Yes, I get 5150 from HDTracks about the time you state but it was later recalled. It sounds a bit better than the original 1986 CD but I prefer the 2005 Japanese Forever Young series CD, actually I prefer them for all the Sammy era album. I was the first forum member to spend the dough, get them in late 2005 following a hunch from the 2004/2005 Van Halen-Hagar reunion when at one point Sammy Hagar stated that the albums he recorded with Van Halen were in the works for being remastered. I don't know if these ended up being the remasters Hagar talked about or not but when I got on the same order the Japaese Forever Young series CD's for 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance it was very clear to me that these sounded better than their original CD counterparts. Bass can finally be heard on 5150 and OU812, F.U.C.K. sounds fatter, ballsier with more punch on drums and Balance surprisingly sounds a bit less compressed than the original CD. There's been some talking on this forum (that I started but with another nickname) about these being real remasters or not or the original CD's tweaked. Some forum members who bought them liked them, some don't.
quick question. Does anyone know how the original Fair Warning compares to the reissue? I have an original in near mint condition and was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade to the newer version.
The original pressings are all absolutely fantastic as are the reissues. I own multiple copies, German and US pressings of originals and also all of the reissues. You really can’t go wrong either way but I wouldn’t really say the reissues are necessary. I bought a few and they sounded so great I ended up getting all of them but I cannot tell you they “beat” a nice minty original.
thanks. I did buy all the other reissues and they do sound great. Seems some of them are getting harder to get including Fair Warning. The completist in me was curious if I should complete the set.
Hell, if you have the others you might as well. That’s sort of where I was and justified it to have it on nice 180g vinyl. It did not disappoint. I’m glad the proper care was taken with these masterpieces.
Keep this in mind,the Bellman 2015 LP remasters sound outstanding and when they're available in Amazon (in Europe they're always available but keepin mind that they're pressed here, in Germany) they are not expensive. If you get the 2015 Chris Bellman LP you have a "safety" in the case you're original LP gets messed. I'd get it. I have all the US Roth-era Van Halen original pressings (and an original 1979 Japanese LP that sounds different to both the original and the Bellman remaster but it's great on its on way) but I also have the 2015 Bellman LP's that are the ones I play most often, I prefer to keep the originals as an antique and only play them on special ocasions. You may also like to get the 2015 192/24 Bellman digital downloads as these are the best digital versions available. Beware, avoid the 96/24 digital downloads like the plague, they're heavily compressed. They are most likely the masterings used for the 2015 CD's, they just downsampled them to 44.1/16 and pressed the CD's out of them.
Yeah I think I may just buy it anyways to complete the set. Can't hurt to have a backup I guess. I was going to buy the cd box set too from 2013 ( its pretty cheap for around $18) that includes the first 6 lps, but seems that didn't get great reviews around here, even though I do have HDCD playback capability on my CD player. Yes the 192/24 do get reviews- not sure I want to spend $25 a pop right now for them. I do have a few of the original CDS. They sound ok, but they seem to lack a lot of dynamics. where as the 2015 versions on Cd seem to have way too much... so it seems Vinyl is the best playback right now for me.
I have a Colombia House LP of Women & Children First that is one of my worst sounding albums in my collection. Avoid it, it has a machine stamped HS 1-3415-1A & HS 2-3415-1A. Sounds like it comes from a 4th generation tape. Very disappointing.
Record Club pressings are hit or miss. They use to be subpar but I have, among others, a Columbia House pressing of Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising force that sounds outstanding, the first Super Bit Mapping Japan remaster CD pales compared to that.
Ok cool. Amazon listings were only for third party and some popped up on the classifieds here for a premium, so I wasn't sure. Called my local and it seems like they can get the two that I dont have yet. Really digging the CB cuts, they sound great.
they do seem to be harder to get now -at least in the US. Yes, seems amazon is mostly third part now, Acoustic sound, elusive, music direct, many are out of stock. barnes and noble still has some. Thats where I picked up the last one I needed "fair warning". agree these sound fantastic and worth seeking out and buying.
Looks like these are out of print according to my local. They couldnt order them. So, I guess get them while you can...unless there will be a repress.
It's kind of a long story, but this youtuber, an aspiring record collector and Van Halen fan, just got her hands on a Hoffman/Gray 2009 Van Halen and a more recent Chris Bellman Van Halen II. It's kind of cool. The Van Halen story starts at around the 10:40 mark. At the beginning of the video she talks about discovering that her copy of the White Album is from an early 80's UK blue box.
Her guru is blowing smoke - at least partially. There is no way to know whether that album was part of a blue box or was just distributed as a stand alone. Blue boxes are filled with standard inventory - the same as the individual copies one would have bought in a store at the same time. Anyone worth their Beatles vinyl collector salt should know that.
You’re right. But can you say you’ve never replied to a post without even being cognizant of the thread title?
Yes, but I would say that a copy of an early 80's EMI pressing of the White Album bought in a used store in Charleston South Carolina (or wherever she lives) more likely than not comes from a Blue Box. Very few individual copies of non-unique albums were imported, compared to tons of blue boxes (which were widely available even in places like Woolworths record departments.
Maybe, maybe not. This was not my experience at all. It wasn’t “common” to see either, but I saw the individual albums (with the crinkly shrink wrap) more often than the boxes (I saw maybe a handful of blue boxes while they were in print). Most of the time, either would have been a special order in most parts of the country. I never saw a blue box in a Woolworth’s. Either way, my point remains. Now back to VH.
I probably shouldn’t diverge, but I love old collecting stories. I think it depends on where you lived. I worked in a Woolworths music department in Honolulu as a student from 1976 to 1982. Our distributor was Pickwick, and while individual import Beatles albums were special order (loose wrap, triangular JEM sticker) and took forever to arrive, the blue box was normally in stock, and they were definitely overseas boxes. I never saw the domestic box. They were really cheap ($89.99? Something like that), and sold fairly well. In 1993, I parted with my blue box at Record Surplus on Pico in LA, and they had so many of them coming in they tossed the slightly damaged box and put the records in the bin (I grabbed the poster and kept it). Anyway, the boxes have become scarce over the years and many years later, I had to rebuy the blue box, scoring a “perfect” copy at Rockaway Records in Glendale for $360. I later found out about the dating of the inner sleeves and now know that they cherry picked from a number of boxes. Oh well, it sounds great.
Anyone happen to come across VHII or Diver Down in the wild? Been coming up empty handed and missed a few for sale threads here on the forum. Any leads would be appreciated, thanks!
