BLACK SABBATH, Black Sabbath Vol. 4 [with booklet] USA 1st pressing LP

$

59

Black Sabbath ?– Black Sabbath Vol. 4 Label: Warner Bros. Records ?– BS 2602 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold, Terre Haute Pressing  Country: US Released: 25 Sep 1972 Genre: Rock Style: Heavy Metal Tracklist  A1 Wheels Of Confusion 8:00 A2 Tomorrow's Dream 3:08 A3 Changes 4:41 A4 FX 1:41 A5 Supernaut 4:43 B1 Snowblind 5:28 B2 Cornucopia 4:52 B3 Laguna Sunrise 2:50 B4 St. Vitus' Dance 2:25 B5 Under The Sun 5:52 Companies, etc. Recorded At – Record Plant, Los Angeles Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute Record Company – Warner Bros. Records Inc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Warner Bros. Records Inc. Credits Arranged By – Black Sabbath Cover – Bloomsbury Group Engineer – Colin Caldwell, Vic Smith*  Photography By – Keith McMillan*  Producer – Black Sabbath, Patrick Meehan Notes Original Terre Haute pressing, as indicated by the T1 etched in the runouts, with olive green labels. Warner Bros. in the US features a gatefold sleeve with 2 pages glued into the middle. Each band member is given their own photo page, with the band on-stage (and photographed from behind) at the very center. We wish to thank the great COKE-Cola Company of Los Angeles 

USA OLIVE LABEL WITH 'STEREO' FIRST PRESSING VINYL ALBUM IN GATEFOLD SLEEVE WITH BOOKLET AND ORIGINAL COMPANY INNER SLEEVE.

MATRIX:  SIDE A: T1 BS 2602 40109-1-2 A3  /  SIDE B: T1 BS-2602 40110-1-1 B7.

SLEEVE: VERY GOOD, SOME GENERAL SHELF, CORNER, EDGE AND RING WEAR.  SEAM SPLIT ALONG TOP NEAR SPINE TWO INCHES. BOOKLET VERY GOOD+, INNER SLEEVE HAS MIDDLE BOTTOM SEAM REPAIR.

DISC: VERY GOOD+. NO SCRATCHES, BUT SOME PLAY SCUFFS AND FINGERPRINTS. CLEAN LABELS.

Why buy a first or early pressing and not a re-issue or a ‘re-mastered’ vinyl album?

First and early pressings are pressed from the first generation lacquers and stampers. They usually sound vastly superior to later issues/re-issues (which, in recent times, are often pressed from whatever 'best' tapes or digital sources are currently available) - many so-called 'audiophile' new 180g pressings are cut from hi-res digital sources…essentially an expensive CD pressed on vinyl.  Why  experience the worse elements of both formats?  These are just High Maintenance CDs, with mid-ranges so cloaked with a veil as to sound smeared.  They are nearly always compressed with murky transients and a general lifelessness in the overall sound.  There are exceptions where re-masters/re-presses outshine the original issues, but they are exceptions and not the norm.

First or early pressings nearly always have more immediacy, presence and dynamics. The sound staging is wider.  Subtle instrument nuances are better placed with more spacious textures. Balances are firmer in the bottom end with a far-tighter bass. Upper-mid ranges shine without harshness, and the overall depth is more immersive.  Inner details are  clearer.

On first and early pressings, the music tends to sound more ‘alive’ and vibrant.  The physics of sound energy is hard to clarify and write about from a listening perspective, but the best we can describe it is to say that you can 'hear' what the mixing and mastering engineers wanted you to hear when they first recorded the music.  

• 1. USA BY MEDIA MAIL IS $5.99 FOR ANY AMOUNT OF LPs PURCHASED AND PAID FOR AT THE SAME TIME

          


• 2. INTERNATIONAL BY TRACKED AND INSURED PRIORITY AIR MAIL IS $59.99 [EXCEPT CANADA, WHICH IS $49.99].  Due to US post office changes in international tracking this is now the only way we ship international packages.