More Sting and The Police
This review for the Universal Heavy Vinyl pressing of Mercury Rising was written in the 2000s. I doubt we would be remotely as enamored with it now as we were then, but of course we will never know.
We had some brand new, long out of print Universal Heavy Vinyl pressings of this Sting title sitting on the shelf and decided that, since this was one of the better pressings they’d remastered, perhaps a shootout was in order for fans of Der Stingle.
Sure enough, no side of any copy sounded the same as the side of any other copy, which just goes to prove that, regardless of how carefully you master and press your records, there will always be sonic variations from copy to copy –if your stereo is capable of revealing them.
Since you’re on our site I’m guessing that your stereo must be pretty good, which means that our copies of Mercury Falling will be much more enjoyable than you might expect.
Problems
Oh, the usual ones. Lack of top end extension. Veiled mids. Smear.
On the positive side the sound was fairly rich and ANALOG sounding on most copies, not at all the artificially clean and clear sound one would expect to hear on the CD and most Heavy Vinyl being produced these days. (We are not fans of either FYI.)
Side One
A+. Not nearly on the same level as side two but better than the average copy. Sting’s vocals are rich, smooth and present.
Side Two
A+++. This is As Good As It Gets folks! It’s SUPER open and spacious with a three-dimensional quality that you just won’t find on the average copy. The vocals are clean and clear and the bass sounds excellent.