Ridiculous! Has the man lost his ability to read? THRILLER 40 - A DOUBLE CD SET OF MICHAEL'S ORIGINAL MASTERPIECE THRILLER & BONUS DISC - TO BE RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 18 Seems quite easy to understand from where I stand... In the US, Walmart will have an exclusive version of the original Thriller album with an alternate 40th anniversary cover, while Target will have an exclusive version of the original album with a commemorative Thriller 40 vinyl slip mat. Both of these will also be available outside the US from various retailers. Mastered from the original analog master tapes, Mobile Fidelity will also make available the original Thriller album as a One-Step 180g 33RPM LP, pressed at RTI and strictly limited to 40,000 numbered copies as well as a hybrid SACD. (An UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP set of Thriller will be released at a future date.)
I'm not sure. I mean, unless they charge it at the source, there will be VAT for sure because it's shipping from outside the EU. But they also say that the VAT is included in the total when I simulated the price. Do you have an invoice already? If you do, could you please check?
Original master tapes? Degraded tapes from 40 years ago is considered high fidelity??? That's non-sense.
I do, but it says nothing about the VAT. I see that they indeed ship from the UK according to their address on the bottom of the email though.
my guess is they've never been in a room with professional tapes on professional decks handled by professional engineers. The only thing degrading is your mind…
It does give the appearance of “stirring the pot” or “poisoning the well”, especially when he appears to just be speculating. Does he really have an “axe to grind” with MoFi? This is pure speculation on my part as well. However, based on my own past experience with these releases I’m not going to cancel my order based on something Fremer posted without substantiating the validity. I find it irresponsible and disappointing that he would do that.
I agree, it seems like he’s just trying to stir the pot for the sake of stirring the pot. I genuinely have no idea what Fremer is talking about as there is no indication anywhere that Bernie is involved with this in any way, and no reason to believe that it would be cut from a digital transfer either. I initially assumed he might have some insider info thanks to some personal connection, but he later comments that he’s “heard nothing from MoFi or Bernie”… so who’d he hear it from? Certainly not the press release. Whatever the case, he removed any mention of this from the main post. So it sounds like he probably upset the wrong people.
This is truly an album which could benefit from a 45 rpm 'One-Step' version. I'm sure that the SACD version, if hybrid, will be the best there ever was.
Fremer is getting old.....When people get old, they do and say a lot of strange things and then they don't remember it. I'm looking forward to the day this happens to me so I can piss off all kinds of young folks.......
All MFSL SACDs are hybrid and also have a Redbook/CD layer. With basically the same master, only a different encoding.
I have one of the early Japan for Europe CDs and it’s one of the best sounding CDs in my collection (all Quincy Jones produced and Bruce Swedien recorded albums sound marvellous, BTW). I’m not sure if this SACD will beat it, but I’m sure I want to find out for myself.
Yes, my early Japan for Europe CD is also one of my best sounding CDs. I've succumbed and ordered from the UK link - just glad MOFI are doing this. Interesting that there's such an emphasis on audiophile versions in niche formats alongside the anniversary CD set. Might be an indication of MOFI attempting to reach a more mainstream audience worldwide. Might just work for them. 40k as a strictly limited run will be interesting. Hopefully will mean more will be available for longer the normal way, without the pesky lot who just buy to sell on at an inflated price.
I recently played my original vinyl, bought some years ago used for about $8. I believe it's the first run they made after the MJ Co-Producer credit was added. Magnificent sound.... Hard to imagine it could be improved. Also, I'm lucky that my copy is dead quiet, not so much as a pop or crackle. Soooo I'm probably out on this as I have no need to upgrade. I suspect the OneStep will be a different listen from the OP.... Not better or worse, necessarily, but different. I applaud MoFi for making this move though. Time to get away from the usual audiophile warhorses and acknowledge some music from the last 4 decades! I really hope this sells well and it opens the door for other 80s and 90s albums to get the same treatment, preferrably those where the original vinyl or CD fell short. (The Cure's Disintegration anyone???)
I got my preorder in for the SACD. I would trade all of your souls for Prince's 80's albums to get the SACD treatment.
Hopefully they get it right this time and fill the extra space on disc 1 and the entirety of disc 2 with original demos, outtakes and 12" remixes from that time period. I hope they give the fans what they want and not repeat the mistake of Thriller 25, For All Time was great, the rest was total crap. No one wants to hear Dua Lupa cover Human Nature or Adam Levine duet with a dead guy.
I just pre-ordered both the SACD and the One-Step, as I could give a rats a$$ what Mr. self-proclaimed audiophile head has to say about it! I've got two ears and if upon arrival they do not meet what I was expecting, I'm sure there will be little to no problem selling either of them. I still have high hopes for MFSL, but thanks to knuckleheads like Fremer on the "playback" side of things and the knuckleheads in charge of allowing such releases anymore at the record companies, these special limited pressings of any sort are starting to slow way down! Ahhhh, the good old days when I HAD to choose which Hoffman remastering I could buy, or have no money in my bank account ...
Hopefully this will pop up on a couple of European websites. Ireland is an absolute disaster for any post coming in from outside of the EU the past 9 or 10 months. That SACD is definitely on my list.
I guess I was under the impression that all one steps are on the Supervinyl compound now. Maybe not. Or maybe they just don’t feel like they need to mention it anymore. Either way, I’m still in for this one.
They responded in Instagram that it would indeed be on Supervinyl. @sonofjim see the comments under their post on Instagram.
I can make a long list of 80's LPs that I would pay $100 for One-Steps of! Given the prices many OP's go for, and the spurious ratings many have on discogs or ebay, with overrated conditions. I've spent more than $100 trying to get one decent UK pressing of some LPs, and still didn't end up with a minty copy.
