Original versus reissue: age matters

The year of release of a record can sometimes tell you (almost) everything

A key aspect you should assess before buying a vinyl record, or when hesitating between editions, is the record’s age. If you care about sound, this is probably the single most important factor you should consider.

The age of a record is a twofold concept: it involves the year of release as well as how much use the record has seen over the years. These aspects are of course related but don’t always go hand in hand, so it’s worth analysing them independently.

Today I will be looking at the year of release of records and how you can use this vital piece of information to guide your choices.

Year of release

You should analyse not only the year the record first came out in the market, but also the year of release of any specific reissues.

Vinyl’s journey from recording studios through pressing plants onto our shelves has been, over the years, far from straightforward. Knowing the exact year a specific record was made is fundamental if you are to make any reasonable assumptions about sound quality and potential resale value.

Golden, dormant or revival?

You know how the story goes: once upon a time vinyl was king, it was then ousted by other formats, but fifteen years ago it made a comeback and is now the dominant physical format again.

Records released during the golden years tend to boast superior sound quality and will almost always resell for more compared with later reissues (subject to scarcity and demand).

The level of industry knowledge and expertise back then was, put simply, unrivalled. These records are highly coveted by collectors.

The golden years are generally seen as encompassing the period between the late fifties and the late eighties. The jury is still out on when exactly it ended. Some collectors include only the sixties, as they claim vinyl’s decline started in the seventies. Others believe it ended in 1987, when CDs first outsold vinyl. A third group will pinpoint the end sometime between 1990 and 1992.

In the context of the original versus reissue debate, I include the late eighties and early nineties as part of the golden years. Remember that vinyl’s decline was a gradual process — it didn’t happen overnight. You should see this period as a continuum as opposed to rigid or fixed in time.

The times are a-changing

I like to think of the early/mid-nineties as the beginning of a turning point. This is when many vinyl factories closed for good and the industry moved on. While vinyl never fully disappeared, it wasn’t very popular outside specific niches between, say, 1994 and 2007.

In general, records released up until the early nineties were mastered and manufactured along the lines of “how vinyl should sound”, and crucially, with the knowledge and expertise of people who had been working with vinyl during its heyday (or those who learned directly from them).

Records released during the “dormant period” (i.e. between vinyl’s decline and its resurgence) can be hit or miss when it comes to sound quality. Resources were limited, and music was being mastered using digital technology and with digital formats in mind.

Some records from this “dormant period” tend to sell for exorbitant prices, regardless of their sound quality. Vinyl was quite rare back then and, as such, not manufactured in huge amounts. Scarcity will always affect the value of a record, especially during this period.

Comeback

With the vinyl revival and the renewed interest in the format, records started being produced for the masses again. But all the vinyl manufacturing know-how didn’t magically reappear overnight. Vinyl was pretty much dormant for more than a decade, so the industry is still playing catch up.

Having said that, vinyl manufacturing has seen significant improvements in the last five years. The vinyl revival started roughly fifteen years ago, so we are now at a stage where the format has been “awake again” for as long as it was dormant. Therefore, a record released in 2022 has a stronger chance of sounding better than one released in 2002 during CD’s heyday.

There are, of course, exceptions. You will find the odd record from 2005 with outstanding sound quality. The specific genre will play a role as well. Some dance records never really suffered from the lack of investment during vinyl’s dormant period. The same goes for some techno, punk and indie rock releases (these genres are usually credited with the no small feat of having kept the format alive when everyone else had moved on).

So… which version is better?

Some audiophiles claim some recent reissues sound better. Others are purists and will always favour earlier releases.

It really depends on the record, its condition, and the skillset of the individuals in charge of the mastering and manufacturing processes.

While there is no magic formula, understanding the wider industry context can help you make better assumptions.

To illustrate, if you are hesitating between an original from 1987 still in pretty good condition versus a reissue from 2009, and assuming you have no information available on its mastering, pressing and overall quality, it’s safe to assume the original release will most probably sound better.

While it’s always a good idea to check reviews before buying, sometimes you just have to be guided by general principles, which should, in turn, be informed by your industry knowledge. The reality is that the level of vinyl manufacturing expertise in 1987 was infinitely superior to the one available in 2009.

Imagine, in contrast, that the original release is from 1998 and the reissue is from 2021. The 1998 version will probably sell for a lot more due to its collectible value, but if it’s a fifteen-track record (quite popular with late nineties releases) pressed on only one record, whereas the 2021 version comes as a double LP (thus giving grooves more space and the sound more “room” to breathe), all would indicate that this reissue will probably sound better than the original, especially if properly mastered.

As you can see, the year of release is key because it gives you a clear indication of the state of play in the industry when the record came out.

This very simple yet tremendously useful metric can already tell you a lot about a record’s potential sound quality (directly influenced by manufacturing conditions) and resale value (determined by scarcity and demand). With records, age is a lot more than just a number.

That’s all for today. Thank you for reading or listening and, as always, happy spinning!