The limited reissue of Rhino High Fidelity The cars (1978). Photo credit: Warner Music Group
Rhino Records of Warner Music Group has announced a high quality “premium quarterly vinyl series” beginning with reissues of The Cars and John Coltrane’s 1978 debut album of the same name Coltrane’s sound (1964).
Rhino contacted Digital Music News today with the news of the hi-fi vinyl series and made it clear that each of the two quarterly releases will be available exclusively through the company’s website. In addition, the WMG subsidiary emphasized that the records in question will be analogue masters and not digital versions, in contrast to the majority of today’s records.
Of course, just last week a judge approved an estimated $25 million settlement with Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, which has been named in a class-action lawsuit alleging product misrepresentation (and faced heavy audiophile criticism). Specifically, the company is said to have provided products with the designation “Original Master Recording” in which “Direct Stream Digital” was integrated into the production process.
But Rhino Hi-Fi vinyl is “cut from the original analog master tapes by experienced mastering engineer Kevin Gray,” according to the reissue’s product descriptions The cars And Coltrane’s soundeach limited to 5,000 numbered copies.
These 180 gram, optimally pressed records cost $39.98 (plus an additional $7.99 for postage and packaging) and also feature “high gloss sleeves and cling sleeves,” according to Rhino.
Additionally, the products are expected to feature “exclusive content,” referencing “a new interview with the guitarist” here Eliot Easton” and “Tracking Notes from Producer Roy Thomas Baker for ‘Good Times Roll’”. The cars. Coltrane’s soundOn the other hand, according to Rhino, “notes and images from the master tapes” and “an archival essay by the legendary producer” will be included Tom Dowd.”
Rhino will announce its next hi-fi releases “in the coming weeks,” senior companies said. The project is just the latest in a series of recent efforts to capitalize on strong vinyl demand in the US, Japan and a number of diverse markets.
For example, in March Metallica bought a 70,000-square-foot pressing facility, while in early May Interscope Records acquired a collection of (extremely) limited edition vinyl from Universal Music by the likes of Billie Eilish, Nine Inch Nails, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Dr. Dre, Blackpink, Lana Del Rey, Machine Gun Kelly and 50 Cent.
Superfans willing to shell out $2,500 — the whopping price doesn’t include tax or about $12.50 in shipping costs — can shop the products, which reportedly feature Gucci-designed packaging and new artwork by top-notch visual artists. Net profits will be donated to the Iovine and Young Foundation, according to Interscope.