Johnny Thunders - "L.A.M.F." remaster - Nov 2017 + "So Alone" reissue

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Purple Jim, Nov 14, 2017.

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  1. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Yes you are most likely right. Those same April 1991 recordings have been released in several configurations.
     
  2. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    There's two excellent JT shows from Max's summer '80 with Peter as a guest, one is on a boot called Sticks and Stones. There's also an audience recording with JT and The Only Ones minus John Perry (aka The Living Dead) from Speakeasy in London, February 1978 which had a semi-official release a while back.

    I think these are essential for any JT fan:

    Live At Max's Kansas City (Heartbreakers)
    DTK Live at The Speakeasy (Heartbreakers)
    Hurt Me (acoustic studio album)
    Que Sera (1985 studio album)
    Copy Cats (1988 duet album with Patti Palladin)
     
  3. art

    art Senior Member

    Location:
    520
    Sounds better than the cd. Still too bright.
     
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  4. Micke Lindahl

    Micke Lindahl Forum Resident

    And so did Willy DeVille. Can be found on this tribute album that's quite nice.

    Various - A Tribute To Johnny Thunders: I Only Wrote This Song For You
     
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  5. rnranimal

    rnranimal Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    That's a shame. The brightness was the only thing I didn't care for much with the CD. I'll give a good listen to the HDtracks samples at some point.
     
  6. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Yep I had this LP back in the day and it sounded great to me, I never understood why there was this legend associated with it. It sounded better than the amateurish output of 90% of the DIY releases of the time, in fact. The rave up in “Pirate Love”, how could it ever be improved??
     
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  7. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I am dumbfounded too. Now I really want to hear one of the muddy ones!
     
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  8. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Perhaps. He also produced Motorhead’s debut in the same period and that sounds muddy, especially the title track, subjected to a marathon, amphetamine-fueled all-night remixing, with lackluster results (thank goodness they hooked up with Jimmy Miller later whose own vice of choice didn’t lead to compulsive “perfectionism”)
     
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  9. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    You know what - it was a long time ago, the LP got pinched in 1989, and I can’t honestly swear, now I’m looking at Discogs, it wasn’t the 1984 remix - I do vaguely recall the back of the sleeve being pink. So better discount my unreliable opinion on this serious matter!
     
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  10. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
    I loved the album at the time. I do remember thinking that it sounded a little "thick" but I don't remember the legend of a botched mix coming into play until many years later.

    The back sleeve was b+w with credits and rap sheet fingerprints, just L.A.M.F.on top. I still have my original Track copy.
    [​IMG]
    This image from Discogs may be a later pressing. Under the TRACK logo, my copy reads:

    Record manufactured and distributed in England by
    Polydor Limited, 17-19 Stratford Place, London, WIN OBL

    Printed and made in England by MacNeil Press, Ltd.


    I know that I bought it at Bleecker Bob's the minute it hit the shop.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2017
  11. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
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  12. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Bretagne
    I went back to my definitive L.A.M.F., made up of simply the versions I preferred at the time. I'd forgotten that I had been so thorough in my comparisons (what was I on?) and it went like this:

    [​IMG]

    I'll be interested to hear the new remastered version (hopefully on CD one day) to see if it slays my version.
     
  13. Chris Bernhardt

    Chris Bernhardt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago IL
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  14. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I usually avoid tribute albums, but that one is a keeper all round; really a must-have.
     
  15. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    A kind poster provided me with mp3s of a muddy LAMF pressing. Quite a difference to my own UK Porky pressing, which is much clearer.
    So apparently some pressings/copies had the problem, and some did not.
     
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  16. Scopitone

    Scopitone Caught the last train for the coast

    Location:
    Denver, CO
  17. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer

    Location:
    Brazil
    Great album overall
     
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  18. pig bodine

    pig bodine God’s Consolation Prize

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY USA
    This album needs a remix / remaster less than any album I know. Can you imagine it without the scuzz, sounding like The Nightfly? It would be ridiculous.
     
