Grateful Dead - New LP pressing of Europe 72 arrived!

Like I really need more Europe '72. I have the Complete Europe '72 steamer trunk. I have a bunch of copies of the original album on CD. I have the new 2 CD Vol 2 set, but I no longer have my original vinyl issue of the original LP.

So I ordered the new 3 LP pressing of the original LP, cut by Chris Bellman and pressed at RTI on 180g vinyl. Do I need it... definitely not. But it's nice to have, and since it seems as if most of the Dead's original Warner's and Arista LPs are being reissued (by Rhino, AF, MOFI and Friday Music), why not be consistent and get them all.

So anyway, the packaging is faithful to the original in every way, other than the fact that instead of printing an address for DEAD HEADs (where you could mail them and they would put you on the mailing list for goodies and concert dates, etc - before the hotline numbers existed and now the internet), they merely state:

"Dead Heads send us your name and address and we'll keep you informed. www.dead.net"

The booklet is the same though, with cutouts to order Grateful Dead songbooks for $4.95 Cash, Check or Money Order. Only valid to Dec 31, 1972 though. Yet the cutout to order Grateful Dead T-Shirts of either Rainbow Foot or Ice Cream Kid are $3.95 each (.30 for handling). There is no expiration date on that coupon, and there is an address, so I wonder what happens if you send the money (again Cash, Check or Money Order) and the coupon?

So I may not actually listen to this for awhile, since I'm still plowing through the Complete concerts, but the LPs look nice and clean (no scratches, scuffs or blemishes).

 

Love this album too. I'd be curious how it compares with a nice original Artisan cut, olive label WB pressing. Sadly, the $55 price tag puts it way out of my league. I was shocked to see it priced that high. Hope to hear an SQ report from you once you play it!

 

Gonna miss this when its gone....

My local only got two of these in; I grabbed one for the road!

Essential for "China Cat Sunflower">>>>"I Know You Rider" alone...



cheers,
mrbill

 

Bump !

 

Mine is on order and should arrive this week!

 

Mine should arrive soon too, I will compare with my french pressing, which is an Artisan cut.

 

Can anyone comment on the pressing quality and mastering of this new 3 LP set?

 

Original 1972 album price?

Yeah, I’m that guy who has the 73-HDCD box set, the two-HDCD version from The Golden Road box, and the original three-LP version (a battered 1973 Burbank palm-trees pressing with the original booklet inside) which replaced the green-label Warners version I bought brand-new in November 1972 and played to death. So I think I’ll probably pass on the new vinyl version. I wonder how this new release is handling the studio overdubs, which are missing by and large from the steamer-trunk Complete box....

Does anybody have idea what the retail list price was for the original vinyl release of Europe ’72?

 

The pressing quality of these records is exceptional. I've listened to the first record and it boasts very quiet surfaces. The mastering sounds good, too but I haven't compared it to one of my originals yet. Vocals sound really present and quite different, of course, especially after listening to the trunk tracks lately.

 

Mine arrived today, a quick comparaison between the reissue and an artisan cut shows that the reissue has been very well done.

 

Is this a purely analog remaster, or was it converted to DSD first?

 

Could be pure analog, "the lacquers were cut from the original analog album masters by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering" according to the GD site.

 

Very curious to hear a report of a shootout between an original Artisan cut and the new one. Anyone?

 

Well, I have both now. I went out and picked up the new one locally ths afternoon. It's on the Okki Nokki now getting a good initial wash. Also picked up Workingman's Dead.

 

Looking fwd to a full report! Thanks.

 

I believe it was $11.98.
If you have an original copy, it's probably on the spine at the bottom.

 

I haven't had the change to compare the new issue sound wise against the WLP & WB green label versions I own, but a couple of things I noticed is the dead wax area on the new version is wider than the older versions I have on all sides. The spine on the cover is wider too not sure it fits in the same plastic sleeve as my older versions. The cover itself is very nice, graphics look great, good color and the card stock is heavy. Booklet is the same minus the www.dead.net reference. My vinyl was very quite too. Sounded really good, but I need to do a side by side.

All of mine have a '0998' in front of the 1972 Warners info on the spine, don't tell me this thing was less than $10 when it came out?

 

I remember it as $9.98 list (at a time when single albums listed at $5.98) and retailing usually at $5.98 or $6.98. I think it went up to $11.98 list when single albums went up to $6.98 (probably retailing at $7.98).

 

Indeed it was $9.98 list. The store I worked at (Grammy 'n' Granny - Westchester) sold it for $5.99.

The new edition has wider spines to better accommodate 3 180 gram discs.

 

My copy arrived today. Very nicely done on all fronts.

 

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=10&year1=1972&year2=2011

calc for inflation, the retail today would be $54 . . .

given the now-historic nature of the product, Garcia's passing, etc., today's retail of $59.98 seems reasonable.

in other words, in 1972, a tenner was a lot of money!

doug

 

This thing is beautiful. Quiet and rich sounding. Glad I picked up the vinyl.

 

+1 It's a very nice set of LPs and I'm glad to have it, as well.

 

I just got this LP and I couldn't be more pleased. I've heard Europe '72 long ago with friends, but I have little-to-no memory of it and I never owned a copy until now. Every song on here is a top-notch rendition and the sound quality is insanely good, I love it.

 

I am curious if this was remixed for the CD version? Is that the one they used for the LPs? I hope not.