Camel ‎– Under Age – which to choose - Italian or German pressing?


Hi!

I'm looking at purchasing an original LP Camel ‎– Under Age. Originally it has been issued in 1969 on RCA Italiana PSL 10449 https://www.discogs.com/Camel-Under-Age/release/3994226 and RCA International ‎– INTS-1107 Germany https://www.discogs.com/Camel-Under-Age/release/4693618

 

Did anybody has chance to compare which pressing sounds better - Italian or German? Should the fact that the album was recorded in Italy, i.e. the source country of the recording and mastering was Italy, influe on the choice between Italian or German pressings?

Thanks in advance.


128x128vitaliyk
I would get both.
They are  not terribly expensive, and pressing origin will not guarantee  "stamper" quality.
There has been a bit of "stamper" chat  here lately. Check it out for further enlightenment.
@roberjerman- you do realize that a grade of VG+ in the marketplace can mean anything from clean to trashed- used records are one of the few places where "very good" often means "but problems." A "good" in that scale is a potential nightmare in condition.
I don’t know this record so can’t comment on these particular pressings. I have some Italian prog that has pretty good quality surfaces, some not so good (condition being a separate variable). The German pressings were often a preferred choice if not the country of origin for good quality, but chances are it won’t be where it was mastered. For a lot of the Italian prog, the King records re-do’s from Japan were a great alternative- that’s not available here. (And this is a different band from the Camel I know).
^ Second everything.
Beware Discogs ! Tendency is overrating, mostly very overrating nowadays IME. My nightmare: I ordered NM/NM BÖC debut US orig for $30 + postage to Europe, but got G+/VG+ instead. Seller acted poor choir boy and offered a full return BUT NO RETURN COST. I denied due to €33 cost tracked delivery to US. Therefore I politely asked FAIR refund according to Discogs grading scale but gave me lousy $5 and when confronted gave EXTRM hostile names + neg fb. Finally Discogs removed all his comments, OK fair but they cannot help you when you got ripped off.
You really need good luck in buying from there.

Germans are surely quality pressings but some pressings actually have large blank area near label so dynamics are reduced compared to Italians, IME at least.
You can´t go wrong with Japanese, they are name for quality and always like new practically. I have tens of those Japanese Italian Prog albums and most are pristine. + Japan postage Tracked Air Mail is very reasonable, especially when you order many at the same time. 
Original Italian editions are quality pressings but to find a decent copy is always hard due to rarity and 45 yrs age.

Good luck


 


@tablejockey 

Forgive me if I'm wrong but didn't you post recently about the excessive costs of Tom Port's WHS? Yet here, you'd buy both for a total of $374.99? I guess by TP's pricing, that's a good deal?
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@harold-not-the-barrel ,

I agree that Discogs are mostly overrated. I rarely get satisfaction there.