Mad River - Mad River (1968)
1979 German Reissue LP
Capitol Records "Masterpiece" 1 C 038-85 882
~ThePoodleBites rip in 96kHz / 24bit FLAC + full high-res scans~
"An extraordinary, groundbreaking band whose greatness has yet to be fully recognized." -Patrick Lundborg
"A terrifying acid rock bad trip that sounds like nothing else ..." -Richard Morton Jack
It's hard for me to add much more to those two wonderful summaries. It's sad that this psych-rock masterpiece isn't as well-known as the band's SF-scene contemporaries, perhaps because Mad River was a little late to the party with this debut arriving in 1968. Every track is fantastic, but the clear stand-out for me is the 12-minute epic "War Goes On," in which you'll hear rhythms as primitive as anything on Trout Mask Replica and melodies progressive as anything on In The Court Of The Crimson King, but a year before either of those records were released. If all you've ever heard is the CD reissue of this well-produced classic -- or even worse, you've never heard it at all -- you need to download this rip now. You're about to have your head blown off.
I was turned onto this reissue by the late Patrick Lundborg, who mentions in the Acid Archives that it "is a slightly better pressing than the US original" (p. 203). After snagging a copy and comparing to a US original (borrowed from my friend M.S. -- thanks, man!), I decided to do this project. The inner grooves on the original US pressing are lacking in high-end, while this pressing plays quite evenly from start to finish. And this great pressing of this fantastic album can be had for less than $10!
Now, that is not to say that the original is completely worthless juxtaposed with this German reissue. Notably, this repro's cover (pictured above) is completely redesigned, and somewhat cheesy, and actually the first few tracks on each side are missing a hair of the "presence" found on the original pressing, notably in the crispness of cymbals. I'd attribute this to the German pressing likely being from a tape dupe of the original master; however, the difference is subtle and I think the improvements found on this pressing greatly outweigh the "cons."
One more note on Lundborg's Acid Archives entry for this album -- there is a mistake which needs correcting. The book reads that "the first LP recordings were accidentally sped up during the original mastering phase, which means that most releases including the 1968 original actually play at inaccurate speed" (p. 202). Lundborg goes on the say that the reissue CD (sourced from vinyl) corrects this, and indeed, it plays about 2% slower than the original LP and this German reissue. However, this speed difference was a mistake on the CD, not on the LPs! The vinyl transfer used on the CD sounds like it was played on a turntable with a stretched-out belt which caused it to play at an inaccurate speed. If you try to play along, everything is out-of-tune and in strange keys. On both LPs I've ripped, "Eastern Light" is perfectly in tune in E minor, which would make much more sense to any human being that's ever held a guitar. The tunings also match that of the original Mad River EP, which has never been disputed in correctness.
One more note on Lundborg's Acid Archives entry for this album -- there is a mistake which needs correcting. The book reads that "the first LP recordings were accidentally sped up during the original mastering phase, which means that most releases including the 1968 original actually play at inaccurate speed" (p. 202). Lundborg goes on the say that the reissue CD (sourced from vinyl) corrects this, and indeed, it plays about 2% slower than the original LP and this German reissue. However, this speed difference was a mistake on the CD, not on the LPs! The vinyl transfer used on the CD sounds like it was played on a turntable with a stretched-out belt which caused it to play at an inaccurate speed. If you try to play along, everything is out-of-tune and in strange keys. On both LPs I've ripped, "Eastern Light" is perfectly in tune in E minor, which would make much more sense to any human being that's ever held a guitar. The tunings also match that of the original Mad River EP, which has never been disputed in correctness.
Personnel:
- David Robinson (guitar)
- Tom Manning (guitar)
- Rick Bockner (guitar)
- Greg Dewey (drums, vocal)
Track Listing:
1) "Merciful Monks" -- 3:39
2) "High All The Time" -- 4:08
3) "Amphetamine Gazelle" -- 2:59
3) "Amphetamine Gazelle" -- 2:59
4) "Eastern Light" -- 7:56
5) "Wind Chimes" -- 7:17
6) "War Goes On" -- 12:24
7) "Hush Julian" -- 1:12
Vinyl Condition: Near Mint
Dynamic Range: DR 12
Lineage:
– Audio-Technica AT150MLx Dual Moving-Magnet Cartridge– Audio-Technica AT-LP1240-USB Direct Drive Professional Turntable (internal stock preamp/ADC removed)
– TCC TC-754 RIAA Phono Preamp (new regulated power supply, added LM7812 regulator)
– Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 MkII (96kHz / 24bit)
– Adobe Audition CC 2018 (recording)
– iZotope RX 7 Audio Editor (manual declicking, additional adjustments)
– Audacity 2.2.2 (fades between tracks, split tracks)
– Foobar2000 v1.4.2 (tagging, dynamic range analysis)
Full album available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh3QexLb3gg
MEGA: https://mega.nz/folder/H1pTUA6J#XpFW6JEQeYq4Fray79W-hA
Enjoy, pay it forward, and please leave comments below! :)
Enjoy, pay it forward, and please leave comments below! :)
