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Colosseum : Those Who Are About To Die 1Y1 / 2Y1 1st Press 1969

This first pressing on the Fontana label plays to a superb standard with only very minimal interference during 'Mandarin' on S1.  It has five static clicks half way through but the rest of the track and indeed the rest of the album plays with exceptional clarity, depth and power.  The vinyl is very impressive visually and has just one small mark and some hairlines that have no affect on the audio.     

The gatefold has only one area of wear on the inside but is otherwise excellent and the original inner sleeve is in very good condition.  

STL 5510 // 886765  1Y//1  420  1 1 4  //  886 775  2Y//1  420  1 1 5

The audio on S1 is Mint(-) (T3 Ex-)

The audio S2 is Mint(-)

The gatefold is VG++

The original inner sleeve is VG++

The labels are Near Mint

Visual description

The vinyl is in excellent condition and still has a very strong glossy sheen with no actual scratches.  There is a small scratchy type mark on the first track but it has zero impact on the audio.  Aside from that it only some faint hairlines and the Fontana labels are very clean with only minimal spindle wear.

Play grading

The intro on 'Walking In The Park' has no background and the opening vocal from Litherland is just as clean.  It continues in the same way and the mid instrumental is just stunning, there is no intrusion whatsoever.  Incredible musicianship throughout and a Mint start to the album.

There is a little crackle in the dead wax and then the intro on 'Plenty Hard Luck' has just one barely audible tick right at the start, it hardly deserves a mention really!  The first vocal is flawless and this clarity of sound does not diminish - the playback is perfect through every instrumental section and the vocal passages are just as strong.  A minor hint of light static right at the fade out so I will grade as Mint- accordingly.

The opening section on 'Mandarin' plays with great clarity and no intrusion and then the long quiet bass section from Reeves plays with stunning quality for the majority.  There are 4/5 static click sounds a little further in but that is the only obvious interference.  As it builds out of this section the playback is close to perfect with only a couple of mega quiet statics and the next part has just two static ticks.  The remainder plays perfectly - this is difficult to grade in a way as the majority plays so clearly without any background static but yes there is a little intrusion.  Perhaps Ex- is a fair assessment of the audio overall.

'Debut' plays with phenomenal quality through every section which is impressive when you consider it is over 6 minutes long.  With Hiseman doing his usual grand work on the drums the sonic quality here is superb and there is no interference at all, a stunning Mint version in every sense.

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'Beware The Ides Of March' was of course meant to be the final part of The Valentyne Suite on their next album but was put on this their debut album instead.  The opening section has just one very quiet tick and the next part of this instrumental is outstanding!  You cannot fault the sound here - so clean and powerful and zero intrusion.  The high octane passage near the end can is 'as new' and the finale plays with perfect audio also.  A Mint- version.

The entire intro on 'The Road She Walked Before' has no background and the first vocal is equal to that.  From then on the clarity and depth of the audio is high end and again there is nothing getting in the way of the audio and that includes the fade out.  Mint all the way.

The intro on 'Backwater Blues' is perfect and the opening vocal section is just as impressive.  The very quiet bass section has next to no static and the accompany sax section plays with imperious quality also.  This is a relatively quiet track and yet the clarity is stunning, there is no interference basically, and the rest of this bluesy number is the same.  The final vocal section is faultless and Mint- is deserved here.  Such a strong and clear version.

'Those About To Die' ends the album with suitably impressive audio.  From the first note to the last there is no interference and even the brief quiet moments play so well with only a couple of barely audible dust ticks.  You really notice the depth of the audio also and for a final track the playback is quite simply stunning.  A Mint conclusion to a near perfect album.

In summary this first pressing plays with superb audio apart from a little interference on that one track but even then it is only brief.  7 out of 8 tracks play with incredible audio!  The clarity and power of the audio is so impressive and this would add to any collection.

The Gatefold & Inner Sleeve

The laminated cover has only a little shelf wear.  The top edges are perfect and the bottom edges have only a little rubbing.  The spine is very clean with just one small crease in the centre and a little wear near the bottom corner.  The right hand corners are very clean with hardly any wear and the opening edge is super clean also.  The front cover is superb with just a tiny amount of wear in each bottom corner and the back cover is just as good.  The inside of the gatefold just has some wear / faint staining on the bottom edge either side of the spine but is otherwise in excellent condition.

The plain white Patent Applied For inner has no side splits or tears and only minimal marking.  Some light creasing also.

Play tested on my Rega P2 with AT-VM95EN Cart / Denon PMA-520AE Amp / B&W 684 Speakers

This record has been cleaned on a Pro-Ject VC-S machine

STL 5510 // 886765  1Y//1  420  1 1 4  //  886 775  2Y//1  420  1 1 5

I grade according to "Record Collector" guidelines

Any questions please feel free to ask

Please pay within 4 days of auction end

Recent Feedback

Postage & Packaging

I will only send items items worldwide via tracked shipping.  This provides 'peace of mind' in case of loss or damage.  The shipping costs are shown below and combined shipping is always offered.  Any over-payment will always be refunded.

The Royal Mail only insure up to a value of £250 so if an item sells for more it may be wise to use a courier service (e.g. Parcelforce or DPD).  An extra insurance premium will be required but I will not know the exact amount until the final sale price is known.  Because of this I will sometimes have to estimate the cost and this will be shown in the listing.  Please wait for the invoice before making payment and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.  Many thanks.

All vinyls are packaged in strong over-sized custom made mailers with plenty of extra cardboard protection.  They are placed inside separate poly-lined inners outside the cover so as to avoid seam splits in transit and then placed inside a PVC sleeve to provide even more protection.  I pride myself on my high quality packaging as my feed confirms and if any customer has any specific requirements I am more than happy to help.

The mailers I use cost £1.00 each and I will use anything between 3-5 cardboard stiffeners which cost approx £0.18 each.  There is also the cost of the poly-lined inner and PVC sleeve to consider, it all adds up!  Not forgetting that eBay take 10% of the shipping fee also!!

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