by some of the comments here, I thought that The Cry Of Love would sound fantastic. I’m disappointed enough that I’m wondering if I have a defective copy.

Rainbow Bridge is a home run, though.

 

Oops. I just sold my RL (not NM) thinking nothing could be better than the new BG (albeit I have opted for the EU, with the questionable 'BG')...