Too many CDs....of the same album!! (1 Viewer)

[Danny Tse]

Just wondering, for your favorite artists, do you buy each and every single remastered version of the same album? Or do you pick and choose? And what do you do with the previous versions of the album?

I was just wondering since the release of the Police SACDs and the Peter Gabriel SACDs will make me buy the same albums again (not that I'm complaining).

 

[MickeS]

I don't give a crap about sound quality unless it's absolutely awful. If something sounds good, I'm not gonna pay more to buy the exact same music if it now sounds "very good".

/Mike

 

[Scott Merryfield]

While I do not buy every incarnation of my favorite albums, there are a few that I have purchased way too many times. My personal record is probably five times for Hotel California -- 8 track, vinyl, CD, Mobile Fidelity CD, DVD-Audio. At least I didn't buy it on cassette.

As for what happens to the old versions, I will give them to family/friends if they are still worthwhile copies. However, I pitched all the old 8 tracks many years ago -- what a horrible format!

 

[JonZ]

Yea I never thought so much of these new Remasters.

But I bought Women And Children First and VH2 and the difference was pretty outstanding. They sound amazing.

If its older music I sometimes will rebuy but theres no need to rebuy something thats only 10 years old.

 

[Todd Hostettler]

Well, as an Elvis Costello fan...

:wink:

 

[Paul_Medenwaldt]

Chicago has been re-mastering their library and i've been purchasing those new re-masters. On these remastered versions they have added a few alternate tracks and or live versions of songs. They have also included the original artwork with old and new liner notes. So with them, there is an incentive into purchasing these new CD's.

Most of the groups I collect religiously, my current library I have a mix of original releases and re-masters, for instance KISS, Genesis and now Chicago. I will eventually purchase the full remixes of the KISS library and more then likely put them on half.com like I have with the Chicago CD's I have.

My pet peeve is with a group like Chicago, they have released so many different greatest hits cd's its becomes numbing. They released last year a 2 disc set of greatest hits with no new songs. I don't plan on purchasing this disc in retail. I'm waiting to find it cheaper at a second hand store.

Paul

 

[KeithH]

I have bought a number of remasters after already having purchased previous versions. Many of the current remasters out there are excellent and worth buying. In some cases, the original versions are good in their own right. Unfortunately, I don't have nearly as much time as I would like to compare various versions.

If I thought about it long enough, I know I could come up with an extensive list of titles I have repurchased. I have three versions of The Police Synchronicity and Ghost in the Machine on CD. Still, I will buy the latest remastered CDs and the SACDs of these classics. The SACDs should be great, but I am also interested in how the new CDs compare to previous versions.


Scott said:

My personal record is probably five times for Hotel California -- 8 track, vinyl, CD, Mobile Fidelity CD, DVD-Audio.

A Mobile Fidelity CD? Wow, that must be worth a lot! I think you meant DCC.

 

[Will_B]

I'll buy a favorite album or two remastered, but not the whole catalog.

There are some artists who I stopped buying a few years ago - Peter Gabriel, Roxy Music, the Police, for example - on the assumption that because they were for a particular demographic, they'd be most likely to wind up on DVDA or SACD. That's proven to be true, so I'm glad I skipped them when their remastered CDs came out a few years ago.

Bands that look like they'd have no chance of winding up on DVDA or SACD, I'm more inclined to go ahead and buy a remastered CD. But like I say, not their whole catalog.

 

[Mike Broadman]

I find the upgrade is almost worth it for jazz albums, and I always try to have the latest. But I also sell the older versions to avoid clutter- after all, if I have a superior sounding CD, why would I ever listen to the older one?

With rock albums, I take it on a case-by-case basis. I did re-purchase the entire Rush catalogue, for example. And I always try to pick up any high-res release of an album I like.

NP: King Crimson Collector's Club #19, Nashville, 2001

 

[KeithH]

Mike, I agree that many remasters of jazz classics are great, and much better than earlier versions. I hold onto the older versions, though, for comparison and since I am a collector. I hear some of those old versions and think about what a dark time it was. Many of those Columbia Jazz Masterpieces CDs are pretty bad.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Still, I will buy the latest remastered CDs and the SACDs of these classics. The SACDs should be great, but I am also interested in how the new CDs compare to previous versions.Still, I will buy the latest remastered CDs and the SACDs of these classics. The SACDs should be great, but I am also interested in how the new CDs compare to previous versions.

I agree - I won't buy every version but I think getting The Police and Pete Gabriel on Super Audio is a big deal. These are some of my favorite artists and I look forward to these albums in sonic high definition.

 

[Angelo.M]

I've been buying remasters when the sonic difference seems worth it, and I've been giving away the originals. The Simon and Garfunkel remasters have been, to my ears, relevatory--the stuff has never sounded bettter. Also, like others in this thread, I scoop up jazz remasters: Blue Train, A Love Supreme, Kind of Blue--these all sound incredible. Other remasters, like the Peter Gabriel remasters, don't seem particularly different than the original CDs.

 

[Michael Gilliam]

If I buy a remastered version, I sell the old one. Unless the upgrade is to a non-hybrid SACD or to DVD-A, in which case you have to keep the old CDs. The Who's Ultimate Collection is amazing and easily stomps the older "Who's Better, Who's Best" hits disc. But I can't sell the old one b/c the book has cool info on the band--otherwise it would be gone.

