I have the - supposedly - "good" one - and it sounds better than the CD, but it's not an audiophile classic. It has the "all 0000's" catalog number, no bar code (but an empty white box), the slogan in tiny print on the back and the (apparently) correct deadwax info. It's a worthwhile improvement: I hope the re-issue sounds better. I think that the record should be more dynamic. It's one of my all-time favorites.
I have the good one ,too. And before that I had the bad one. Which wasn’t all that bad, just very low in volume, so you have to crank it a lot to get any impact. But I digress. They really should cut Rated R to three or four sides. the sides are very crammed and that doens’t help the sound quality. Which is a shame, cause it’s my favourite qotsa album by far, and I would love to hear it in the best possible way.
I sent a PM to him, but he may not respond to them. Maybe a tag here will do the trick and keep things public - @Chris B I have found other releases with this "!" etching - and they all seem like they could come from someone at Bernie Grundman Mastering Puscifer - All Re-Mixed Up Queens Of The Stone Age - Queens Of The Stone Age Mastodon - Crack The Skye Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind It could also be that they are totally unrelated "!" etchings, too.
I've definitely seen that marker before, and I have two of the records you've listed above. Both sound great. I have not been able to listen to SFTD properly yet but with the Steelers on TV tonight it's going down. I'm not complaining yet, but I feel like there's something going on here. It might be time to ask VMP why they advertised this as a CB joint and evidence is pointing to that not being the case. Of all the reissues going on, this one deserved the white glove treatment.
I got a notification that my SFTD was delivered today - I should have time to give it a good listen-to tonight.
No, evidence is not pointing toward that not being the case. What we have here is a handful of people freaking out because they don't see CB in the deadwax, while everything else about this release - the web page, the hype sticker - clearly says CHRIS BELLMAN. Sometimes, for whatever reason, mastering engineers don't put their initials in deadwax lacquers.
I listened to the VMP SFTD and thought it sounded great. Not sure how it compares to any other previous issue though. Mine came perfectly pressed, flat, centered, no surface noise... this is an upgrade for me!
I'm not freaking out about anything dude. I expected to see his initials on the record and they aren't there. Its not a complain it's a comment.
Anyone notice that the drums are completely buried in the mix of Song For the Dead? Like I can barely hear them when it’s cranked and my EQ is flat. The drums in the rest of the album are fine and present but this track they’re barely audible. I’ve A/B’d with my CD and a bootleg and the drums are super upfront and present with the rest of the band. They finally come in towards the end but that’s about it.
I just got my copy and that’s definitely not a problem. The only odd thing I noticed about the drums is that on some songs they’re panned more to the left channel, and on most songs for some reason there’s one cymbal (splash maybe?) that’s panned hard right. I haven’t listened to the CD in a while, but I can’t imagine this being a specific issue with this pressing. Overall though I’d say the release sounds fantastic.
I did notice drums hanging out in the left channel on Songs for the Dead. It stuck out for some reason.
I’m very happy with the VMP reissue of SFTD. I’ve never heard an original vinyl copy, but have played the CD to death. The VMP sounds better to my ears, has more detail and separation of instruments. To me it is a cleaner sound. This album was in constant rotation in my car in my college years so I am used to that loud and compressed sound from the CD, as that was the only option to hear the album. Listening to the VMP at times made me miss that CD sound. Weird how that works.
One of the songs on the new VMP SFTD now sounds more like a track from Like Clockwork to me. This is because the guitar tones are now more clear and you hear more compared to the CD. Pretty awesome but I forget which track now.
The sticker on the plastic-wrap for SFTD says mastered by Chris Bellman, with no ambiguity. I don't know why people here can't accept that as an answer.
On the CD panning is as described by @punchy: drums are panned hard left in the main part of the song. Only a tambourine is panned right. Except for the intro and the end part where drums are mixed on both stereo channels.
The reason I don't accept it is because I've never seen a record he mastered without his initials. Can you give me one example of a record he is known to have mastered but didn't initial? I'm not being snarky; I don't know of any examples. I have dozens and dozens of examples of his "CB" on records he worked on. If anyone knows of any it would help assuage the reasonable doubt I have right now.
You're trying to prove a negative. It's far, FAR more likely he pressed these as that's exactly what the marketing materials have stated. On VMP's own site, it says in no uncertain terms, "pressed at Pallas from new lacquers cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering". In light of this, I think the lack of initials is meaningless.
