Vinyl Records

[rancineb]

Wondering if anyone knows if "Images and Words" and/or "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" will get released on vinyl. I know Images and Words was printed in Germany and Korea, but if you're lucky to find one it's very expensive.

Going to pick up a copy of Scenes from a Memory but hoping to get others on vinyl as well.

[MajorMatt]

You can vote here to choose what DT album gets released on vinyl next:

https://brookvalerecords.com/2011/11/27/which-dream-theater-record-should-we-put-out-next/

[skydivingninja]

I'm not sure I would really trust these guys to put DT on vinyl.  I don't think it'll sound any better than the CD, as most modern albums don't really benefit from the "vinyl sound," if that makes sense.  Can't exactly describe it, but albums need to have a certain atmosphere to really benefit from the full sound that vinyl can add to an album.  Or they just need to be made for vinyl, rather than made for CDs/iPods and then transferred.

That being said I probably would buy an Images and Words vinyl because I am a consumer whore.

[Ħ]

I'm not sure I would really trust these guys to put DT on vinyl.  I don't think it'll sound any better than the CD, as most modern albums don't really benefit from the "vinyl sound," if that makes sense.  Can't exactly describe it, but albums need to have a certain atmosphere to really benefit from the full sound that vinyl can add to an album.  Or they just need to be made for vinyl, rather than made for CDs/iPods and then transferred.

SFAM on vinyl sounds better than its CD counterpart to my ears, so I'd happily buy another release from these guys.  But since the albums were probably written and mastered specifically for CD format, the vinyl's not going to be as great as it could be?  I'm not familiar with the mastering process at all.

[chrisbDTM]

voted for ACOS. just cuz

[The Letter M]

voted for ACOS. just cuz

The song would be awesome to hear on vinyl, I'm sure, but not the EP. The covers would be a waste of time/vinyl, but if they could somehow tack on "To Live Forever ('94)", "Eve" and "Don't Look Past Me" onto the other side of the vinyl (16:28 total time), I'd buy it.

-Marc.

[Ħ]

voted for ACOS. just cuz

The song would be awesome to hear on vinyl, I'm sure, but not the EP. The covers would be a waste of time/vinyl, but if they could somehow tack on "To Live Forever ('94)", "Eve" and "Don't Look Past Me" onto the other side of the vinyl (16:28 total time), I'd buy it.

-Marc.

That's a great idea.  Does that account for all of DT's non-album songs, not including the FII demos?

[The Letter M]

voted for ACOS. just cuz

The song would be awesome to hear on vinyl, I'm sure, but not the EP. The covers would be a waste of time/vinyl, but if they could somehow tack on "To Live Forever ('94)", "Eve" and "Don't Look Past Me" onto the other side of the vinyl (16:28 total time), I'd buy it.

-Marc.

That's a great idea.  Does that account for all of DT's non-album songs, not including the FII demos?

Well, just the three I mentioned. I think if this company ever does FII on vinyl, a special bonus vinyl should include the FII non-album songs:
FII Non-Album Tracks - 36:17
Side 1 - 19:01
"Raise The Knife" - 11:35
"Where Are You Now?" - 7:26
Side 2 - 17:16
"The Way It Used To Be" - 7:45
"Cover My Eyes" - 3:21
"Speak To Me - 6:10

I mean, I'd totally buy FII as a triple vinyl. And this is how I had it figured out in a thread a few months ago when the SFAM vinyl was first announced:
Falling Into Infinity (as vinyl)
Total - 77:52

LP 1 - 35:18

Side 1 - 20:01
1.    "New Millennium"     8:20
2.    "You Not Me"        4:58
3.    "Peruvian Skies"     6:43

Side 2 - 15:17
4.    "Hollow Years"        5:53
5.   "Burning My Soul"     5:29
6.   "Hell's Kitchen"     4:16 (Possibly longer or shorter due to a fade-out and not segueing into LITS)

LP 2 - 42:34

Side 3 - 18:08
7.   "Lines In The Sand"    12:05 (Possibly longer or shorter due to a fade-in and not segueing from HK)
8.   "Take Away My Pain"     6:03

Side 4 - 24:26
9.   "Just Let Me Breathe"     5:28
10.   "Anna Lee"        5:51
11.   "Trial Of Tears"    13:07

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Regarding FII on Vinyl, alternatively, if you shuffle the tracklisting around to retain the BMS/HK/LITS "suite" (as they all crossfade together), then you could do it like this:
Total = 78:13 (with bonus LP 114:30)

LP 1 - 41:51

Side 1 - 20:01
1.    "New Millennium"     8:20
2.    "You Not Me"        4:58
3.    "Peruvian Skies"     6:43

Side 2 - 21:50
4.   "Burning My Soul"     5:29
5.   "Hell's Kitchen"     4:16
6.   "Lines In The Sand"    12:05

LP 2 - 36:22

Side 3 - 17:24
7.   "Just Let Me Breathe"     5:28
8.    "Hollow Years"        5:53
9.   "Take Away My Pain"     6:03

Side 4 - 18:58
10.   "Anna Lee"        5:51
11.   "Trial Of Tears"    13:07

BONUS LP - 36:17

Side 5 - 19:01
12. "Raise The Knife" - 11:35
13. "Where Are You Now?" - 7:26

Side 6 - 17:16
14. "The Way It Used To Be" - 7:45
15. "Cover My Eyes" - 3:21
16. "Speak To Me - 6:10

-Marc.

