Tom Waits – The Black Rider

The Black Rider is a wonderful record. I bought different unofficial and official repress versions, but they never reached the sound quality of the original CD. Now I finally managed to purchase the original vinyl from '93. Finally I can enjoy listening to this record with great sound (and no remastering...). Expensive but definitely worth it.

Must it I don't get the hoo-hah over this pressing. I have just got a copy and it sounds fine. Not mind blowing by any means but quite listenable, perhaps a little quiet. If you don't have a copy of this album and don't want to shell out for a 93 pressing this should do nicely.

my word as much as I like a bit of tom, this really is a tough listen

Horrible, horrible, horrible pressing for a great album. Try to avoid.

WOW this is the best sounding of all the waits records i have on vinyl. I was to put it mildly skeptical when i bought this. Most of them are really flat and dull. This i s actually OPEN with some dept ,nice highs and crisp overall. thank you . just to bad ive already thrown hundreds of € out the window.

Sometimes, I feel that there might be a slight prejudice towards european pressings on Discogs. I am a life long Tom Waits fan. I have owned all of his music on cd's before - and know the music inside out. I am now in the process of getting them on vinyl. Grabbed the chance when this re-pressing came out. This sounds fine. At least when you compare with the original material. There is nothing wrong with the sound quality or the pressing. If you're hearing distortion perhaps check on your own gear setup (eq tuning perhaps?) to see if that could explain it. The vinyl sounds silent. The mastering could maybe have a little more bass... but overall a nice quality pressing on 1 LP made from digital masters. Not mindblowing, but nothing to complain about either. Maybe the biggest fault is that they pressed it all on one LP and not two. I feel that would have made the most difference. Safe to buy,

One more horrible remaster called Waits/Brennan.
Don't know why but all that serie is totally dead by the sound.
I can compare with originals - I have it all.
All we need a new good remaster of Tom's masterpieces - from Closing Time to Mule Variations because current series is garbage.

My copy is flat and quiet, so in that sense I think the pressing is fine. However, the sound quality of the music is not great. I put that down to each side being over 27 minutes, so it has been "groove crammed". That always produces poor sounding records. I don't have an original to compare it with, but my original copy of Frank's Wild Years is similarly groove cramped and I've never liked the sound of it. I wished they pressed it as a double LP, ideal at 45 rpm. But I guess that would have made it expensive.

Indeed, as already stated by others, do not buy pressing pressed in Czech Republic. Terrible. Best pressings come from NL, such as Music on Vinyl. I hope this album will once be pressed by some professionals. This pressing is flat and has crackling throughout.

One of the best seasonal albums for autumn. Very dark, good story threaded though the songs.