
I'm not the biggest WS fan but I do love this album, and it'll be fun to dig into the DVD later. Still, I appreciate they did something different rather than simply replicating the album exactly.

And the long breaks between tracks for "studio chatter" is fun at first but gets annoying after a while. But there's a few songs that just really fall down with this mono mix, SNA being the worst offender. even) and I appreciate getting the "missing words" back in Medicine and the longer ending of SNA. even though certain tracks really shine as mono (B&B, Hardest Button, I Just Don't Know. Is this gonna replace the original stereo press for me? Not really. Just for comparison, I spun the RSD version of Elephant, which has already been cleaned. I did have my mono setup going (which minimizes noise) but I didn't catch a single tic or pop.

In fact, this is a really quiet pressing. But nothing that sounds like pressing distortions or QC issues. I don't hear any distortion other than the spots mentioned above that I believe are "baked" into the recordings somehow. Only one version virtually eliminated it with EQ choices but at the sacrifice of the “excitement” of the track - It sounded restrained and lifeless. Secondly, this distortion is on almost every other vinyl release of this track I’ve owned (I’ve had at least 3 or 4 versions in stereo). The fact that they were doing a microphone check tells me they knew there could be a problem. I suspect the sound engineer has boosted the levels on Jacks vocals for the final take and that has exacerbated the issue. Admittedly it’s not as severe but neither is Jacks vocal effort. The paper “blurb” insert included with this vault package suggests that the version of Girl you have no Faith in Medicine found on the 7” is an early microphone check recording of this song, and you can hear the same distortion evident on that. I’m of the firm belief that this is a tape issue caused by the vocal microphone that jack used (likely a vintage one knowing him). An album recorded analog with vintage gear, this track just shows the limits (authenticity perhaps) of those choices. Only one version virtually eliminated it with EQ choices but at the sacrifice of the “excitement” of the track - It sounded restrained and lifeless.Īs annoying as this distortion is I now accept it as part of the charm of the album. Click to expand.I’m of the firm belief that this is a tape issue caused by the vocal microphone that jack used (likely a vintage one knowing him).
