If you love the British Tubey Magical, rich (some might even call it overly rich) sound of Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie crossed with Mott the Hoople, Axe Victim just might make a wonderful addition to your collection. We would love to find you some Hot Stampers of Ziggy and All the Young Dudes, but they simply aren’t findable at the prices we can afford to pay, so until then, here is that sound in spades. And the music is good too: clever, well-produced, full of rock and roll energy and guitar pyrotechnics.
The second song on side two boasts a guitar sound so big and dynamic that it single-handedly turns the track into a demonstration of just how good analog recording technology was in the ’70s. This record has the kind of Audio Excitement that’s almost shocking in a way. We hear dynamics such as these so infrequently that it’s easy to forget records (and guitars) can actually get this loud. What a thrill.
It has been our experience that only the British pressings of Be Bop Deluxe’s albums sound like they are made from real master tapes. The domestic pressings we’ve played have been flat and dubby.
The copies that were big, rich and tubey did the best in our shootout. No domestic copies seem to have much of those qualities to speak of.
Side One
A+. The sound here is big and lively and while it could use a bit more space and richness, it’s still a nice step up over the average copy.
Side Two
A++ – A+++, almost White Hot! This is the where the real magic is happening folks. It’s big, rich and super high-rez with a HUGE bottom and and TONS of tubey magic. Overall, it’s positively ROCKIN’!
Both sides are quiet too! (more…)
Stunning sound on all four sides! This album — and Genesis in general — can be difficult to find good sound for. Most copies struggle — or make you struggle — to get the sense of the material and what the band is trying to accomplish, but when you find a killer pressing such as this one, the complexity and theatricality of the music really WORKS.
Bigger and more present, richer and fuller, with more space and transparency, this copy is doing everything we want the album to do.
Certain tracks — particular the more rocking, guitar-heavy material — are often going to get a little hard in the midrange, but on a good copy the issue is much less apparent and doesn’t get in the way of the music. And the more open, spacious keyboard-based and acoustically driven songs which comprise the bulk of the album can sound really wonderful.
Latest Findings
We came across an original British pressing, Porky/Pecko and everything, that was a major letdown sonically. Yes, folks, some pressings that are supposed to be good just aren’t. You’ve got to play them to know which is which, and that’s where we come in.
We never assume anything about a record. We play it and find out for a fact how good it sounds. Any other approach will be too error prone to be of any real use, assuming you set high standards for the sound of your records. (more…)
Not sure if I would still agree with what I wrote many years ago about this album, sonically anyway:
A pristine looking Stax LP with excellent sound and some really heartfelt Blues music.
This is a Stax reissue from 1982. My experience with the stuff that Fantasy remastered has been very good over the years. This is another winner.
“Milton’s early-’70s output indeed began to walk the fine line between the blues and soul and includes the song Behind Closed Doors.” — AMG
The grit and grain that plagues most copies is GONE here, replaced with the kind of space and transparency that really make sense of the recording. The bottom end has real weight and punch, and the whole thing is much richer and more natural than usual.
That Glossy Richard Perry Sound
Many copies of this album suffer from (at least) one of two problems: unnaturally hi-fi-ish sound or an excess of grit and grain. Both are in large part due to the processing-intensive production of Richard Perry.
The best copies make it easy to understand his choices: the sound is lovely. Unfortunately that rich, sweet sound he obviously got on to the master tape didn’t quite make it to the average vinyl pressing of this album. The effects used on Carly’s vocals turn her voice into a gritty, grainy mess on most copies — certainly not the kind of sound that audiophiles want to hear.
As is so often the case, it took a few exceptional copies to make us understand what Simon and Perry were going for. Compare this Hot Stamper to the typical copy and you’ll hear it for yourself right away. (more…)
If you’re a fan and have never heard this album, you will find numerous gems that make it worth the price. The title track is excellent, as is Come a Little Bit Closer. (Practically everything Christine McVie does on these pre-Buckingham Nicks albums is good. On weak albums such as Penguin it’s McVie’s performances and songwriting that carry the day.) (more…)