The Article
VINYL: Johnny Cash, Soulfly, Eloy & More!
22nd March 2019
Brief commentary of vinyl releases from B.B. King, Johnny Cash, Soulfly, Eloy & More!
VINYL PASSION
A host of classic albums from this reissue specialist outfit begins with John Lee Hooker and Travelin’/Burnin’. Two albums from 1960 and 1961 respectively. Two stone cold, intense classics. Burnin’ is also known as Burnin’ Hell, incidentally.
B.B. King’s The Blues, originally released on the budget label Crown, collects 12 sides plus two bonus cuts of top notch blues.
Johnny Cash’s Americana-centred Songs of Our Soil (1959) and Greatest (1959; mainly B-sides and unreleased songs, actually) fit on a single disc.
Finally, sax-genius Sonny Rollins and A Night at the Vanguard/At Music Inn from 1957 and 1958 respectively with the great man at his peak.
MUSIC ON VINYL
Newly out and about from this prolific label (www.musiconvinyl.com) is a host of rock LPs.
Max Cavalera left Sepultura for the Soulfly project. Prophecy (2004), on gold and black vinyl, features grinding hardcore metal but there’s plenty of rhythmic variety in there to keep matters interesting.
From prog-metal outfit, Crimson Glory is Transcendence (1988), arguably the best album of its type in the 80s. Not as prog as you might think – in fact, it’s fairly Iron Maiden-esque, ‘straight ahead rock’ with flourishes.
Death Angel’s brilliant Act III (1990) on limited, red vinyl offers great production, excellent guitar, quality lyrics that out-Anthrax, Anthrax.
On a different tack is Germany’s Eloy, prog-leaning krautrock but with their debut, Eloy (1971) they were a hard rocking Atomic Rooster-type outfit. Not bad, not great.
Also look out for Vendetta’s Go and Live…Stay and Die (1987), the German thrash metal group’s debut…
on green vinyl is Phenomena’s Blind Faith, a Tom Galley project (brother of former Whitesnake guitarist Mel Galley)…
Overland’s Epic is on blue vinyl and limited to 500 copies plus…
Sinner’s Danger Zone (1984) with its <cough> primitive sleeve art, coloured vinyl and limited to 666 copies.
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Hello Paul,
You gave me some great advice in the past, and in one case I ignored it!, which I regret at my leisure.
To cut to the quick I ended up with a solid state phono instead (very well rated by all)of going with your advice on listening to Icon audio’s PS1 mk2,
well recently I have had the icon at home and it has been an education,my question is I have the cash to go for the PS3 mk2 but wondered with my turntable set up ( lp12 ittok and koetsu,troika, and in future maybe a hanna)
would the difference be worth while or upgrade the tonearm/cartridge first?
Thanks for all the reviews and news on vinyl.
kind regards,
mike.
Before I answer…how attached are you to the Linn, Michael? Are you a big Linn fan? No probs if you are, just would like to know where your head is re. that design.
Hi Paul,
Thanks for getting back regarding my question.I am not really attached to it even thought i have had it since 1983!
trouble is before i got back into reading online reviews and websites like yours i invested in a greenstreet sub chassis and a tiger paw toplate it is a lot better than it was but i wonder how much i would need to spend to get a lot better sound i am 64 and really wanted to finalise my hi-fi at my age one has to think of time life of products,to cut to the chase it would not break my heart to get rid of it,and your advice will be most welcome,I want to keep my prima luna integrated the ps1 or ps3 mk2 if worth while,i am qiute open to suggestions,thanks again.
No problem Michael. The phono amp is a much neglected part of the source package. It’s there to amplify that tiny stylus-derived signal so, if that amplification job is at fault then that precious signal will be degraded, no matter how good your turntable is – hence, I’d go for the PS3. It’s noticeably superior to the PS1 (even though the PS! is excellent). Tell Icon Audio that I sent you and they’ll treat you right 🙂
Hi Paul,thanks again for the advice, i will upgrade to the ps3. When Icon sent the ps1 Adrian mentioned i could upgrade to the ps3 with out cost so i will get in touch with him tomorrow.
Paul regarding the lp12 ittok combo how much would i need to spend to get a better turntable? i have seen nottingham analogue turntables at £3000 to £5000 inc tonearm would this be a sideways move? similar the avid and origin live companies have arm/turntables for about the same,i would very much appreciate your wisdom on these options,I might well be tempted,lastly i really enjoy your reviews your sense of humour comes through.
Thanks for your kind words. Hmmm, I don’t want to give you the impression that I’m deriding the Linn. It’s a very nice deck and has plenty of fans. Personally, I think it imposes too much of its own colour onto music and is a bit off the pace and expensive for what you get but, as I say, the Linn has a wealth of rabid followers and I respect that.
If bass is important to you in terms of the overall balance, I would look at AVID (but not with its favoured SME arms – also now off the pace) and VPI but also Origin Live.
The more cash the better, of course. A new Klimax level Linn is around £16 or £17k but you can do better with an Origin Live Sovereign and Enterprise arm plus a cart around £4k or so: https://theaudiophileman.com/sovereign/
This direct drive VPI is superb: https://theaudiophileman.com/vpi-hw-40-anniversary-turntable-review/
The VPI Avenger at around £11 is superb too.
The AVID Acutus is excellent but with a better arm – the Origin Enterprise for example: https://theaudiophileman.com/acutus-sp-avid-turntable-review/.
If the prices are way too high, I can offer a lower price point selection.
Hi Paul thanks for the reply, Rabid! it’s true,it is like ferrari fan boys! with out the hats, I can’t justify the cost of the excellent t/tables you have listed Paul beautiful as they must sound, I was thinking about ¬£5,000 for the turntable and tonearm (i don’t mind second hand)as long as it is a real step up from the lp12, I might then use the lp12 with a mono cartridge.I even thought about a rega? by the way i did tell icon that i had learned of their products through you.
cheer’s,
mike.
Not a problem, Michael 🙂 Have a careful look at this VPI – just a bit over your budget but worth it: https://theaudiophileman.com/prime-signature-vpi-turntable-review/
Hi Paul,
I had a look at the vpi they appear relatively easy to set up compared to a linn.I am going to have to listen to it , I will find a dealer , but i must sort out the phono stage first.I am about to order the Icon PS3 mk2 and I wondered if you have found a particular interconnect which helped this phono stage deliver its best,
thanks Paul.
Thanks for your question, Mike – I have to ask firstly, what’s your budget on that one please?
Hi Paul I was thinking ¬£200 for the phono to amp interconnect, I have a Chord vee 3 at the moment can’t remember where it came from, and have been reading about the Duelund interconnects and speaker cable? they seem really economic compared to the average audiophile wires.plus the Townshend ¬£¬£¬£¬£? can they really be so much better?
thank you.
Hi Mike – I’ve yet to test the Dueland interconnect cables. If you manage to hear them and you like them then go for those. For that price, from what I’ve heard, I’ve go for a pair of Tellurium Q Blue cables. Excellent value/performance.
Hi Paul,
Thank you for all the advice it has really helped,I will let you know how things go,
all the best for now,
mike.
Thanks Mike – be interested to know how you get on.