White Stripes - Elephant US vs UK Pressing: Same Master?

I'll have to look at mine again. I want to say mine has "Noel" in the deadwax but I'll have to double check to be for certain.

 

Just checked my UK copy, no "Noel" in the deadwax. I compared my US red/white vinyl copy to the original UK "DAMONT" pressing back when they were first released and found the sound to be virtually indistinguishable aside from the fact that the black vinyl is slightly quieter. Still have both copies.

 

Just saw a blurb where Third Man Records is releasing an all *new* remaster of Elephant for Record Store Day. Will be interesting to compare pressings.

 

Whoa! It's like listening to an entirely different album -- this new pressing SMOKES! Compared to the CD versions and previous pressings on vinyl, there is just so much more "air" in this edition. But not at the cost of punch. This pressing sounds phenomenal, better than any incarnation of this album I've ever listened to.

Everyone's heard "Seven Nation Army" so many damn times, but this record ENGAGED me in the omnipresent tune for the first time in years. You can see why it's the biggest song of the last quarter-century. Sweet bass tone, perfectly distorted vocals and those kick drums pack such a serious punch.

"Black Math" begs for max volume every time.

I think "There's No Home For You Here" might be my favorite song on this record. Love the groove it gets going. The quiet-loud dynamics come through perfectly on this new pressing. The solo in this song might be one of Jack's crunchiest, and that's saying a lot.

It was nice to hear such separation between the guitar tracks on "Ball and Biscuit". Previously, it was hard not to focus on the higher guitar part just wailin' away during the solo sections, but MAN, this new pressing had me hearing Jack's tasty licks on the lower guitar parts for the first time. Just one of many things I noticed while listening to this pressing that I'd never noticed before -- and I've listened to this record A LOT of times.

Never noticed how nice-sounding (and prominent) the reverb was on the vocals to "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself".

Meg's voice sounds so warm and wonderful. I could listen to "In The Cold, Cold Night" all day. Fantastic guitar sound too.

"I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart" and "You've Got Her In Your Pocket" are just beautiful. Love the sound of the slide on the former, and the "in-your-room" tone of the acoustic guitar on the latter. In fact, the entire second side really shines for "in-your-room" sound.

Aside from all the sonic benefits, this new record looks great too. I almost prefer the look of the new black/red and white vinyl to the strictly red and white pressings that were earlier released. The inner sleeves are faithfully reproduced and the jacket is nice and sturdy.

Highly recommended purchase!

 

Can you post the deadwax etching? Curious who and where this was mastered.

 

It's really hard to see on the colored vinyl, and for some reason, it's also scratched out on all sides, but on the first side, it looks like:

V2 - ADV 2748 - 1A

Someone with better eyes than me will have to read the other sides!

 

Sounds like it might be pressed from earlier stampers where the old catalog number was scratched out. Just speculation...

 

My 2003 UK pressing has Damont in the deadwax but no Noel as some have said!

JG

 

Yes, but how do you REALLY feel about the new pressing?

 

As my post says, I feel GREAT about the new pressing! I will soon post another excerpt from my 75,000 word thesis on why this Elephant pressing is the BEST REISSUE OF ALL TIME! I will send you a link to the full document for sure!!!

 

I'm happy to hear the new pressing is so good, I have the previous reissues from TMR and are a Vault member, although I'm happy to wait for a standard black pressing which will no doubt sound any different and I won't have to get ripped off by Ebay chancers.

I'm wondering is a Get Behind Me Satan vinyl reissue in the future? It has been requested by Vault members including myself but I doubt Jack would just make it a members only option, it will be interesting to see what version finally gets released as I believe that GBMS was a live one take version and is rare as rocking horse poo.

Maybe a remastered version of the album will appear for normal release and then Vault members will get a different version somewhere down the line like we got the mono Icky Thump.

 

Side A
scratched out: V2-ADV-2748-1-A1-
new inscription: TMR 200 IT'S OKAY

Side B
scratched out: V2 ADV-27148-1-B-1
new inscription: TMR 200 B BUSTER KEATON

Side C
scratched out: V2 ADV-27148-1-C-1 RE
new inscription: TMR 200 C SECOND THOUGHTS SECOND LIFE

Side D
scratched out: V2 ADV-27148-1-D-1
new inscription: TMR 200 D MINISCULE DISEASE

All sides have the united logo as well

Not given it a spin yet. Look forward to it.

 

I've got a feeling that the live in the studio version was never actually recorded. Think it was meant to be recorded in Australia but it wasn't for some reason. I could be completely wrong. I think the handful of vinyl copies Get Behind Me Satan are just the standard album.

 

I just had a look and it seems you are right on that, the versions were for promo use and the original album version with a total of 600 pressed by XL and V2. The live album never got recorded as the studio they intended to use in New Zealand now longer had the equipment available to do so. (at least according to Wikipedia that is)

Hopefully with the first 4 albums getting the re-release treatment on vinyl Mr White will see to it that the 5th finally gets a release though we might have to wait till it's 10th anniversary in 2015, it all depends what TMR and Jack have planned I guess.

