STYX, The Grand Illusion WHITE LABEL PROMO Monarch [+poster/hype] USA EXC- LP

$

32

Styx ?– The Grand Illusion Label: A&M Records ?– SP-4637 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Promo, Monarch  Country: US Released: 1977 Genre: Rock Style:   Tracklist A1 The Grand Illusion 4:36 A2 Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man) 5:29 A3 Superstars 3:59 A4 Come Sail Away 6:07 B1 Miss America 5:01 B2 Man In The Wilderness 5:49 B3 Castle Walls 6:00 B4 The Grand Finale 1:58 Companies, etc. Mastered At – The Mastering Lab Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. Notes Includes poster and printed lyric inner sleeve. White promo labels    

USA WHITE LABEL PROMO PRESSING VINYL ALBUM WITH FRONT HYPE STICKER, POSTER AND ORIGINAL PRINTED INNER SLEEVE.

MATRIX:  SIDE A: SP-5011-M1 TML-M [MR] ?22399 (2)   /  SIDE B:   SP-5012-M1 TML-M [MR] ? 22399-x (5).

SLEEVE: VERY GOOD+, JUST LIGHT SHELF, CORNER, EDGE AND RING WEAR. PROMO STAMP, HYPE STICKER AND CORNER DRIL HOLE.  POSTER EXCELLENT EXCEPT DRILL HOLE,  INNER SLEEVE HAS MIDDLE BOTTOM SEAM SPLIT.

DISC[S]: EXCELLENT MINUS. NO SCRATCHES, JUST A FEW LIGHT HAIRLINES. CLEAN LABELS.

Why buy a first or early pressing and not a re-issue or a ‘re-mastered’ vinyl album?

First and early pressings are pressed from the first generation lacquers and stampers. They usually sound vastly superior to later issues/re-issues (which, in recent times, are often pressed from whatever 'best' tapes or digital sources are currently available) - many so-called 'audiophile' new 180g pressings are cut from hi-res digital sources…essentially an expensive CD pressed on vinyl.  Why  experience the worse elements of both formats?  These are just High Maintenance CDs, with mid-ranges so cloaked with a veil as to sound smeared.  They are nearly always compressed with murky transients and a general lifelessness in the overall sound.  There are exceptions where re-masters/re-presses outshine the original issues, but they are exceptions and not the norm.

First or early pressings nearly always have more immediacy, presence and dynamics. The sound staging is wider.  Subtle instrument nuances are better placed with more spacious textures. Balances are firmer in the bottom end with a far-tighter bass. Upper-mid ranges shine without harshness, and the overall depth is more immersive.  Inner details are  clearer.

On first and early pressings, the music tends to sound more ‘alive’ and vibrant.  The physics of sound energy is hard to clarify and write about from a listening perspective, but the best we can describe it is to say that you can 'hear' what the mixing and mastering engineers wanted you to hear when they first recorded the music.  

     
     PRIORITY MAIL IS $14.99