I listened yesterday for the first time to the Vinyl Me Please (“VMP”) re-issue of Whitney Houston, and the VMP re-issue of Roberta Flack’s Quiet Fire. (Quiet Fire includes her cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” which has become one of my favorite vocal tracks of all time.)
In each case I did not have the original pressing available to compare directly to the re-issues on an A/B/A basis. But I have heard the original pressings dozens of times over the years, including recently — enough to make these very general comments.
The VMP vinyl on both titles was very quiet and that, without more, justifies the Whitney Houston re-issue for me. The Whitney Houston re-issue was a little bit warmer-sounding than I recall from the crappy, noisy original pressings.
The original pressing of Quiet Fire may have Roberta’s voice a little bit more prominent than I hear in the re-issue. Overall, I preferred the re-issue, a friend who was with me preferred the re-issue, and another friend who was with me preferred the original pressing.
I think original pressings often have more energy and “life” than re-issues. However, with bright-sounding original recordings of rock and pop, I generally think that the quietness of the re-issue vinyl and the usually slightly greater overall warmth is a net improvement to me.
In each case I did not have the original pressing available to compare directly to the re-issues on an A/B/A basis. But I have heard the original pressings dozens of times over the years, including recently — enough to make these very general comments.
The VMP vinyl on both titles was very quiet and that, without more, justifies the Whitney Houston re-issue for me. The Whitney Houston re-issue was a little bit warmer-sounding than I recall from the crappy, noisy original pressings.
The original pressing of Quiet Fire may have Roberta’s voice a little bit more prominent than I hear in the re-issue. Overall, I preferred the re-issue, a friend who was with me preferred the re-issue, and another friend who was with me preferred the original pressing.
I think original pressings often have more energy and “life” than re-issues. However, with bright-sounding original recordings of rock and pop, I generally think that the quietness of the re-issue vinyl and the usually slightly greater overall warmth is a net improvement to me.