Al Stewart – Year Of The Cat

As much as I enjoyed this recording, the original MFSL -MFCD is better. Al used a lot of overlays and digital seems to produce them more clearly.

Just pulled it up after so many years, and, wow, I am amazed how good this vintage MFSL reissue sounds. Great sound stage, room depth and AS‘s voice presentation. Not only the halfspeed remastering by Stan Ricker delivers a warm and rich sound, not short of his preferred bass presentation, the vinyl composition and pressing are next to none, even compared with today’s highest standards. Just listen to tracks A1, A3 and B4. If one is a fan of Al Stewart, esp. this album and/or a fan of great vintage MFSL releases, this is one to get, esp. at the still reasonable prices here. (Forget the more recent releases which cannot get any close to this one.)

Just picked this up , brilliant pressing , far superior to my standard release copy

To the review of the 45th Anniversary below, are you sure it's a 2021 reissue. Does it say anything about 45th Anniversary. I ask because Friday Music says it isn't due till Fall 2021 but Amazon and some audiophile retailers are selling the 2012 reissue as if it's a new 45th. I got one from Amazon and it's no different from the 2012. It sounds ok but is off center and noisy in spots. I'm going to pick up the MFSL. I had it years ago and it sounded great.

Anyone who says this MFSL pressing doesn't sound good is insane. Quiet, detailed and punchy. Get one.

Incredible pressing! One of my go to options for 1) pure enjoyment 2) really showing off my system. As with most MoFi releases of this era, perceptibly better than the original pressing, by a wide margin. Which I also have, and was already impressed by how well that sounded, but this does take it to the next level. I would put this up against some of the best recordings in my collection, when it comes to sound quality, which includes some extremely impressive Sheffield Lab direct-to-disc (like King James Version). Back ground is dead quite, if there is tape hiss, almost imperceptible. Sonic range and sound stage are very wide. As for musical content, I primarily like side 2. Such an interesting blend of styles, in a mostly rock rooted form, and his voice is very pleasing and smooth. The quality of the pressing, along with the quality of the music itself, really draws you in!

Flat, quiet, wonderfully sounding, slightly (reddish) transparent release. Totally worth it.

My copy of this is a little knackered, it pops and cracks.. but I still love how it sounds.

One of MoFi's better remasters, though in truth, Stan Ricker started off with quality master tapes from GRT/Janus. I don't care for the typical MoFi bottom end bloat at or below 70hz. I find myself backing out of the bass a few db's negative, then adding maybe +2-3db of treble. Most well mastered LP's I can set everything flat and they will sound quite dynamic and lively. This is an excellent album, but as with decent albums, you want to have everything dialed on the tonearm and cart . If not, especially the hotter albums tend to sound anywhere from OK to downright terrible. Same applies to turntable plinth, maximum isolation from the rest of the room and any vibration is essential.,..As to the rest of the system, speakers capable of taking large dynamic swings help, amps with watts in reserve, unless you listen to music as strictly background filler. Don't forget the cartridge, broken in and set to within a Gnats whisker is best, VTA should typically be on the high side of specs. If you hear any sibilance, skips or mistracking, stop, re-evaluate, it's typically not the LP unless it's been damaged. YOTC was very a dynamic recording even on regular LP's, I've had more than one copy that looked new but the previous tonearm/cart had been seriously mistracking from the 1/2 way point in to the deadwax and wiped out all the upper frequencies. This is why I looked for an early original MoFi pressing to begin with, the Super Vinyl formula is harder to wear even if the turntable isn't set up correctly. My copy has no real surface noise, pops ticks, static, sililance, just inky black silence between tracks, run-in and run-out.

One of my best sounding MFSL - great job! Lively, clear, big stage, it's fun pure. I'm not a real fan of AS, for me it's easy listening sugar-pop, but I love this one for breezy summer evenings, enjoying audiophile experiences. Any similar well done MFSL remasters? I'll search for it ....