Universal to Re-Release Albums on Vinyl

[GrandIllusionist725]

I went to my local Hastings and picked up Equinox, Crystal Ball, Paradise Theater, Kilroy, and Caught in the Act. They were 17.99 a piece and CITA was 34, so that was an excellent deal. I didn't pick up GI, PoE, or Cornerstone because I have the Friday Music releases.

I'll have to say, after listening to Equinox and Crystal Ball, I am blown away. Honestly, they sound crisper and cleaner than the Friday Music releases. Equinox had no crackles or pops in it, very clean! And to add to it, finally got my copy of Reppoo in too. Glad to add to an already massive Styx vinyl collection!

[FormerDJMike]

I went to my local Hastings and picked up Equinox, Crystal Ball, Paradise Theater, Kilroy, and Caught in the Act. They were 17.99 a piece and CITA was 34, so that was an excellent deal. I didn't pick up GI, PoE, or Cornerstone because I have the Friday Music releases.

I'll have to say, after listening to Equinox and Crystal Ball, I am blown away. Honestly, they sound crisper and cleaner than the Friday Music releases. Equinox had no crackles or pops in it, very clean! And to add to it, finally got my copy of Reppoo in too. Glad to add to an already massive Styx vinyl collection!

Good deal! That's a good price and if I didn't have the others I would get them but my original copies (with the exception of Cornerstone) are in good shape.

[Baron Von Bielski]

I went to my local Hastings and picked up Equinox, Crystal Ball, Paradise Theater, Kilroy, and Caught in the Act. They were 17.99 a piece and CITA was 34, so that was an excellent deal. I didn't pick up GI, PoE, or Cornerstone because I have the Friday Music releases.

I'll have to say, after listening to Equinox and Crystal Ball, I am blown away. Honestly, they sound crisper and cleaner than the Friday Music releases. Equinox had no crackles or pops in it, very clean! And to add to it, finally got my copy of Reppoo in too. Glad to add to an already massive Styx vinyl collection!

Yeah, I have a little more faith in Universal's remastering abilities and staff over Friday Music any day. Just an opinion, but somehow I believe Universal is obviously better equipped.

[Boomchild]

Yeah, I have a little more faith in Universal's remastering abilities and staff over Friday Music any day. Just an opinion, but somehow I believe Universal is obviously better equipped.

However, Regardless of how well equipped they are big corporations usually are just looking to cash in on a trend and may not put in the time and attention to detail that a smaller company would. Plus no matter how "well equipped" a company is, much of it comes down to the engineer doing the work.

[StyxCollector]

Just want to clarify a few things:

1. The multis for some songs are gone, which is why some stuff was re-recorded for Rock Band (or whatever it was used for). The stereo masters are around. If the misplaced one, trust me, there are plenty of copies out there close to 1st gen.

2. The vinyl is remastered, but it is telling that they didn't release hi-rez digital at the same time which says to me this is a vinyl only release. I didn't buy them because I don't collect vinyl.

3. The live CB is on the Reppu CD. It was originally from the Roadie soundtrack. Reppu is the only place it's on CD.

4. As to the comment about labels vs. the smaller (Friday/MoFi/Audio Fidelity), it is a case-by-case basis. I do not like the AF versions of the Styx albums (GI, PT). Uni in Japan did a better job with the SHM-CD and SHM-SACD (the remastered one, not the original ones in the mini-LP sleeves that were not) of PT. The majors have been really improving espeically in the hi-rez arena, so it's a shame these saw no such release with this vinyl campaign.

5. There are numerous versions of the song CB pre-Styx out there. The live version with the extra verse most people have is from the GWG tour which was an official radio show. I may have even originated that years ago when I put it on DAT. Who knows.

[FormerDJMike]

Allan, nice to see you make an appearance I was wondering where you were. Haven't heard from you in a while and I must have lost your e-mail address. How's things going? Good, I hope.

[Boomchild]

Just want to clarify a few things:

1. The multis for some songs are gone, which is why some stuff was re-recorded for Rock Band (or whatever it was used for). The stereo masters are around. If the misplaced one, trust me, there are plenty of copies out there close to 1st gen.

Is it known which songs the multis are gone?

[Baron Von Bielski]

4. As to the comment about labels vs. the smaller (Friday/MoFi/Audio Fidelity), it is a case-by-case basis. I do not like the AF versions of the Styx albums (GI, PT). Uni in Japan did a better job with the SHM-CD and SHM-SACD (the remastered one, not the original ones in the mini-LP sleeves that were not) of PT. The majors have been really improving espeically in the hi-rez arena, so it's a shame these saw no such release with this vinyl campaign.

