Muse Masters - reissue series

[street singer]

14 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

Because it serves no purpose whatsoever, "heavy" vinyl, 'remastered from original tapes' with zero improvement over the sound of a CD - which can also store worthy alternate takes and unissued tunes and this vinyl-only series cannot do that.

Sorry if you can't comprehend that not everyone is a committed audiophile desperate to shell out approximately a dollar per minute of recorded sound.  The only time I ever did that was $30 for a Japanese RVG Cd of what must have originally been a 10 inch Hank Mobley LP. Nothing on the Muse label is worth a dollar a minute not even for extra heavy vinyl and extra "special" remastering.

I absolutely can comprehend that "not everyone is a committed audiophile desperate to shell out approximately a dollar per minute of recorded sound" - we all have different priorities. I have no issue with that. I also have no issue with CD's. There's a reason why I have collected several thousand of them, and will never part with them! But, saying that vinyl reissues, sourced and cut from the original master tapes, inherently sound no better than the sound of a CD...is just not an accurate statement. It's all subjective, of course...but there are many variables involved that would determine whether a record sounds better than a CD - the most important of which being the mastering, of course, and the system that the music is being played back on. Not looking for an argument, and nobody wants to get into a discussion of the "minutiae of audiophilia" here. I get that. My issue is with the statement that $30 is somehow overpriced for a record in 2025...when in reality, it's really no more expensive than it was 50 years ago. The cost of everything has gone up. Records are no different.

That being said...I do find it unfortunate that this new Muse reissue series isn't being released on CD along with the vinyl.

15 hours ago, JSngry said:

But in 1972,list price was $3.99-$4.99, and nobody except a sucker or a desperate person paid list.

Good point. And I won't be paying list price for any of these new Muse reissues, either. I'll pick up a few of them, but will wait for a price drop, as I do with most reissues. 

Edited 1 hour ago by street singer

[mjazzg]

so it took 14 hours for "the great format debate" to enter the thread this time round, we're slacking,  surely not getting tired of the debate...

[felser]

3 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I don't think I've heard any of Richard Davis' Muse LPs. I keep meaning to, but never go the extra step of acquiring any. Are they worth shelling out the money? I doubt I'd like "As One" very much.

Epistrophy... is free-ish jazz (despite the vintage song titles) and quite bracing, though very much a case of YMMV.  I found it jarring when I first got it back in the day, as I expected something quite different.  To me, the other Muse RD albums are too subdued and cases where the whole is less than the sim of the parts, though again YMMV.

Edited 1 hour ago by felser

[HutchFan]

It will be interesting to see whether these new LPs sound better than the originals due to the remastering & pressing processes.

Muse was never known for having great-sounding LPs.  Great music?  Yes.  No doubt.  But I would describe them as serviceable AQ-wise.  But nothing more than that.

I'm wondering how the new ones will sound.

 

EDIT
By way of comparison, many of the Elemental Xanadu reissues sounded MUCH better than the original issues.  There was a lot more music on the tape than what made it into their vinyl pressings, IMO.  (However, those Xanadu reissues were in CD format rather than LP.  Nevertheless, the mastering made a HUGE difference, I think.)  For example, if you compare Sonny Criss' Saturday Morning on vinyl (the original issue) with the remastered CD, there's no competition.  The new CD flogs the original vinyl.  (BTW, I'm NOT saying that CDs flog LPs absolutely.  Not at all!  I'm just saying that things like the quality of the pressing and (re)mastering process can have a massive effect on AQ.)

 

Edited 1 hour ago by HutchFan

[HutchFan]

18 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

so it took 14 hours for "the great format debate" to enter the thread this time round, we're slacking,  surely not getting tired of the debate...

I hope my comments aren't interpreted as a return to that tired debate.

I'm just wondering whether these newly reissued Muse LPs will sound better than the original issues.  And, if so, is it a significant improvement?

 

[JSngry]

That first Richard Davis record is First Ballot Hall Of Fame.

And IIRC, there was Muse CD reissue that added a track!

Oh, back in the day. $30.00 would have bought me about 5-6 records, not 1.

[mjazzg]

26 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

I hope my comments aren't interpreted as a return to that tired debate.

I'm just wondering whether these newly reissued Muse LPs will sound better than the original issues.  And, if so, is it a significant improvement?

 

No, not at all. The debate reared it's ugly/beautiful head several hours ago as I knew it would when I started the thread.

Anyway you're starting a whole new debate, old v new vinyl sq!!

[HutchFan]

Just now, mjazzg said:

Anyway you're starting a whole new debate, old v new vinyl sq!!

 

 

[felser]

41 minutes ago, JSngry said:

 

Oh, back in the day. $30.00 would have bought me about 5-6 records, not 1.

A lot more than that if you found a good cutout bin!  I remember getting things like ABC/Riverside cutouts at Fields for 57 cents, getting Cobblestone titles for $1 at a store in Philly, etc.

[HutchFan]

Per an online inflation calculator, $5 in 1975 is equal in value to $29.88 today.

 

[street singer]

1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

It will be interesting to see whether these new LPs sound better than the originals due to the remastering & pressing processes.

Muse was never known for having great-sounding LPs.  Great music?  Yes.  No doubt.  But I would describe them as serviceable AQ-wise.  But nothing more than that.

I'm wondering how the new ones will sound.

 

EDIT
By way of comparison, many of the Elemental Xanadu reissues sounded MUCH better than the original issues.  There was a lot more music on the tape than what made it into their vinyl pressings, IMO.  (However, those Xanadu reissues were in CD format rather than LP.  Nevertheless, the mastering made a HUGE difference, I think.)  For example, if you compare Sonny Criss' Saturday Morning on vinyl (the original issue) with the remastered CD, there's no competition.  The new CD flogs the original vinyl.  (BTW, I'm NOT saying that CDs flog LPs absolutely.  Not at all!  I'm just saying that things like the quality of the pressing and (re)mastering process can have a massive effect on AQ.)

 

Agreed on all points. And those Xanadu CD reissues were fantastic!

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

That first Richard Davis record is First Ballot Hall Of Fame.

And IIRC, there was Muse CD reissue that added a track!

Oh, back in the day. $30.00 would have bought me about 5-6 records, not 1.

And $30 would've bought you a basketful of groceries back in the day, also... The dollar doesn't go as far now, hence the reason why records cost $30.