Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vinyl shootout, Speakers Corner

Being such a classic rock nut, I've possibly bought this piece of rock history about 10 times in my life. I remember begging my mum for a copy when it came out. It sold for $11.98, and at the time, my mom didn't spend $12 like that. So when I got the black background-rainbow LP for my birthday, you betcha I appreciated it. Since then, I've had about 3 black MCAs, a non-gatefold MCA budget, the MFSL, SACD, Speakers Corner

rpdugan had just PM'd me to ask me how I liked the Speakers Corner issue. Shootout time. I listened to them all, then again, as I write this.

1. The original DJM from the UK. When you hold up this one to the light, it's a dark blue vinylite material. Kinda like the stuff A&M used for some of their 80's pressings. #DJLPD 1001 A-4, B-5, C-3, D-3 specifically.
This was the WORST of the bunch. Not only compressed, but still cut loud as all hell. It sounds as dead as a coffin. The vocals and textures are just not there at all. Details are behind a buttload of midrange that doesn't move. Everything sounds melted together like a box of crayons in the sun. Just locked as if someone cut this with a narrow band in mind. Headache inducing.

2. Original-ish MCA Black bg with Rainbow - MCA, 354, 355,356,357. Disc1 is W2, Disc2 is W1. Much less restriction to the frequency response and the details are there. Still, the bottom end has some compression to it. Elton's vocals weren't set back as badly as the DJM UK. You can hear the compression breathe a bit, suck it back when things start punching. Good cutting, but still very confined. The flat-pick bass sounds froggy. Piano sounds cheap and rusty.

3. Reissue - Tan rim label MCA - See #2, all sides W5 except side 2 which was W6. Not much different at all from #2, not worth noting, but was attempted.

4. Speakers Corner, DJLPD 1001, s1, s2, s3, s4. #320. Has DJM labels. No gatefold, but a single well printed pocket with inside art on a folded slick inside the LP, lyrics and outdoor pics of the band as expected. Excellent vinyl and pressing. Much like a lot of the Simply Vinyls, it's quiet! The dynamics will really throw you since that's what this record is like. The punch and easy-going bass is there, so is the clean detail. The light throaty delivery of Elton's vocal is very sweet. Such a nice spread for stereo image n' separation too. Punchy, but not specifically in one area. Del Newman's contribution to Danny Bailey doesn't sound like a mellotron, the kickdrum to Sat Night doesn't sound a plastic tub. Things are very much in good light.

5. Wish I had an MFSL LP to make an example of, but I don't.

Enjoy.

 

Nice review, thanks.

Chris

 

Interesting because yesterday, I just got a super-clean copy of GYBR on the direct-to-disc label. It has the original trifold packaging and says all this stuf how they used the master tapes and its 1/2 speed mastered etc. I was going to shoot-out with the MFSL last night but didn't get to it. Maybe tonight.

I'm surprised about the DJM because my Honky DJM is so good I thought the UK DJMs were the ones to get.

 

Yellow vinyl UK DJM all the way!

 

I don't have the SACD handy, but the last time I looked inside where the master tape sheets were duped under the trays, I thought it said "Dolby A" under the slate. Having an idea what Stan Ricker (and CBS tried with their Mastersound 1/2 speed series), cutting this record at 1/2 speed must have been a disaster. There's a lot of dynamic pump in this record. Everything past 3K is really in your face. This is possibly why they cut this puppy at MCA (and DJM) initially this way. Noticeable rolloff AND compression. The master is really quite a wild animal from what I read. That synth/organ that comes in during Funeral, the flat-pick (Fender?) bass, and how two guitar parts come forth are pretty lost in the shuffle when you start using easy-bean cutting EQ. Now, think of the cutter in what he has to do to not only drop it all an octive or more during 16rpm cutting, but also not to let the cutting head write something a normal cart can't cash out. Would love to know what someone like Kevin Gray would do. I'm sure there are sides of Beethoven that are just as voilent.

I also kinda question the fact IF SC used the master tape (it still sounds great) and if they hit the Dolby during transfer. Sounds a lot like a Polydor CD personality-wize. Donno.

Like, the MCA pressings sound ok. One could "live" with it. But things are mixed in with a LOT of dynamic pressure, which is awesome, but how do you cut this puppy without eating your fingernails off? To get Love Lies Bleeding and Sat. Night Alright For Fighting sounding "live" without gluing everything together with too much compression? I'm sure MCA didn't waste laquers tryin'. Just tame it and make lots of mothers.

