Music that ABSOLUTELY needs to be remastered (1 Viewer)

[Joel Fontenot]

Tears for Fears Songs From the Big Chair could use a touch up

That one was been remastered a couple of years ago, along with The Hurting. It's the only way to get it today. However, I'm sticking with the original Mercury CD's since I find nothing wrong with them and they compare very nicely with my LP's.

Joel

 

[Danny Tse]

Van Halen - the Sammy Hagar years

 

[Javier_Huerta]

Tears for Fears Songs From the Big Chair could use a touch up

Three words: Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc.

The album sounds *amazing*. It's a completely different beast. How come companies like MoFi could always make *any* recording sound leaps and bounds better than their aluminum counterparts? It's scary.

 

[TonyE]

Metallica - St. Anger

 

[Holadem]

Someone needs to find a way to make Jimi Hendrix' "Are you Experienced?" sound better.

--
Holadem

 

[LarryDavenport]

The first three Funkadelic lps sound like crap.

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

[wet blanket]

I'm not a huge fan of remasters. Usually all they accomplish is to make music recorded in the past sound a little more like it was recorded today, which audiophiles really don't want. Here's what they're going to do: they're going to add highs, boost the range of lows that 16-year-olds like to blare out of their car subwoofers, and probably compress the life out of the entire album so it loses all its dynamic range. It also loses much of its context and character. On the bright side, though, it now sounds more like a Ricky Martin album!

Remasters should, IMHO, have one purpose and one purpose alone: to make the CD sound as close to the original LP release as possible. (Anything originally released on CD, I would argue, has no business being remastered for CD.) It's exactly the same as changing the audio ratio of a movie: The Wizard of Oz was made in mono, and home theater enthusiasts should want to hear the best possible reproduction of that original mono as possible. Music, like film, is a historical document about the context in which it was made, and part of that document includes poor and mistaken production techniques.

For example: The poor quality of Kansas' early production speaks volumes about Don Kirshner using them as a cash cow, and the high quality of the music in spite of these limitations tells us a lot about the band. The remasters of Masque, Leftoverture, and Point of Know Return sound good because they sound like the original albums. Point even has a completely remixed version of "Portrait" as a bonus track, and it's loaded up with harsh high end and big compression. Sure it sounds like it was recorded with more modern techniques, but the fact is it wasn't recorded with modern techniques, and that's as much a part of the music as the lyrics are.

To my mind, remastering music for any reason other than an attempt to more closely duplicate the original production is exactly the same as colorizing or pan-and-scan.

[/wet blanket]

(However, there is a nagging part of me that wonders what ...And Justice For All would sound like with a bass in it. Must... not... turn... to the dark... side!...)

 

[Harrison Shinn]

Kate Bush's catalog is long overdue for a remastering. Although HOUNDS OF LOVE was remastered sometime in the late '90's and included bonus tracks, her other albums, especially THE DREAMING could really use an upgrade. The Kate Bush News and Information website have reported over the years that her other albums are due to be remastered and will include bonus tracks, but they've yet to materialise. FINGERS CROSSED!

In fact, THE DREAMING was mentioned in a SOUND & VISION article as an album that deserves to be released in multi-channel sound and I heartily agree. I hope that her new album (due whenever she finishes it ) will be released on DVD-A or SACD. Seeing as she's on EMI in the UK and other foreign territories and at current, as far as I know, not signed with a US label (I remember reading somewhere that she's no longer signed to Columbia), it's anyone's guess what format it'll be released in...if at all!

Just my .02 on the matter!

Cheers All!
Harry

 

[Lewis Besze]

Early Genesis, especially Selling England By the Pound,and make a DVD-A asap[Warner take notes will ya?].
Weather Reports:Black Market> SACD[mc] naturally.

 

[TheLongshot]

Early Genesis, especially Selling England By the Pound

They were remastered 10 years ago, and I think SEBTP sounds great.

Jason

 

[Lewis Besze]

Still want those on DVD-A if you don't mind?