Vinyl Me Please Classics

stpaulbrowns said:
If it is Freedom Rider, I have to say that Blue Note is going ALL OUT on their Art Blakey reissues in 2019:

Free For All (MM-SRX)
A Night in Tunisia (MM-SRX)
Indestructible (BN80)
Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World (BN80)
Buhaina's Delight (BN80)
Freedom Rider (VMP)?

Also, find it interesting that the first album in the VMP Blue Note Anthology brought Blakey and Silver together: Horace Silver and Spotlight on Drums: Art Blakey - Sabu (Blue Note, 1955)
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It's awesome. The Jazz Messengers were so prolific.

Fwiw, Africaine was also in the Blue Note Review 2.
 
duke86fan said:
(also they like MRP, are they really that bad?)
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Bad? No.
Inconsistent quality control? Yes.

The Mavis RotM and several VMP exclusives (Al Green, Willie Nelson's Troublemaker) have been pressed there. As have all of the Fat Possum titles, and lots of the Craft (Isaac Hayes, etc) reissues.

Of the big vinyl pressing plants I'm familiar with, I'd rank them as follows based on pressing quality and number of mistakes that make it out into the buying world from their plants: (Obviously, others experiences will vary)
  1. QRP
  2. Pallas
  3. RTI
  4. Optimal
  5. GZ
  6. MPO
  7. MRP
  8. Rainbo
  9. United
 
TCell said:
Bad? No.
Inconsistent quality control? Yes.

The Mavis RotM and several VMP exclusives (Al Green, Willie Nelson's Troublemaker) have been pressed there. As have all of the Fat Possum titles, and lots of the Craft (Isaac Hayes, etc) reissues.

Of the big vinyl pressing plants I'm familiar with, I'd rank them as follows based on pressing quality and number of mistakes that make it out into the buying world from their plants: (Obviously, others experiences will vary)
  1. QRP
  2. Pallas
  3. RTI
  4. Optimal
  5. GZ
  6. MPO
  7. MRP
  8. Rainbo
  9. United
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duke86fan said:
i'm surprised Gz isn't at the bottom due to their reputation
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I think I'd swap MPO and GZ... close call. :unsure:
 
duke86fan said:
(also they like MRP, are they really that bad?)
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My main gripe is that they go through the trouble of having Kevin Gray master from the original tapes, which shows a level of care put into this release. But then they don't choose a pressing plants that operates at the same level of detail.

As for pressing plants in general, I kind of have a tier system, based off of personal experience and reviews online. There are more record plants in the world then I'm listing, but these are the plants I mostly come across.

First tier: Mostly excellent. High quality vinyl formulation, which results in great sounding records. Also good QC overall, which leads to a low number of defective pressings --> buy with confidence
- RTI
- QRP
- Pallas
- Record Industry

Second tier: Mostly good, but inconsistent. You can get some very good sounding records from these plants, as VMP has shown and series such as BN80 also demonstrate. However these plants are known to be inconsistent, perhaps caused by these plants operating on a larger scale.
- Optimal
- GZ
- MPO

Third tier: Mediocre or even bad. High number of pressing defects, probably stemming from high volume and a resulting lack of QC. Even the records that seem flawless don't sound as good as the other two tiers in my experience. Just by looking at vinyl that comes from these plants you can see that it is a lesser quality vinyl compound.
- United (My most recent experience is mistakingly having received two copies of the same record and both being horribly off-centre and noisy)
- Rainbo
- MRP

It is definitely possible to get great sounding/flawless records from the lowest tier, as it is possible to get bad pressings from the first. However, certain plants have a much higher standard of quality control and put out a higher quality product in general. This does make them more expensive, which is partly why many labels choose plants from lower tiers.
 
So Freedom Rider is the overwhelming favorite, but here's another Blue Note group still in contention.

The 3 Sounds - Black Orchid

Discogs erroneously lists it as a 1962 release, but it was released in 1964. Wikipedia has the correct date and cites a Billboard article from the period.
 
mcherry said:
This Isley Brothers sounds awesome!
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This☝

I got mine today and wow. Super flat and that bass is a window rattler for sure. I mean, just imagine if they put as much care into the other two tracks as they have with Classics. I played Isleys at my normal volume (which TBH a s pretty fuckin’ loud) and I almost had to turn it down it has a great punch and separation I was picking up some keyboards that I didnt’t notice during prior listens.... then I put my on OutKast and Method Man and couldn’t help but be a tad disappointed. Had to turn it up to get the same levels and it all sounded a bit more muddled. I mean I am no audiophile so overall it’s fine. that Isley’s though is perfection.
 
doncornelius said:
So Freedom Rider is the overwhelming favorite, but here's another Blue Note group still in contention.

The 3 Sounds - Black Orchid

Discogs erroneously lists it as a 1962 release, but it was released in 1964. Wikipedia has the correct date and cites a Billboard article from the period.
Click to expand...
I crossed that 3 Sounds off the list of possibilities because it seems way too low profile of a pick. That said, I concede basically all the previous Blue Note picks have been lower profile. It would be pretty cool if VMP got a lot of people into The 3 Sounds, though.
 
stpaulbrowns said:
If it is Freedom Rider, I have to say that Blue Note is going ALL OUT on its Art Blakey reissues in 2019:


Free For All (MM-SRX)
A Night in Tunisia (MM-SRX)
Indestructible (BN80)
Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World (BN80)
Buhaina's Delight (BN80)
Freedom Rider (VMP)?

Also, find it interesting that the first album in the VMP Blue Note Anthology brought Blakey and Silver together: Horace Silver and Spotlight on Drums: Art Blakey - Sabu (Blue Note, 1955)
Click to expand...

They also put a stellar pressing of Africaine in the Spirit and Time Blue Note Review Vol. 2
 
johnpisme said:
I crossed that 3 Sounds off the list of possibilities because it seems way too low profile of a pick. That said, I concede basically all the previous Blue Note picks have been lower profile. It would be pretty cool if VMP got a lot of people into The 3 Sounds, though.
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The 3 Sounds were very popular in the 50s and 60s and sold a lot of records. Maybe not as well regarded as Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, but I don't know if they should be called low profile. There aren't really any sales numbers known from back in the 60s, but I would not be surprised if some records by the 3 Sounds sold more copies than some records by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers.
 
Dark Star Boogie said:
The Freedom Rider would be unreal especially with their new AAA Classics streak.

Plus, ya know, more Shorter for this Wayne addict. And Lee Morgan!!! 😍
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CCKrone said:
Lee Morgan and Art Blakey are magic together.
As a side, have you seen the documentary, I Called Him Morgan, it's amazing
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I have been on a huge, almost obsessive, Lee Morgan binge for the past few weeks. The 'I Called Him Morgan' doc is amazing, I agree! Some fantastic interviews in that doc!

I have recently been on the hunt for some of Morgans lesser known involvements, have you listened to 'The Young Lions' album on Vee-Jay? I picked an original mono of that up last week and its superb. Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Cannonball Adderley.....cant go wrong!
 
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