Lots of bad “audiophile” rap on the 2012’s because they’re digital…to which I say, who cares?? Many of them, BFS in particular, sound excellent.
I have the blue Odeon. I like it. My go to track for BFS to determine pressing quality is Mr. Moonlight. Nothing to do with the song itself, but the sound of the recording when all the harmonies come in full force. On many pressings they’re very high ended and shrilly. Horrible on the Japanese digital black Odeon with the black and gold OBI. It sounds pretty good on the German blue Odeon.
Granted I've never heard another vinyl pressing of BFS, and I'm more than certain that better-sounding pressings exist, but the 2012 stereo pressing I have sounds really good, at least to my ears, and the sleeve is beautiful. I haven't many complaints at all about any of the 2012 stereo pressings, actually. I once had early, all-analogue pressings of many of them, so I can make some comparisons there. Digital in the chain? Sure there is, but I don't really care about that as much as others do. The 2012 stereo pressing is still the best value for your money in 2022.
Just getting done listening to this gem... my goodness... such a great sounding ALL ANALOGUE version of this album! Just so well rounded and "chimey".
So let's resurrect this thread, rather than start a new one... this is for German presses in general, but I will use my Beatles For Sale as an example, although playing my German Yeah Yeah Yeah (A Hard Day's Night) LP got me checking. I have in front to me two of my BFS albums. My German press is catalog number 1C 062-04-200. I have a mid 1980's pressing an old girlfriend got for me (along with many other Beatles albums) from Belgium, well, back in the early 1980s. It is catalog number 1A 062-04200, pressed in EEC I believe the 1C prefix is for the German market, the 1A prefix was for the Dutch market. My question... are these actually the same "pressing" or from the same masters, since they are the same catalog number? Does this question make sense? Also, I have been trying to find out for years... WHERE WERE THE EEC PRESSINGS MADE? Was it Germany?
I've got a 1981 UK mono using what I believe are original stampers, and I have to say it sounds like garbage.
My favourite is the Mofi release of BFS - Smiley Face EQ suits me fine with this one ;-) Beatles For Sale Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – MFSL 1-104, EMI – MFSL 1-104 Series: Original Master Recording Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, Gatefold
Check out my recent shootout: Beatles German Pressings - Need Help! The UK -1/-1 is very very good, but the German '77 pressing (1C 072 cat.no., blue Odeon label with LC code) is, in my opinion, absolutely fabulous.
The catalog number is actually five digits after the country and factory code (1C for Electrola in Germany, 1A and 5C for Netherlands) and the three-digit price code (062). Apart from contract pressings, they were not the same metal parts, so Germany had an own cut, Netherlands a different one (on 1st issues, Netherlands sometimes used UK matrices). German 70s matrices can usually be identified by the following form: XX XXX A-1 / B-1, stamped close to the label. BFS inherited the original German 1st pressing matrices (YEX) plus had the 1C 062 matrix added in 1969. The 2nd German cut (winner of my shootout) has the matrix 04 200 A-1 / 04 200 B-1. Dutch EMI pressings usually have a 2Y somewhere at the end. French EMI matrices usually have M6 somewhere in the matrix.
You could consult the Platypus : I Am The Platypus - The Beatles Australian Records Labelography - BEATLES FOR SALE ( PMCO 1240 / PCSO 3062 ) Lots of good info on Australian pressings on that site.
I found an old 1970s repress of Beatles For Sale at my local record store, same place I got a similar version of A Hard Day's Night. Would that version also match an original 1964 press?
Just recently got the 2014 mono and wow, it absolutely smokes the ‘81 mono. I’m still on the hunt for a good stereo pressing of this but I didn’t expect there to be such a difference between the 2 mono reissues. The stereo mix is still my preference, but for mono, I can stop looking. Every time I listen to this album I can’t help think how underrated it is. I’m honestly not sure I would have been into the Beatles in the day, until Beatles For Sale came out
Yes, the 1981 that I originally owned I think gave many people the impression that the mono version was the poor unworthy stepchild for this particular album. The 2014 is far better, and good enough to be my go-to version for listening purposes.
the 2014 is also much more open and alive sounding than the original mono. I’ll never let go of my original though…
