Melvins – Stag

Fantastic well recorded album, and this pressing sounds phenomenal! The records are flat, and play with very minimal surface noise.
Overall, I`m very pleased with my purchase and do not feel the need to search for a different pressing.

This sounds amazing and the packaging is really nice too even though it’s not the original front cover artwork. The bass on this sounds epic.

my copy sounds sooo good, i used to have the first pressing, it wasn't a good pressing at all...so, if Third Man did it wrong with Houdini and Stoner witch, that one is HOT

I pulled the trigger on this pressing before I knew about the whole TMR/MOV deal, and I gotta say that I'm incredibly impressed with this pressing vs the original CD. The comments about "gravel road" vinyl are not relatable to me at all, this thing is nice and quiet, and SO. GODDAMN. DYNAMIC.

The original CD is gain-staged to the main body of the album, so of course "goggles" is completely brickwalled and crunchy, but this slab opened that headroom right up. Instead of clippy distortion all over everything, the song just IS LOUDER, as gain below air. The fact that it's two disks is probably what allowed for this. I want to compare this version to the MOV to make an informed verdict, but some part of me wants to remain satisfied with what I have, even if this constitutes blissful ignorance (also I don't wanna pay for a second, more expensive copy of a record I already got). Perhaps my purchasing this edition in 2021 means that TMR used a better pressing plant than they used to, but I'm vouching for what I hear: no gravel, basically what I from the CD, but no more limiter, and all of the life!

(P.S. I have the MOV edition of stoner witch, and the TMR edition of houdini. I like everything I've heard so far, and I'm hesitant to double-own any of them like that, but we'll see.....)

Did a sound comparison of the TMR reissues versus the MOV reissues: this definitely benefits from being released on two LPs. Sound is noticably clearer. More direct with more air around the cymbals and hi-hat which is very noticable on track "Goggles". TMR release is also cut louder than the single disc MOV release. Both of the other TMR reissues (Stoner Witch as MOV releases.

This copy sounds awful, along with the rest of the third man reissues. Noisy as hell. Avoid and get the Music on Vinyl reissue instead. Way way better. If your copy on third man sounds good, wait till you hear the MOV. Sold my third man copies of all three and got the MOV as replacements. Much happier.

Okay - it is a drag that they haven't used the original vinyl artwork. Fans want the original 'look' of a release, so it seems like a no-brainer... However, the gate-fold is high quality; heavy-weight card, great image resolution and features enlarged paper-cut artwork from the original CD booklet on the inner s (I some great artwork in there, mind...). But - How does it *sound*...?
Play back on a Pro - Ject turntable with an Ortofon stylus through an old Kenwood amp. First thing to notice is - this is a relatively quiet press. The intro of 'The Bit' demands you turn the volume up. But when the song hits - it's crisp, dynamic and full. So much detail! I'll it to having grown up listening to this through poor quality CD HiFi systems. I was floored by how much new detail I was hearing (particularly on the middle section of 'The Bit' and the scream section on 'Goggles'). This album repays repeated listening. Having purchased the CD when it was released in '96, I'm hearing so much more on this vinyl pressing. Also (and this is relevant, I think), this double pressing really helps when 'digesting' the record as a whole. Side C almost acts as a primer for '97's 'Honky' (a favourite, oddly overlooked record in the Melvins' catalogue). I actually ordered the 'Music on Vinyl' (European single LP) pressing of this after reading all the comments here slating the Third Man pressings, but was sent this in error (didn't complain as this press retails for £28 here in the U.K!) - was so pleased when I sat down and played back. What a treat. My pressing of Stoner Witch is the Music on Vinyl re-issue and that is faultless, and I have heard a *lot* of bad things about Third Man vinyl. But personally, I think this has really benefited from the remastering and is a quality press.

Great pressing. Awesome sound. And you know you need it loud from the first song...

This is a great Melvins record. The fidelity of this vinyl is superb. But the vinyl itself is noisy and it's a drag.

This was the best sounding out of the three from tmr. My bootleg single lp version sounds just as good though and the boot has the proper cover art.