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Albums That Need To Be Remastered.

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Albums That Need To Be Remastered.

Old 03-20-08, 06:36 PM
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Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One
Weezer - Pinkerton
Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Animal Collective - Feels
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Old 03-20-08, 10:03 PM
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Originally Posted by porieux
Notice I said 'most'. So actually you can agree with me 100%

Point taken. I should read carefully before I get all pompous.

You're 100% right
Old 03-24-08, 01:28 PM
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I'll go the unconventional route and mention an album from 2000.

The W by Wu-Tang Clan.

It was never even mastered in the first place, I think.
Old 03-24-08, 02:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Buttmunker
any album prior to 1993 by Bruce Springsteen
Born to Run has been remastered about three times since the CD era began. I'm hoping that Darkness on the Edge of Town gets the same 30th anniversary treatment this year, complete with documentary and 1978 concert video on DVD.
Old 03-24-08, 07:14 PM
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[QUOTE=Aphex Twin]Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour
QUOTE]

Didn't this get ( Along with every album pre nightlife) get a good remaster in 2004
Old 04-02-08, 02:34 PM
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Originally Posted by KMKTEXAN
Springsteen from Asbury Park to Tunnel of Love (every album deluxe similar to the Born To Run anniversary edition)
All early Styx through Roboto
REM Murmur through Green
Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton, Three Lock Box, VOA
Dokken - Breaking The Chains and Tooth and Nail
Ratt - Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy
Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry
Metallica - Kill em All through And Justice For All
All Queen (1970s - early 1980s)
The Call - Reconciled and Into The Woods
All The Smiths
Forgot - all The Cars albums
Old 04-03-08, 10:11 PM
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Originally Posted by KMKTEXAN
Forgot - all The Cars albums
The first three Cars albums - The Cars, Candy-O and Panorama were all remastered maybe 5 or 6 years back, but none of the others have been yet.

Elektra records went through a phase were they very quietly (i.e. - didn't make a big fuss about it) went back and remastered some of their better selling catalog titles. (I know a lot of Eagles albums were included, too)
About the only way you can tell the new remastered stuff from the original releases, is by a silver sticker on the front of the disc saying "Newly Remastered" and a small paragraph printed on the back of the disc case listing the details of the remastering job. Other than that, the UPC code is exactly the same.

There have also been two other remastered versions of the debut album previously released. The first was a "Gold" disc version on DCC by Steve Hoffman in 1993, which is now out of print. The second was a 2 disc "Deluxe Edition" put out in 1999 by Rhino. It had a bonus disc featuring demo and live versions of most of the songs on the debut. Pretty sure this version is still available.

Last edited by Rocketdog2000; 04-03-08 at 10:15 PM.
Old 04-08-08, 02:50 PM
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Originally Posted by JAA
No doubt, my friend. Unless performed by the rare and skilled engineers it takes to actually improve the product, it is almost a certainty that it will SUCK.
At least there are a few of us who realize this.

To those of you who insist that albums "need" remastering, what makes you say this? Is it just because an album is quiet? Do you not have a volume control? When most remasters are done, it is not just volume compensation that is done - it is usually destructive EQ, compression, and limiting. Go listen to the Queensryche remasters in comparison to the original CDs for an example of just how badly remastering can go. Empire is a beautifully recorded album, but the expanded remaster destroyed it. (Seek out the DCC of it if you can - it sounds really amazing.)
Old 04-09-08, 08:02 AM
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Originally Posted by malnar
At least there are a few of us who realize this.

To those of you who insist that albums "need" remastering, what makes you say this? Is it just because an album is quiet? Do you not have a volume control?
Its because, when you make up an iPod tracklist, the old CD's sound terrible next to remastered or any CD made after 1993.

A good example is The Cars. Almost everyone had the 1st greatest hits album they put out, but I also had a track from (I think) Billy Madison, and it sounded 10 times superior. Thusly, the newest Best-Of by The Cars is light-years ahead of the prior hits collection.
Old 04-09-08, 09:06 AM
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Nico's first album, Chelsea Girls. Get rid of those damn flutes!
Old 04-09-08, 12:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Tracer Bullet
Nico's first album, Chelsea Girls. Get rid of those damn flutes!
That's not remastering. That's remixing.

Some people seem to be very confused on what remastering and remixing are. Remastering is simply taking a master of the album, possibly from a different source than ever used before, EQing it differently than before, and possibly compressing it, limiting it, and otherwise destroying any subtle nuances the original recordings had. Very few remasters are truly worth the effort. Trust me - in the future, people are going to look back on this remastering fad and laugh at what we all fell for. This has been a terrible joke played out on an unsuspecting public just itching to spend their money.

