FLEETWOOD MAC Rumours *1977* LP Vinyl MINT USA 1st pressing AUDIOPHILE QUALITY

$

30

USA FIRST PRESSING (1977) VINYL LP IN HEAVY TEXTURED CARD SLEEVE WITH 4 PAGE LYRIC INNER AND ORIGINAL INNER SLEEVE.

The 1977 USA first pressings of this album are audiophile demonstration quality. Finding clean, barely played first pressings of this album is proving harder than it used to be, which is why it has been re-issued so many times, and why there is now a large box set of bonus tracks and a 're-mastered' pressing cut by Bernie Grundman.

MATRIX:          BSK - I - 3010 PRC-I F43 - 11 - 11

Grundman is a mighty fine engineer, but he was not the original mastering engineer on either the UK or the USA first pressings, and his cut is from 30+ year old decaying master tapes (the tapes were shredding oxide in 1977 when the album was released - this much is admitted in the accompanying documentary video with the recent deluxe box-set) and undoubtedly has some digital signal paths involved (the original mastering was all-analogue). Grundman's new cut is mighty fine, no doubt about it, but it is not as good as the original Ken Perry Capitol mastered UK or USA ones. One side-by-side playing proves this - the Grundman cut sounds like it is 'trying' to be audiophile, whereas the first Perry UK and USA pressings don't try to be anything: they just are audiophile. That was how the band cut and approved the master in 1977, and that is how it sounded to the millions who bought it. 

So, why pay top dollar for a record that sold millions of copies, has been 'remastered' on CD a number of times, had colored vinyl pressings, and a decidedly dull and lifeless half-speed master issued by Nautilus in 1980 (with early digital signal paths as well), and has been re-mastered again more recently on vinyl? 

Well, if you love this album and have a decent or excellent hi fi, the only copy you really need to own is either a first USA pressing or a first UK pressing. 

They are both so vastly superior to anything else you have ever heard, that it'll be like hearing Rumours for the first time. Initially you'll forget you are listening to the songs that you know so well, and find yourself listening to 'the sound' of the record, the warmth, the depth of the bottom end to shimmering highs that are only on these first pressings. It really was a brilliantly produced album of exceptionally good rock-pop songs by a band at it's second peak. Both the USA and UK first pressings were cut from the same Perry Capitol mastered laquers. We have had many copies of both down the years, and they were very consistent pressings to begin with. It is possible that the first USA pressings have a miniscule 'edge' over the British ones, but this might be because they seem to be cut a little bit louder, which isn't necessarily the same as being 'better', but there really isn't much in it except for the fact that the British first pressing were generally pressed on higher quality vinyl. A true Mac fan is likely to seek out both of course. Although this is a British band with two new American members, the band was signed to Warner Bros. in the USA and recorded, mixed and mastered this album there.

If you drop the needle onto the start of 'Dreams' on either a USA or UK first pressing, and hear that unique Fleetwood-McVie rhythm combination, ever so simple but entirely elegant, you know it is time to toss your CDs and re-issues in the bin. You will never play any other copy again once you have a decent USA or UK first pressing of this album. This is the end of the line for upgrading, they will not get any better than this.

So, once again, the question: Why pay top dollar for a record that sold millions of copies...

BECAUSE THIS FIRST USA PRESSING COPY IS LIKE MINT SHOULD BE CALLED. 

You are having a once-in-a-lifetime time-machine opportunity. In 2014, you can purchase a bonifide rock music audiophile classic in pristine condition, like new, not sealed, but just as if you were in a record store back in 1977. 

Admittedly the price isn't the same - but then neither is a cup of coffee or a gallon of gasoline. And some things are simply just worth it. 

We doubt we'll ever have another copy like this one again. Me and my father collect records since the early 1970s and we sit on a massive collection of albums (Over 31.000 Vinyl Records in our combined collection!) 

We don't think we play our albums more than a few times, and, in some cases, like this Rumours album, probably never at all.

I had it on my turntable during this listing and it sounds AWESOME!!!!!!

SLEEVE: MINT. TEXTURED SLEEVE. NO DAMAGE TO THE SLEEVE. CORNERS ARE GOOD AND TIGHT. 

A HINT OF RING WEAR DUE TO THE STRETCH OF THE SEAL ONE DAY, BUT THIS WAS COMMON ON SEALED ALBUMS EVEN IN 1977 WHEN THIS WAS RELEASED. 

THE Inner Poster Lyrics Sleeve is also LIKE NEW!

BSK 3010 FLEETWOOD MAC RUMOURS 0798 ? Warner Bros. Records Inc. Printed in U.S.A.

DISC: MINT

Posted with eBay Mobile