Remixes / Remasters

As the world and it's oyster knows people only buy old music. Particularly as the old recordings are given the 21st Century makeover. Well there may be a thread for this (if so and you think the content could / should be reprised then add a link). But I don't remember such a thread. Where was I? Oh yes, remastered / remixed old albums.

Some are done by the ubiquitous and busy S. Wilson - his re-doing of Yes' Relayer plays as I type. I have my Japanese HDCD versions and this sounds quieter, and the details of what is on the tape has been brought out. It's quite something and can be a bit of a surprise at times.

Now I have for e.g. the pre-DVD releases of most things standard on this site. A considerable financial investment (never mind the emotional / intellectual) association of recordings.

I merely wondered how the rest of us thought of the newer versions. I know there are some who have become so attached to the sound over the past 1000 years that anything new, different is anathema. Progression implies change and some of us don't want that. Me especially.

There does not seem to be too much about this in the reviews and as these influence my choices SO much I just wondered what albums are most beneficial to the upgrade, which ones may not be (if any) and how the remastering alters perceptions. e.f PF's Animals and Genesis' And Then There Were Three remove the murk (a bit like hearing a  tape once the heads have been cleaned and de-magnetised) - another reason tape should be consigned to the dust bin of history) and yet the character of the recordings, especially Genesis remains. Foxtrot is a revelation as well. You can tell these guys were on a tight budget back in the dinosaur age.

Not forgetting the tape generation factor  - some knock offs that get sent around the world's pressing pants - already starting 2 generations from the master. Now we have digital sources providing the central common source for recordings - i.e. one may not necessarily need to go for the erstwhile lovely Japanese versions. Or do we?

Another consideration is the growing tendency to have blu ray audio included. This features just about all recordings pertinent to a release and may very well mean not having to ever get another. After the SACD / DVD Audio wars eliminated business and expression (well done record companies, another notable chapter in  your illustrious history) it may mean there will be real progress in audio quality.

PF's The Endless River is one of the few recordings where I could not tell the difference between the DVD and the CD. And though hardly prog rock the 2014 remaster / reissue of Bob Marley's Legend sounds sublime. Now my system is "only" stereo so I miss out on the apparently sublime surround versions so hearing / reading about all that would be good.

Loads of bands have updated their catalogue with some nice looking (and presumably nice sounding versions). Tull, Yes, Genesis, PF, endless reissues of ELP and the systematic technology reflecting catalogue issues by King Crimson. Apparently there are other bands but I don't know about them. Happy to read about someone new though.

Or someone who really needs their works remastered. Tangerine Dream for example... would've thought some were made for surround.

So, do we shell out more of the hard earned / won / stolen / inherited or do we stay with the old?

Oh, by the way I nearly forgot something important. Bonus material used as ... filler.. insight? Love it or hate 'em for ruining the album experience? I know, it depends on the album...

I look forward to the civilised discourse and mutual respect for opinions so prevalent in the sanctity of PA.

But the complete studio version of "America" on CTTE is one of the best bonus tracks added to a CD ever!  I'd had this version only on a scratchy old Atlantic compilation LP that I dug out of a dusty bargain bin.As for "remix/remaster" - JD hit it....it's a crapshoot.  But anything is better than my old Atco cassette copies of Genesis albums.  What a treat is was when the "Definitive Remasters" came out in the mid-90s.  I could finally "hear" what the band was on about.

uduwudu wrote: Or someone who really needs their works remastered. Tangerine Dream for example... would've thought some were made for surround.

It's exactly what I though when I heard Phaedra two days ago. Isn't Steven Wilson a TD fan? 

I think the original 90's Genesis remasters were a revelation but some of the new remixes leave me cold. That beautiful Hackett guitar solo in the fast bit of DWTMK from SEBTP really came to the forefront on the first remasters. The remixed version leaves it somewhat subdued. Also, on the Collins albums, the vocals are sometimes over-prominent in my opinion. This is a good thing on Seconds Out - perhaps the best remix - because the vocals have always seemed a bit 'distant' on previous versions.

I would love to hear a vinyl remaster for Captain Beyond. The original lacks a bit in the lower spectrum.

Oftentimes a disc loaded with alternate and/or undercooked studio versions makes an album unlistenable, especially those Fantasy or Blue Note label jazz CDs that run the same number three times in a row in alternate versions/takes that have little discernible difference. 

Here's another example of WTF?? I just found out about.

Queen - Innuendo 2001 Japan Remastered Toshiba-EMI 1991

Does a 1991 album that's only ten years old really need a remaster? I don't think the technology took much of a leap during that period. Sounds like a real cash grab that one. I have the 1991 CD and I think the sound is fine the way it is.



Edited by JD - March 10 2016 at 19:12

JD wrote: Here's another example of WTF?? I just found out about. Queen - Innuendo 2001 Japan Remastered Toshiba-EMI 1991 Does a 1991 album that's only ten years old really need a remaster? I don't think the technology took much of a leap during that period. Sounds like a real cash grab that one. I have the 1991 CD and I think the sound is fine the way it is.

in my experience, bonus material is rarely ever that. There's usually strong reason why it didn't make the album. I think of Steve Hackett's Hercules Unchained - just silly and sung in the same vain, regardless of some crafty guitar work. I'm generally unfazed by the existence of extras on the remasters I buy. I'm primarily concerned (as I'd assume most are) with the quality of the remaster of the primary music itself.

Edited by Rednight - March 15 2016 at 17:41

LakeGlade12 wrote: So apparently Steven Wilson has recently (3rd March 2016) released a remaster of his 2008 solo debut Insurgentes. Yes you heard me right, a remaster (which SW apparently hates and as we all know prefers remixes) from the guy who is well know for making his albums sound crystal clear and virtually perfect. Well I have the original version and it sounds just about perfect to me, so why this is getting a remaster is a complete mystery to me.

Simply put...CASH GRAB!