His Magic Band* – Trout Mask Replica

Third Man Records have gone the extra mile and produced a stellar artifact. The sound of the bass's low end, is a revelation, and so is the cover image, finally reproduced accurately from the original source. It's TMR freshly minted. 5/5.

I can't imagine the album sounding any better than this, 5/5

Fast and bulbous... fast and bulbous... fast and bulbous .

The record is great. Well-restored and nicely-pressed. The inner sleeves are garbage. Both arrived split in a sealed record that I ordered online, and one turned inside-out when I first removed the LP.

Interesting comparison here (or maybe not LOL)... in the late 1980s, we took a friend's original pristine Straight pressing he bought new down to WMNF'S Production Studios, and ran what people now refer to as a needle drop from a Technics 1200 to a Nakamichi casette deck on to some metal oxide Maxell tapes. We had access to two decks at the same time so we ran four copies off for ourselves two at a time. I still have one of the original tapes, never played, and I just ran that on a TEAC casette for this comparison. I also have my original Jacksonville pressing from the late 70s, and the more recent Third Man pressing here... obviously this is going to be a very subjective thing also keeping in mind the limitations medium of the cassette... the original cassette was done basically at professional studio quality since we were using the production room and all of the best equipment... I also had my Jacksonville pressing there as well that day...

At the time we did this, we went back and forth between the early pressing and the later pressing, there wasn't that much difference: the earlier pressing had a softer top end, but there wasn't an enormous difference between them. Upon listening to the cassette today and the Jacksonville pressing, the same basically holds true. This album is not exactly a Marvel of production value, it seems like Frank Zappa recorded it and presented as some sort of "field recording". * carefully avoids the phrase bush recording here * The Jacksonville pressing does sort of just blare at you, it's not a particularly subtle mastering job in of Sound Stage or Imaging. Original pressing wasn't much more subtle either.

Which brings us to the third man / Zappa family etc etc pressing here. I wasn't particularly impressed with my Melvin's vinyl that was pressed by Third Man, it was quite noisy even after cleaning, so I was expecting a bit of a disappointment here. This is the black vinyl copy I'm discussing here of trout mask, not the fruitcake fish scale one which I assume at some point I'm going to pull the trigger on, just because... I mean fruit cake fish scale right?? got to have it!!! This is a rather subtle, more detailed and softer top end than any of the earlier pressings we're talking about here, or that I have heard over the years. Apparently most of this version is from a safety copy so there is that second generation quality; however whoever mastered this did it with a pretty good ear, because after a lifetime of listening to this record I'm picking up little percussion details, more subtle sound staging, and the whole thing sounds more like a band playing than just an art object blaring at you from the speakers... the copy I got was very quiet and very flat so good work there! Any of the vinyl copies beat the CD version which really is just sort of abominably treble heavy with very little depth or soundstaging... so yes go out and get a copy of this! This is probably more musical sounding than any of the older pressings... now, if you're historicist about this, you'll probably want to spend a fortune on finding an original copy or a 70s Reprise, because that's the way it used to sound until this new version came out... however if you're under the age of 50, say, or new to the good Captain ( and the Magic Band that worked tirelessly with very little credit to create this monster ) this pressing will do it for you... I thought I had every note of this memorized and I'm picking up new things every time I spin this copy, with an overall feel of it being a recording of a band playing in a studio versus the older masterings, which do kind of come across as a clattering massive noise ( which is actually meant as a compliment ) . While I don't obsess over having to have the original pressing of anything, I do prefer my music to sound like it did when it came out, so there is a point where all these modern remasterings ( and now "remixes" of classic Beatles and Pink Floyd Etc LPs) end up losing the thread, through too much noise suppression and too much digital tomfoolery (added bass extension, for example, knowing full well that the original recordings were made on four tracks tape, and God knows what else), this mastering from the safety copies of Trout Mask may actually be perfectly fine for most people, and even preferable to an older copy. Apparently, it's still in print or will be pressed and repressed, so the price should remain reasonable, and easily available. Certainly no shame to have this pressing on your shelves.

and this is how I spent my Sunday afternoon...

Stunner. I got the 2022 repress and it's worth every penny.
Wide, holographic, detailed and bass.

Is this the pressing which was in-stock on Third Man Records this last few months?

Astonishingly good pressing. Meticulously detailed depth of field with a silent surface. I did have to clean off a fair bit of cutoff plastic, paper and general manufacturing dust.... but it sounds perfect after a basic clean. Believe the hype.

Just got this issue and agree its flat, silent and sounds great, all the instruments sound more clear, better soundstage the artwork is excellent overall a super nice reissue! I have a Bizarre label and a Reprise label from 1977 both sound great but this reissue tops both of those, excellent buy at $30

Superb sounding, I've waited months for this and not disappointed. It's a beautiful record, superb ..don't wait around to get a copy!