ZZ Top Cinco: The First Five LPs (5LP 180 Gram Vinyl) June 9

I'll stick with my originals. Packaging sounds good though.

 

Waiting to hear reviews of the pressing/sound quality. Have the originals.

 

First Album and Tejas have not been re-issued on vinyl (in recent times).

 

I didn't realize that until after I posted. I guess they will have to do fresh cuts of those at least. Maybe Bellman? Didn't he do some of the other ones?

 

2011 - Deguello and Rio Grande Mud : Chris Bellman

 

Tempted to do the same. I find that Rhino has been doing it very well of late. I have the Hoffman Tres Hombres and really love it. I'm almost willing to bet this whole thing sounds great.

 

Surprisingly the coupon still is valid at SoundStageDirect, thank you for this, I'm now on their mailing list. Saw Top last Wednesday in a small venue, they sounded AMAZING! I have all the London releases with the exception of Fandango and
they've been worn out over the years!

 

It was a cock-up because the EU vinyl re-issue of Tres Hombres sounds like a piece of f*****g s***t; and those are the only words i can think of to accurately describe just how poor it sounds.

 

Have clean orginals of the first cinco's plus SH's awesome Tres Hombres. Might be a fun extra to have depending on the source, mastered by, packaging quality and pressed where formula. So far I like what I see in the packaging and concept.

 

Got shipping notice yesterday so hope it is here by the weekend.

 

Must order today.

 

Yeah, I would like to know what they did here. No news most likely is bad news. If they were all from the analog tapes it would probably be advertised as such. So did they redo the First and Tejas from the tapes or just use digital files they had from the CD set? My guess would be the latter.

An all analog box I'd get for sure. Digitally sourced wouldn't be a deal breaker if they sound great but I might be tempted to just get the analog reissue of Rio Grande Mud which is the only original I don't have. I also notice the Deguello reissue is out of stock everywhere. Hopefully they'll repress that one in the future.

 

I'm kind of in the same boat. My Rio Grand Mud isn't in the best of shape, so I just ordered the 2011 reissue done by Chris Bellman. I'm assuming/hoping it was from the tapes. Either way, I usually like CB's masterings.

ZZ Top - Rio Grande Mud

 

The CB Rio Grande Mud and Deguello individual reissues are both from the original analog masters according to the Elusive Disc site. The recent Tres Hombres is as well but by Hoffman/Gray.

 

The Tres Hombres might be replaced by a bad German reissue, be careful, especially in Europe!

 

Mine should arrive today.

 

Nice....let us is on the details when you get a chance.

 

I got this set yesterday as well. I have mixed feelings. The packaging is absolutely fantastic, and I can confirm all albums appear to be mastered by CB or SH+KG. But sound wise, is a mixed bag. The first album, Rio Grande Mud and Tres Hombres are fantastic. But Fandango and Tejas sound a bit muffled for my taste. Note, however, my comparison was not with older vinyl, but with tracks from the "Chrome, Smoke & BBQ" Boxset (which I love and is my personal reference). I will be curious about reading other opinions. I am hoping I am wrong and need some earwax removed : ). I also should mention the albums I was not impressed with were slightly off center so perhaps I got a bad press.

 

Who did the mastering on the first album....CB? That has to be new.

 

Judging from the dead wax, yes. It has the "CB" initials.

 

Thank you for your review.

 

Does Tejas also have CB in the dead wax (that one would also be a new mastering)?

Do the other three have the same matrices as what has been previously released?
For comparison:
ZZ Top - Rio Grande Mud
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
ZZ Top - Fandango!

This set would really be a good deal, a bargain even, if it has all those masterings.

About the "muffled" sound, I would say that is probably more true to the original vinyl than what you are hearing on the CDs.

 

Hello, yes, I just checked and "Tejas" also has the CB initials. In fact, you are right. The only original vinyl I had out of these 5 albums was Tejas and I do recall it sounded muffled.

Will do my best to check what you requested about matrices. Hopefully this weekend.

One thing I should give kudos to Rhino is the careful packaging. I am sure the covers look like as originally released, and do not have the "cheap photocopy" that we get with some reissues. And the external box is truly beautiful.

 

This is good news that they used the recent cuts and added some new ones by Bellman. I'll be getting this set soon.

 

It is great news. Thank God for my credit card, my originals of First, Rio Grande Mud, Fandango ( an RL ), and Tejas, are all beyond reproach. Tres Hombres is the Steve & Kevin already, or I would be all over this.
I've become a huge fan of the Batman and Robin of mastering, Grundman, and Bellman. That's what I've already been spending on. Their masterings.
Maybe in the future, esp. at a reasonable price.
.