The Verdict
Now for the final ranking:
- 0th place: the UK 1st pressing, which is the reference. It sounds just great, dynamic, with good basses, trebles and harmonically embedded vocals.
- 1st place: The German 2nd cut from 1977. I was really surprised at how close it came to UK 1st, in terms of dynamics, details and overall enjoyment. The vocals are just a tiny bit more emphasized, but without it being disturbing. Definitely the winner here, and probably quite a new Grail candidate.
- 2nd place: The German 1st cut from 1964, here in a repress from 1972. The lack in bass is very notable, but the more emphasized vocals still sound natural, the details in the instruments are still alright and the overall impression is quite harmonic.
- 3rd place: on the overall impression, the HTM cut from 1976, here in a repress from 1978, is too much of a mixed bag. The vocals are emphasized, but sound somewhat artificial. The emphasized trebles are a bit too much, they sound sound harsh and almost unpleasant in places.