Any rock fans out there?


I preordered Black Sabbath 13 album and received it on 6/11. All I can say is wow, Ozzy, Geezer and Tony hit a home run with this album. The music is all new, but in the traditional 'master of reality', "vol 4", self titled albums. The pressing is super quiet, 33, 2 album set. Bass and drums are fantastic on this pressing. The music and lyrics are great and in tradition of old Black Sabbath, "I don't believe that God is dead". Since I know I have to ask a question, my question is, are there any rock fans out there?
captain_winters
Hi Actus,
You asked about the vinyl quality?
Can't answer the sound quality component of the question as mine was still sealed in its plastic wrapper :)
However, I took it out and inspected it and it looks a very nice production. Content is split over 2X LPs as normal. They've kept it simple. Instead of poly lined inner sleeves with separate sleeves for notes, they've opted for just the illustrated glossy paper ones.
What's good about this is that un-lined plain paper covers are usually undersized and stick to the vinyl like glue. I usually end up surgically removing them before replacing with decent covers :(

I confess that I prefer to de-louse new albums of MRA before listening so I'll let this one "bleed" for a bit longer before cleaning! :)

In terms of LP stamping quality, the only albums I've heard of any problem with were the Rhino re-issues on 180g which had the occasional case of "non-fill"?

Although I still enjoy my 40+ yr old 120g copies of the earliest albums, a couple of years back I shelled out for Vertigo labelled Audiophile 180g editions of "Vol 1, Paranoid, Masters of Reality, and Vol4". These were all fine and non-problematic.
When listening to heavy-metal, absolute sound quality was never highest on my list of priorities but new 180g pressings are still worth getting.
Hope this helps.
Cheers buddy :)
Martinmoblie: The drummer will be Tommy Clufetos. He plays in Ozzy's band and has played for Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, and Rob Zombie...
Ralph, you guys are really good. It's kind of annoying at this point, brilliant designer.....talented musician. Crap, you can even scrape a sentence together. Great having you around here!
Hello Dave_72 and thanks for the info. I know that differences between studio versions and touring versions of bands exist all the time. The new "13" features the drummer from Rage against the Machine. Really would be cool if the 4 founding Godfathers of Metal could put aside whatever differences they still have as it's been over 30 years. One would think all the bullshit and drama could be over by now, huh? Bill Ward is the one holding the grudge still, I think? Still going to be an awesome tour to experience! Shoreline Amphitheater is a killer place to see big rock shows, great acoustics IMHO. I've seen RUSH, AEROSMITH, IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, OZZFEST, and countless other rock/metal acts there. In less than 2 weeks (June 30th) I'm seeing Mayhem Festival there with ROB ZOMBIE as Headliner. 'Sabbath makes it's mark in August.
Cool thread, and nice to see that other rockers and metal heads can come forth and celebrate the "heavier" stuff. We're all Audiophiles even if it's not just Classical or Jazz, or Chamber music, or Opera that gets us off. I love all the styles of music that I just mentioned. Used to work in Jazz format radio for almost 10 years. But the "heavy" stuff has always been one of my favorite kinds of music...much to the dismay of all the guys in my Audiophile society. They tell me I'm the hardest rocking Audiophile they've ever known! Ha Ha Ha! Rock on fellow headbangers...Rock on!