Took a ride to the record shop today - Samples Inside!

I was bored and depressed, so I took a ride to the record shop yesterday and picked up a few records:

Sammy Hagar            VOA
Various                     A&M Audio Master Series Sampler: Vol 1 (1/2 speed)
Rush                        Clockwork Angels (sealed)
Fleetwood Mac            Fleetwood Mac (45RPM,180G audiophile, sealed))
INXS                        Kick (MFSL Silver Series, sealed)
Virgil Fox                     The Fox Touch Vol 1 (direct to disc, Crystal Clear Records)
Diaham Carroll            w/Duke Ellington - Ethel Waters Tribute (D2D, #0178M)
Diaham Carroll            w/Duke Ellington - Ethel Waters Tribute (D2D, #0046D)
Michael Jackson            Thriller (American Pressing, Epic label)
Dick Hyman                  MOOG (Command Records)
Various                     Drums (3LP box set, ABC Impulse records, 1974)
London Symphony Orchestra   A Sound Spectacular! Music from the Galaxies! (CBS Mastersound, 1/2 speed)
38 Special               Tour De Force
Tommy Conwell            Walkin' on the Water (Antenna Records)
Dallas Symphony Orchestra      Ravel Daphnis Et Chloe (RCA Red Seal Audiophile, sealed)
The Cars                     Candy-O
The B52's                     Love Shack 12" Single w/ 'Channel Z', 33rpm, promo
Led Zepplin                  Led Zepplin IV
Neworder                     Technique (promo)

I only sampled each record for a minute or so, but a few records stood out:

Fleetwood Mac: the 45RPM release of this album is jaw dropping.    Simply amazing. I'd love to make a YouTube video of this album but I'm sure YouTube would strike it down for Copyright issues. 

Rush - Clockwork Angels: sounds compressed with very limited dynamics. It's a shame since the music is decent. It's a bit better than the CD release, which sounds TERRIBLE; but I was expecting more punch and depth. Overall, it sounds very digital (it just screams 'Pro Tools') and squashed. Rush really needs to fire the current engineer and move to a better recording studio. They would sound amazing if they went back to a 2" analog recorder.

Michael Jackson - Thriller: sounds 10X better than the two 25th anniversary pressings I have. No more sibilance issues!

INXS - Kick: Sounds very clean, with more detail than a normal pressing, but it still lacks deep bass. Maybe the original recording was lean. It does sound better than a regular pressing, but I was expecting more since it was a MOFI release.

Diaham Carroll - Ethel Waters Tribute: Simply amazing! It's a direct to disc recording and the sound is very warm and 'analog'; the drums are punchy and the vocals are smooth and very real. I'm definitely making a YouTube video from one of the songs.

I almost picked up a reel to reel of The Doors debut album (7.5ips), but he wanted $80 for it. It was in decent shape, but I didn't want to take a chance since some of those reels sound worse than the record. The leader tape was missing and for all I know the first track could be gone too. For $80, I'd have to hear it first before buying it.

I'll post some samples tomorrow. 

Please make a YouTube video of Stairway To Heaven!! There are a lot of LZ video on YT now, seems that Warner is more tolerant now. YT need so much a HD vinyl video of Stairway!! 

I'll see what I can do. 

I didn't notice until I got home, but the LZ IV album was marked CRC (the vinyl is, but not the cover), so it's a Columbia House record club pressing, which might not be high enough quality - those are hit and miss. Most of the records I picked up yesterday are near mint, but there was a few that need an extensive cleaning before I can judge the quality; the LZ is one of them.

The store I go to - Double Decker Records was packed with new records. In fact, every record in the store wasn't there the last time I visited. Each record's price tag is marked with the date it came in and every record I seen was dated after my last visit. He goes through thousands of records every week. The whole store inventory gets turned over every two months. Yesterday, you could hardly walk around with all of the crates, stacks and boxes of records all over the floor. In some places, stacked floor to ceiling. He had boxes and boxes of mint classical and jazz records, all for $1 each.

The majority of the records are $1 and the condition of the records are VG+ to sealed. Most are NM. Anything less than VG+ is put in the '50 cent room', but I found NM records that had worn covers in the 50 cent room, which makes up 1/3 of the store. I'm not too picky, as long as the vinyl is clean and shiny and it's a record I can't find anywhere else, I'll pick it up.

Here's a sample of Fleetwood Mac - 'Rhiannon' from the new 45 RPM reissue:

[smg id=365 type=av]

Mastered from the original source tape by Bernie Grundman Studios and pressed on 180g vinyl @ Pallas record pressing.

'Over My Head'

[smg id=366 type=av]
 

Diahann Carroll - 'There'll be Some Changes Made'

[smg id=367 type=av]

Unbelievable Dynamics, depth and a great horn section. 

The store I go to - Double Decker Records was packed with new records. In fact, every record in the store wasn't there the last time I visited. Each record's price tag is marked with the date it came in and every record I seen was dated after my last visit. He goes through thousands of records every week. The whole store inventory gets turned over every two months. Yesterday, you could hardly walk around with all of the crates, stacks and boxes of records all over the floor. In some places, stacked floor to ceiling. He had boxes and boxes of mint classical and jazz records, all for $1 each.

The majority of the records are $1 and the condition of the records are VG+ to sealed. Most are NM. Anything less than VG+ is put in the '50 cent room', but I found NM records that had worn covers in the 50 cent room, which makes up 1/3 of the store. I'm not too picky, as long as the vinyl is clean and shiny and it's a record I can't find anywhere else, I'll pick it up.

I really need to learn teleporting myself, so that I can pay a visit to that store

Would be interested to hear the Rush. Sad to hear it's overly compressed like the CD though.