I didn't mind too much the AF version of PT, well at least compared to GI. Not saying it was good, just much better compared to what they did to GI.

[FormerDJMike]

Just picked up a new/sealed copy of Cornerstone (Friday Music) for $8.91. Was too good of a deal to pass up. Anyone considering it they still have one left. Just search for "Styx 180 gram" and it should show up when viewing lowest first. I have bought from that seller before and service is always excellent.

edit: on eBay from Sound City Beaches

[StyxCollector]

I didn't mind too much the AF version of PT, well at least compared to GI. Not saying it was good, just much better compared to what they did to GI.

Agree PT was better, but the Japanese SHM (3rd issue; 1st two were not remastered) remaster is better - especially the SHM-SACD.

Is it known which songs the multis are gone?

IIRC, some stuff off of PT.

Allan, nice to see you make an appearance I was wondering where you were. Haven't heard from you in a while and I must have lost your e-mail address. How's things going? Good, I hope.

Can't complain. Very busy and a lot of stuff never changes here, so ..

Anyway, since I can't post over at another forum, I want to clarify a few things:
Yes, the Styx catalog was remastered in the mid-90s, but never released here except for the one CD single and the single disc hits collection (which then got Volume Two). The one person who claims he worked for A&M says the remasters were released internationally which is 100% incorrect. In the rest of the world (I should know - I've traveled all the corners), most import the US releases. Canada presses their own, and the remasters never came out there. The EU gets US CDs, and has since the 90s or before. Japan does their own thing and has had various reissues since the 80s, but not until the first volley of SHMs a few years back was the A&M catalog done en masse EXCEPT for PT and Cornerstone which were not remastered as part of that series. PT got the later SHM (regular, Platinum, and SHM-SACD) which was remastered, leaving Cornerstone as the only album officially not remastered in digital AND released. I'm not counting the AF version of Grand Illusion - just record company releases.

So the person on the other forum claiming the A&M 90s remasters were released is mistaken - especially considering I own things where they are different.

The RCA catalog except for Styx I was remastered in the 90s in Japan, but most of those also saw US releases (not the same mastering, though). Styx I saw the release on One Way records before the Wooden Nickel Collection.

Styx has a terrible track record digitally, but this is more of a record company thing. For whatever reason, they do not see the value in re-releasing the catalog. The sad part is that since the vinyl was remastered, the chances are that all were digitally sourced from hi-rez 192 or 96/24 like most vinyl is these days. There's no reason to not even release the hi-rez to sites like HDTracks, Quobuz. etc., yet that didn't happen.

[Baron Von Bielski]

I didn't mind too much the AF version of PT, well at least compared to GI. Not saying it was good, just much better compared to what they did to GI.

Agree PT was better, but the Japanese SHM (3rd issue; 1st two were not remastered) remaster is better - especially the SHM-SACD.

I agree on that. I bought that same SHM-CD of PT, glad I did.

[FormerDJMike]

Anyway, since I can't post over at another forum, I want to clarify a few things:
Yes, the Styx catalog was remastered in the mid-90s, but never released here except for the one CD single and the single disc hits collection (which then got Volume Two). The one person who claims he worked for A&M says the remasters were released internationally which is 100% incorrect. In the rest of the world (I should know - I've traveled all the corners), most import the US releases. Canada presses their own, and the remasters never came out there. The EU gets US CDs, and has since the 90s or before. Japan does their own thing and has had various reissues since the 80s, but not until the first volley of SHMs a few years back was the A&M catalog done en masse EXCEPT for PT and Cornerstone which were not remastered as part of that series. PT got the later SHM (regular, Platinum, and SHM-SACD) which was remastered, leaving Cornerstone as the only album officially not remastered in digital AND released. I'm not counting the AF version of Grand Illusion - just record company releases.

So the person on the other forum claiming the A&M 90s remasters were released is mistaken - especially considering I own things where they are different.

The RCA catalog except for Styx I was remastered in the 90s in Japan, but most of those also saw US releases (not the same mastering, though). Styx I saw the release on One Way records before the Wooden Nickel Collection.

Styx has a terrible track record digitally, but this is more of a record company thing. For whatever reason, they do not see the value in re-releasing the catalog. The sad part is that since the vinyl was remastered, the chances are that all were digitally sourced from hi-rez 192 or 96/24 like most vinyl is these days. There's no reason to not even release the hi-rez to sites like HDTracks, Quobuz. etc., yet that didn't happen.

