More of the Music of Richard Thompson
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
When good mastering houses like Kendun and Sterling make bad sounding records, we offer no excuses for their shoddy work. The same would be true for the better-known cutting engineers who’ve done work for them as well as other cutting operations. Individuals working for good companies sometimes do bad work.
How is this news to anyone outside of the sycophantic thread posters, youtubers, and reviewers who write for the audiophile community?
Records are to be judged on their merits, not on the reputations of the companies or individuals making them.
We discussed the apparent distaste some audiophiles have for criticizing the demonstrably bad records made by formerly talented engineers here.
If someone can explain to me why we should like it when cutting engineers do bad work, please contact me at tom@better-records.com.
Want to find your own top quality copy?
Consider taking our moderately helpful advice concerning the pressings that tend to win our shootouts.