White Lion - 1987 — - Pride.7 81768-2.flac

If you’ve downloaded or inherited a file with this name, here’s how to verify it’s a true representation of the 1987 CD:

In an era of streaming, owning a FLAC rip of the original Pride CD is an act of audio archaeology. Streaming services often use modern remasters, which can suffer from dynamic range compression (the “loudness war”). The 1987 81768-2 CD has a DR (dynamic range) rating of around 12-14, whereas later remasters dip to 8 or 9. White Lion - 1987 - Pride.7 81768-2.flac

Moreover, Vito Bratta left music in the 1990s to care for a family member, never to return. His guitar tone on Pride—a mix of a Kramer Pacer, a modded Marshall, and his fingers—is frozen in time on that 1987 master. A FLAC file is the closest we can get to the master tape. If you’ve downloaded or inherited a file with

Unlike many contemporaneous albums buried by grunge in the 1990s, Pride maintained a cult following. Vito Bratta’s fluid, melodic solos (particularly on “Lady of the Valley”) are studied by guitarists to this day. Moreover, the production by Michael Wagener is crisp, dynamic, and perfectly suited for high-fidelity playback—which brings us to the CD format. In an era of streaming, owning a FLAC

The segment “7 81768-2” or simply 81768-2 is a pressing identifier. Let’s break it down:

So 81768-2 is the Atlantic Records CD catalog number for the original 1987 Pride release. Collectors today search for that exact number to find the first pressing, which has unique mastering and often better dynamic range than later remasters.