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First, I can unequivocally say that this sounds DIFFERENT than the Reprise CD. In places, different instruments are much more prominent. Some instruments sound more natural than on the Reprise. The vocals are often distorted, though - must have been some heavy mastering done on the Reprise, if we are to believe that the PRT is or is nearly "flat" (of course, this could be completely wrong).

I present to you for consideration the section with the dirty guitar riff that starts 1:30 into "Brainwashed." On the Reprise, it sounds as though someone turned down the lower midrange/upper bass frequencies. The bass sounds much more 'full' and realistic on the PRT, as does the dirty guitar.

At 2:50 in Shangri-La (where the breakbeat drums start), the acoustic guitars get REALLY loud on the Reprise (somewhat surprising, as the disc errs more on the 'dull' side). When the bass and vocals come back, the bass again sounds more natural on the PRT. Very rolled-off-sounding on the Reprise. The horns, too, are much more prominent on the PRT. But this is a prime area where the vocals on the PRT are distorted, and they're not at all on the Reprise (they're not as forward, either, for what it's worth).

All told, I prefer the PRT, but I can see why others wouldn't.

Have yet to hear the mono mix, hopefully I'll get the card sleeve 2001 at some point to compare...

Hopefully you will. I never see that thing *anywhere*. It's like everyone on earth bought (and sold to used CD stores) the rest of the card sleeve series, but not that one.

I have the Reprise and PRT "Arthur"s. I should try to track down a Castle copy sometime.

And it's one of those things I could have bought in Newbury Comics about ten thousand times right when it came out. If I had only known.

Had the good fortune to pick up a PRT Lola this weekend. The PRT Lola and the Reprise Lola differ far less than the Arthurs, upon first comparison. PRT has a lot more hiss, FWIW.

Still comparing, though I think either of those discs will do a brother fine.

dudelsack wrote:Have yet to hear the mono mix, hopefully I'll get the card sleeve 2001 at some point to compare...

Does it look like this?

If so, I saw two copies at two separate Newbury Comics stores over the long weekend. Is this worth picking up?

Heh, check out the one Amazon customer review of this disc (if it's the right one):

But the REAL problem here is the sound of the CD. It's just awful. Especially near the end, where many of the songs become distorted. If you got the levels this bad on a tape you were making for a friend, you'd start over. These guys released it.

If you care about experiencing this great album without abominable sound getting in the way, go find another edition.

It supposedly looks like that, yes. I've never seen one.

Sounds like they might be bitching at least in part about the distorted vocals on songs like "Arthur." But the PRT has that, too (the Reprise seems to tame it out a bit).
I'm guessing that the levels on that digipak are fairly hot, though.