From The Who’s official site, we learn that Rough Mix “was initially released in September 1977 while The Who were on hiatus and was a collaboration with Small Faces bassist the late Ronnie Lane, and features contributions from Who bassist John Entwistle, Eric Clapton, and Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts amongst others.” I find Rough Mix a far more rewarding listen overall, even though Empty Glass, a Top 10 hit, was no doubt a bigger success. If there is one thing that jumps out at me listening to this LP in comparison to Empty Glass, it’s a consistency of sound. Rough Mix was recorded at Olympic Studios in London between the winter of 1976 and the spring of 1977. (As far as I know, this was not in the original releases.) While the LP and overall package don’t reproduce the original Atco Records label here at all, the new, scripted Universal Music Recordings logo design is simple and classy in its own right, and it’s something that befits the whole package. The new edition of Empty Glass also includes a nifty 300 x 600mm-sized promotional poster featuring the album cover art. edition, and it also features complete album lyrics. Meanwhile, Empty Glass was originally a single pocket release, and this LP comes to you housed in a reproduction of the beige inner sleeve printed on heavier cardboard stock than the paper of the original U.S. editions were on the black/rainbow MCA Records label, back in the day.) The disc itself sports a reproduction of the original Polydor Records label design as issued in the UK. Rough Mix - which is actually credited to both Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane on the cover, and is credited on the spine and LP labels as being by “Townshend/Lane” - recreates the original album’s gatefold sleeve design, and this 180g LP comes housed in an audiophile-grade plastic-lined inner sleeve. Each of these LP has a respective SRP of $39.99 - which, frankly, is a bit too much to shell out for most any 1LP release, in the collective AP opinion, unless you’re a must-have-all collector/fan and/or a price-is-no-object fan/collector and/or want an upgrade of a worn-out original (all of which, mind you, are legit reasons to get both options here). The new half-speed-mastered lacquers were cut from hi-res digital transfers of the original master recordings by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, and the vinyl was manufactured in the Czech Republic (probably at GZ).Īs with most of the albums in Universal’s broader, ongoing Abbey Road Studios half-speed-mastered reissue series, these two albums come packaged in original sleeves with obi strips and certificates of authenticity. This latter detail is notable, as Astley (who was also an assistant engineer on Rough Mix) remastered both new releases at Close To The Edge. But before I get into my chronology - and, more importantly, how these new Abbey Road Studios half-speed-mastered editions sound - let’s run down the key specs you’ll want to consider regarding Rough Mix and Empty Glass, the two newly reissued LPs that Universal says are kicking off a new, limited-edition Townshend reissue series.Īpril 1980’s Empty Glass was originally produced by Chris Thomas (Roxy Music, The Pretenders, Wings) while September 1977’s Rough Mix was produced and engineered by Glyn Johns (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin) with assistance from Jon Astley. I’ll begin this review with a reveal of bias: Rough Mix is my favorite non-Who-credited recording by Pete Townshend.
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