I know who you are talking about over at the SH forums. I read the post he made about the catalog being remastered for "other parts of the world". I took him at his word since I am stuck on this big island we call North America. The only ones (foreign) I have in my possession are Styx II, Serpent Is Rising, Man Of Miracles and "Best Of" from Japan. I seem to remember the first album was planned but the country had an issue with the band standing in their whitey tighties... They could have just released it with the construction paper airplane cover like One Way did. Interesting story on that, when it was released I e-mailed them and asked why it wasn't released with the original cover. They e-mailed me back and asked for my mailing address and sent me the inserts with the original artwork. So now I have both the RCA reissue artwork and the original.

And with the vinyl releases I am surprised they didn't do like Rush and include the hi-rez downloads. it would have cost them nothing more to throw in a download code. The only one of those I picked up was Hemispheres because I didn't have it in any format and actually heard the complete album for the first time a few weeks ago.

[FormerDJMike]

Hmmmm.... My copy of Cornerstone came in but it isn't the Friday Music or the new version. The company is called Music On Vinyl. It isn't gatefold. The artwork is terrible looks like a bootleg scan. It includes an insert of the lyrics that are pixelated and poor quality. The record is 180 gram and dated 2013. It doesn't mention a remaster and from what I have read this label remastered nothing and if they do they are digital files not original analog tapes. The record itself has the old Wooden Nickel Styx logo on it. I will upload some pics when I have time. And I don't want this to sound like a complaint because I only paid 9 bucks for it. As for the record? It sounds great. So while little care was taken with the cover and inserts the actual vinyl sounds good. And for 9 bucks it was still a steal although I would've paid 3-4 more for the Friday Music version.

[Boomchild]

Hmmmm.... My copy of Cornerstone came in but it isn't the Friday Music or the new version. The company is called Music On Vinyl. It isn't gatefold. The artwork is terrible looks like a bootleg scan. It includes an insert of the lyrics that are pixelated and poor quality. The record is 180 gram and dated 2013. It doesn't mention a remaster and from what I have read this label remastered nothing and if they do they are digital files not original analog tapes. The record itself has the old Wooden Nickel Styx logo on it. I will upload some pics when I have time. And I don't want this to sound like a complaint because I only paid 9 bucks for it. As for the record? It sounds great. So while little care was taken with the cover and inserts the actual vinyl sounds good. And for 9 bucks it was still a steal although I would've paid 3-4 more for the Friday Music version.

This is pretty interesting. Looking forward to the pics.

[FormerDJMike]

OK, sorry for the bad pics but here is what I have:



This one is only an insert, 2 sided. Pics on one side, lyrics on the other. Hard to tell from this pic but this is like a low-rez scan.



Here is the sticker on the outside label:




http://www.musiconvinyl.com/ is indeed a real label. Again, the cover art on this is terrible. I can try to take some more pics of the art with a better camera than my cell phone like those above. No gatefold on this. But the music sounds very good so far. No complaints for only pay $9 for it.

[FormerDJMike]

Bottom says 2013 Universal Music B.V. Manufactured by Music On Vinyl for Universal.

[FormerDJMike]

New on the left, old on the right. New one is much darker and you can't really see the image on the gray album.

[masque]

being a sic-fi fan like I am......I always loved the picture on the inside of the cornerstone album that is shown above of the kid looking at the album on a pedestal. i would stare at thing every single time I listened to the album as a kid.

[gr8dane]

being a sic-fi fan like I am......I always loved the picture on the inside of the cornerstone album that is shown above of the kid looking at the album on a pedestal. i would stare at thing every single time I listened to the album as a kid.

Count me in masque.
Sci fi fan also.
Always thought the floor around the white circle was a ceiling (turned upside down) ,if you know what I mean.

[Baron Von Bielski]

In the end all that really matters is the sound quality. Which you said was good, so then it's definitely a worthwhile purchase. I'd say it probably is on par with Friday's release. Except a much better price. I'm only going to purchase the Universal releases from here on out. I may even buy Cornerstone again. We'll see. Next will either be Equinox or CB.

[Archetype]

Saw all of them at a Barnes & Noble in San Antonio.

[Boomchild]

Saw all of them at a Barnes & Noble in San Antonio.

Interesting since I thought that B&N pretty much dumped their music departments in their stores.

[FormerDJMike]

Finally, I found Edge on vinyl.



A used copy but in excellent shape (still has the shrink wrap on it). I originally bought it in 1990 on vinyl and have no idea what happened to it. Glad to have found it again and at a VERY cheap price. I have not played it yet and will try to get around to it this weekend. I have heard this this version is very "tinny". Rumor was they pressed a CD to vinyl (never a good idea). But the deadwax (near the center of the record) says "Sterling Sound - DMM". Normally this tell you who pressed it and where. Like if the initials RL were on it, it meant Bob Ludwig (the best at mastering vinyl). So I thought "Sterling Sound is awesome, but WHO is DMM? Upon investigation I found it wasn't a person at all and that DMM is "Direct Metal Mastering" Unlike conventional disc mastering, where the mechanical audio modulation is cut onto a lacquer-coated aluminium disc, DMM cuts straight into metal (copper), utilizing a high frequency carrier system and specialized diamond styli, vibrating at more than 40 kHz (i.e. 60 kHz) to facilitate the cutting.

