Like you, I prefer originals. But there are a few exceptional reissue labels that are blowing it out of the water with sound, art, mastering, vinyl pressing, and excellent quality control. They also tend to be on the pricier side.
Regarding original '90s LPs, the 90s was such a good decade for music, so the demand is definitely there. On the whole (sound-wise), however, I have found a lot of original '90s pressings, especially early and mid-90s, not particularly brilliant. In many cases, the CD is preferable to the LP. CD was king then, and vinyl was an afterthought or pressed for DJs.
The need to improve on the original's mediocre sound, limited pressing quantities, and today's strong demand are no doubt driving the constant repressings and remasterings (e.g. My Bloody Valentine's 'Loveless' is constantly being reissued).
Thank you, Michael! I agree with you 100%. Some 90s records, especially late 90s, sound better on CD when compared with their first vinyl pressing. You can hear the lack of investment in the format at the time.That’s where a good reissue, done properly, like many recent ones, can shine. A while back I wrote about one of my obsessions: the year of release of records and why I give so much importance to it. Not sure if you were around back then as it was quite early on, but you might find it interesting: https://open.substack.com/pub/vinylroom/p/original-versus-reissue-age-matters?r=222vb3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thanks again for stopping by and for your, as always, very insightful comments!
This was a great run-through of smart strategies. For me, almost all the brand-new vinyl I buy these days is also a brand-new (or very recent) album. A repressing or reissue is only attractive to me if I can't hear the music elsewhere, whether on a CD I already have or streaming, or if there's something super-special about the new version.
Fnac is such a good store, I was on holiday in France and found loads of gems and all well priced! Unfortunately, they do not ship outside of the countries they have stores in.
A very good online store that does ship internationally is HHV.de. solid shipping, great collection and an email as soon as one of your items in your wish list is back in stock. (Although that feature is also detrimental from a budgeting perspective 😂)
I'm another one in the "I prefer originals to reissues" camp, but will take a reissue in a heartbeat if I've been looking for the original for a long time (or if it's out of my price range). If nothing else, it's a great placeholder in the interim. FWIW, I did find an original copy of The Swing recently, and while it's at best VG+, it was priced to move, and sounded great over lunch earlier this week.
Thank you, Kev! I agree, and tend to follow the ssme principle. I sooo want that Swing early pressing lol. Managed to get the Gary Moore one. Next up will be The Swing for sure!
Like you, I prefer originals. But there are a few exceptional reissue labels that are blowing it out of the water with sound, art, mastering, vinyl pressing, and excellent quality control. They also tend to be on the pricier side.
Regarding original '90s LPs, the 90s was such a good decade for music, so the demand is definitely there. On the whole (sound-wise), however, I have found a lot of original '90s pressings, especially early and mid-90s, not particularly brilliant. In many cases, the CD is preferable to the LP. CD was king then, and vinyl was an afterthought or pressed for DJs.
The need to improve on the original's mediocre sound, limited pressing quantities, and today's strong demand are no doubt driving the constant repressings and remasterings (e.g. My Bloody Valentine's 'Loveless' is constantly being reissued).
Thank you, Michael! I agree with you 100%. Some 90s records, especially late 90s, sound better on CD when compared with their first vinyl pressing. You can hear the lack of investment in the format at the time.That’s where a good reissue, done properly, like many recent ones, can shine. A while back I wrote about one of my obsessions: the year of release of records and why I give so much importance to it. Not sure if you were around back then as it was quite early on, but you might find it interesting: https://open.substack.com/pub/vinylroom/p/original-versus-reissue-age-matters?r=222vb3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thanks again for stopping by and for your, as always, very insightful comments!
This was a great run-through of smart strategies. For me, almost all the brand-new vinyl I buy these days is also a brand-new (or very recent) album. A repressing or reissue is only attractive to me if I can't hear the music elsewhere, whether on a CD I already have or streaming, or if there's something super-special about the new version.
Thank you, Jeremy! That’s a very good “rule of thumb” to go by. Makes a lot of sense.
Fnac is such a good store, I was on holiday in France and found loads of gems and all well priced! Unfortunately, they do not ship outside of the countries they have stores in.
A very good online store that does ship internationally is HHV.de. solid shipping, great collection and an email as soon as one of your items in your wish list is back in stock. (Although that feature is also detrimental from a budgeting perspective 😂)
It’s great, isn’t it? And many branches have such a wide and eclectic selection.
Oh yes, I think I may have ordered from HHV.de once or twice! Back in stock emails are always a double-edged sword! 🤩
I'm another one in the "I prefer originals to reissues" camp, but will take a reissue in a heartbeat if I've been looking for the original for a long time (or if it's out of my price range). If nothing else, it's a great placeholder in the interim. FWIW, I did find an original copy of The Swing recently, and while it's at best VG+, it was priced to move, and sounded great over lunch earlier this week.
Thank you, Kev! I agree, and tend to follow the ssme principle. I sooo want that Swing early pressing lol. Managed to get the Gary Moore one. Next up will be The Swing for sure!