Talk Talk’s “Laughing Stock” bought today at a local second hand shop. An interesting bonus I found inside the case was the cutout review of the album when it was originally released.
Bad Lieutenant: another New Order spin-off.
I fell asleep in the garden whilst it was playing.
My system is in a room on the ground floor with French doors, adjacent to our back garden.
Three 6am starts leave me tired, so I just closed my eyes yesterday afternoon…
"Break on through ": what a great track to open with!
A nice eclectic compilation/mix-tape from the Back to Mine project that have inspired British collective Jungle:
A budget Philips CD of their music was among the first classical guitar CDs I bought. I’ve listened to it many times over the years. Now I have more to listen to.
Arrived yesterday - 4 CD plus DVD and 60 page booklet bound in the case. Very different from the non remastered vinyl version. Noisy day ahead….
Just received a ‘proper’ Penguin Guide - from 2008:
Surprisingly I recently bought “461 Ocean Boulevard” by Eric Clapton in the cellar of a local charity shop.
We had it on cassette many years ago and I was equally surprised to find that I had never bought it on CD before.
Faded cover but the CD is perfect.
Many happy memories.
Another title:
“Essential Steve Earle” with a concert ticket in the package.
One of my local charity shops are selling 10 CDs/DVDs for £1.00
Note: this is not “up to 10” - when I tried to buy 9 they wanted £4.50!
Tangerine Dream
Ricochet (2018 Remaster)
Thief (2020 Remaster)
I was in my local HMV yesterday and thought it was about time I added to my Tangerine Dream collection.
Edward
With the exception of Misplaced Childhood, all the deluxe editions have new stereo mixes for each album. I quite like them - some of the original mixes didn’t have the best fidelity. Fugazi is particularly revelatory from a production and sound quality perspective, and is well worth picking up too.
Are you able to compare them to the original LPs and/or the '80s CDs?
Great recording. Roy Goodman is a supberb conductor. My joint favourite with the late Richard Hickox.
Slightly random pick for me (but based on an oldish Penguin Guide). I used to have the Trevor Pinnock versions, on DG, but sold them in a clear out, many years back. Just need the Discogs Seller to send them now…
I haven’t got any of the albums on vinyl, however I have all the original CDs from the 1980s, and some of the remasters from the late 1990s. My thoughts on each album are as follows:
- Script For a Jester’s Tear - The recent remix sounds best to me, I was never particularly keen on the original 1980s CD as it lacked fidelity and the drum sound was pretty awful. The remix is fairly faithful to the original mix.
- Fugazi - Similar to Script, I much prefer the remix to the 1980s CD which I found borderline unlistenable from a sound quality perspective - much too shrill and lacking in bass/warmth. When the remix was released, the band stated they weren’t too keen on the original mix themselves, and took the opportunity to change some elements, depending on how attached you are to the original mix this may determine your opinion somewhat.
- Misplaced Childhood - this album was only remixed for 5.1, the stereo mix was only remastered. The 1980s CD and the 2017 remaster sound very similar, the 2017 having a touch more clarity. Both are far superior to the 1990s remaster.
- Clutching At Straws - this will be a matter of personal taste. The 1980s CD is very dark and muddy sounding, which to some extent fits the tone of the music. The 1990s remaster has greater clarity but lacks warmth. The 2018 remix sits somewhere in the middle between the two - the mix is subtly revised with some instrumentation not in the original mix, so again your familiarity with the original may determine which you prefer.
- Brave - also a matter of taste. I’ve always thought the original CD release sounded excellent. The remix has more clarity, but has a very different presentation.
- Afraid Of Sunlight - I much prefer the 2019 remix for this album - it has much greater clarity, separation and warmth, but retains the overall feel of the original mix.
I understand Holidays In Eden is the next deluxe edition to be released later this year, followed by Seasons End. I understand the band are considering continuing the series beyond the EMI albums so their back catalogue is presented in the same format.
That’s great! Do you have ‘Stratosfear’ (1976)? It’s my favourite TD and follows on from the excellent ‘Ricochet’. Only four tracks, all top notch for me. The slow parts of the title track are so atmospheric!