Remixing, on the other hand, is changing the actual mix - removing or adding elements from or to the music, such as the flutes you mention. This involves going back to the original recordings, not just the masters. This is typically a very controversial move - it's changing history. The Who has done this, Megadeth has done this, and it's typically not received well by fans and for good reason. There's really no reason to do it. The albums existed as they were for a long time, they are known for being what they are, why change them? And if the need exists by the artists or whomever to change them, why not offer both the original and the remix in the same package?
Old 04-09-08, 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Buttmunker
Its because, when you make up an iPod tracklist, the old CD's sound terrible next to remastered or any CD made after 1993.

A good example is The Cars. Almost everyone had the 1st greatest hits album they put out, but I also had a track from (I think) Billy Madison, and it sounded 10 times superior. Thusly, the newest Best-Of by The Cars is light-years ahead of the prior hits collection.
I'm well aware of the volume changes - I have an Ipod too. I just change the volume. If you take the original version of an album and the remaster of most albums and play two tracks side by side, compensating the volume so that they are equal, the original track sounds far, far better, with much better sound quality and dynamics than the remaster. I'm not lazy enough to put up with the absolutely awful sound quality of most remasters so that I don't have to change my volume a little bit.

Most remasters are a sham, unfortunately - it was a well-intentioned effort when they began issuing them in the late 80s and early 90s, but they quickly became a fast way for labels to make a lot of money off of already paid-off albums, and they convinced everyone that the old albums sounded terrible. I believed it too until not too long ago until I started carefully comparing things I was getting remasters of. Before then, I simply got rid of the old versions when the new ones came out without really thinking about it - they were newer, so they must be better, right? (And don't believe the myth that just because the artist is involved in the remaster is must be better - it's very often much, much worse. They are not mastering engineers.)

Now, if I buy remasters at all, I listen very carefully to both versions before settling on one. I'm spending a lot of time and money seeking out the old versions of many albums I dumped for remasters now - and almost every time I've been stunned at how good the originals sound. There are exceptions, of course, but they are the rarity. I'm not even one of the pickiest listeners out there - the http://www.stevehoffman.tv (he's a world-renowned mastering engineer) forums are full of people who hear things I don't even want to hope to hear, but I hear sound quality loud and clear.
Old 04-09-08, 12:30 PM
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So which one is it when they take something that sounds like shit and make it clearer.
Old 04-09-08, 01:31 PM
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like, the CD's that have the AAD label on the back is a sure-sign that it is crap. They even warn you that "they did the best they could with the reproduction," which is saying that it is crap.
Old 04-09-08, 01:43 PM
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AAD just means that it was recorded and mixed in analog and then put on a digital CD. That's not a surefire sign of quality, but some of the best-sounding discs out there are going to be AAD. Digital doesn't equal quality. I think those warnings regarding "highlighting the problems with the source material" or whatever they say were put there partially to plant the seeds of a fear of analog into everyone's minds and to help ease the transition to digital medium.
Old 04-09-08, 02:25 PM
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Two horrible sounding recent albums:

Bruce Springsteen: "Magic" This album's mastering is, IMO, a classic example of the loudness wars' negative effects. The levels are completely pegged throughout the album. As a result, there's constant clipping and everything sounds very washed out. It's too bad, it's a very solid set of songs.

Rush: "Vapour Trails"
It has the worst mix for a major artist's release I've heard in years. The entire album is completely distorted. They screwed up the recording of the album, so apparently there's no way to fix the problem. They need to delete it and rerecord it.

A slightly older one:

Oasis: "What's the Story Morning Glory" Another album notorious for completely obliterating dynamic range. This album sounds very flat and static-y as is.
Old 04-09-08, 07:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Hiro11
Bruce Springsteen: "Magic" This album's mastering is, IMO, a classic example of the loudness wars' negative effects. The levels are completely pegged throughout the album. As a result, there's constant clipping and everything sounds very washed out. It's too bad, it's a very solid set of songs.
Agreed. It sounds like it was meant to be heard on crappy ear buds on the subway.
Old 04-09-08, 07:47 PM
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90% of the records listed in this thread sound wonderful on vinyl. Better off investing in a turntable than waiting around for the labels to get their act together.
Old 04-10-08, 07:47 AM
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Oh, and what about:

Creedence Clearwater Revival? Their records were on that godforsaken Fantasy Label, and sounded so low (Chronicle is a great hits collection, but very low resolution). But compare it to The Long Road Home, a collection by John Fogerty, and you would be in favor of the remaster. I bow to the remaster.

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