Repressings of long lost Albums gone bad

Why is it that whenever I get really excited about purchasing a sealed Lp that has long been out of print from my local record store, it only ends in disappointment? It is very frustrating when I bring home a stack of Lps that are brand new, and upon taking them out of the wrapper and putting them on the turntable, nearly half of them have some kind of defect.

The most common defect that I have come across is finding residual pieces of the aluminum stamper found thermally bonded in between the grooves. When the needle goes through these sections of the Lp, it will cause an unpleasant distortion that is extremely noticeable, especially during the quieter passages of the recording. (This is where it pays to find gently-used original copies of the same title or the never fail Japanese pressings). This is of course, IF you can actually afford them. These fine fragments of aluminum usually have to be seen under a high powered fluorescent lamp, although, your needle will usually pick it up first.

When I asked a friend who is in the music industry and presses vinyl, he basically told me that larger record manufacturers today do not have quality control as they did even in the eighties, and there are many inexperienced people pressing our vinyl. This leads to over pressing and warping causing the plate "stamper" to gradually wear out over time, causing the thin pieces of shiny metal to be seen-and heard in the grooves even on cheap hi-fi gear.

Another common problem that happens when pressing records is what is called a plate shift. This is exactly what the name implies- The aluminum stamper or the vinyl shifts before or during the stamping process.
If you pay attention to the tone arm during playback, one will find that it moves from side to side while trying to trace the grooves. Distortion of the "hssshh" sound usually results during the playing experience. Again, this can be aurally annoying when listening to classical, jazz, or even some rock lps.

Take the Minutemen's classic two-Lp, "Double Nickels on the Dime" reissue for instance, the copy that I happened to pick up, the listener can definitely hear unnecessary noise when the needle runs over the grooves with metal bonded to the vinyl. All of this combined leads to increased headaches for the consumer, especially when trying to return the defective merchandise.

Oh, but ignorance (or cheapness), doesn't discriminate across genres. On Jazz and Classical pressings, you will immediately hear the distortion. And that's a guarantee!

In the legendary release of Cannonball Adderley's Blue Note Lp, "Somethin' Else", the listener can discern the distortion from the over-pressing most notably when Miles enters with his crisp, muted trumpet on the track, Autumn Leaves. This left me feeling disheartened that I would have to return this record, and then try to find an adequate replacement, which I have not successfully found yet.

After returning the Cannonball Adderley Lp, a replacement copy came arrived in the store. Much to my lack of surprise, I sort of knew that this replacement copy would have the same defect-and it did. Which now, by the way, just sits around and collects dust, since the reproduced sound isn't worth hearing, despite the classic performance.

Below I am archiving a list of vinyl that I and other listeners have purchased that have been defective. (Contact me if you have any additions to the list of shame).

T-Rex "Electric Warrior" Rhino Vinyl
Portishead "3rd" London/Mercury
Dirty Projectors "Rise Above" Dead Oceans
Beach House " Devotion" Car Park Records
Velvet Underground "White Light/White Heat" 180 gram version, Verve
Velvet Underground "3rd" MGM records
Sebadoh "The Freed Man"
Clientele " God Save the Clientele" Merge Records
Monade " A Few Steps More" Too Pure Records
Strokes "This is it"
Heptones "Heptones on Top" Studio One
Love- "Forever Changes" - Sundazed
Electrelane-To the East





Jazz:
John Coltrane -"Ballads" Impulse 180 gram
John Coltrane -"Coltrane" Impulse 180 gram
Bobby Hutchernson- "Dialogue" Blue Note
Dave Brubeck- "Time Out" Columbia/ German Import 2008
Miles Davis- "Miles Ahead" Columbia
Lou Donaldson- "Blues Walk" Blue Note
Serge Charloff- "Blue Serge" Capitol
Bill Evans-"Waltz for Debby" Riverside
Sonny Rollins- "The Bridge" RCA both 180 and regular gram pressings are defective.
Walt Dickerson "Vibes in Motion"

Classical:
Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concerto - Classic Records release



...It's very frustrating, especially if you purchase Lp's through the mail, since many times, the stores require that the customer send back the defective vinyl, which then costs the consumer an additional trip to the post office, plus shipping expenses.