Which Pressing - Pirates Rickie Lee Jones

[Bill Hart]

Have a couple, maybe more, copies of the old Warners pressing- is the japanese pressing worth seeking out? I know Mobile Fidelity 'remastered' this record and it is readily available, but I have little love for the sound of their reissues.
(We're talking vinyl here folks, so even if the SACD is killer, it won't help me- I'm a luddite).
TIA.
FWIW, i have quite a few of the older Mobile Fidelity pressings from back in the day- what, the early 80's?
Dark Side, Abbey Road, White Album, Aqualung, Led Zep II, etc. In that era, there weren't many options for 'audiophile' reissues. While I haven't gone back to compare all of them to their original pressings, I have found that, for example, some copies of the Warners original Rickie Lee Jone's record sound more lively than the MoFi reissue. (Again, talking about MoFi reissues that were done long ago, have no idea what their stuff sounds like now).

 

[MylesBAstor]

Have a couple, maybe more, copies of the old Warners pressing- is the japanese pressing worth seeking out? I know Mobile Fidelity 'remastered' this record and it is readily available, but I have little love for the sound of their reissues.
(We're talking vinyl here folks, so even if the SACD is killer, it won't help me- I'm a luddite).
TIA.
FWIW, i have quite a few of the older Mobile Fidelity pressings from back in the day- what, the early 80's?
Dark Side, Abbey Road, White Album, Aqualung, Led Zep II, etc. In that era, there weren't many options for 'audiophile' reissues. While I haven't gone back to compare all of them to their original pressings, I have found that, for example, some copies of the Warners original Rickie Lee Jone's record sound more lively than the MoFi reissue. (Again, talking about MoFi reissues that were done long ago, have no idea what their stuff sounds like now).

I compared the original with the new MF for PFO a while back. You can google it. Besides, you want this for the music, not the sound. You may or may not know the story of Pirates but it was one of the first digital recordings to bless us. It was so cold and sterile that the producer decided to transfer it to tape to try and warm the sound up. It still is colder than an Antarctic winter so the mind numbs thinking about what the original recording sounded like

 

[Bill Hart]

I compared the original with the new MF for PFO a while back. You can google it. Besides, you want this for the music, not the sound. You may or may not know the story of Pirates but it was one of the first digital recordings to bless us. It was so cold and sterile that the producer decided to transfer it to tape to try and warm the sound up. It still is colder than an Antarctic winter so the mind numbs thinking about what the original recording sounded like

Thanks for that, Myles, and I will look at your review. It is sad, because in many ways I think it was her best work. I saw her quite a few times back in the day, and more recently (still probably 20 years ago) when, if memory serves, she played Carnegie Hall. I missed the recent tour where she performed the first two albums verbatim- I can't remember what kept me from that show- my wife went with friends and said her band was unrehearsed, and that RLJ actually stopped the performance at one point she was so pissed off. I'm not enamoured of her terminal hipness, but like the early stuff. The EP 'Girl' also had some nice morsels, but all the copies i have of that are pretty noisy.

 

[mep]

I have the MF reissue and I will have to give it another spin. I don't remember thinking it was as bad as Myles is saying. I do agree that just because MF reissues something that means it's going to be great. They have issued recordings that were not as good as the original pressings. The first Chicago LP comes quickly to mind.

 

[Bill Hart]

Interesting re Chicago. I found a couple of older copies of Chicago II, Columbia, right? And one side, with 'Wake up Sunshine' sounded great- the side with 25 or 6 to 4 sounded nasty. I think i have that right. I have really been striving to listen to as many originals as I can (not going out and paying crazy money for them now, although I just got a sealed copy of Janis Ian's 'Between the Lines' from 1975 that i paid around 30 bucks for). For pop, I think some of these original, non-'audiophile' records are on occassion, remarkably good in the 1970's even though multi-tracking capabilities were reaching full fruition by then.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Thanks for that, Myles, and I will look at your review. It is sad, because in many ways I think it was her best work. I saw her quite a few times back in the day, and more recently (still probably 20 years ago) when, if memory serves, she played Carnegie Hall. I missed the recent tour where she performed the first two albums verbatim- I can't remember what kept me from that show- my wife went with friends and said her band was unrehearsed, and that RLJ actually stopped the performance at one point she was so pissed off. I'm not enamoured of her terminal hipness, but like the early stuff. The EP 'Girl' also had some nice morsels, but all the copies i have of that are pretty noisy.

Yes RLJ can be temperamental. She did the same thing when I saw her at the Concerts on the Pier series in NY right after RLJ released her first album. Saw her a year ago at the City Winery and things were more under control

 

[mep]

Interesting re Chicago. I found a couple of older copies of Chicago II, Columbia, right? And one side, with 'Wake up Sunshine' sounded great- the side with 25 or 6 to 4 sounded nasty. I think i have that right. I have really been striving to listen to as many originals as I can (not going out and paying crazy money for them now, although I just got a sealed copy of Janis Ian's 'Between the Lines' from 1975 that i paid around 30 bucks for). For pop, I think some of these original, non-'audiophile' records are on occassion, remarkably good in the 1970's even though multi-tracking capabilities were reaching full fruition by then.

Yes, it was Columbia. If you can find an original pressing of the first Chicago LP, snap it up. Their version of I'm a Man is reference quality for sounding live. The MF version cut off the bottom end.

 

[MylesBAstor]

I have the MF reissue and I will have to give it another spin. I don't remember thinking it was as bad as Myles is saying. I do agree that just because MF reissues something that means it's going to be great. They have issued recordings that were not as good as the original pressings. The first Chicago LP comes quickly to mind.

For sxxt and giggles Mark, compare the sound of RLJ's first album with her follow-up. FWIW, the best sounding pressing of her first album was the UK version. The US didn't hold a candle to it. The sound on the second album is putrid.

 

[mep]

So we are talking RLJ vs Pirates?

 

[MylesBAstor]

So we are talking RLJ vs Pirates?

Yes, just for a frame of reference.

 

[mep]

I own both and the first LP is way better.