 

The scratched out etching is the original US pressing matrix information, so this was pressed from the original stampers and pressed at the same facility.

 

If true, one wonders about the cause of the quantum-leap improvement in sound quality reported above.

 

A friend and I gave a shootout listen to "7 Nation Army" from his Original US, and my RSD 2013 US and 2008 UK pressings on Saturday. Here were our thoughts:

2003 Original US: Warm sounding, not especially loud with the vocals mixed to the right and a little quiet -- the soft/loud dynamic is more tame (the song didn't seem to get much louder when the heavy guitars kicked in).

2013 RSD US: Virtually identical to the original to me . . . however, we both noticed the decay on the bass is different with a weird hiss or echo - some general vocal sibilance on this new pressing, too, we thought (could need a good cleaning, I suppose). The drums (snare drum, especially) sounded more bold and present to me, though.

2008 UK: The vocals seem to be mixed more to the center and at a higher level than either US pressing. Everything sounded louder, hotter, flatter and maybe a tad more harsh. When the heavy guitars kick in the song got more intense, but not necessarily louder. My friend liked this one the best.

We both thought they all sounded good, but that the new pressing had some weird stuff going on particularly with the bass/vocal sibilance. I will, of course, have to spend some more time and listen to the whole LP to give a more informed opinion. I was hoping, however, to be blown away with this new pressing and I, truthfully, liked the UK repress almost as much.

 

Is this eventually being released on black vinyl for those of us who couldn't get the RSD version?

 

I think there was discussion of that.

 

My original US pressing is FULL of pops and ticks, and is just a generally dirty sounding pressing, which is why I upgraded to this RSD edition in the first place. It could very well be the same stampers, and perhaps the cleanliness and general newness of this RSD pressing is the difference I'm hearing, but I really feel like this new pressing is just more dynamic. Listening to the quiet parts of this record was where I was really hearing the difference. I compared "There's No Home For You Here" across the original US, the "brown" UK and the RSD edition. The UK sounded more flat, where everything just came out as one sound, ya know? It sounded good, but there was so much more separation and definition in the voices and instruments on the two US pressings, and even moreso in the RSD edition. The reverb-ed vocals on the verses just slowly fade away into the air, and it sounds wonderful and so life-like -- I don't think anyone normally associates Jack White with beautiful vocals, but listen to the verses on this song and you may change your mind. It's really too bad that many people will never hear Elephant this way, it's a great way to listen to a damn great record.

 

I would describe it the same way: ONE SOUND - when the heavy guitars come in on the UK pressing, everything bumps up a notch - on the US, it just sounds like a new part is coming in. On the UK, the channels all seem to be at the same volume level and there is less "air" in the mix, but it does sound very good - more how I think of this music as sounding after years of listening to the CD and MP3s, to be honest. I'm interested to give the new pressing some spin time.

 

My cart struggled to track this Record Store Day pressing. Distorted right channel bass through ‘7 Nation Army’ and several spots of spit’y S’s e.g. “Put it in a psssftafe an’ lock it 'caupsssfte it's home psssftweet home”. I’ve not been overly impressed by the tracking ability of this cart though, so maybe others will have more luck. Maybe at a guess (I wasn’t counting) for me only around five tracks had tracking issues - of cause, exacerbated on inner tracks, but not exclusively so. Putting that aside it was otherwise great - for me though that is a huge ‘but’. I have no other pressing to compare sonics / EQ against.

Pressing was flat and blemish free. After extensive dry brush cleaning surface noise was unobtrusive - I would image even quieter if put through a record cleaning machine.

Outer jacket is nicely done - heavy ‘tip on’ cardboard. Inner sleeves are horrible record trashers. Flimsy paper that left loads of paper dust stuck in the grooves. Thankfully there were no scratches after careful removal. Switch them straight away.

 

I noticed this sibilance/distortion also - at my buddy's with an Ortofon 2M Red. I'll have to give it a listen at home with my setup.

 

Hmm, 2m Black in my case.

 

I have the 2008 UK and I agree it is a fine sounding pressing. A friend played the RSD on Saturday and it sounded really good as well. We had some much to listen to that we didn't do a side by side comparisonbut just from memory the quality of each was close and not like one was mind blowing and so much better than the other.

Also, I don't think Damont is a mastering engineer/facility but rather a pressing facility. My 2008 UK copy does not have Damont or Noel in the deadwax even though Noel Summerville cut it. My copy is similar to this one take from Discogs:

• Matrix / Runout (Runout Side A): B830315-01 A1 MK XLLP162
• Matrix / Runout (Runout Side B): B830315-01 B1 MK XLLP162
• Matrix / Runout (Runout Side C): B830315-02 C1 MK XLLP162
• Matrix / Runout (Runout Side D): B830315-02 D1 MK XLLP162