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  19. Fat Bob

    Fat Bob Forum Resident

    The original A2/B2 Porky sounded very muddy back in the day on my cheap and nasty 1970s stereo. Almost like the band were playing in the next room. I just played Born to Lose on my current system and much of the mud is gone. In fact the hi-hat and cymbals are very forward in the mix. Maybe the reputation for 'muddiness' comes from the guitar sound which, to my ears, appears to have had the treble rolled a long way back.

    I also played Born to Lose on the original Track 12"single, a 1990s Jungle clear vinyl 77 mixes reissue and the LAMF Revisited vinyl. The 12" won hands down, but the Porky was a clear second.

    If anyone's looking to buy a copy of this album I would advise that they get the 77 mixes CD. It's readily available and inexpensive. It's not a great recording, and it's unlikely to sound much better (although I'd love to be proven wrong some day).
     
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  20. mooseman

    mooseman Forum Resident

    I went to Max's a number of times..59 year old. I saw Sid Vicious there with his girl friend dancing on the side of the stage. The musicians were Mick Jones from the Clash and some other guys from the local NYC area. Max's was great, I liked it better then CBGB's. I miss the old NYC.
     
  21. funknik

    funknik He who feels it.

    Location:
    Gorham, ME, USA
    My copy is an A2/B2 as well, but second press. According to Discogs, Porky cut the first lacquer at The Master Room and it was pressed at phonodisc. My second press has a ‘JA’ signature and was both pressed AND cut at Phonodisc by Jack Adams. My copy appears to have less deadwax on Side 1 than a Porky copy I saw on YouTube, FWIW.

    I hear what you’re saying about the hi-hat - very up front, but the guitars are rolled back hard - as you mentioned. It DOES sound muddy at lower volumes, but when you crank this to the level that Thunders demands to be played at, it sounds pretty good - not for analytical listening.
     
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  22. rnranimal

    rnranimal Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    I just noticed in the 4CD box booklet, they say to go to their soundcloud to hear the before and after of the restoration. They used one of the muddy copies and really jacked up the treble. Shame they didn't use one of the better sounding UK Tracks or the Italian LP. This muddy is simply not the best source. It mentions in the book that they considered using the cassette but found that the LP sounded better. I find that hard to believe given the sound of the "before" LP clip.

    Just scroll down a little to find them: Jungle Records
     
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  23. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Picture Disc

    Location:
    England
    The 2017 CD is mega loud! But weirdly a bit smooth too, like I always enjoyed the weird vocal sound on Pirate Love.. it sounds “fixed”. I guess I just heard too much of the old LP and cassette over the years :)
     
  24. rnranimal

    rnranimal Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    Someone sent me the 44/24 files to compare with the '94 CD. It's louder than the '94 but not by a whole lot. The weird thing was that about half the songs have a rolloff starting at around 12khz and rolls down to nothing. I could even see black in the spectral at the higher frequencies. The '94/2CD/4CD (all the same) do not have this rolloff. It's a very weird EQ move and it's even more weird that it's only on some of the tracks. I asked the person if these were definitely the files as obtained from HDtracks and they said yes. There's nothing to indicate the files were changed, but since I didn't obtain them myself, I can't be 100% sure. If anyone who bought this could post the graph from Born to Lose, I can confirm for sure.

    I didn't look at the graphs before listening, btw. I sat down to compare the 40th to the old Lost Mixes when I didn't even get through Born to Lose before realizing something was "off" with the 40th. So I stopped and checked the graphs. I then went and looked at every track. 6 or 7 are like this. They have a major rolloff of the high end starting at around 12khz and then a rolloff of the low end as well, starting at about 40hz. I doubt the low end rolloff was causing any noticeable difference for me but the high end rolloff sure was.
     
  25. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Picture Disc

    Location:
    England
    That’s interesting, because although I don’t do graphs and stuff, it kind of tallies with what I hear. The 2017 sounds not much like the 1994 to me, it’s rounder and fatter, smoother. Not sure if I like it, not sure....
     
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