Questions about two CDs: The Alan Parson Project and Steely Dan (1 Viewer)

[Jan H]

Thanks, Mike,

that's what I thought.

JH

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I added the newly remastered version of Aja to my collection, but hung onto the box set for the other albums. Like Mike, I did not like the fact that Aja was split across two discs on the box set. It's my favorite Steely Dan album.

 

[Larry Geller]

There are none. They are the same exact recordings

I'll say it again, this is NOT TRUE!!! I have A-B'd the box set with the Mobile Fidelity's AND the new MCA versions and the Decade Of Steely Dan remaster and ALL of them sound MUCH better than ANY track on the Box set. I remember being terribly disappointed with the box when it came out, saying that they could have at least upgraded the sound, which they didn't. Also, the new versions came out a couple of YEARS later than the box, so it's EXTREMELY unlikely that the versions are the same. Also it doesn't say remastered ANYWHERE on the box or in it's credits---I think if it was they would have TOLD us about it.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

I'm also a big fan of APP.
Never bought any of their "best of's". I went right for the full albums - much better stuff there than just the "greatest hits" leads you to believe.
APP's whole catalog of 10 albums seriously needs to be remastered for CD.
I realize that, 1. I Robot is on DVD-A, but I can't play DVD-A, 2. I have a very early MFL disc of I Robot (back before they started going "gold disc"), but it'd be nice to hear it on regular CD with today's remastering technology, 3. I have both versions of Tales... - the original mix gold MFL disc version and Parson's own remixed version - still can't decide which I like better.
All the CD's from Pyramid to Eye in the Sky sound as if they are cut from the LP-equalized masters. And all the current CD's are still the same ones that were originally released way back in the mid to late 80's
Joel

 

[Jan H]

Well, it looks like Larry is right. I picked up Aja this afternoon at BB, and have spent the last hour or two A/B-ing it with Citizen, and the sound is definitely superior (although not by the wide margin that Larry suggests, IMHO). On the case is says that it was remastered in 1999. Perhaps the All Music Guide goofed? Anyway, it's nice to have Aja again, and there are new liner notes by the boys, so I'll probably end up buying all the albums all over again. JH

 

[Mike Broadman]

Sorry for any confusion. Well, at least you can't say I didn't have a source.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I'm also a big fan of APP.
-snip-
I realize that, 1. I Robot is on DVD-A, but I can't play DVD-A, 2. I have a very early MFL disc of I Robot (back before they started going "gold disc"), but it'd be nice to hear it on regular CD with today's remastering technology

Joel, I, Robot is not a DVD-A. It is a DAD, which is a DVD-Video disc. 96KHz/24bit uncompressed stereo PCM is part of the oringinal DVD-Video spec. There are a handful of titles that were released and they are all astonishing.
For more information on DADs from a recent thread click here.
If you can benefit from 96/24 DVD Video on your system you really should get this disc. Like all the four DADs I have, it sounds absolutely amazingly great. I guarantee it will sound measurably better than your MFSL CD.
NP: U2: a CD I made of non-album B-Sides and singles from the Achtung Baby / Zoorpoa era.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

...I, Robot is not a DVD-A. It is a DAD, which is a DVD-Video disc. 96KHz/24bit uncompressed stereo PCM is part of the original DVD-Video spec.

Thanks for the correction,

Looks like I'll have to look it up.

It'd still be nice to have all the other albumns remastered.

Joel

 

[KeithH]

Jan said:

This is NOT TRUE. The box set is NOT remastered & contains by far the worst version on CD for every single track (except for the ONE single goddamn bonus track tat is on there-the reason I still have kept the box). Also, worst packaging ever!

Thanks for the tip. As I said above, I have not checked out the boxed set myself. I know the boxed set has been out for awhile, so I was wondering if it had been remastered.
Philip,
Thanks also for the Steely Dan recommendations. I've known about the Parsons DAD, but now I am intrigued by it after getting the one greatest hits CD.
Mike,
If I upgrade my turntable, which is a definite possibility, I will start to add to my vinyl collection. Steely Dan on vinyl will be high on my list.

 

[Ryan Spaight]

The Steely Dan box came out around the same time as the first batch of Steely Dan remasters, around 1994-5 or so.
The individual albums were then remastered again in 1999.
So yes, the box is remastered, but the currently available individual albums are re-remastered.
I have the Definitive APP set and think it sounds slightly better than the original Arista CDs. It's a fine greatest hits set.
Ryan

 

[mike_decock]

I dig my Steely Dan vinyl. I hardly ever listened to Aja and anymore before I bought the LP and it just drew me back into the music. I think mine is a later pressing and I'm curious now how much better the older pressings are.

-Mike...

 

[KeithH]

Ryan, thanks. I had a feeling that the Steely Dan boxed set was older. The Showbiz Kids two-disc set carries a 2000 copyright date, so I wonder if it is derived from the 1999 remasters. I would bet it is, as is the current version of A Decade of Steely Dan.
I will check out The Definitive Collection too.
NP: Miles Davis Kind of Blue original CD (Columbia Jazz Masterpieces version). The remastered CD is better, and the SACD is better yet.

 

[Ron Reda]

Also, it is generally accepted that Aja was perhaps Mobile Fidelity's worst sounding CD ever made.

I almost pulled the trigger on the Mo Fi of Aja until I remembered someone saying that it was horrible. Instead, I snagged the remaster at a local Tower Records. That's too bad about the Mo Fi version (which I've never heard) because the remaster sounds great!

 

[KeithH]

Ron, I read Philip's comments about the MFSL version of Aja some many months back and decided not to spend big bucks on a copy on eBay as a result. As you said, the remastered version for $10 sounds great. I am perfectly happy with it, unless Aja comes out on SACD or DVD-Audio, of course.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I think mine is a later pressing and I'm curious now how much better the older pressings are.

MCA was not exactly known for great vinyl. I have no idea which version sounds best.

 

[mike_decock]

I wish their was some kind of thread/forum where people good report on which versions/pressings/CD/Vinyl sound best for any album.

-Mike...

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

The first Alan Parsons Project release, 1976's Tales of Mystery and Imagination, featured the complete then-current lineups of both Ambrosia and Pilot.

Ambrosia, which released their first album shortly before its lineup had contributed to Tales (Parsons would then return the favor by producing Ambrosia's second album Somewhere I've Never Travelled), would have bigger success after switching labels from 20th Century-Fox Records to Warner Bros. Records, in particular 1978's Life Beyond L.A. ("How Much I Feel") and 1980's One Eighty ("Biggest Part of Me").

Pilot, meanwhile, were a band best known for their 1975 hit "Magic." It was sung by bassist David Paton, who would go on to become an integral part of the Alan Parsons Project as well as working with Elton John in the mid-'80s.

~Ben