Zariadris
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Edited Mar 16, 2020, 19:36
Re: Elevators Re-issues on CD...
Mar 16, 2020, 19:23
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Hey, thanks man. Very helpful insights - I've only ever had the older CD releases and treated these recordings like weathered artifacts dug out of a prehistoric Texan tomb; a corpus of sacred texts (The Texan Book of the Dead) found among the grave goods of a three-eyed priest (along with electric jugs and bongs carved out of mastodon tusks). In a way, I've come to love them that way. Some of my favorite music has that feel, notably Freedom's Children's Astra, which sounds as though it's been washed up from the seas, a Lovecraftian relic of a vanished race.
Your take on the mono recordings is key, and I'm off to break open a cold bottle of beer and hear 'em with your ears.
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The Seth Man
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Re: Elevators Re-issues on CD...
Mar 16, 2020, 21:06
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Zariadris wrote: Hey garerama and Seth Man!
On your sage advice I ordered all three Charley editions...they came with a free rip to tide me over till the discs finally reach me. So far I've been exploring EE in both mixes and I'm floored all over again (yes, pun intended).
Thank you both again for taking the time to offer your suggestions.
Two more questions:
I notice on the rip - both downloaded and streaming - that there are a few digital glitches at the end of the stereo version of Postures on disc two of EE. I'm assuming this is not on the actual CD? I guess I'll find out soon enough, but I'd be curious to know if you can confirm that.
Second, I'd love to know both of your opinions - and anyone else's of course - on which mixes of these albums you prefer - Mono or Stereo?
Peace.
Z
Hey, Zariadris --
Hope the glitch is just on the rip. It probably is, as Charly UK haven't spared expense with their Elevators release schedule in the past decade or so.
Haven't heard the specific releases you've mentioned, so I can't really comment any further.
I owned:
-a Greek pirate pressing in the mid-eighties of PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS (stereo)
-a 1979 reissue on Radar of EASTER EVERYWHERE (stereo)
-a mid-to-late 80s US pirate pressing of BULL OF THE WOODS (stereo)
I finally got around to scoring all IA originals of the 3 studio Elevators LPs by 1990. Final analysis:
The first Elevators was to my ears the best produced of the 3 LPs and sounds great in either mono or stereo. Even the pirated copy I had. The other two don't have the sonic strengths but the music always outweighed how it sounded. The radar of EASTER EVERYWHERE had a bad tear on the cover which went through the cover, inner sleeve and onto the record itself, causing "Slip Inside This House" to irreparably skip right after "from the egg into the flower," which always made me wince.
Consequently, I was wincing a lot throughout the mid-to-late eighties...! It always sounded great, though.
Come to think of it, I don't think I can answer your question because I don't think I have a strong preference for either. They both sound comparable, and there weren't any real stand out differences between the mono and stereo mixes -- as was the case with SGT PEPPER'S, THE WHO SELL OUT, PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN, ARE YOU EXPERIENCED, etc (such as different guitar parts, alternative vocals, etc.)
Hey, if it's playing, it always sounds great. Go for it.
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HI DEN
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Edited Mar 17, 2020, 16:12
Re: Elevators Re-issues on CD...
Mar 17, 2020, 16:11
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Hey!
Yeah, i've either heard and or owned many of the earlier cd editions since mid/late 90´s (the first three albums, live material and compilations). And the Sign Of The Three Eyed Men box set was a total revelation and easily sounds best to my ears. I remember reading that those aforementioned Charly editions are from the same source. Though there might be some differences with the mixes etc., as, I think, the mixes for the two first albums on the vinyl box that followed the 2009 "Three Eyed Men" 10cd set were again somewhat different compared (don't remember how no exactly, gotta check..).
I actually got both cd and vinyl boxes at the time, Elevators being one of my all time faves! The cd box has a brilliant coffee table book included as well as (highly recommended!) live stuff: the "live in Texas disc with some early live appearances of them at perhaps their most ridiculously unhingedly energetic (in a good way..).and the San Francisco gig on acid that was released as "Live" with overdubs from a boxing match or some such and interspersed somewhat confusingly with otherwise brilliant outtake material (that was again included in the 10cd set as "Headstone - Contact Sessions" and is basically their unreleased punkier first album! That was released by Charly as a single cd as well, apparently).
The "Live Evolution Lost" 2cd/3lp set, released 2014 by IA/Charly also, is priceless if your a huge fan, but also a bit heavy as it's basically a document of the whole band collapsing on (a revolving) stage: Roky forgetting lyrics, Stacy Sutherland going through a nightmare trip where he saw his imminent untimely death (that happened few years later), etc.
I like all the mixes basically, for one reason or other. But I think the mono's sound deeper and certainly bass heavier (at least on vinyl) in general and in the case of Easter Everywhere there's some electric jug overdubs that are not on the stereo mix. The original pressings of "Psychedelic Sounds" thunder away like nothing else, but still the new ones sound awesome (either on vinyl or cd)!
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