[LP]

Hi guys,

Ok here is my take on the vinyls as I have a few of them. First of all, they all sound much better than their CD equivalents. The CD's are already impressive, but the vinyls are much smoother, less in-your-face, and have much more contrast and shade. The dynamic range is wider - which is ironic - and makes you want to turn up the volume as opposed to turning it down with the CD's.
However, there is a HUGE minus, saddly. The quality control of the LP's are atrocious. Scenes From a Memory suffers from crackles and has weird ''croaking'' sounds throughout. Think of a high-pitched frog croak. I've returned the LP to the store since and have not gotten another one. I have posted this on Brookvales's forum (mentioned above by MajorMatt) but...they deleted my post! 
Systematic Chaos had this white-ish smear on one of the sides and had crackles when played through that spot. I've since exchanged it for a non-defective version. Black Clouds and A Dramatic Turn were perfect from the start. To my knowledge, Brookvale has only pressed Scenes From a Memory and not the others.
All I can say is that the present quality control of vinyls are much worse than they were 20 years ago. I encourage you guys to encourage vinyls as it is a superior medium when done properly; However, I also encourage you to return records with defects as this will only increase quality control!

Cheers! 

[seasonsinthesky]

Regarding FII on Vinyl, alternatively, if you shuffle the tracklisting around to retain the BMS/HK/LITS "suite" (as they all crossfade together), then you could do it like this:

MUCH better. i'm glad you gave it the consideration, especially considering the sequencing of FII already isn't anything to write home about (save HK->LITS), making it easy to shuffle stuff around without really messing up the way it works.

personally, i'd swap around the second vinyl even more:
Side C
1. Just Let Me Breathe
2. Take Away My Pain
3. Anna Lee

Side D
1. Hollow Years
2. Trial of Tears

it makes for much better listening to consider a vinyl as (minimum) "two" beginnings and "two" endings. it gives every side a satisfaction before you flip to the next. this is especially important for fidelity; the reason albums started to get ballads at the end of the first and second sides on pop albums is because the high end of the audible spectrum loses clarity as you get to the inner grooves of the vinyl.

thus, for a proposed FII vinyl, you'd have "four" beginnings and endings (or "six" with your bonus record). even though the album still begins with NM and ends with TOT, building a satisfactory listen as if it were tracked as a series of EPs does more justice to the music, the format and the listener!

[The Letter M]

Regarding FII on Vinyl, alternatively, if you shuffle the tracklisting around to retain the BMS/HK/LITS "suite" (as they all crossfade together), then you could do it like this:

MUCH better. i'm glad you gave it the consideration, especially considering the sequencing of FII already isn't anything to write home about (save HK->LITS), making it easy to shuffle stuff around without really messing up the way it works.

personally, i'd swap around the second vinyl even more:
Side C
1. Just Let Me Breathe
2. Take Away My Pain
3. Anna Lee

Side D
1. Hollow Years
2. Trial of Tears

it makes for much better listening to consider a vinyl as (minimum) "two" beginnings and "two" endings. it gives every side a satisfaction before you flip to the next. this is especially important for fidelity; the reason albums started to get ballads at the end of the first and second sides on pop albums is because the high end of the audible spectrum loses clarity as you get to the inner grooves of the vinyl.

thus, for a proposed FII vinyl, you'd have "four" beginnings and endings (or "six" with your bonus record). even though the album still begins with NM and ends with TOT, building a satisfactory listen as if it were tracked as a series of EPs does more justice to the music, the format and the listener!

Interesting take, and I like the concept, but I wanted to keep the order of "Anna Lee"/"Trial Of Tears" as they segue on the CD. As for Side 3, it could definitely be switched around a bit, maybe even with the songs from Side 1.

-Marc.

[LP]

SFAM on vinyl sounds better than its CD counterpart to my ears, so I'd happily buy another release from these guys.  But since the albums were probably written and mastered specifically for CD format, the vinyl's not going to be as great as it could be?  I'm not familiar with the mastering process at all.
[/quote]


It would have to be a different Master (re-mastered for vinyl) as the process is completely different. By the way Ħ what number do you have for SFAM?

[Lolzeez]

Hey everyone

I just bought a copy of I&W on vinyl. It is the german print.It sounds much better than the CD counter part. I also have SC BC&SL and ADTOE. They are awesome.

[LP]

Hey everyone

I just bought a copy of I&W on vinyl. It is the german print.It sounds much better than the CD counter part. I also have SC BC&SL and ADTOE. They are awesome.

Lolzeez,

Where did you get I & W? Are you in Europe? Congrats!

[Slain]

2 votes for WDADU. 

[Lolzeez]

Hey everyone

I just bought a copy of I&W on vinyl. It is the german print.It sounds much better than the CD counter part. I also have SC BC&SL and ADTOE. They are awesome.

Lolzeez,

Where did you get I & W? Are you in Europe? Congrats!

Im from Turkey. Bought it off some old hippie.

[2Timer]

I'm also happy with the SFAM vinyl. I think they did a great job.

[Shadow2222]

Another one here that really enjoyed SFAM on Vinyl. Only problem is a tiny skip near the very, very end of Finally Free.

[Nick]

I have one pet peeve with the SFaM vinyl. I paid almost $35 for it I think, and the vinyls themselves were in cheap (already torn) standard record sleeves instead of having high quality art laden sleeves.

[wolfandwolfandwolf]

Bought WDADU today for $40 USD.  Not bad.