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- An early Charisma import pressing that was giving us the big and bold sound we were looking for, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them
- The sound here is rich and Tubey Magical (particularly on side one), two qualities the CD made from these tapes surely lacks and two qualities which are crucial if this music is to sound the way the band intended
- Forget the later reissues on the Blue Label – we have yet to hear one that can compete with these good originals
- Probably for the more serious fan, but Melody Maker found it “…tasteful, subtle and refined.”
Take it from us, the guys who play every kind of pressing we can get our hands on, the UK pressings are the only way to go on Trespass.
This early British Charisma pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records rarely even BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound.
If you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds.
What the Best Sides of Trespass Have to Offer Is Not Hard to Hear
- The biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space
- The most Tubey Magic, without which you have almost nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl pressings offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in 1970
- Tight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low
- Natural tonality in the midrange — with all the instruments having the correct timbre
- Transparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional space of the studio
No doubt there’s more but we hope that should do for now. Playing the record is the only way to hear all of the qualities we discuss above, and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.
What We’re Listening For on Trespass
- Energy for starters. What could be more important than the life of the music?
- The Big Sound comes next — wall to wall, lots of depth, huge space, three-dimensionality, all that sort of thing.
- Then transient information — fast, clear, sharp attacks for the guitars and drums, not the smear and thickness common to most LPs.
- Tight, note-like bass with clear fingering — which ties in with good transient information, as well as the issue of frequency extension further down.
- Next: transparency — the quality that allows you to hear deep into the soundfield, showing you the space and air around all the players.
- Then: presence and immediacy. The vocals aren’t “back there” somewhere, way behind the speakers. They’re front and center where any recording engineer worth his salt would have put them.
- Extend the top and bottom and voila, you have The Real Thing — an honest to goodness Hot Stamper.
Side One
- Looking For Someone
- White Mountain
- Visions Of Angels
Side Two
- Stagnation
- Dusk
- The Knife
5 Star Amazon Review
…I cannot find many “modern” acts that can even come close to the brilliance demonstrated in these six songs. I was already familiar with their Phil Collins era, but when I decided to order the earlier albums (the namesake, “Nursury Cryme” and “Foxtrot”) I wasn’t sure what to expect. When I slid “Trespass” into my stereo, “Looking for Someone” hit me like a brick house. It’s my favorite cut from the album, and it is absolutely worth the price of the [album] alone… “Dusk” and “The Knife” are also way up there for repeat listenings…
…I cannot recommend this album enough. When I tell you that I was “wowed” by Peter Gabriel’s voice – which I was already familiar with from “Melt” and “Security”, I mean I was “WOWED”!
-StratoMaster