Recycle 04: Temptation

[Link removed 20 November 2012] (64 MB)

Temptation
Factory Records FAC 63
Produced by New Order
April 1982

Tracklisting:

1. Temptation
2. Hurt
3. Temptation (7" Version)
4. Hurt (7" Mix)

1 and 2 sourced from PolyGram Canada 1981 - 1982 CD EP 830 408-2
3 and 4 sourced from Factory UK 33 RPM 7" FAC 63

Notes from the restorer:

This was quite difficult. Major compromises had to be made to fit the 7" versions on disc, even at 33 RPM. The 7" is cut very low, so the surface noise is quite evident. It was mastered with little bass and too much treble. There's a lot of distortion too, but I can't tell what is due to tracing distortion/goove wear and what is due to the mix. In contrast, the 12" versions sound muffled and muddled. So getting all of them to play nice together was no easy task. I'm still not happy with the sound of the 7" versions, but I can't get them any better right now.

Interestingly enough, the 7" was re-issued in 2009. I was provided with a FLAC rip of this, and it sounds... quite different, and not just because the channels were reversed. It seemed clearer, but less open, if that makes any sense. I don't know if this was due to the difference in playback equipment -- which makes a major difference with vinyl -- or mastering, which can also make a major difference. I decided to go with the original Factory issue.

12" versions have a slight (~2dB) cut at about 3K and about +2dB shelving above 10K.
7" versions have about 5dB low/mid boost all the way up to about 1K, and -2dB above 12K. Hurt has some additional cut at about 9K.

Temptation was the band's first self-produced single, and it shows :) . The mix is often very muddled, unfocused, and distorted, and would have really benefited from further refinement, which I guess explains why they did just that when they put it on the Substance compilation.

The song was quite long for the group's standards at the time, and even the 7" version is over 5 minutes long and had to be cut at 33RPM. The vinyl geek in me is tickled by how the 7" is 33 while the 12" is 45, the opposite of the standard for each respective format.

The 7" is not just a different mix, but I'm told a different recording altogether. I had assumed that Hurt was merely an edit of the longer 12" version, but this turned out not to be the case either. It's a different mix, with more reverb and high end (although it's hard to tell due to the vast difference in mastering). A key difference is right around the 3:40 mark. On the 12" version, it breaks down to drums and vocals (run through pitch-shifted delay), while on the 7" the whole band is still there.