MoFi Release Meets Expectations FINALLY

The original Wake was not too good sound wise. I came to this conclusion after trying various copies. Very murky, sounds like cassette. Some cuts fare better than others. When I saw the reissue was available I assumed it would be compomised by the Master Tapes, So this is good news! On a related note, I am unimpressed with the sonics on the new CD of Europe 72 #2.

I agree the original Wake has disappointing sound quality considering how good American Beauty and Working Man's Dead sound. Maybe in this case the MoFi tampering offers an improvement which would be good news. I do have a number of MoFis that I think sound good to very good. Many are long out of print though.

Understand what youre saying totally and Mofi is a crap shoot these days-didnt used to be. I was totally underwhelmed by teir relase of Santana's first album-dynamics absent, compressed-the original Columbia release is much better. This was released on their Gain 2 series which has been much better than this record. I recently bought INXS's "Kick" which is on their supposedly lesser Silver label, and this record is very good with good dynamics and the life not squashed out of it, so go figure. Maybe its just down to who is in the studio doing the remastering at the time.

The new MoFi in general is not worth the $$ charged both sonically and musically. I think they are running out of original tapes being made available to them by the recording companies because the recording companies are back in vinyl themselves, a problem for all of the reissue companies out there by the way. I recently purchased the latest expensive disappointment, the new Lyle Lovett album, and it isn't very good. Sonically speaking there is no air in the ambient and it just sounds lifeless and uninvolving. On the other hand, I went to my local used record store yesterday and purchased a $12.00 Albert King reissue which is superb and I bought a $5.00 copy of Friday Night in San Francisco also a knockout. I'm really growing bored with many of the disappointing and expensive reissues offered to audiophiles.

I own every MoFi vinyl release up to about catalog number 350 or so. The recent releases are absolutely horrible, easily being bested by original pressings. I finally decided not to waste my money on any more of these sonically compromised LP's. Try listening to any of the Patricia Barber reissues, even the 45 rpm ones. The sonics absolutely disappear and sound like a cheap cassette or 8 track recording. I can't believe people are still buying these things.