When given the choice, I’ve chosen the 33-1/3 versions of albums. The artistic intent of an album side is more important to me than is the slightly better sound provided by 45 RPM, especially in the case of an album such as Pet Sounds (not a very good sounding recording). But I did get that album in both mono and stereo in the Analogue Productions Beach Boys series. I now have more versions of that album than any other: seven on LP, two on CD. And it’s not my favorite album of theirs. I just received the AP version of Smiley Smile---again in both mono and stereo, and Sunflower, a wonderful album that was a greatly-appreciated alternative to most of the music released that year (1970).
As you can see @slaw, my attitude towards audiophile reissues of albums suffering from mediocre recorded sound quality has changed dramatically. IF the album is important enough to me, and IF the quality of the pressing appears to have contributed to the poor sound of the original LP, and IF Analogue Productions (or one of the other really serious reissue labels) has been granted access to the original master tapes, I am now willing to spend the money. The 33-1/3 AP albums retail for $35, not much more than a mass-produced piece of mediocrity.
But what's really pleasing to see are new albums being released on quality pressings, such as Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' Acony Records. Ry Cooder has long cared greatly about the sound quality of his recordings (which led him to Water Lily Records), but never before has an artist gone to the trouble and expense of building an audiophile-quality LP-producing system. Bravo!