Yeah, I heard the yellow vinyl DJM was good too. I'm sure a lot of cutting engineers had some interesting notes to follow, even with Dolby/Non Dolby tape copies. What a mess...

 

Sckott, you can send me your DJM...

 

You can HAVE it!

 

Hey guys,

How about a shoot-out involving:

1) Direct Disc Labs
2) MFSL
3) Speakers Corner
4) UK DJM

 

Why have a shootout that omits the winner?

 

Hey Larry,
Does your UK DJM yellow Goodbye have STRAWBERRY in the dead wax?

 

Excellent review Scott.

BTW, my experience with Simply Vinyl's reissue of GYBR was not very good.

 

Don't know offhand. It's at home & I'm at work.

 

I had the Speakers Corner issue and I thought it to be too bright! It was dead quiet however. For a shocker, A/B it with the current MCA remaster and let me know what you think! Ears I trust relay the MoFi did a decent job with this one although I have not heard one.

 

Nobody's commented on the Direct Disk Labs pressing yet -- that's supposed to be a good one. And a LOT cheaper than the MFSL LPs.

 

say, when DID the yellow vinyl edition come out?

 

I just listened to the DDL and MFSL LPs and I agree completely with the above. The DDL, while ok, didn't have any magic. While most records (and CDs) tend to be overly bright, this one went the other way, a little too toned down on top. The MFSL LP just sounded more correct to me, not overly bright, dynamic where it needed to be. I listened to side 2.

 

I wonder why SC, which is normally very good on the packaging...did not reproduce the gatefold cover???

 

I have the Direct Disk Labs, MFSL and Speakers Corner vinyl of GBYBR. My favorite is the MFSL LP - blows away even their CD - big soundstage, lots of depth, smooth and extended.

 

does anyone know when the yellow vinyl UK DJM was released? soon after the original or later in the 70's. i just got a damn-near minty copy for pretty cheap and am very pleased with the sound. i haven't done a shoot-out with the SACD yet, but i bet it'll hold up very nicely.
thanks!
-eddie

 

I think it was around 1979. Definitely NOT when the LP came out (1973), because the colored vinyl craze hadn't begun yet.

 

I had both the MFSL lp and the DDL. I A/B 'ed for about 1/2 an hour, and sold the MoFi. The DDL sounded more dynamic. The MoFi was too "polite".

 

I would also like to know when this was originally released. I bought a minty copy of this yellow vinyl on e-bay for very cheap ($5.99) too. My copy has "STRAWBERRY" DJE 29001-B3 inscribed in the dead-wax . I've had it for about a year now and I still have not had a chance to give it a spin....

 

I've been thinking about buying a new reissue version on vinyl, so I did a bit of a compare last night of the vinyl versions I own between:

UK DJM (black vinyl but red wine translucent) - A2/B2/C2/D2 (original DJM) VG+
UK DJM - yellow vinyl ltd edition - DJE29001 - Strawberry cut. EX+

The original DJM sounds much livelier. I didn't test all the way through just a few key bits of songs (e.g. the bass drum at the start of Grey Seal, the piano/bass/drums in the first part of Danny Bailey, several sections of Funeral For A Friend/LLB, most of Sweet Painted Lady and I've That Movie Too). I didn't test any of the hits/singles as they are too familiar to my ears.

The yellow vinyl DJM sounded a bit dull/deadened by comparison to the original DJM. The bass drum at the start of Grey Seal has significantly more audible echo and breathing space around it on the original DJM. The bass guitar on Funeral For A Friend/LLB has much more growl, depth and is more defined.

The drums on all of the songs I tested are much more resonant on the original DJM without being strident. Overall, the yellow vinyl doesn't breathe like the original DJM, but sounds very clean and full, but almost a bit sterile and a bit too muddled.

 

I can't say for certain, but I believe that the yellow wax DJM came out in the late '70s - early '80s, around the time that all of the Beatle LP's were getting the colored vinyl treatment. I've had my copy since 1989, so it definitely pre-dates that.

Chip Madinger
www.lennonology.com

 

The DDL version, to my ears, is also a bit tamped down on top, almost a little tight. It lacks a bit of air, but lower end and midrange are good, and it's fairly dynamic.