Dumb vinyl virgin question

[Mr Compo]

I'm sure this will sound abundently stupid to many of you however please forgive my ignorance. Why do some albums come over 2 disks on vinyl, not just one?

Chemical Brothers surrender is over 4 sides of vinyl and yet it is not an especially long album, it has a total run time of 58 minutes. Is it just the case that you can fit less on a significantly record than a CD? Or have I unwittingly bought some special edition?

 

[The_Lhc]

It's for sound quality reasons, the less densely the grooves are packed on the surface the better it (should) sound, up to a point.

 

[Mr Compo]

So would this ordinarily only be done on heavier weight pressings?

 

[DandyCobalt]

Max running time for a standard LP is approx 40mins, I believe. At 58 mins it has to stretch to 2 discs.

 

[MajorFubar]

So would this ordinarily only be done on heavier weight pressings?

Not necessarily. Another technique is to cut them at 45rpm, for the same reason.

 

[Amyl Right Mate]

I'm sure this will sound abundently stupid to many of you however please forgive my ignorance. Why do some albums come over 2 disks on vinyl, not just one?

Chemical Brothers surrender is over 4 sides of vinyl and yet it is not an especially long album, it has a total run time of 58 minutes. Is it just the case that you can fit less on a significantly record than a CD? Or have I unwittingly bought some special edition?

Basically, the louder an LP is cut the better it should sound. However, the louder the cut the less time will fit onto a side. A loud cutting is desirable from a signal:noise ratio prespective and should give a more dynamic sounding record.

Typically about 20 mins per side is the sensible limit for an LP cut at 33rpm.

Chemical Bros. are a dance act, hence their vinyl is primarily aimed at DJs who demand loud cut records (sound better in a club) with fewer, widely spaced tracks per side (easier for cueing etc. whilst DJing and less likely to skip.)

That is the normal edition of Surrender. There is a 3xLP version with the same tracklisting that was issued as a DJ promo.

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone who doubts this should hunt out an old " Golden Hour of" LP and see what it sounds like when they squeeze 60 minutes of music on one disc ( Yak!)