Reviews and Commentaries for Parallel Lines
At the risk of being definitive about things that are better left ill-defined, I would say that the Number One quality we look for in a pressing is the element of Life or Energy.
We can put up with a great many shortcomings, including even some tonality problems, but when a record fails to convey the spirit and enthusiasm of the musicians, it’s pretty much over. When it comes to the importance of energy in the pressings we audition, this commentary on Zuma may be of some interest.
Some pressings of other titles notably lacking in energy can be found here.
I became a giant fan of this album the moment I heard it, but the sound always left something to be desired. So many copies were thick, smeary, opaque and compressed. The music was cookin’ but the sound always seemed to be holding it back.
And like an idiot I’m sure I traded my original domestic pressing in for the MoFi when it came out in the early ’80s, the kind of dumbass audiophile move I made again and again until I finally wised up.
It took us until 2016 to make the breakthrough discovery we needed to make in order to find the best pressings.
Further Reading