new trend in vinyl?

[david ellwood]

just got the new nelly furtado on vinyl and its not all squeezed onto one disk

but rather spread over two, with really big grooves!

bit of a grind changing the disk over but the sound is fantastic!

anyone noticed any other disks coming packaged this way?

 

[dss]

Two disks is the vinyl standard now, rather than the norm, especially with dance music and bass hungry tracks.

I would say that the trend is even more exaggerated in Drum & Bass where three or four vinyls with one or two tracks a side is where it is at.

DS

 

[garyi]

Yea been that way for a while the stuff I was into when I had a deck was 2-3-4 even 5 disks for an album.

Frankly it did make it hard to 'get' the whole album but then this type of music is really meant for pick 'n' mix any how.

 

[DAVEDWACK]

just got the new nelly furtado on vinyl and its not all squeezed onto one disk

but rather spread over two, with really big grooves!

bit of a grind changing the disk over but the sound is fantastic!

anyone noticed any other disks coming packaged this way?

Hi,

The most recent 4 Newbies I've bought are all doubles..Bruce Springsteen/Elvis Costello/Brian Wilson and The Streets so I reckon you're spot on!

While I'm here anybody wanna swop me the Streets LP...I can't handle all the swearing on it, due to my being an old fogey.

Cheers, Dave

 

[andy m]

hardly anything i have bought on vinyl recently has been double vinyl unless it's just simply been a really long record.

 

[Robn]

One trend seems to be that standard artists are expected by the companies to record sufficient material to fill a CD. This is usually too much to be squashed on 1 LP without loss of quality so the vinyl is released as a double.

Another trend I notice via my daughter is 12" for singles to run at 33rpm even when there is space for 45".

Scott Walker's recent release is a double LP, there again Kate Bush's Aerial was both a double LP and I think a double CD. What I find frustrating is that despite upping the price of vinyl and marketing it as a premium product they still can't press it well - expect we'll soon see wafer thin 'flexi LPs' again soon following the new oil shock!

 

[TOFFEEMAN1878]

Chilli Peppers is over EIGHT sides ,can't wait !!

 

[Whizzkid]

I would say that the trend is even more exaggerated in Drum & Bass where three or four vinyls with one or two tracks a side is where it is at. DS

Yes this is a pain up the arse when the smaller labels especially drum 'n' bass and Breakbeat release the so called album on triple/quadruple vinyl to find its really a DJ pack at 45rpm and only 6/8 tracks.



Dean

 

[Whizzkid]

One trend seems to be that standard artists are expected by the companies to record sufficient material to fill a CD.

I feel there should be a bit more quality control from the Labels, just filling up an album with remixes and unfinished tracks just to fill up the 80 minutes is just over indulgent and takes away something that could have been great. John B's new album is a great example of this 16 tracks 5 of which are remixes/cover versions of 80's synth-pop which are not very good. His self penned tracks are excellent though.


Dean

 

[Robn]

Agree - it is the result of a 'product' mindset, as a listener less if often more. Maybe the fillers are there to remind us that CD does have some advantages!

Robin

 

[Chris]

My "Morph the Cat" is also on 2 slabs. I had supposed this was because I opted for the special US edition which cost me 50 euros !!

 

[Sid and Coke]

The thing that i have noticed with nearly all of my recent vinyl purchases of recent recodings is that the quality has gone up, especially compared to new releases in vinyls heyday of the late 70's and 80's . Not only do the actual vinyl disks seem to be better made but the whole vinyl package, e.g. inner sleeves, inserts, etc seem to be great especially when compared to say an equivlent CD release. An example would be Pink Floyds 30th Anniversary re-issue, it wasn't just a new record, it was an event, jam packed full of gooddies and extras and it sounded brilliant (to me ) too...

Only my very favorite recordings get duplicated on both CD and Vinyl these days and it is always the vinyl that gives me a better impression of value for money, even if sometimes i think that the CD actually sounds better....

 

[Whizzkid]

The thing that i have noticed with nearly all of my recent vinyl purchases of recent recodings is that the quality has gone up, especially compared to new releases in vinyls heyday of the late 70's and 80's .

I agree just take a look at David Gilmours' new album On An Island the card that it is made out is really thick and stiff its difficult to get the card inner sleeve back into it (i've replaced it with a poly-lined sleeve instead). Should Stay in good nick for a while though.


Dean

 

[Robn]

The packaging is often more elaborate - perhaps this is part of the vinyl tradition or perhaps to help justify the vinyl premium, but apart from 'audiophile' releases I'm not convinced that the actual vinyl pressings are in general any better. My recent purchases have been variously dished, warped and on Kate Bush's Aerial there are three episodes of cchronic distortion - no it isn't her pretending to be a pigeon.

Unwelcome nostalgia in the cost benefit analysis of whether worth travelling back into town to return it and explain the defects.

When CD was launched LPs were priced at roughly 50% of the white hot CD equivalents, they are now usually more expensive. Partly this is because it now caters for a minority market but of they were priced more keenly perhaps the market would grow more quickly.

 

[chfs911]

I got this 2 LP new album and it is in bright pink and sounds like a tranny radio.

Truely appalling example of a vinyl release.

However Mr Cash's American recordings are superb.

 

[Uncle Ants]

Its not so much a new trend in vinyl as an old trend in CD as Robn pointed out.

45 minutes is about as far as you can practically go on vinyl before you need to make a double album (often considered a sign of pretentious w**kery back in pre CD days if you remember, with only a few honourable exceptions). Nowadays CDs are usually way over that, with the consequence that the vinyl release has to be a double.

I think one of the reasons a lot of people are buying fewer CDs is that the artists and record companies are not forced to be more selective about what they put on a release - people just think CDs have got more boring ... and they have ... but only because they outlast their welcome by about 25 minutes . 40 to 45 minutes is a great length for a pop or rock record, some of my favourites are even shorter. 70 minutes is not a great length unless you have a lot of very good material. You don't even get a short break half way through f'chrisakes

The fact that its becoming more obvious is only a result of a lot more new material becoming available on vinyl than previously. Seriously though I'd be happier to have a 45 minute version of some 70 minute CDs on a single vinyl release, but with all the filler cut out

 

[Robn]

Taking it further, perhaps for those whose energy levels have yet to subside and who can survive without a remote control facility, the 12" single is the supreme format for recorded music.

The time constraints of this form impose a discipline that can really help focus the producers and artists. IMHO this has yielded some memorable music. The format also has the potential to sound great, look good, yet be affordable to most of us! Extended mixes in this format often need & encourage aural experimentation to maintain musical interest beyond the 3 minutes that the songs usually justify. Admittedly this often doesn't work and production cliches abound. However when it does work the results can be wonderful: some of the 12" recordings I enjoyed in my lively phase were from Joy Division, New Order, ACR, Manu Dibango, Material (Laswell), Dillinger, Human League, Ian Dury, and of course Chic! I'm happy to see from my 16 year old daughter that this format is still very much alive albeit often at 33rpm.

I also have great regard for the 35 - 50 minute LP and for the convenience of CD. At least CD lets you skip the crap and on one early CD player I had the machine recognised individual CDs and could be programmed to only ever play selected tracks from each of these. I guess one of the main attractions of hard disc replay is the ability to customise programming so that all the CD filler tracks can be consigned to the great void for excess filler music.