T. Rex – Electric Warrior

Is this the only 1971 release that came with inner?

I sold a new and sealed copy. The buyer returned it due to skips on side 2 as mentioned below. Bemusingly, he hadnt even brush cleaned it from what i could tell. Either that or the printed inner is somekind of vinyl hater that wants to ruin your enjoyment! Anyway, i Degritter washed it and it plays nigh perfectly throughout. Dead flat, dead centered and mostly very quiet. This is both on my nicer vintage deck and my two modern cheapish AT LP5X test/comparison decks with cheapish VM95E carts. Nothing wrong with the pressing whatsoever and most likely either very bad setup or very poor quality gear the likes of a Crosley briefcase or something. CHECK YOUR GEAR AND CLEAN YOUR RECORDS PEOPLE!

The biggest problem is the mastering and cutting are poor. The sound is flat and grey compared to the KPG and MoFi cuts. It also has baked in IGD so the sides end in quite a fuzzy fizzy manner.

I wouldnt recommend this then... it doesnt sound horrid per sè it just gets humbled by better versions.

mine skips too >I hate it! golden turns to grey, the joy just fades away.........

COMPARISON TIME:

2017 Rhino KPG 33rpm
Vs.
2020 MoFi 2x45rpm

Neither one of these wins in every area and neither is totally definitive but there is a preference for me. They both are the best recent versions ive heard when including the Abbey Road Half Speed (too flat and dry and shy and wussy) and the very recent limited sky blue vinyl edition (comparitively crap in all respects and a side two skip fest).

The KPG and MoFi both sound really good (considering the mediocre recording). The KPG has a very nice balance to it. The MoFi has notable bass depth and soundstaging increases. The KPG also gets notably more ragged as we move onto the second half of each side and the MoFi just pulls ahead further as the tracks progess. The 45rpm benefits on sound cannot be overstated. Im lucky enough to currently have two identical mid-fi decks setup to easily evaluate and compare pressings directly and as a wee bonus a double 45rpm is less frustrating when you are in this fortunate position. And yet i do feel the KPG mastering is slightly better balanced when at its best... the mid bass is nicely balanced with the very low end and front to back depth shines. If it had been cut at 45rpm it might just edge the MoFi but as they are i would have to take the MoFi as its better at more things than the KPG is.

Pressing wise the Rhino KPG is good enough but the MoFi has come out nigh silent. The MoFi backgrounds are deffo blacker. RTI seems to reserve its best compounds and least defective vinyl for Mobile Fidelity. The compound they used for the KPG cut has some infrequent tics and a loud pop or two but is still acceptable.

Packaging wise, both are superb.... tip on gatefolds in each case and the Rhino gives up nothing to the MoFi even at half the price.

To conclude then.... id be very happy with the Rhino KPG 33rpm. It does alot right. Its nice to find a KPG mastering thats not too bright and hot and teeming with side rising distortion. Im sorry to repeat that he is not the messiah of vinyl that many claim but he did good here at least, theres no debating that. MoFi have just done a tad bit better and in my case offered it up on undeniably better vinyl. But it cost more so it should be better. Its worth it to me but it may not be to you. I had hoped the KPG would somehow walk this comparo and save me some money and side flipping, but alas, this game is not worth persisting with just for convenience and the sound quality wins out by a small margin on the whole and for that reason combined with the silent vinyl its the one im keeping.

YMMV AS EVER!!

COMPARISON TIME:

2017 Rhino KPG 33rpm
Vs.
2020 MoFi 2x45rpm

Neither one of these wins in every area and neither is totally definitive but there is a preference for me. They both are the best recent versions ive heard when including the Abbey Road Half Speed (too flat and dry and shy and wussy) and the very recent limited sky blue vinyl edition (comparitively crap in all respects and a side two skip fest).

The KPG and MoFi both sound really good (considering the mediocre recording). The KPG has a very nice balance to it. The MoFi has notable bass depth and soundstaging increases. The KPG also gets notably more ragged as we move onto the second half of each side and the MoFi just pulls ahead further as the tracks progess. The 45rpm benefits on sound cannot be overstated. Im lucky enough to currently have two identical mid-fi decks setup to easily evaluate and compare pressings directly and as a wee bonus a double 45rpm is less frustrating when you are in this fortunate position. And yet i do feel the KPG mastering is slightly better balanced when at its best... the mid bass is nicely balanced with the very low end and front to back depth shines. If it had been cut at 45rpm it might just edge the MoFi but as they are i would have to take the MoFi as its better at more things than the KPG is.

Pressing wise the Rhino KPG is good enough but the MoFi has come out nigh silent. The MoFi backgrounds are deffo blacker. RTI seems to reserve its best compounds and least defective vinyl for Mobile Fidelity. The compound they used for the KPG cut has some infrequent tics and a loud pop or two but is still acceptable.

Packaging wise, both are superb.... tip on gatefolds in each case and the Rhino gives up nothing to the MoFi even at half the price.

To conclude then.... id be very happy with the Rhino KPG 33rpm. It does alot right. Its nice to find a KPG mastering thats not too bright and hot and teeming with side rising distortion. Im sorry to repeat that he is not the messiah of vinyl that many claim but he did good here at least, theres no debating that. MoFi have just done a tad bit better and in my case offered it up on undeniably better vinyl. But it cost more so it should be better. Its worth it to me but it may not be to you. I had hoped the KPG would somehow walk this comparo and save me some money and side flipping, but alas, this game is not worth persisting with just for convenience and the sound quality wins out by a small margin on the whole and for that reason combined with the silent vinyl its the one im keeping.

YMMV AS EVER!!

This pressing is noticeably quieter than my original 71 press. There is some sibilance on Marc's voice but it's the same on the 71. Overall this is a great sounding, low noise version.

Yes this is excellent! congratulations to Kevin Gray for a superb cutting !
Record also very well pressed,presented in excellent cover with polyethylene inner sleeve no scratches silent vinyl job well done Rhino this is a great copy to have very dynamic nice punchy druming super vocals excellent instrument seperation,
Just received this 11/3/25 and it is still the first 2017 release with the same matrices as listed by discogs had kevin Gray hype sticker

Superb mastering. I had the 2014 release of this LP and found it underwhelming no matter what volume or equalizers I played with. This release is in a different ballpark. It's like hearing the album for the first time and noticing all sorts of details I hadn't noticed before.

These two versions are the closest I can get to the one I have here, but under the FLY logo on the back cover mine is "Printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd." (not E.J.Day). I cannot locate this anywhere. Can anyone help me identify it? Very grateful if you can! snowybartley

Is anyone able to better photos? These blow hard