Funkadelic – Maggot Brain

Despite the "remastered from new hi-res analogue transfers," this one sounds inferior, to my ears, to the '89 "digitally remastered from the original analogue tapes" release, https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/602546-Funkadelic-Maggot-Brain. Not sure just why--some have complained about a lack of low-end on this one, but to me it just has that flat, "uninvolving" quality that some digitally remastered releases have (the notes don't say HOW it was remastered, but I'm guessing that those "analogue transfers" are digital ones).
As for the bonus 12"--this, too, is inferior to what could have been. The remix is, honestly, in one ear and out the other, and the live take, while nice to hear, appears to come from the legendarily bad '71 performance from Rochester, which can be found here for those interested https://discogs.programascracks.com/release/1104334-Funkadelic-Finest. That 45rpm single-sided version of the title track on that bonus 12" really is the one to hear, and the original version with full band is also worthy of a listen. I haven't compared the live take from that release with this one, but overall it's another case of a missed opportunity.

Help!!
Today I had this record delivered.

However despite the barcode matching and having the stamp HIQLp2 096, the album I had was produced in the EU not UK and had no hype sticker?

Is this a different version or the same just made in the EU not uk?

Any help or advice appreciated. I have not opened the album. It remains sealed until I know for sure

Thanks

I've been looking for an early pressing for a while but found this one for a good deal. At first I was quite shocked the first time I dropped my needle on Hit It & Quit It cause it sounded like it was sped up a good few percentages. How could they let this get through? I decided to compare it to a rip I recently got of an original pressing, and to my surprise the speeds matched perfectly. So clearly it wasn't anything wrong with this pressing. I then took a look at the version available on Spotify and that's what it was. The streaming versions are too slow. Quite a bit too slow in my opinion. The original pressing for Hit It & Quit It clocked in around 3:41.50, while the streaming version is around 3:49. I guess my ears had gotten used to the streaming version. Maybe this is common knowledge and I'm just reiterating what someone else found, but it was shocking to me.

Anyway, this pressing is alright. The album itself is fantastic of course. It never sounded very good to begin with, so if you're just looking to hear Maggot Brain I think this works. The vinyl itself is quiet, but I think it needed more bass. I also really like the 2nd disc. That live performance is killer. A nice touch.

sounds pitched up. thankfully my table has tempo control. really my own peeve of it, sound is pretty good.

This is an album I'm pretty familiar with. The first couple of times I heard it, it was an original press, and I've owned two different CD masterings. To kick off, I was quite impressed with "Maggot Brain". The tape hiss was there, but it didn't bother me a bit. There's no real way to get rid of it, and to me it's part of the original sound of the album anyway, like it's supposed to be there. I think the resolution really is better than the original; maybe lacking a little in of heft, but I was thinking that for the price of this compared to an OG in decent shape, this album is a steal.
But where this album does disappoint is in the low end. After the intro to "Can You Get to That", the band is supposed to come with a very visceral thump. This pressing, no thump. And a missing thump is no small thing on a Funkadelic album! I was able to achieve satisfactory results by turning up the bass and the subwoofer volume, but this is something I almost never have to resort to as my system is usually pretty good at digging out whatever bass is there.
All that being said, for $32 bucks, I'm by no means disappointed with the overall product. The increased clarity is nice, and mine has no pressing issues or warping whatsoever. I just have to to pump up the bass. Definitely an improvement over the CDs. I'll stay on the hunt for the OG, but VG+ is probably going to cost 10X the price of this, so I can be happy with it for as long as I need to be. I think you can buy with confidence.

I'm very impressed with the sound on this pressing, and the bonus tracks...wow. This is SO much better than my 4 MWB pressing.

Finally grabbed one and at £32 its a price but is it a pressing? Well I dont care much for the bonus disc if honest so wont comment on it. The main album is one of the most up n down quality of recording recordings in the history of recordingsings. This does at least just about get the best out of it sounding clean enough but audiophile it will never be. Some tracks sound better than others as per every other edition.
The pressing quality is decent but only after a double dip. First was too noisy and had a non fill defect. I ultrasonically cleaned the second and have just a handful of tiny ticks and a sole pop. For GZ media this is considered a miracle.
I shall compare to my 2 other modern issues soon and report back but i expect this remains a keeper.

Finally grabbed one and im not entirely convinced. At £32 its a price. I dont care much for the bonus disc if honest so wont comment on it. The main album is one of the most up n down quality of recording recordings in the history of recordingsings. This does at least just about get the best out of it sounding clean enough if abit flat but audiophile it will never be. Some tracks sound better than others as per every other edition.
The pressing quality is decent. I ultrasonically cleaned mine and have a handful of ticks and a sole pop. For GZ media this is considered a miracle but it could still be better. Some minor visible side A end non fills mercifully dont reveal themselves.
I shall compare to 2 other modern issues over the weekend and report back but i expect this remains a keeper

This is one of the better pressings that have been made recently.

The sound quality really fluctuates on this one, from good to great and overall somewhere in between. Certainly a nice sound and pretty quiet and crisp, but I was hoping to be more blown away by it especially for the price. This will more than do until I can find a decent priced original (maybe in my dreams).