MAN Revelation RARE UK 69 Pye 1st Press Stereo. EX++ LP

	£		135
	$		179

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: MAN

Album Title: Revelation.

Producer(s): John Schroeder.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: And in the Beginning; Sudden Life; Empty Room; Puella! Puella! (Woman! Woman!); Love; Erotica.

Side 2: Blind Man; And Castles Rise in Children’s Eyes; Don’t Just Stand There (Come in Out of the Rain); The Missing Pieces; The Future Hides its Face.

Label/Format: Pye – Original first pressed format with black area at the top. Second pressings had the black area at the sides. (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both look fantastic: ultra clean and attractive with only any spindle traces being ultra few and fine. Try finding this first-pressed example better.

Cat Number: NSPL 18275.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 145 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 135 to 145 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, many records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 50 records from these eras.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: The album itself is quite scarce. First pressings in mono or stereo are harder to find and in this condition they are elusive and rare.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: NSPL 75275 A-1 * T STEREO / NSPL 75275 B-1 * T STEREO

Mother & Stamper Codes: C 2 / E 1

Musicians: Roger Leonard - guitar, harp, piano, percussion, vocals; Clive John - organ, piano, guitar, vocals; Mike Jones - lead guitar, vocals; Jeff Jones - drums, percussion.

Brief Info: Debut album from this famous Welsh progressive band. Their early works are superb, very different to the more mainstream rock they later produced. A daring concept record based on evolution, it cleverly blends rock with elements of psych. It includes the controversial track ‘Erotica’ which was a hit single in Europe but was denied a British release as the track features female orgasmic sounds throughout. This is a superb copy which looks hardly even played, at times a delicate recording too with several lengthy quiet passages, but this copy gives a great account of itself with the least unwanted sounds I have ever heard from a vinyl copy of this album. A super clean pressing and barely even run-in in vinyl terms. A wonderful example for even the serious audiophile collector.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: High.

Cover Grade and Format: EX++ and probably undergraded at that. A single format with front laminate that wraps around the close edges on to three large rear flipbacks. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse. This very early example has the mono cover with a stereo sticker placed over the top.

Lamination & Front: A superb looking front with the laminate being fully adhered, ultra shiny and clear with geniune freshness retained. Some spine edge fine creasing that few will ever avoid – this is quite a thin cover. Any other creases are very small, few and faint. Minimal traces of friction rubs or dulling and the daring artwork can be enjoyed to maximum advantage. A mild record rim impression at the top is the very least anyone could expect. A superbly preserved example.

Cover Back: If the front looks stunning the back is equally amazing: The main back panel is unprotected and it has barely aged at all. Any darkening to the white areas is ultra faint and the lack of rubbing, creasing or ring marks is great news for the discerning collector. The stereo sticker on the back has fine darkened edges but nothing else to fault. Clearly never removed or tampered or picked at. It is semi-transparent so the MONO NPL text can be seen through. The flipbacks are very neat indeed with no ugly grime-line formation and any creasing or wear is minuscule. The ends are very sharp and neat and have practically avoided any burring – just the merest trace on the bottom one (and this being somewhat critical). The vintage vulnerable back cover will prove hard to find better, as will the front.

Top Edge: Unworn.

Bottom Edge: Unworn, both ultra smooth to the fingertip.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with no wear or feathering. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight, uncompressed and square, the ends are tapered in manufacture. Two fine surface crease-cracks have avoided any text contact, hence all text is perfect and unworn.

Corners: The odd tiny tip rub, all retain super shape and definition.

Cover Summary: A very strong all round example of this delicate late 60’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please most-all collectors.

The Inner: This includes the plain white polylined inner which has ‘Foreign patents pending’ text. Apart from a light graze on the polylining on the window, this is almost as made and looks great. Little ageing at all and the edges are unsplit and barely a proper crease to be seen.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX+ / Mint(-). A superb visual copy that is super clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy hardly played on all the evidence. Side one has a light surface mark on the first track with NO sound. The odd faint hairline surface trace under light, side two is immaculate. Visually a super record that should please most collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippetts or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This superb record plays up and beyond its high visual grading with practically nothing to fault – quite brilliant for a record as delicate as this – this has long quiet passages and only the best copies are up to the job, and this excels. The odd sporadic faint click is practically unavoidable of course but try to find a cleaner sounding copy. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and no other clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing for a highly challenging album. Few copies will match or outperform this very early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record – this is early Man at their more experimental best. This copy will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets out ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is no bad thing. Also: any item with a value over £40 will have to be insured as well, but for any item that sells for over £150, I will pay the extra insurance (then the lower shipping price applies).

I now offer the fastest possible posting, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within three days maximum (unless on holiday). All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with TWO VERY THICK stiffners for even extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will be Double Boxed. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. I discount of course of multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per packet. I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included in the advert.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4. (Only for items under £40)

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (Compulsory for items over £40).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA including RUSSIA and nearby countries. (Airmail Only):

1 LP, value less than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £8.

1 LP, value greater than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, [£500 Maximum]) = £11.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP, value less than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £12.

1 LP, value greater than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500 Maximum) = £15.

For items that sell over £150, I will pay the insurance, so the lower shipping price will apply.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT neccessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.