September 10, 2010

Livin' Off The Wall..

2009 Re-issue by Music On Vinyl!

The sticker says exclusively remastered, but it's anyone's guess whether this was sourced from the 2001 CD remaster or the original 2nd mix masters.  It sounds great, more defined and brighter than my original 2nd mix I bought sealed on ebay not long ago, which also sounds great. Neither has anything over on the other to me.

The sealed original I won, is not the original mix that my 1979 copy was, like I was hoping.  The added hand claps & percussion on Rock With You are ok, but I much preferred the soft-rock feel of that initial mix.  However, the extra production added to Get On The Floor really adds the magic that seemed to be missing from the original mix.

The new label is stunning, and true to the original, this re-issue reproduces the gatefold with the record pocket on the bottom half, so that if you don't know any better and open the cover up to see it full-length before you take the record out- the disc seems to slip right out of Mikey's pant legs.  I'll never forget opening my first copy 30 years ago, and having the record hit the floor!

There was a scuff over the second half of side 2 forevermore.

The cover printing isn't horrible but like most re-issues it certainly isn't great.  A bit blurry and a bit heavy on the red hues, but at least they used the original cover and not just the lower half in a seemingly ridiculous attempt at hiding how different he looked back then.  Photo'd here with a newly opened original.

For 15 years Off The Wall was my favorite album, until I fell in love with Jeff Buckley and his album Grace in 1995.  Off The Wall was the first album I bought, most likely my first CD, and my first new vinyl again 18 years later.

 (Above: inside cover- top half is re-issue, bottom half is original. Below: Music On Vinyl sticker, both covers photo'd with original CD cover.)


  

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