(This is just a first draft.) Had these two Aussie pressings for ages and though I always thought they were peculiar I never did much to get the true facts behind them - one very strange thing is though the rights to this was owned by Decca/London and these records have the Decca label, here they were manufactured by EMI (only time Ive seen the red label with an EMI text rim). Sadly I've lost my US mono originals so a track by track comparison must wait till I can get hold of some. First thing that strikes me about these two is the amazing sound quality. I mean - Stones sixties issues are not normally known for this, but here each and every track plays loud, clear and with perfect separation, and that without sounding unnatural or strained - there's more of everything, even the misses and errors I never thought of before. Most obvious difference - "Mona (I need You baby)" is replaced by "I Can't Be Satisfied" on NOW! For the rest I can't say if everything that stands out depends on mother/stamper/engraving process or if there's more to it. I'll be back! (...and here I go again about a month later...) After help from Mylene on Steve Hoffman Music Forum and good friend Gudmundur Bragason (audio restoration engineer and expert on sixties recording techniques) I' m ready for a few more lines. I have not been able to trace a first press "US/UK export cover" Aus mono of 12X5 on the net and know nothing about it, so I stick with the stereo. Nor have I yet found any US stock or UK eport monos to compare with so that have to wait. First the marix numbers. The US style stereo has a US/UK marix no. only "ZAL6493". That makes perfect sense since for a first press of any new record at this time often a ready matrix or lacquer was rushed for use till the domestic machines were in order. So it should be exactly the same as US/UK. The second issue mono with the "UK Rolling Stones no. 2" cover has two matrix numbers - the UK export ARL6493 and an Australian XDECX84. Here the tapes was sent and not the ready matrix, and since the tracking was exactly the same as the export the UK number is used as a reference. Rolling Stones NOW! has the Australian number only - XDECX90 - one track was switched there so it's not exactly the same tapes anymore. Between tapes and matrix a lot of tampering was done with the sound. It wasn't possible to engrave the studio work directly to the record, so lots of devices were used to "shrink" and even the sound - limiters, compressors and other EQ stuff. In England Decca used more of this equipment than EMI, and on Stones they used a lot! (Just compare UK R.S. no. 2 with "A Hard Days Night" and you get the idea). I think the difference in sound quality on these Australian issues at least partly can be explained by less usage of such equipment and thus approaching a more natural sound. Here I more get the impression of the decadent, raw garage group they actually were at the time than the smooth commercial machinery they quickly became. (More will follow as soon as I get a chance to compare.) (RÅ*)(DÖW*)
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