Dead Can Dance – The Serpent's Egg

Got one of these...The sound production isn't bad, there is slight distortion in the vocals on spots of Ulysses, probably from trying to pump it up and tapping the threshold. If you have bad distortion on 1st or 2nd half of a side that is usually a sign of Anti-Skate pushing/pulling on the inner/outer groove, check it. My copy had something (glue?) toward the end of Ulysses, resulting in a click for about 4 rotations (after a thorough cleaning, probably going to have to dig out the grooves). Some background noise, not good but not horrible.

outstanding mastering and soundstage!!!!!!!!! love this group alot of audiophile pressings like mofi and quality records dont even sound this good!!!!!!!!!!

Serpent's Egg was my introduction to the wonderful Dead Can Dance. Hard to believe, even now, that it was recorded in a high rise block on the Isle of Dogs in London. How such beautiful music could be created in such less than salubrious soundings is still incredible. Whilst LIsa Gerrard seems to get most of the praise for DCD's work, it's Brendan Perry's voice that I find so enthralling. It's a short album at just over 35 minutes long but there's not one duff track on it. Poetry in sound.

Proper audiophile quality, so dynamic, one of my best sounding albums.

Setup: Modded Technics Sl 1210 mk 2 with silicone tonearm damper, vm540ml cartridge, Parks Audio Puffin preamp, Golden Gate interconnects, Denon Pma-800ne amp, Dali Oberon 5 speakers.

Jaw dropping record
Nothing around like it at the time
Back in time
When all the leaves are fallen

A must have first pressing UK record ! You will have an exceptional sound experience *****

This Canadian Vertigo release mastered at SNB sounds really great. As I've gotten older, my ears have become more sensitive, and the Host of Seraphim had become less enjoyable. This pressing/mastering sounds like heaven. Never shrill or harsh. Open, airy, warm, detailed. You can play it loud. And I've heard many versions of this album, including the SACD, the 180 Vinyl, the original UK, and the reissue.

This is the best of my 3 version i have in my possession , Great remastering!

I gotta say my pressing of this happens to be a very good one. I too found others in this series of MRO pressings to be kind of crappy (my copy of 'Aion' is not so great), but this - this is spot on. Someone else commented on the quality of the remastering, and I have to agree. "Ulysses" in particular is outstanding. That's always been a favorite DCD track of mine, but the vocals always seemed buried in the mix. They brought them out really amazingly on this edition. I'm willing to sell my copy for the right price if anyone's interested ;)

This MPO pressed reissue is truly awful. In fairness the mastering sounds good. However as well as the ticks and pops and minor background noise other people have mentioned below mine also has audible distortions through a number of the tracks on side A. Presumably these are caused by pressing flaws even through the record looks clean. If there are decent copies of this pressing then mine definitely isn't one of them. If you choose to buy this version its a risk.