Why is there no good vinyl issue of Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen we are floating into space

Similar to what Stereolab did with ‘Margerine Eclipse’?

 

I agree with you, Warmth. Spiritualized albums are almost uniformly some of the most sonically rich feats of engineering in my collection. The only serious exception is Sweet Heart Sweet Light which sounds rather pinched. Let It Come Down and Amazing Grace have a more clinical studio ambiance than the others, but they are still exemplary recordings. And I think the others are unassailable.

 

I agree as well, but indeed SHSL sounds crap as does And Nothing Hurt. Could be the mastering, but I think it’s the mix. Maybe Jason’s ears are shot, cause his last two records sound nothing like the stuff before them.
Anyhow, back on topic: I always found LAG great sounding, especially on headphones. Really curious about the new pressing/mastering.

 

What was unusual about Sweet Heart Sweet Light was that he brought in a "name" engineer, Bob Ludwig, to master it. I don't know whether it was an effort to salvage a botched mix, or if Ludwig himself botched it at Jason's behest, but it is indeed a strange sounding record by Spiritualized standards.

In my opinion, And Nothing Hurt is a vast improvement and Steve Mackey did a great job polishing up Jason's home recordings.

 

I like the way ANH sounds, personally. There are highlights on SWSH (namely the incredible closer, "So Long, You Pretty Thing"), but I think ANH was a big improvement.

 

There is now a good vinyl reissue of Ladies and Gentlemen.

 

Just bit the bullet and signed up for my first VMP release. Suppose I'm taking a chance without reading any (semi-legit) reviews but this album is too good to risk missing out on! Hope I'm spinnin' it by the end of the month!

 

Initial reviews are positive though there is a reddit thread filled with people who have pressing noise. Some copies appear to play clean.

 

My copy of the VMP LAGWAFIS sounds great. I know this album inside and out and I'm hearing some details that I had not noticed before.

 

I just put my VMP lp on the table and it WAS very noisy. Surprisingly so. I picked it off the platter and could hear the static. I couldn’t tell if it was dirty due to the blue color. Ran it through the RCM and put it back on and now it sounds great! Disaster averted.

 

Spinning it for the first time right now. It's incredible. Anyone who loves this album should snatch this up while prices are still pretty reasonable...

 

My copy sounded great with only a quick carbon fiber once-over. It's nice to finally have an excellent sounding copy of this record.

 

You think prices will explode? I'm still convinced that a standard release is around the corner.

 

It will likely be a while...from what I understand, VMP's exclusivity agreements are pretty strict in most cases.

 

I have no idea about the possibility of a standard release but if not then yeah this will be a pricey record in a few months.

 

It took quite some time before Gorillaz’ Demon Days had a general release after the VMP one. But it did happen.
I share Neonbeam’s feeling that it will have a standard release somewhere along the line, especially since it was licensed to Fat Possum, J’s current record company. But the standard release will probably not have such a lush sleeve. So I for one am glad to have this one right now

 

Yes, ok, if this remains an exclusive then obviously! Still I think it would be a shame not release it regularly. But then again: The average listener is probably happy with the - crappy- Plain pressing.

 

Admittedly I only signed up for VMP specifically for this release so I'm not up to speed on how their releases work and whether they typically get pressed again after the initial VMP release.

 

Oh yeah, I have no doubt that it will happen (and yes, the fact that Fat Possum was ultimately responsible for this is a good indicator of this), but for ROTM titles they usually have a requirement of a certain chunk of time before a general release. Could be 6 months, could be a year, could be two years, who knows.

 

should give Fat Possum time to re-release the previous 3 Spiritualized albums! Knock on weed.

 

VMP LAGWAFIS (LOL) arrived today, sounds great after a quick dusting- nice to finally have a copy with the Elvis bits.
unlined paper sleeves are my only complaint so far

 

Received my copy today. Absolutely fantastic. Big improvement compared to the original cd.

 

My package finally arrived and everything looks great. No seamsplit or bend corners, VMPs transatlantic shipping is first rate. Haven't had time to open it but visually this surely is an impressive (and heavy!) set! The cover seems slightly oversized when held next to the Medicated Dedicated 1997 original, it's now a gatefold and holds itself supremely well next to the old edition!

 

I've been playing and comparing this and the original vinyl edition over the last couple of days and found that I slightly prefer the VMP version.

It has a great soundstage, depth and nice bass. My copy also has zero surface noise. The mastering on the Dedicated double vinyl is decent too and I like the alternate mixes and slightly different track sequence.

But: It's a notoriously flawed pressing and finding one of the better copies - which definitely do exist - is a bit of a pain. And it's not as if the reissues have brought any prices down. On the contrary: The sole copy currently on Discogs has a 338€ price tag.

If this is your favourite album of all time and you are an obsessive collector you still might want to hunt one down. Everybody else should just get this new version.

Hopefully this will soon see a widely available standard release so everybody can enjoy this fantastic release. Otherwise history may just repeat itself....

 

I'm glad I saw this since I have most of the Spiritualized catalogue, but bought LAGWAFIS during my CD-only period, shame on me. I've been going back to fill in gaps with vinyl of my favorite bands that I have mainly CDs for. I love this album so much that when I saw the astronomical prices early LPs go for, that I bought the awful Plain vinyl LP right before COVID hit. I paid $41 for a supposedly "new" LP that was in sealed shrink, but when I opened it the vinyl was covered with dust, fingerprints, and scratches.

Before I could return it the local record store closed for 4-5 months due to COVID and I lost the receipt. It sounds as bad as it looks, which was quite infuriating to say the least. I found a VMP new on discogs for $60 so I just ordered it without hesitation. I hope mine is a decent pressing but anything would beat the miserable Plain copy that I may as well trade in as used at this point. Jason really should do nice reissues of all the early LPs, I wish they would get the Siouxsie half-speed re-mastered treatment that they are certainly worthy of. Even one-step MOFIs would be cheap compared to what the originals are going for!