Oh dear, how do I explain this? Didn't I just a couple of weeks ago, in the introduction of my "Morgöth Tales" review, state pretty firmly that that I would not buy this, since I already got the 2021 Real Gone Records pressing?
Well, opportunity arose with it being available on High Roller Records without the need to directly order it from Norway... and curiosity just won? So here it is again, from Listenable Records:
VOIVOD - The Outer Limits (White vinyl reissue LP) (1993/2023)
So what is it about this album, you're asking? Since I already answered that question not too long ago, I will just copy-translate the core of my last (German) review now:
"The Outer Limits" was, is and will always be one of the best Rock/Metal albums of all time for me. Even if it is of course an impossible task to choose the undisputed best Voivod work. Without a doubt, however, the hattrick from "Nothingface" to "The Outer Limits" is by far the most listened to by me.
The fact that "Fix My Heart" was the first song of the Canadians that I was able to experience live in the Markthalle Hamburg naturally adds a strong dose of nostalgia to the mix.
I know that some fans don't like the lack of Blacky's "Blower Bass", but I always found Pierre St-Jean's clean, but powerfully produced four-string with its sometimes almost upright-bassy runs great, despite the lesser Metal values. In general the modern, super clean, but never sterile sound of the album is still spectacular.
In terms of sound, this was the closest possible approach to mass compatibility that the band was capable of, even compared to "Angel Rat", which was trimmed to look very vintage. That the varied mixture of straight Space Rock anthems, the stylistically fitting Pink Floyd cover "The Nile Song" and some of the best Prog Rock/Metal hits in the band's history ("Le Pont Noire" , "The Lost Machine" and of course the more than seventeen-minute epic "Jack Luminous") didn't make it to the charts after all, may have been disappointing for MCA.
The artistic-musical result is, however, a still relevant, excellently aged masterpiece, which in comparison to the unwieldy brain-convolution Thrash of the eighties or the apocalypse conjured up on "Phobos" may at first sight appear more conventional, but in truth this probably is the most uncopyable Voivod album of all time.
At least I haven't heard of any group that can be compared specifically to Voivod on "The Outer Limits". Sure, that may be partly due to the fact that "Dimension Hatröss" naturally enjoys a much wider distribution and established cult status. Still, if it were easier to emulate the special spirit of this pulp sci-fi Space Metal hit, then more people would do it.
THE NEW REISSUE:
This is the first vinyl version of the 1993 album with the 3D cover + glasses. Since my old CD and the Real Gone pressing both had the coloured Summer Edition artwork, this is also my personal first copy of that kind. A gimmick which honestly doesn't mean much to me, since I have always despised this rather disappointing magic as a scam. Most 3D glasses are hard to use together with my regular glasses (without whom I'm too blind) and watching movies this way, which I thankfully only ever did twice as far as I remember, is just tiring and far inferior to the regular experience.
And this cover artwork: Yeah, there's a little effect and the album title card stands out, but of course it's nothing really sensational.
That being said I actually prefer it to the Real Gone version, because the execution is just much more convincing here. It starts with the layout which isn't radically different, yet still a little bit better. A big plus however is that the lyrics aren't printed on a thin inner sleeve (which already arrived torn in many cases, since the label just packed it badly back then), but on a seperate thick matte cardboard sheet.
I also just have a thing for white vinyl, it's just so pure and beautiful. And while I haven't bothered to do a detailed track-by-track comparison, I'm also quite confident that this pressing sounds better.
So if you have the chance to choose between the two, I'd always recommend this one. Musically it's always an essential masterpiece anyway. Welcome aboard!
"The Outer Limits" was, is and will always be one of the best Rock/Metal albums of all time for me. Even if it is of course an impossible task to choose the undisputed best Voivod work. Without a doubt, however, the hattrick from "Nothingface" to "The Outer Limits" is by far the most listened to by me.
The fact that "Fix My Heart" was the first song of the Canadians that I was able to experience live in the Markthalle Hamburg naturally adds a strong dose of nostalgia to the mix.
I know that some fans don't like the lack of Blacky's "Blower Bass", but I always found Pierre St-Jean's clean, but powerfully produced four-string with its sometimes almost upright-bassy runs great, despite the lesser Metal values. In general the modern, super clean, but never sterile sound of the album is still spectacular.
In terms of sound, this was the closest possible approach to mass compatibility that the band was capable of, even compared to "Angel Rat", which was trimmed to look very vintage. That the varied mixture of straight Space Rock anthems, the stylistically fitting Pink Floyd cover "The Nile Song" and some of the best Prog Rock/Metal hits in the band's history ("Le Pont Noire" , "The Lost Machine" and of course the more than seventeen-minute epic "Jack Luminous") didn't make it to the charts after all, may have been disappointing for MCA.
The artistic-musical result is, however, a still relevant, excellently aged masterpiece, which in comparison to the unwieldy brain-convolution Thrash of the eighties or the apocalypse conjured up on "Phobos" may at first sight appear more conventional, but in truth this probably is the most uncopyable Voivod album of all time.
At least I haven't heard of any group that can be compared specifically to Voivod on "The Outer Limits". Sure, that may be partly due to the fact that "Dimension Hatröss" naturally enjoys a much wider distribution and established cult status. Still, if it were easier to emulate the special spirit of this pulp sci-fi Space Metal hit, then more people would do it.
THE NEW REISSUE:
This is the first vinyl version of the 1993 album with the 3D cover + glasses. Since my old CD and the Real Gone pressing both had the coloured Summer Edition artwork, this is also my personal first copy of that kind. A gimmick which honestly doesn't mean much to me, since I have always despised this rather disappointing magic as a scam. Most 3D glasses are hard to use together with my regular glasses (without whom I'm too blind) and watching movies this way, which I thankfully only ever did twice as far as I remember, is just tiring and far inferior to the regular experience.
And this cover artwork: Yeah, there's a little effect and the album title card stands out, but of course it's nothing really sensational.
That being said I actually prefer it to the Real Gone version, because the execution is just much more convincing here. It starts with the layout which isn't radically different, yet still a little bit better. A big plus however is that the lyrics aren't printed on a thin inner sleeve (which already arrived torn in many cases, since the label just packed it badly back then), but on a seperate thick matte cardboard sheet.
I also just have a thing for white vinyl, it's just so pure and beautiful. And while I haven't bothered to do a detailed track-by-track comparison, I'm also quite confident that this pressing sounds better.
So if you have the chance to choose between the two, I'd always recommend this one. Musically it's always an essential masterpiece anyway. Welcome aboard!
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