Some people have said anything made using DMM in the early 90's sound very thin.

Who else here has Edge on vinyl? How does it sound to your ears? I am sure I will enjoy it either way. I'm just glad I found it again, the version I found looks like it has only been played a time or two.

[Boomchild]

Who else here has Edge on vinyl? How does it sound to your ears? I am sure I will enjoy it either way. I'm just glad I found it again, the version I found looks like it has only been played a time or two.

I have two copies on vinyl. One is from Korea and the other is the U.S. pressing I think. To the best of my recollection, it is very lack luster and thin in it's sound. I remember thinking how much better the CD version sounded to me.

[FormerDJMike]

Hey everyone, I found some of the records on the cheap side and I wanted to share them with you. A seller on eBay has the individual albums for sale, still sealed. Not a boxed set but I didn't care about that. He has them priced at $14.12 with free shipping. I ordered Kilroy then noticed it said "ad two more to your cart and get 45 % off!". So I added Paradise and PO8 and the price dropped to $9.82 each!!

If you go to eBay you just look here: (It looks like he might sold out of Grand Illusion now, I think he has the Friday Music version because it is priced at $22.93).

http://stores.ebay.com/get-importCDs/Vinyl-Records-/_i.html?_nkw=styx&_fsub=2480398011&_sid=162425181&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

So I got 3 that I wanted for less than 30 bucks. I already have those but each album has a skip so I figured what the heck, at 10 bucks a piece they were a steal. My original copy of Crystal Ball is flawless so I will keep that and I already have the 2015 Equinox. My CITA is pretty good too so no need to buy that one.

[FormerDJMike]

As I was looking at them I dropped Kilroy on the floor and the top left corner bent. Oops! This was the first one i opened and I have to say it is true to the original packaging. 180 gram vinyl, remastered by Ron McMaster. Sounded pretty good and better than my other copies. Paradise looks the same as well but it is not laser etched with the cool drawing on side 2. The inside some of the liner notes are removed under "Half Penny, Two Penny". The album art looks to be a bit brighter than the original. The record itself was warped. Strange warp as it is only on one little area near the edge for about an inch and a half. I detected nothing when played, only visually. By the time "Nothing Ever Goes As Planned" was playing the tone arm did not move up and down but did for the first song or so. Kind of disappointed that it had that kind of warp but at least it plays fine. I want to blame United Pressing for some reason... Maybe because the next one had a flaw as well. PO8 looked flat when I opened it (well, it IS flat). However I believe the spindle hole may be slightly off because I can see the record move slightly from side-to-side when played. But, as with Paradise, it was only visual I detected nothing by ear that sounded out of the ordinary.

I can't complain too much, I got them brand new and still sealed for $9.82 each with free shipping. I previously bought Equinox last summer and it sounds fantastic. I personally haven't had any issues with the pressings out of Nashville until PO8 and Paradise (and Paradise may not be them, I don't know where the warp came from but for some reason I want to blame them). I don't have many from United but my MegaDeth "Dystopia" sounds good and plays clean as does Kilroy and Equinox. Not sure if I have any other recent pressings from United (my copy of Grand Illusion is Friday Music & Cornerstone is MOV).

[FormerDJMike]

Finally picked up CITA, $9.99 with free shipping from the same vendor on eBay. That guy has some fantastic record prices (also picked up a few Queen and Led Zep records from him for very cheap prices).

I have to say, CITA sounds good. Sounds better than my other vinyl version of CITA which I just sold on eBay last night. So far, of the re-issues this one is the cleanest and quietest of all of them. I was actually kind of surprised. United Pressing is notorious for bad pressings (I noticed a spot on Equinox but it doesn't affect play, PO8 is slightly off center but plays fine, Paradise is slightly warped on AD 1928 and Kilroy has a spot like Equinox). But so far all of them play very well and sound good. I think Ron McMaster did a good job remastering them. Would have been nice to have the "box set" but it was much cheaper to buy them individually and I already have reissues of Cornerstone and Grand Illusion so I didn't need them again. What would have been really cool is if Kilroy came with the original hype MMM sticker and CITA came with the VHS order form but other than that they are true to the originals with the "Write to Styx" part on the inside photoshopped out. But liner notes and inner sleeves are pretty much as you remember them. Again, CITA sounds good and I haven't listened to that one in years so it was good to hear it again.