The Smiley Smile Message Board

I have the double vinyl set, still sealed. Given the discussion about TLOS' sound quality: how was BWPS on LP received in this respect? I still have to purchase a new turntable cartridge for the event. And what bonus tracks are on it (it's in my garage after moving house)?

bonustracks: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,3104.0.html

I have both the US and European pressing. The US pressing is (surprisingly) vastly superior in all ways.

Compared to the CD, the vinyl kicks butt. A special analogue tape master was made for preparation of the vinyl master, which was handled superbly.

The European LP has more background noise than the American one, and I can imagine some people would prefer the CD. But the sound is more 'organic'.

The BWPS vinyl is outstanding!

It's very quiet, I wish LOS was this good in that regard though dynamically it's excellent too.

 :lol
Dude...me too!  I'm doing the same thing.  I've got a budget turntable from my long-ago days...that I just refuse to punish my brand new vinyl BWPS with.  I just won't do it!

Someday, I'll get a decent hi-end turntable...till then, I'll just gaze at that big 12" beauty and long (that didn't sound right.   :lol)

I couldn't resist though...I did crack it open.   >:D

Perhaps somebody could suggest a needle-drop of this to Dr. Ebbetts?

So I must have a European pressing of BWPS - is it definitely worse than the US one or is it just subjective?

Moot point. I don't know the details of today. But in the '70s European pressings in general were more compressed, but the vinyl quality was better (it was also heavier); so it didn't wear much over time. Record stores in big cities did parallel ordering of U.S. pressings, however, because these simply sounded better (esp. more in the high end), more transparent. But they wore more over time; and were thinner, lighter to hold. If I am correct Euro pressing plants tended to save their needles for cutting a 'master lacquer' album by limiting the signal as much as possible. Perhaps I phrased this very amateurish, but it is definitely what I recall.
What is beyond doubt is that the French were the most notorious re: bad pressings. To be avoided at all costs.

(I must add that as a reggae collector, I can state that Jamaica was the worst of all. If you bought a so-called JA pre-release, which always was about twice as expensive as a regular LP, you were happy if the needle did not simply jump out of the grooves altogether. Clicks, hiss, scratches, the lot. I still have to see a completely flat JA LP from the '70s, by the way. What you heard was, beside the music, the sound of burgers being fried as background noise. A friend who visited a JA pressing plant way back then told me how that could happen: outside the factory, in the hot sun, there were a sort of long 'pins' planted in the ground. Newly pressed copies, still lukewarm and not hardened, were placed on that 'needle' with their spindle holes, sometimes 50 copies on each other in the oppressive heat. So often these stuck together and had to be separated again for packaging.)

As far as I can make out, having lived in  both the UK and USA, American 70's LP pressings are truly awful. And not just in the quiality of vinyl used (at the time of the "oil crisis"), the mastering is worse.

Anyone who has ever heard the US versus UK versions of Peter Gabriel's first album probably knows what I am talking about. OR...is that because I heard it in the 90's and it had fared worse than the European?  I can say with certainty that I have records pressed in the 60's which have clearly been played a lot, but still sound great....and most are British or German pressings....I have the UK and Canadian editions of "In The Court of the Crimson King" 1st edition 1969 pressings and they sound near identical...possibly more compression on the Canadian but not much in it.

As for SMiLE....the European version falls short in every respect. The packaging is less luxurious, it feels cheaper...the emobssed printing is less raised, the weight of the cardboard used to manufacture it is less...and the records themselves exhibit too much rumble and noise - and I believe that is down lower quality vinyl.

I don't have the European edition with me right now (it is in storage) but IIRC the matrix numbers are different....though both Mark Linnett and Don Grossinger insist the master for both is identical.

As for my turntable, I suppose it is mid-range....Systemdek IIx900 with Rega 300 arm and Goldring 1022GX stylus.....similar to today's Audionote TT1 I believe but I've had it since '91....and nobody will part me from it! Good enough to hear the difference between good vinyl and great vinyl...and the US pressing of BWPS is one of the greats.

I think the LP is better than the cd but still not great.  Definitely nowhere near the quality of Smile.  I must say mine is pretty quiet though.  There was some noise at first, but I guess the needle cleaned the grooves out and now after playing it for a couple weeks it plays very quietly.  Maybe a cleaning would help in your case?


Oh my god!  That's the most horrendous thing I've ever read.  :o

I'm listing to the US edition of Smile for the first time & it sounds amazing. I'm really surprised with it. So glad I got it. Someone in a earlier post mentioned it sounding more organic - dead right, it sounds great. Plus the 4 sides divides the 3 movement's up nicely with instrumental bonus tracks on side 4. Nice.

I've had the vinyl all this time, but never opened it. I hate to break the cherry on it after all this time, but I imagine it is a superior listening experience. The Wonderful 45 definitely has something good going on. I will try to force my hand and open it.

I will leave my "What I Really Want For Christmas" sealed, though.  >:D

Once again, I repeat my plea:  could Dr. Ebbetts or some other kind soul do a pristine needle-drop for us?  so that we might see (or is it 'hear') the light?

Mucho thankosos.

This isn't a rare, expensive LP.  It's still commonly available.  Why bootleg it?

It would be very much appreciated if these kind of requests are done via PM....

And otherwise: buy the vinyl; and if you don't have a recordplayer, buy that as well. It's worth it.

I got another copy that plays much better, just a little noise at the start of side one. The rest is really nice. Must of had a defective copy.

Same here Bubba.  Still buried in my beachboys corner of the music room.  Reckon I ought to have a listen.. Don't know what I'm saving it for.  I think I will double check my stylus first.  I'm now intrigued by the extra tracks.

Records were meant to be played, not sanctified! :ohyeah :drumroll

Agreed I am a collector, but I only buy from artists I want to listen to. I might get a deal on a rare record by Hermans Hermets but I wouldn't buy it because it wouldn't ever get played.

Are Herman's Hermits records pretty rare or something? They seemed to be a pretty popular group back in the day.

I just picked a name out of the air of a group I don't care for.