Beatles "Revolver" HorZu Blue Label Odeon Pressing.

I won this record on e-bay a few weeks ago. This was the first HorZu blue Odeon label that I ever seen. Upon receiving it, I gave it a good cleaning and was ready to have a great listen. As "Taxman" started to play, my heart sunk, this is the worst sounding Beatles record I've ever heard let alone own. It sounds flat (flat in a bad way), dull and lifeless, very disappointing. Now I'm curious, has anybody else here on the forum ever heard this pressing? Is mine just bad or do they all sound this way? The matrix numbers are the following:
Side one SHZE-186-A-1
Side two SHZE-186-B-1

Oddly enough, I found another one on e-bay, it's being sold as a test pressing but something tells me it's a radio promo, because of the track listing on the front.

BTW, my German Apple pressing runs circles around this one.

Here's the Revolver on E-bay

 

Hey Joe,

I don't have this blue HorZu Revolver; I do have Sgt. Pepper with the same label. One of its sides sounds tremendous, the other rather poor. Perhaps we can hypothesize that this period for HorZu pressings is rather variable?

Sorry for your disappointment. I recently bought a German "Rubber Soul", which looks similar and must be a little later - it's blue EMI/Odeon but no "HorZu" - and it's a sorry sounding thing.

 

What surprises me, up until now, I've had very good luck with the regular blue label Odeon pressings.

 

Jeo, the blue W German Odeon pressings seem to be a hit and miss affair. If you search the archives you can find some imteresting reading. IIRC, one of the members here has two blue Odeon pressings of Revolver. He said one sounds great, the other is nice to look at.

I have a stereo blue Odeon pressing of A Hard Day's Night Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!. It too sounds dull and muddy. I mostly bought it for the cover art. The two box EMI/Parlophone pressings that I own are much better.

My favourite pressing of the stereo Revolver is the W German Apple copy I won on eBay last year. It's as good, if not a wee bit better than my mid '70s and Blue Box pressings. The W German Apple Help! LP that I own is also much better than the original '65 HorZu pressing that I also own.

If you're looking for sound, the safe bet is to purchase the 1970s W German pressings on Apple. All the pressings I own from that period sound great, especially MMT.

 

I second this, the German Apple pressing of Revolver is the best EVER. The drums have snap, the guitars sing, and if you want BASS...this is the place to go!

Remember, GERMAN APPLE PRESSING. Thank you and good afternoon.

Evan

 

I have a Blue EMI pressing of both A Hard Day's Night and Rubber Soul. As Mike says, both are dull and muddy compared to the original Parlophones--even the later silver EMI pressings are better.

John K.

 

Evan, you are right on target here.

And when John Lennon sings especially on Dr. Robert, He is right the same room with you!

 

I have the blue label of Hard Day's Night and Revolver. Yup, both are really poor sounding records. Hard Day's Night is really compressed and dull.

 

Well, my German Apple pressing of "Help!" is killer, I like it better the the two box EMI label from the BC-13 box, the matrix numbers are:
Side one 04257-A1
Side two 04257-B1

The dead wax on the record is a good inch and a half wide, maybe even wider.

My German Apple pressing of "Revolver" is another pressing which I like, the matrix numbers are:
Side one 04097-A1
Side two 04097-B1

 

I have another version of the blue odeon revolver, instead of the two Hor Zu logos it has one on the right. The logo looks like a television with Hor Zu written undeneath.

SHZE 186A X2
SHZE 186B -2


It sounds lifeless - not good at all.

 

The only Hor-Zu pressing worth having is the obvious one.

The rest of them, including non-Beatles ones are either mediocre or suck badly, avoid! Not worth banging on eBay for.

 

My side one is 186 A-A2
side two is 186 B-2...while it's not my best sounding Revolver, It's not quite as bad as what you're saying yours is. I do, however have a Venezualan copy on the blue and gold Odeon which sounds superb. Very bright and punchy. And the bass on I'm Only Sleeping sounds the cleanest I've heard anywhere, vinyl wise. The run off groove only has the same number as what's on the label: SMT-1021. Supposedly, this is a 1966 pressing.

I have a few on the German Apple: Pepper, MMT, The White Album (DMM) , Let It be and Hey Jude; I can honestly say that they are the best sounding Apple label versions I have of each respective album (they all kill the Capitol/Apple pressings, for sure).

 

I have this one, but on the Apple label and with the Apple label# also stamped in the dead wax.

It's been many years since I've listened to it, so I have no idea whether it's any good or not. If I had to guess I'd say it is as you describe though or I would listened to it more often...

