Needle Time

  Big Star - #1 Record [CR00211 USA 2020 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Just over a year back, I posted my rip of the 1986 German white vinyl pressing of this fabulous album originally released on Ardent Records in 1972. I mentioned then that Craft Recordings had released an all analogue remaster from the original tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. Powell happens to have been originally employed as a mastering engineer at Ardent back in the day. The stampers were cut at Record Technology Incorporated and the final product was pressed at Memphis Record Pressing. The debut album by Big Star had no chance of ever reaching #1 , as the label just couldn't get them out to record stores due to issues at there distributor, Stax Records. It never saw a release outside the US for many years and I have memories of selling bucket loads of the eventual UK re-release, courtesy of Big Beat Records, at my provincial home counties chain store in 1986. Is this likely to be the best available ...

  Big Star - #1 Record [LILP 4.00263J DEU 1986 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a vinyl album on Ardent Records in the USA in 1972, the debut album by Big Star had no chance of ever reaching #1, as the label just couldn't get them out to record stores due to issues at Stax Records there distributor. It never saw a release outside the US for many years and I have memories of selling bucket loads of the eventual UK rerelease courtesy of Big Beat Records at my provincial home counties chain store in 1986. I had a copy of that repress, however it is long gone, so imagine my delight when I found a copy of this German pressing on white vinyl a few years back. This version is a Teldec release, mastered by Christian Stegmaier which should make it a DMM pressing, although this is not mentioned anywhere on the product. The white vinyl makes it impossible to recognise the tell tale signs of DMM contours, and there is still a little noise audible on the quieter sections and gaps betwe...