Mighty Diamonds - Gates Of Zion 12" repress

[skunkride]

Where did that came from ?

http://www.honestjons.com/shop.php?pid=43501&CatID=124

Thought Greensleeves stopped pressing 12"s few years ago...

[Dubba]

Greensleeves has been part of the VP group for a few years so I assume the pressing will be up to VP's not very high standards. Shame as this is a classic.

[edgar]

maybe old unsold stock?

[Baba Jonah]

Also theres a bootleg 7 inch of this tune that I got hold of about a year ago, good quality for those on a budget.
Roots label on one side, blank on the other.

[skunkride]

The 7" is a joke compared to the original 12"...i wonder if the repress sounds anything like the original ?

BTW more LPs coming from VP/Greensleeves - Barry Brown, Noel Philips & Johnny Osbourne - all Prince Jammy productions.

[Carassius]

Yes can someone tell me how this press sounds?... curious aswell
Also see that greensleeves repressed the jah fire lp from lacksley castell/hugh mundell.. Anyone more info on that one?

[CassavaOuternational]

regarding the original pressing, how many were color vinyl? i have it in blue

[Ruffneck]

Big big tune, never heard the 7" repess but I think it deserves the sound quality of a good 12" pressing. From the pic on Hj it's not shop stock of the original 12" which has publishing info missing on the HJ photo. No mentioning of a 12" repress on Greensleeves or VP web pages so no idea what Honest John is selling.

BTW, my 12" is on black vinyl, no idea if first press was coloured or black or both but I've owned my copy for a long time so it's definitely not a recent pressing.

[Ruffneck]

Also, It's produced by one Dubmasta... who is that? Think I've seen the same name on one or two other records but I have no idea who is behind that moniker...

[jb welda]

maybe I don't understand but greensleeves started repressing good-as-original 12"s from the eighties a couple years ago and has reissued quite a number of them, at least ten, and I was pretty sure this diamonds tune was one of them. and the quality on the reissues ive gotten are excellent in fact it is very difficult if not impossible to tell the new one from the original.

and I don't think they are "bootleg" either; I was under the impression that VP was reissuing them under the greensleeves label.

wrong or right?

one love
jb

[Ranchie]

Exactly JB, there are a number of the repress 12's in stock right now, Keith Hudson's 'Bloody Eyes' being one of the more recent I've seen. The sound issues with some of the VP box sets, etc. are not affecting the Greensleeves stuff, at least the ones I've heard (I haven't listened to 'Gates of Zion'). Same with the LPs they've reissued for GS that turned up recently.

[Billy_Boom]

Nice to see this 12" get repressed, especially if it was done right. Most Greensleeves 12" represses have been great but a few were faulty. From memory, Eek-a-Mouse's Noah's Ark lacked the extended mix of the original and Nitty Gritty's Run Down the World suffered from mastering issue. A while back I compared a couple of the Greensleeves LP reissues with the originals and the only real difference was that the represses were a bit louder. That said, I won't buy this one until I hear it but surely it will be better than that lame Roots label bootleg. Besides the illegitimacy of the Roots bootleg, it is just plain not cool to reissue an extended discomix as a 7".

edit: Oops, I didn't see the samples on Honest Jon's. It sounds great judging by those.

[Ringo]

My copy is green vinyl, seen loads on green, a few blue and some black.

Bloody Eyes is an odd choice to reissue, I played it last night by coincidence. Good, unusual tune, not one you'd play out, unlike most of the others which have been reissued.

[skunkride]

JB - they had a bunch of 12" represses about 5-6 years ago but stopped doing them pretty quick

[jb welda]

skunk, ive seen them more recently than that on ernies website. maybe they were just coming back into stock or something but seems to me earlier this year there were a clutch of em.

>Eek-a-Mouse's Noah's Ark lacked the extended mix of the original

I think on further listening you might find them identical. my copy of the repress is to my original anyway.

I forgot about those "roots" label releases so now I understand what the "bootleg" term applied to.

one love
jb