EMERSON LAKE & PALMER, Brain Salad Surgery TRUE FIRST PRESSING -G matrix LP

	£		38
	$		50

UK FIRST ISSUE PRESSED ON USA HEAVY VINYL LP IN FOLD-OUT SLEEVE WITH DIE-CUT FOLD-OUT POSTER/LYRIC SHEET.

The actual first UK release of this album was pressed in the USA by Atlantic Records at Speciality Records Corporation (only first pressings of this title have SRC's logo after the machine stamped matrix numbers, the large S with R and C in the loops) and must have -G stampers both sides. These discs were imported back into the UK and housed in the UK first edition sleeve with the catalogue number K53501 on rear and spine and Manticore Records logo distributed by WEA Records Ltd on rear (only UK issues were housed in this sleeve) This 1st pressing was released on November 19, 1973 in both the US and the UK at the same time, later issues were printed with a Manticore/WEA catalogue number. Only these -G stampers were on the thicker vinyl, subsequent pressings were on thinner vinyl. Original pressings come in a fold out jacket with a die-cut fold-out poster.

The copy we are offering here is the FIRST TRUE PRESSING of this disc, and I will explain why below. It is the ONLY great sounding copy of the album ever released, pressed initially on heavy weight vinyl with deep groove cutting - the remastered CD sounds pretty good, but has a spineless bottom end, a whimpy, compressed treble and and an-over bright top and upper-mid. If you have a decent turntable set-up and want to hear the full dynamics of this album for the first time, then you are in for a treat. Like many others, we here at Raisedonrecords always loved the music on this album, but for years we thought it was rather a dull recording lacking in vibrancy and energy compared to their earlier Island releases. How wrong we were - we owned a clean, early 1973 A5 stamper copy pressed in the UK by WEA which distributed Manticore Records - but at that time we had never heard the first pressing of this album.

Why is this initial pressing so great? Well, firstly, Atlantic Records in the USA used Speciality Records for the mastering and pressing, one of the finest in the country at the time. Atlantic were mastering from the FIRST GENERATION master tape (the later UK pressings were second+ generation dub tapes which might account for the duller sound that they have). Secondly, this first pressing is the only one on thick, heavy vinyl which does not flex if you shake it holding the edges. The mastering was exceptional, it brought out every nuance in the music; a firm, tight bottom end and a wide, spacious mid and upper-mids. It just jumps out at you and sounds very exciting, Until you hear these first pressings, you haven't really been listening to the energy and precision contained in this complicated music at all - we certainly hadn't been, and rarely has there been such an aural difference to our ears than is to be found on this particular album. Only the ST-MC-732991/2-G (Large S with R and C in the loops) AT stampers are the first pressings, everything else is a re-press and the vinyl is always thinner. Manticore was ELP's own label that had just been set-up, and they did not have the facility to press up this album for initial UK release, so they masters were taken to their US distribution company in the USA and mastered and pressed there. A quirk of fate, because we ended up with a stunning mastering at the height of the analogue era. Although a British band through-and-through, all previous Island ELP albums had been mastered in the USA, at Robert Ludwig's famous Sterling Sound, as were most early Island releases, so, in fact, this British-of-all-British prog-rock bands had all their best albums mastered in the USA...go figure...

MATRIX NUMBERS IN RUN-OFF GROOVES: SIDE A: ST-MC-732991-G (Large S with R and C in the loops) AT / SIDE B: ST-MC-732992-G (Large S with R and C in the loops) AT

SLEEVE: VERY GOOD ONLY DUE TO SHELF, RING AND EDGE WEAR, PEM MARK ON FRONT. SOME SPINE NICKS. POSTER IS VERY GOOD+ JUST LIGHT WEAR.

DISC: VISUALLY VERY GOOD+ THAT PLAYS EXCELLENT MINUS. NO SCRATCHES AND NO NOTICEABLE SPINDLE WEAR, BUT SOME LIGHT WAVY HAIRLINE TYPE MARKS ALWAYS FOUND IN USA VINYL OF THIS ERA. USA DISCS ALWAYS LOOKED LESS THAN MINT EVEN WHEN THEY WERE NEW. THE IMPORTANT THING IS THIS DISC PLAYS AND SOUNDS SUPERB, THE ODD TICK OR POP IN THE QUIETEST OF PASSAGES BUT REGULAR CLEANING WILL KEEP THE STATIC DOWN - IF YOU DO NOT NEED THE SUPER-SILENT NOISE CEILING THAT CD OFFERS OVER VINYL, AND PREFER THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF LP AND CAN TOLERATE THE ODD TICK OR GROOVE WALL NOISE, THEN THIS IS A VERY ENJOYABLE PLAYING COPY AND SOMETHING OF A SOUND-REVELATION.

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