Megan,
Guard that Japanese pressing of Hejira! Japanese records are prized by
audiophile collectors because they made thick records and made them
carefully from low generation tapes instead of dubs of dubs (production
masters). They used better quality vinyl than American pop labels were
using in the 70s. The joke was that in America's pressing plants, the floor
sweepings went into the vinyl grinder.
All of these things combine to give Japanese quiet surfaces and nice
digital-like silences between tracks. Maybe the shoddy approach to record
making set the stage for immediate acceptance of CDs. I must admit- CDs get
the silence right!
I have a nice Japanese copy of "Close To The Edge" that's pretty nice. I'll
swap an unopened HDCD copy of Hejira and a pack of Juicy Fruit for your
Japanese pressing any time you want! (Hint: This is a *bad* deal for you
and I'm teasing.) :)
Take good care,
Lama