 

You sure that's not 186 A X2? The stamp on mine is very close to the label and the X looks like an A at first glance.

 

You could be right...and mine is the same label configuration as EC3970's; I have to re-listen to it..i don't recall it being that disappointing (although far from the best sounding one)...but I've got about 7 Revolvers and I could be mistaking it for another copy. It's getting hard to even remember what I have these days.

I've recently come across a wealth of near-mint U.K. late eighties pressings on Parlophone and Apple. The Apple labels have a larger scripted font than we're used to seeing around the border. I was wondering if anyone here has or has heard any of these..?

 

Agree with the OP. I had one of these once and the shop owner let me exchange it.

 

I have a German Apple Revolver, first Apple pressing 062, but has SHZE 186 in the run out. I am on vacation right now so I dont have the exact info, but I do remember it has the Horzu numbers. The seller I bought it from last year said those first Apple ones weren't around for very long before it was reissued. The sound? I listened to it a few times but it didn't knock me out. Seemed just OK. I have a bunch of Beatles German Apple LPs, and this is definitely the least of the ones I have.

 

I disagree! German Blue Odeon/Hor Zu Sgt Pepper with matrix # SHZE 401 A-1/ SHZE 401 B-2 is a great sounding record! I have two copies, the earlier one on thicker vinyl and GEMA in extra box and probably the later copy on thinner vinyl (GEMA without extra box). Both of them have same matrix numbers and laminated covers with flipbacks and red Hor Zu stickers. Both sound great, IMO even little better than UK -1/-1.

 

I can only warn again and again about this forum's obsession with the so called "Hör Zu" label. It is no label and says nothing about sound. Those are regular EMI pressings from some marketing campaign in cooperation with the german tv/radio magazin "Hör Zu". Beatles pressings from the sixties are always like "lottery". I once bought an original british mono "Revolver" cause I wanted to hear, how it sounds. It was also a major disappointment.
So for vinyl collectors I can also recommend like "Chris R" posted above: try and find german EMI pressings from the 70s, no matter if it's "Apple" or whatever on the label.

 

No I am afraid you have the wrong German Apple. The good sounding one is 072-04 097. This is why our Host Steve H. always cautions people to get the record number and or matrix deadwax rather than rely on vague descriptions like German Apple. BTW the early white gold label German Revolver is also good. The blue labels and the 062 German Apples are mediocre to poor generally.

 

Yeah I thought on thus and went back in my memory banks and I do have quite a few German Apple Beatle and solo LP, and most others if not all are the of 072 70s type pressings. No wonder this 062 Revolver sounds bad compared to them! Heck, even the 2012 LP sounds way better. Good points. I do need to check before I buy for sure. I should know better. I guess on one point the transition Apple 062 is more scarce. At least that's my story to make me feel better about getting it.

 

Going to bump this on a number of threads, but I've got one of these German Apple copies of Revolver on the way (1976 German Apple 072, 04097-A-2 and SHZE 186 A-X2, 04097-B-2 and SHZE 186 B-2). Is it a fair statement that most folks here feel that this pressing is better sounding that the SHZE 186 A-1 / B-1 versions that began with the Odeon 1960s pressings and continued into the early 062 version? Thank you!

 

The 072 Apple is the one to own. I had the 062 first Apple pressing and was disappointed. I've only finally have heard the 072 but never owned it. Much better IMO.

 

Ha ha! Another victim here.

I read the OP's thread AFTER I bought it yesterday. It looked nice in the store ($20), sealed up and requiring a store employee to pull it out and let you inspect it. It looked almost MINT so I took it and was doing the happy dance all the way home. After cleaning it, I placed it on the TT and dropped the needle, expecting back to back eargasms. Dayuuum!!! The first words that went through my mind were, "SUCKER" and "SUCKAHHHH".

I didn't expect such awful sound from a Beatles album. Especially one from Germany, where they pride themselves on quality and accuracy. I could only stomach side 1 and then I put it back in the sleeve. The best way I could describe it other than lifeless and wooly is cheap and bootlegged. I'm taking it back later on.

Other posts here are on the money. You gotta look for the Apple/Electrola with 072 or other numbers resembling a telephone #. I have the Red and Blue albums, MMT and, I believe, Wonderwall Music on Apple/Electrola and they sound beyond amazing, to put it mildly.

Hey, you live and you learn. On the UP side, I scored an original Miles Davis/Miles Ahead +19 (6-eye) for a few dollars more that more than made up for that crappy Revolver.