Todd Rundgren – Something / Anything?

another wonderful pressing from MFSL ,Why people continue to seek out these poor sounding records still amazes me to this day, I guess all you have to do is cut down the treble, suck out the midrange and pump up the bass , and audiophiles will lose their GD Minds, That sound is not for me, but alot of my friends swear by it, This MFSL of Rundgrens S/A is a hard

stanmore: “Thanx for your experience ! I don t have an OG of that pressing only a French first pressing that does not sound as good as the Mofi at all”

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Btw, heads up and save your pennies: The 2022 Black Friday Something/Anything boxed set reissue, spread over 4 discs at 45 rpm and packaged in two separate gatefolds, just might come out on top of the reissue pile, if it’s done right. That hustler storeowner of The In Groove in Phoenix, AZ, already spun his copy and indicated a favorable impression in his YT video (btw, think very carefully before patronizing his $million(s) annual revenue business, he hogs up mountains of Record Store Day product twice a year, while other, smaller stores struggle to successfully receive their modest size allotment of desirable RSD titles; either Mike Esposito is super aggressive in seeking/dealing with multiple distributors and/or some distributors are unscrupulous in deciding quantity and for each client retailer. RSD has devolved to a shady, highly inequitable operation, to say the least).

You’re welcome. Didn’t mean to put down your cheer for the MFSL 1995. I myself was initially excited to find a copy (alas, only half) in the wild. But I took the time to compare my prized discovery with my original Bearsville, which I had bought at an estate sale 2013-ish for only a few $. It had been sitting in a garage for decades, its cover chewed up by rodents. It amazes me that an ancient, worn out, nearly discarded relic can beat out its now -priced, so called audiophile counterpart.
Btw, don’t dismiss the Chris Bellman remaster released for RSD a few yrs ago. It holds its own, but it’s prices have spiked, unfortunately. The cheapest, though, should still be a VG+/VG+ original w/Lee Hulko’s etched initials.

Sorry, but my experience differs from stanmore’s. A few years ago I bought a used copy of this MFSL 1995 remaster for only $10. (Alas, as I found out after purchasing, disc 2 was not the MFSL disc but an original 1972 pressing by a German plant and made for the German market, but it still had the U.S. “STERLING LH” matrices.)

Anyway, I A-B’d the MOFI disc 1 w/disc 1 of my original U.S. pressing (with “STERLING LH” matrices). It wasn’t even close. From the the very first bass notes of I Saw The Light, I could tell the supposedly audiophile quality remaster didn’t quite match up to the 1972 U.S. pressing. The latter had a bigger, thunderous bass; the MOFI less so. The MFSL had accentuated high frequencies, while the original 1972 was more full bodied. The MFSL vinyl was certainly beautiful, I’ll give it that – shiny black marble-like, dead quiet, perfectly flat and centered, like a meticulously crafted sculpture. But all in all, the MFSL sounded less dynamic, basically compressed, which is rather unexpected. I’ve listened to a few MOFI reissues from the later/2010s era, and, in contrast with this 1990s release, I’ve interpreted a signature remastered sound of rather warm, (over-) accentuated lows and the upper mid frequencies de-emphasized, which in of itself I also find off-putting.

So, if you can find a NM copy of the original domestic pressing w/“LH” (for Lee Hulko) matrices, look no further, that’s the one to own. If you can find the elusive 1970s German market pressing which also bears “STERLING LH” matrices, but manufactured with even thicker and presumably higher quality, German vinyl, even better. Walk away from the MFSL, especially at these bloated prices. A mere $10 was a still a waste of my money on it.

great Mofi all analog pressing from 1995 - 200 g super vinyl clear punchy dynamic - a must have for that incredible album !