Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Richard Thompson Available Now
In spite of the fact that the domestic pressings of this Richard and Linda Thompson classic from 1974 were mastered by the likes of Kendun and Sterling — two of the greatest mastering houses of all time, — they have never impressed us with their sound quality.
The biggest problems with this record would be obvious to even the casual listener: gritty, spitty vocals; lack of richness; bright tonality; lack of bass; no real space or transparency, etc.
The domestic Island pressings did not do nearly as well in our shootout as the best Island imports, no surprise there as the early UK records were mastered by one of our favorite engineers.
Avoid the Carthage pressings mastered by Sterling. They came in last in our shootout.
The domestic breakdown follows:
Black Island Domestic #1
- Tubey but hot and spitty.
Black Island Domestic #2
- Flat, dry and hot (glary or bright)
Carthage Domestic recut from 1983, Sterling on both sides
- So sandy and lean! They really wanted to add some top end (!)
Defending the Indefensible