VAN Morrison cd Still on Top - The Greatest Hits 3 cd set any thoughts?

what do people think of this set ? i am thinking of upgrading from a single cd best i brought a few years ago!

 

oh i forgot to mention this cd set is in throw out bin! its only $6.99! so i just want to know is the sound ok ?

 

i dont love the mastering but you cant deny the content and its very listenable anyway and well worth the money you paid for it.

 

i haven't brought it yet! its to replace The Best of Van Morrison released in 1990 so i was thinking the sound may be too compressed on this new one so thats why i was asking about it ! but for $6.99 i don't think i can go too wrong!

 

A 3 cd set? I thought it was 2 discs, unless it's a special edition?

 

Hey I paid $18 for the 3 CD set and I think it's great. But then I'm no judge of sound.

 

The 1990 disc sounds better. Still on Top is crushed but so are the original cd's for the newer songs. I wouldn't replace the 1990 disc but Still on Top is good to have if you want a compilation that covers later stuff.

 

Greatest Hits Volume 3 is a terrific 2 cd set for his later material, sounds better than this 3 cd limited edition.

Nothing bests the 1990 best of, that sounds great. If anyone wants to get a decent "box set" of Van...I'd say get the three greatest hits volumes and you're getting an approximation of what a 4 cd retrospective might sound like, though it'd lean more towards the post 70s glory days...

 

how bad sounding is the new set then?

 

they are loud and bright and they disappointed me, but in no way horrific and not worth it, its certainly worth the money discussed if you want a primer on him, just there are better sources for a lot of this material IMO including the 3 volumes of best of's...those original cds are really nice.

 

Just beware that this set was remastered when Polydor remastered the portion of his catalog that they controlled in the mid-90s. The original version does sound ok, but the remaster is bright to the point of distraction.

 

I have the original pick it up for $5 when a company was getting rid of stock
I know its the original because i picked it up about 1991 or 1992 !

 

I find it odd that Blue Money & Caravan - two of radio's most played Van tracks in my neck of the woods - aren't on "Best of" (volumes 1-3) or any of the single, double or triple cd versions of "Back on Top"...

I just picked up the 2cd version of the latter set cheap, and think it's a nice selection of his work. It may be blasphemous, but I don't really care for the "Them" tracks, and I don't think they mix well with the other songs on these compilations. I'd prefer they add some latter-day gems like his cover of "Lonely Avenue" (one of my favorite Van songs) and/or some other great ones, like "Why Must I Always Explain" or "I'm Not Feeling it Anymore" or maybe something more from Enlightenment... but hey, it's only 2cds, and there's only room for so much.

 

I bit for this set and instantly was reminded why I almost never buy "remastered" CDs anymore except for small run audiophile releases...this set sounds compressed and unmusical, with an upper midrange boost. The compression brings forth background details to an almost laughable level...comparing for example some of the piano fills on "Moondance" from this set with those from Steve and Kevin's vinyl pressing is instructive. On the CD it's like the piano player is mischieviously vying with Van's vocals for frontline attention, whereas on the Steve/Kevin-mastered LP he sounds like an appropriately sympathetic supporter, comping away in the background at the proper volume level.

These discs are only (just) tolerable on my car stereo; in that setting the great music punches through and the mastering faults are less annoying.

 

I got the 3 cd version recently very cheaply. It's worth 7 bucks of anyone's money. The mastering is certainly bright, but the song choice and sequencing is unusual and entertaining. The 3rd cd is maybe less enjoyable somehow, or it could be ear fatigue setting in, but it's a nice package and worth having. The inclusion of gems like Streets Of Arklow and One Irish Rover in among the hits are welcome, though I could have done without In The Forest which is one of Van's least convincing songs ever. I'd say buy it.

 

I have this set. Unfortunately, there's a notable glitch on "Streets Of Arklow".

 

My copy of the 3-CD set is still sitting on a shelf, SEALED, along with most of the rest of the recent POLYDOR reissues of his.

Funny sidebar regarding Van, but my wife was watching last Sundays "CBS SUNDAY MORNING" program, which featured a story about Van and she came to me afterwards and said that she wanted to hear "Astral weeks". I sadly had to admit, that while I have plenty of Morrison in our house, I just never cared for "Astral Weeks" and I never bought it. Due to my wife's never ending interesting taste in music, I had to buy the CD for her yesterday. This also recently happened with a Graham Nash album I own, "Songs For Beginners". I bought the new DVD-Audio version in surround, because I like collecting those, even though I had never been that big a fan of this album, even though I've had one of my best friends going on endlessly about how great it is. My wife heard me play it and she said, I want to take that in the car, so I gave her my old redbook CD version. She has just about flipped over that album, especially the song, "Simple Man". We'll have to see how old Van Morrison fares with her, on "Astral Weeks"

Chris C

 

Does anyone know if the tamborine mix of Into The Mystic is on this?

 

The remaster does have the un-futzed-with "Brown-Eyed Girl". The original has the censored version.

 

The Van Morrision remasters were the first time i really noticed that new versions don't always mean better and probably the beginning of the path that led me to this forum. They are still the benchmark i think of when trying to qualify the general disdain for remastered cd's i have now. They are also the most easily aurally identifiable examples of bright compressed modern mastering. i don't think you even have to be a low level audiophile to hear how bad the mid 90's and recent mastering of these titles is.

I was genuinely stumped and puzzled when i got the mid 90's remasters of Veedon Fleece, St.Dominics and Into The Music and kept thinking where's the lovely acoustic textures and warmth and depth to the music i know and love and why does van's beautiful soulful voice sound like a trebly air raid siren all the time. Playing the original Mercury cd (or vinyl) of No Guru No Method No teacher on track two , the Warm Feeling is very instructional. The original floats beautifully with the cor anglais and acoustic guitar echoing Van's amazing vocal but on the remaster the brittle drums come in and the whole thing sounds flat and parched trebly and nagging and his voice actually becomes an irritant. its like a completely different record. The 'Cold Bright Trebly Feeling'.

 

I respectfully disagree-love the sound of Still On Top.I have the 3 cd version but also purchased the Japanese 2CD SHM version which is worth the money.Shure wish the Japanese version was the 3 disc one though.Really love the song selection on this comp though-only notable omission was "Sweet Thing" IMO

 

No it's not.If you want the tamborine mix of Into The Mystic on cd only place you'll find it is on the 2008 Japanese edition of Moondance.This edition is not remastered per se but sounds better than the 80's U.S. version do to the way the transferred the tape according to what I read on Musictap.

 

Well I stumbled on this thread doing a search. Boy it gets confusing...

This link compares Into the Mystic (08 JPN remasters [above] to Still on Top [below]. The Still on Top shows little compression from what I can see...

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=3896721&postcount=44


As far as the Best of Van Morrison remaster versus the original. Opinions here are divided. Some feel the original is harsh while the remaster is an improvement. Others like the original better.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=1834508&postcount=3

 

Just a follow up. Looks like the remastered Best of is deleted. I'm guessing Still on Top replaced it.

 

Why do you say it's not remastered? Clearly they used a tape that had the tambourine mix, so for at least that track it must be a different mastering to all previous CD versions.

I think it sounds absolutely wonderful and every Van fan should acquire it immediately!

.....and wasn't it Steve Hoffman who tracked down the tambourine mix?