{"product_id":"eno_befor_2609","title":"Eno, Brian - Before and After Science - Super Hot Stamper (With Issues)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*NOTE:\u003c\/strong\u003e The quiet parts of side 1 play Mint Minus Minus to EX++.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*NOTE:\u003c\/strong\u003e Side 1 of this record was not noisy enough to rate our M-- to EX++ grade, but it's not quite up to our standards for Mint Minus Minus either. If you're looking for quiet vinyl, this is probably not the best copy for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVintage covers for this album are hard to find in exceptionally clean shape. Most of the will have at least some amount of ringwear, seam wear and edge wear. We guarantee that the cover we supply with this Hot Stamper is at least VG.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide one, the rock side, strongly relies on its deep punchy bass to make its material come to life and rock (or should we say art-rock?). Eno's vocals are clear and present with virtually no strain. Phil Collins' drumming is energetic and transparent and perfectly complemented by Percy Jones' simultaneously acrobatic and hard-driving bass work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRhett Davies engineered, brilliantly as always.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis vintage Island pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn't showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to \"see\" the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It's what vintage all analog recordings are known for -- \u003ci\u003ethis sound\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it -- not often, and certainly not always -- but maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat The Best Sides Of Before and After Science Have To Offer Is Not Hard To Hear\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe most Tubey Magic, without which you have \u003ci\u003ealmost\u003c\/i\u003e nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl pressings offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%221977%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1977\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNatural tonality in the midrange -- with all the instruments having the correct timbre\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTransparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional studio space\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo doubt there's more but we hope that should do for now. \u003ci\u003ePlaying the record is the only way to hear all of the qualities we discuss above,\u003c\/i\u003e and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCommon Problems\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis album often suffers from a severe case of rolled-off highs, compounding the problems in the midrange: veiled and smeary vocals. Most copies are thick, muddy and congested, lacking the kind of transparency and clarity that makes it possible for the listener to hear into Eno's dense mixes and make musical sense of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePartly this is Eno's fault. He overloads his recordings. Played The Joshua Tree lately? It has some of the same sonic shortcomings (exacerbated by Direct Metal Mastering).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCritical Listening Exercise\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe test for how good this record can sound when it's not too dense is the song \"Energy Fools the Magician.\" It's clear and open the way nothing else on side one is. It almost sounds as if there is a room full of musicians (magicians?) playing live.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTake special note of the bell in the left channel; it's key to the sound of the whole side. If you have a few copies, listen to the bell on each of them (after a good cleaning of course). The presence and harmonics of that bell will never be exactly the same on any two copies. We played many more than that and every time the sound of the bell was clearly different.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat We're Listening For On Before and After Science\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEnergy\u003c\/strong\u003e for starters. What could be more important than the life of the music?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThen: \u003cstrong\u003epresence and immediacy\u003c\/strong\u003e. The vocals aren't \"back there\" somewhere, lost in the mix. They're front and center where any recording engineer worth his salt -- the aforementioned \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22rhett-davies%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRhett Davies\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e in this case -- would put them.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Big Sound\u003c\/strong\u003e comes next -- wall to wall, lots of depth, huge space, three-dimensionality, all that sort of thing.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThen \u003cstrong\u003etransient information\u003c\/strong\u003e -- fast, clear, sharp attacks, not the smear and thickness so common to these LPs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTight punchy bass\u003c\/strong\u003e -- which ties in with good transient information, also the issue of frequency extension further down.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNext: \u003cstrong\u003etransparency\u003c\/strong\u003e -- the quality that allows you to hear deep into the soundfield, showing you the space and air around all the instruments.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eExtend the top and bottom\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003ci\u003evoila\u003c\/i\u003e, you have The Real Thing -- an honest to goodness Hot Stamper.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Real Desert Island Disc\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is one of my all-time favorite records -- a real \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22desert-island-disc%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDesert Island Disc\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e. Before and After Science and Taking Tiger Mountain are Must Own albums for those of us who grew up on and still appreciate the better Art Rock of the 70s (Roxy Music, 10cc, Talking Heads, etc.).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide Two is very ethereal. \"Julie With...\" is one of my all-time favorite Eno tracks. It's one of the most sublimely hypnotic songs I have ever heard in my decades of serious record listening. It alone is worth the price of the album. If you like this album, be sure to check out the early Roxy Music pressings and 801 Live, which are also Masterpieces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFive Stars\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAMG gives this album Five Stars and I couldn't agree more. If you're a fan of Art Rock or Prog Rock or just like something a little different, this is an album that belongs in your collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd with Hot Stamper sound like this you can actually hear it right, something you can be sure the reviewer for AMG listening to the CD (or worse!) can't begin to claim.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eVinyl Condition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMint Minus Minus is about as quiet as any vintage pressing will play, and since only the right vintage pressings have any hope of sounding good on this album, that will most often be the playing condition of the copies we sell. (The copies that are even a bit noisier get listed on the site are seriously reduced prices or traded back in to the local record stores we shop at.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose of you looking for quiet vinyl will have to settle for the sound of other pressings and Heavy Vinyl reissues, purchased elsewhere of course as we have no interest in selling records that don't have the vintage analog magic of these wonderful recordings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want to make the trade-off between bad sound and quiet surfaces with whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing might be available, well, that's certainly your prerogative, but we can't imagine losing what's good about this music -- the size, the energy, the presence, the clarity, the weight -- just to hear it with less background noise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Must Own Art Rock Record\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a recording that belongs in any serious rock collection. Others that belong in that category can be found \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22core-rock-collection%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Eno, Brian","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52409571901736,"sku":"eno_befor","price":119.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/products\/eno_befor_1202f04d-107a-4326-8b10-f24e4ff30e29.jpg?v=1646757914","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/eno_befor_2609","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}