“As part of their ongoing vinyl reissue series, Warner/Rhino on Tuesday quietly released Van Halen’s groundbreaking self-titled 1978 debut record on 180 gram vinyl. Advance promotion had credited Kevin Gray as the remastering engineer for the project, yet much to the surprise of those few who have now opened a copy, Gray’s initials, “KG” are not the only ones scribbled into the deadwax. Instead, “KG/SH” can be clearly read. SH are the initials of Steve Hoffman, mastering engineer for the now defunct audiophile label DCC (Dunhill Compact Classics), who was also involved in this mastering. And if one looks further, LPZ-2066, the catalog number of the DCC release of Van Halen, can also be found. That’s right, rather than remastering this title again, Warner/Rhino was somehow able to secure the rights to the DCC master and again press copies of what is undoubtedly the definitive pressing of this record.”

This came from: http://myvinylreview.blogspot.com/2009/01/van-halen-st-180-gram-vinyl-audiophile.html

I have the DCC so I know what to expect. I wonder if it is captured a little better on vinyl than on the DCC CD. Does anyone else have both? I hate that I can’t listen to this. This is exactly the audiophile release I had been hoping for. I think DCC was originally going to release this on vinyl too anyway. Then didn’t.

I would love more posts on how this stacks up to the other releases.

I also played a regular version which was much noisier and a little flatter. I’m interested to see what other find.

Classic Van Halen Rules All.

I for one I’m getting tired of Eddie letting the press know how much he’s in the studio working on a new album. I’m also getting tired since last tour about how Dave’s now the new lead singer of the group…for what reunion tours? Sure they can rest on their laurels and deservedly so! Just quit trying to say another album is in the works say like Axel Rose.

You like who you like. Period. You’re not going to convince the other guy he’s wrong, and he’s not going to convince you. Both incarnations of the band were good in their way, but if you really hate one of them that doesn’t mean you need to spew your garbage at everyone who disagrees.

They were both successful in their day, which I’m guessing was the band’s goal at the time.

As far as VH doing something new, if they don’t want to so be it. It’s not like they need the money, and maybe Eddie’s just tired of dealing with the shit from both Dave and Sam, as well as all the over-the-top fans who criticize him no matter what happens.

Whatever choice he makes in lead singers is going to get knocked by a bunch of fans. If he choose a new one (eg. Gary) it’s going to be almost all of them. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to bother dealing with that. I’d continue to sell my guitars and enjoy myself, living on the royalties from the music, and who cares what the fans think or want. Sure, they’re the ones who pay you the money that you’re living on, but you’re the one that gave them the music they enjoy so much. I’d say that’s a fair trade.