Bob Marley & The Wailers – Natty Dread

Perhaps one would best be served by calling this 'the audiophile edition'.

Purchased in Jamaica by my mom in the '90s. Sound is really muffled in addition to a good bit of popping despite a good cleaning. Appears to be in nice condition so not sure why the sound quality isn't great.

My experience with this specific pressing of this magnificent album hasn’t been all that positive. I had high hopes given Abbey Road’s reputation.

On my copy: The opening bass on the start of side A sounded muffled before Bob’s vocals came in. The overall presentation felt mild. This was after I’ve cleaned the album and my stylus.

I’ve compared it to a 1990 reissue that based off the Barry Diament remaster and the latter was more pleasing listen.

S 8874q B-1 75 Made in MOST LIKELY "q" TYPO SHOULD BE A "1".

What is interesting about this pressing (and I love it) is how back the vocals are and how forward the bass and percussion is. Sounds great loud with a good subwoofer

Probably the best sounding out of all the Abbey Road half-speeds. And an incredible album.

Marley's first album after the departure of Bunny and Peter, and a consistently strong set of songs. Personal favorites include "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" and "Bend Down Low". This 1975 pressing has ample low end, plenty of oomph, and a rich, detailed, organic soundstage. Other than a skip on "So Jah Seh" my copy plays nice and clean, with infrequent faint surface noise.

Just compared to a nice early US copy with Sterling stamp and the the Speakers Corner plainly won. The bass is a little deeper and punchier and defined, the transients sound snappier and more free (like a lower generation master was used) and the instruments have a visceral quality. The Sterling has a very similar tonal balance, but sounds a little veiled. One caveat--the OG copy is nice, but I didn't wet clean it.

A weighty, open remaster that sounds similar to the Fraboni/Diament mixes or re-equalizations but with a wider frequency range and no compression.

A tight, punchy remaster that, for me, lacks weight, but still, there is hiss and sparkle.