Does anyone have any thoughts about the remastered Eric Clapton discs? Are they worth it? I also have a question about Led Zeppelin. I had all of their original CDs, and not long ago picked up "Latter Days." I thought the difference was amazing--the old ones sound downright claustrophobic in comparison, so I sold them all. So now I am thinking of getting the "Complete Sessions" box set, remastered from 1993. Were Early and Latter Days taken from those same remasters, or were they improved upon yet again? In otherwords, if I did purchase the box set, I would hope they would sound as great as the most recent compilations. Of course, since the Led catalog is on Atlantic, Warner may one day give us DVD-As....

Also, thanks for the tip on the Van Halen remasters. Are the AC/DC remasters (2nd time 'round) worth another purchase?

 

[Paul.S]

Danny et al.:

Just wondering, for your favorite artists, do you buy each and every single remastered version of the same album? Or do you pick and choose? And what do you do with the previous versions of the album?

I pick and choose, usually only retaining the previous release if there's some anal retentive reason to do so (the Big Bam Boom remaster didn't include the lyrics, dammit!).

I typically sell the old version at a used, er, pre-owned CD store. The Wherehouse was a rich outlet for this but I understand they tightened up in recent times, not buying copies of albums for which remasters had since been released.

Also, Wherehouse is shuttering many stores currently in light of a Chapter 11 filing. That's bad news as we move deeper into SACD/DVD-A territory and need a place to unload all those old, standard CDs.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Carl Miller]

Case by case for me, only if I read comments by people who say there's a real improvement on the remaster. Joe Jacksons first two albums were well worth upgrading to remasters. Steely Dan's Aja on the other hand wasn't worth the cost as it was already well engineered.

I don't sell the doubles though, those get played in the car.

 

[Jeremiah]

I don't give a crap about sound quality unless it's absolutely awful. If something sounds good, I'm not gonna pay more to buy the exact same music if it now sounds "very good".

Yep, I agree.

Also, I really don't like it when new songs or live songs or unrealeased songs get put on a remastered CD when the original didn't have those songs on there to begine with. Most of the time it takes away from the album IMO.

I had to re-buy Hendrix's AYE CD and I do not like songs that come after AYE b/c that was intended to be the final song on that album, not to mention the other songs sound nothing like the rest from AYE. Also, Motley Crue's Too Fast For Love album as several new songs or alternate versions of same songs. C'mon, you don't need 2-3 versions of the same song on the same album. I have refused to buy some Skynyrd CD's b/c Sweet Home Alabama is on like all of them: great song but I don't need to hear it everytime I put a Skynyrd CD in. Sorry for the rant but it just bugs me.

edit: I think I went off topic, sorry.

 

[Ian Lascell]

Michael,
I only have one Clapton remaster: the Derek and the Dominos' Layla. To my ears it sounds horrible. I was really disappointed with this one. I don't have any previous versions to compare, so for all I know it is an improvement over the previous release. But if that is the case, the original must really be bad. Since I love the material on this disc so much, I will probably break down and get the MFSL disc at some point.

I think the Van Halen remasters are a decent improvement, though not incredible. The Bob Marley remasters are really very good in my opinion. And I would give the prize to the Dire Straits Warner Remasters. This whole catalog sounds really outstanding now.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

I will only buy a "remastered" issue, if is really is an improvement. Unfortunately, most remasters today are actually worse - heavily re-eq'ed with pumped up compression and maximization - sounding only "louder". Those aren't really better by any stretch of the imagination.

I go on a case-by-case basis because some remasters really are better.

Word on the new Police CD's however, doesn't sound promising. I was never pleased with the last remasters in '95 - an apparent reduction in mid bass compared to the original CD's and even the original LP's. I would like to hear the new stuff though, so I may get one of them.

I do have several copies of some other releases for the collector in me. Heart's Dreamboat Annie I have in 5 forms: Original '76 Mushroom issue, Mushroom picture disc, Nautilus 1/2 Speed Master, first Capitol CD issue, and the best - Steve Hoffman mastered DCC Gold disc CD. I passed on the '99 Capitol CD remaster by Odean Something or Other (I forget and I just looked at it yesterday in the store) in the mini-lp packaging, because I hadn't heard that it is any better than Steve's.

I also have Duran Duran's first release in 4 forms - 3 LP's and 1 CD: Early '81 Capitol US release, original UK issue (all original tracks and inner sleeve w/ lyrics), the '83 Capitol US reissue (when they added "Is There Something I Should Know"), and the first EMI UK CD issue (which, for some strange reason, followed the US reissued LP track list). The only LP I'm missing is the first US issue on Harvest.

When Synchronicity first came out on LP, I came real close to getting all the different sleeve variations that it was originally released with. I don't recall how many there were, but it amounted to the rows of pictures being different, and the red, blue and yellow swaths of color being in different arrangements (red on top on one sleeve, blue on top on another...). But, I decided that I wasn't that big of a Police fan.
Joel

 

[George See]

R.E.M. Murmur that's my guilty pleasure....lets see. Started out with the tape...then the regular cd. Then vinyl, then the import cd reissue with bonus tracks, then the 24kt gold remastered version. Then I picked up an unopened (and remaining so) mint condition promotional only vinly release. That's it so far but the second they release a DVD-A i'm there. The second they release an SACD i'm there and buying an SACD player too.

 

[Keith Paynter]

I don't know why, but I own 4 different CD's Of Paul McCartney's Band On The Run. The original Japanese pressing (mostly black label), the McCartney Collection reissue (miniaturized cover art), the Anniversary Box edition, and I just last week bought the DTS CD.

It's a damned good album, but I think I need therapy...