Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

It's fairly unlikely you'd have made it here without ever having heard of Jason's previous incarnation. So here you go, talk away...

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spacemanT
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Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by spacemanT »

Hi ( hope this the right area for this post )
has anyone bought these ?
I'm curious to know how they sound. Obviously they are heavier, but what is the package for say "perfect prescription " like.
All of my Glass & Fire copies popped and crackled like a bowl of rice crispies. How clean are these copies.
I' dead keen to buy some but not if I have a similar vinyl experience as the originals, especially at close to £20.
T
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by marcvolta »

i think i read on here in an older topic that the Perfect Prescription sounds pretty bad compared to original copies, but the other two sound pretty good....
spacemanT
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by spacemanT »

Bad compared to the originals !!...boy...that is bad :shock:
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by toomilk »

spacemanT
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by spacemanT »

Thanks
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runcible
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by runcible »

There are many who believe that these vinyl pressings were recorded using Fire CDs as a source. This completely defeats the point of something like quality vinyl reissues as Fire didn't do that good a job with their CDs anywhere. From what I can see no one actually knows where the master tapes are.

I have heard bad things about Fire and Taang taking liberties with this sort of thing, so you might want to be a little cautious about buying anything reissued by those labels if it's sound quality that dictates your purchase. It was Fire, after all, who took the Glass stampers of the Spacemen vinyl, crossed out the catalogue number and write their own there instead! That's taking cutting corners to an extreme! Even then the Glass vinyl sounds much better than what Fire put out.
Ghost_World
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by Ghost_World »

I lose track of the different issues, no idea which is meant to be the definitive or best sounding versions.
runcible
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by runcible »

The first pressing, every time. So Glass for the 1st 3 albums basically.
niamhm
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by niamhm »

haven`t had turntable in 15 yrs,but I seem to remember my Glass copy of Preformance not sounding to clever,so god knows what any pressings since sound like ,but very happy with cd of said album I got on cd a few weeks back.
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by runcible »

niamhm wrote:haven`t had turntable in 15 yrs,but I seem to remember my Glass copy of Preformance not sounding to clever,so god knows what any pressings since sound like ,but very happy with cd of said album I got on cd a few weeks back.
Is that the Fire reissue? If so it will be from an old Fire CD which was made from old Glass vinyl so shouldn't be too different to what you had. I have no faith in Fire releasing these albums for qualitys sake, just a way to sell more copies.
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by BzaInSpace »

runcible wrote:The first pressing, every time. So Glass for the 1st 3 albums basically.
That for me is the real problem with the Spacemen catalogue - the Fire CDs I have of The Perfect Prescription and Playing With Fire just don't sound good to me at all. Put it this way, things like 'Take Me To The Other Side' or 'Suicide' should roar out of the speakers. But...they don't. It's not like it's just a case of turning the volume up - the dynamics seem shot, at least on the copies I own.
This I think has had a definite effect for me personally of not enjoying these as much as I should. Don't get me wrong, music is music and it shouldn't neccesarily be judged on the fidelity as you'll know from any pre-1950s recordings but when you know so much time and craft was spent on this music, and to have such shoddily mastered copies is a damn shame.
Compared to other music even from that time they sound very muted indeed.

In saying that, Recurring, Sound of Confusion and even the first demos album For All the Fucked Up Children sound great. The last one despite being raw as hell.

Is there a reason for this? I recall hearing some of the Forged Prescriptions tracks and they sounded dead on it. a lot of clarity and depth that you just don't get on the Fire CD.

Despite the legal and logistical mindfields it would be fantastic to have these released as final, good fidelity versions. Every other fuckin' album by even the most obscure artists are getting remasters now, why these two in particular are not is just...sad. I also recall first dipping into their albums and being confronted with all the various semi-legit live recordings and that - would be also good to have some proper, soundboard live albums...

Anyway...
O P 8
runcible
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by runcible »

I hear what you're saying about those 2 albums. Fire were notorious for cutting costs at every opportunity. The first CDs I had of Recurring had to be taken back to the shop twice as it kept cutting out during the last track. I think the vinyl quality of their issues are also highly questionable. What's annoying is that there are catalogue numbers for Glass CDs for the 1st 2 albums but they never appeared.
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by toomilk »

Finally got a copy of the Sound of Confusion reissue. Same problem exists, but not as bad as PP. Still flat and kind of lifeless.

infinite bummer..
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by TheWarmth »

I have always had an issue with the Perfect Prescription. I have a cd on Genius Records that sounds like shit. I played my Fire Records LP (gold metallic sleeve) tonight and my reaction was once again one of vague disappointment. It's obviously such amazing material, but something is wrong and I don't know what it is. It may be a mastering issue, but it's hard to say unless you have access to the original tapes. On the other hand, I bought the recent reissue of Sound of Confusion and I love it. I think it sounds great. I heard that these vinyl reissues may have been mastered from Fire cds, but either way I think this record (SoC) sounds good. P.P. is the only S3 album that has consistently frustrated me, to the point that I can't help feeling that Sound of Confusion is a better album, simply because I always enjoy the overall listening experience more.
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by BVCP206 »

runcible wrote: What's annoying is that there are catalogue numbers for Glass CDs for the 1st 2 albums but they never appeared.
Always bugged me that and yet we have a Glass CD of Performance :!:
'Remember, change is not good'
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by runcible »

TheWarmth wrote:...to the point that I can't help feeling that Sound of Confusion is a better album, simply because I always enjoy the overall listening experience more.
No one knows the answer to that. SOC was mixed all wrong by someone who didn't understand what the band were trying to do, so if it had been done as Pete and Jason wanted it may well be a superior album. As for the master tapes the location was probably scribbled down on a piece of paper by someone at Fire at the time, so the actual whereabouts is anyone's guess.
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by BVCP206 »

BVCP206 wrote:
runcible wrote: What's annoying is that there are catalogue numbers for Glass CDs for the 1st 2 albums but they never appeared.
Always bugged me that and yet we have a Glass CD of Performance :!:
Also bugs me that we don't have a TMTTOS 7" on Glass which I know was planned, wonder if there's a test press out there somewhere, now I think that would even top the Spectrum/Stereolab 7" in the rarity stakes :!:
'Remember, change is not good'
runcible
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by runcible »

BVCP206 wrote:
Also bugs me that we don't have a TMTTOS 7" on Glass which I know was planned, wonder if there's a test press out there somewhere, now I think that would even top the Spectrum/Stereolab 7" in the rarity stakes :!:
What? You mean you haven't got one of those? I'll show you my copy next time... :wink:
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by BVCP206 »

runcible wrote:
BVCP206 wrote:
Also bugs me that we don't have a TMTTOS 7" on Glass which I know was planned, wonder if there's a test press out there somewhere, now I think that would even top the Spectrum/Stereolab 7" in the rarity stakes :!:
What? You mean you haven't got one of those? I'll show you my copy next time... :wink:
So so predictable :roll:
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Re: Spacemen 3 on 180 Gram Vinyl

Post by runcible »

You show me the empty net and I'll always hoof it in!
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