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  • Horrible remasters (compared to the original)
2014/04/22 02:17:20
sharke
Just compared the 2005 remaster of Talking Heads' "Born Under Punches" on Spotify, back to back with the original. Yow! It's like all they've done is cranked up the bass and applied some heavy limiting. I have to turn the original up a LOT to match the remaster volume, but I much prefer it. It sounds so much more open and dynamic. So many classic tracks desecrated like this, to the point where I naturally recoil from anything with "remastered" added to the title. Any other glaring examples you'd like to share? 
2014/04/22 03:06:23
craigb

 
Posted this one before.
2014/04/22 10:48:12
bitflipper
George Harrison's All Things Must Pass. I can't listen to the latest remaster.
2014/04/22 11:14:15
drewfx1
I think part of the problem is that the general public lacks any understanding of what "mastering" means so we keep seeing remasters of stuff for which there was no compelling reason for remastering.
 
How many people would buy the same thing all over again if you told them, "We squashed the dynamics a bit more than the last time and EQ'd it again!!!"?
2014/04/22 11:23:28
BoostSoftware
That Dire Straits example is dire, indeed.  Remaster for remastering sake is insane.  Have had issues with moving material from analogue to digital and losing the acoustic element/feel.  I much prefer the remixes with creative spins or samples that create a new work entirely.  Especially with hit songs that have turned into moldy oldies, there is another concept of recycling here that does not appeal to me. 
2014/04/22 13:43:02
batsbrew
it would a lot shorter and to the point,  to provide examples of GOOD re-mastering.
 
a very short list, for sure.
 
2014/04/22 13:49:12
Rain
The old Deep Purple stuff comes to mind. 
 
To be perfectly honest, I don't understand why people are still doing it. I can't conceive that a musician who has the least bit of control over his work and his own legacy will hear his work like that and give his ok.
 
More and more when I look up albums on Wikipedia, there seem to be references to the negative reaction to that album's mastering and loudness war. When Metallica's Death Magnetic came out a few years ago, people used the more natural sounding Guitar Hero version of the songs to create and distribute their own master. 
 
I'm sure that record companies and artists could actually cash in on the fact that people like me would actually pay to get their hands on albums that haven't been so severely limited. Technically, Nine Inch Nails offered something of the sort for their last record - though I couldn't bring myself to buy the album because I had no interest in it. But I love the idea. 
 
If I had the option, I'd always buy the mix as it was heard coming out of the stereo master bus in the studio. I don't know how many albums in recent years I've tried to listen to which seemed to have interesting sounds and music on them, and maybe even good mixes, but were totally obliterated by mastering.
 
At this point, I sometimes feel like this whole thing is kind of a systematic over-reaction to an imaginary treat - I just don't believe that people would NOT buy a record because it hasn't been brickwall limited. If anything, I think that they would get people like me to lift their boycott.
2014/04/22 13:57:55
sharke
It's a marketing ploy for sure. Why else would people buy new copies of music they already have? I think the public hears the words "digitally remastered" and what immediately comes to mind is a clearer, higher resolution, "restored" sound which fixes some non-existent technical limitations the original is supposed to have had. They also confuse the concept with digital remastering or "enhancing" of old movies, which quite often does result in an improvement.
2014/04/22 14:06:17
batsbrew
some of the worst
Rolling Stones 70s+ UM remasters
Ultimate Collection-Sade
Mothership-Led Zeppelin
Ozark Mountain Daredevils/It'll Shine... (BGO)
REO/REO T.W.O. (BGO)
Chicago II
Bat Out Of Hell-Meat Loaf
Iggy Pop's 'Raw Power'
Billy Idol "Rebel Yell"
Bloody Tourists by 10cc
Jethro Tull - Aqualung 25th
Ozzy Osbourne - the '02 versions of Blizzard and Diary
Kiss - Hotter Than Hell
Queensryche: 2003 EMI Remasters
Judas Priest: Columbia/Legacy Remasters
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication (1999) (the original recording, ridiculous)
pearl jam "10"
nirvana "nevermind"
2014/04/22 14:07:17
batsbrew
did you know..
that they remixed, and re-mastered Rush's "Vapor Trails" because of the complaints?
LOL
 
i might want to buy it now, it was a great album that i could never listen to.
 
 
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