Kenny Rogers Compilation CDs

Picked up Kenny Rogers 21 Number Ones CD recently (Capitol, 2006), and it sounds fantastic IMO, the remastering was done properly on this one...it's not loud, has nice tone and bass and is pretty dynamic....this CD is a clear winner.

However, I also picked up his 42 Ultimate Hits 2CD set yesterday (Capitol, 2004), but the SQ on this comp is extremely disappointing! First the good - it's not loud at all, you can turn it up with no problem and it appears to be pretty dynamic. The bad though - there is virtually no tone or bass whatsoever...all of the tracks sound thin and a bit tinny. It reminds me of the John Denver 2CD Essential comp...same exact thing on that one.

For sound quality, I cannot recommend the 2CD 42 Ultimate Hits, but the single disc 21 Number Ones does sound excellent and might be the best sounding Kenny Rogers comp out there. It sounds night and day compared with 42 Ultimate Hits.

Has anyone else noticed this regarding these two comps?

 

I don't have either one, but I have his Box Set. The sound is good on that one - not too soft, not too loud.

 

I'm sure the boxed set sounds better than 42 Ultimate. I don't have it, but I think the box was released in 1999?

 

No, the 42 beats the box set.

 

If you truly want the best sounding Kenny Rogers and The First Edition stuff on CD, get 15 Greatest Hits on MCA, also get Twenty Greatest Hits (the 1983 LP comp on CD, but avoid the LP) and/or the 1980 Greatest Hits LP as that sounds great on LP and on CD.

 

If we are throwing vinyl into the mix, there is the MFSL Greatest Hits.

 

Plus for the First Edition hits on vinyl, get a Reprise issue of Greatest Hits (original pressings have a very shiny cover, later pressings don't).

 

i have one of his boxsets. sounds nice. i think he has a few out now though. mine is from the 90's and is called THROUGH THE YEARS

 

Eh, it does? Actually, I listened to 42 Ultimate disc 2 today, and it has just a drop more tone and bass than disc 1 IMO, but overall, I do feel the tracks on "42" need a bit more weight and bass...they are pretty thin.

Perhaps, this is why Capitol put out 21 Number Ones in 2006, two years later...they went in and remastered it much better.

 

I do enjoy the First 50 Years box set - the "themed" box set. The duets disc is quite nice.

 

I used to own 20 GH on cassette in the 80s and always loved that comp. Yes, I'm sure the CD sounds nice, but how does it compare with some of his later remastered comps? Some 80s CDs still sound very good today, but some sound a bit primitive by today's standards as well.

Do you own 21 Number Ones on CD (Capitol,2006)? I can highly recommend that one and it might still be in some Target stores now...it sounds wonderfully remastered....the best I have ever heard his hits on CD.

 

The "Through The Years" boxset was mastered by Bob Norberg. Here is a quote from another thread on his mastering style (this pertains to Frank Sinatra): "It's not baffling. Problem here is simple, the mastering on the newer set is horrible. Reasons why can be blamed on a fellow by the name of Bob Norberg and his excessive use of noise reduction on material which did not need noise reduction. It sucked the life out of superb recordings. The 1990 set was mastered far, far better and not monkeyed with. Larry Walsh did the 1990 set, which still sounds superb. In closing, advanced audio technology is not to blame, in this case it is the engineer's abuse of it which is our issue with the newer set. We have a verb for this Capitol excess use of noise reduction, we thusly call a recording like this Norberged."

I can't see mastering credits for "42", (edit I did some searching and it was mastered by a Hank Williams, NOT the Hank Williams) but I just compared "The Gambler" and the box set sounds dull. The 1980 "Greatest Hits" disc was released on vinyl by Mobile Fidelity and has bass I don't hear on other releases - particularly on"Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer".

I prefer a mastering that needs some minor EQ adjustments to a mastering that is no-noised to death. I routinely make minor adjustments than save the file for ipod listening

 

20 Greatest Hits on CD still sounds very good today and this CD was mastered in the mid 1990s.

 

is there a set that combines all the first edition hits w/rogers solo hits?

 

yes the THROUGH THE YEARS boxset. has 1 disc a pre solo stuff and 3 discs of solo stuff that goes up until the mid 90's

 

The Original Liberty DADC Greatest Hits cd is really great sounding.

The Japan for US of this one is even a bit better.

 

Damn it ..., NORBERG strikes again!

I just knew that there was something that I didn't like about that box set and this is it!

What a shame as it is a nicely packaged box set, with much of the worthy stuff from Kenny.

 

The 42 Ultimate Hits and the Through The Years boxed set are the ones that combine the First Edition with the solo hits, but if you want the best sounding stuff, I'd say go for the original Greatest Hits compilation CDs.

 

Well, I listened to 21 NUMBER ONES (2006) first, which I thought sounded great, then bought and listened to 42 ULTIMATE HITS (2004) afterwards, and the difference in the mastering between the two comps was night and day to me, with "Ultimate" having the inferior mastering, but you would have to own the "21" comp to hear the difference for yourself, but it is there.

However, since you already own the boxed set and ULTIMATE, you really don't need "21" for the music at all, but I will tell you that 21 will probably impress you audio-wise.

Like you, I also don't like CDs that have NR or have been no-noised, but I am not detecting NR on "21"...just pretty clear, upfront audio with proper tone and bass, There is of course some minimal compression, but the music still sounds pretty dynamic and you can turn the volume up. In contrast, ULTIMATE comes off as noticeably thinner and lacking in tone and bass, which is not something I like personally.

Now, many years ago, I also used to like adjusting the audio myself, when I had an equalizer and all that, but today, if I find that a CD isn't mastered properly IMO, I would rather seek out a better sounding alternative.

For example, when I turned up the bass on "Ultimate" in an attempt to make it sound as good as "21"...it still did not come close to sounding like "21" no matter what I tried, but "Ultimate" is still a great comp track-wise, especially for the $11.88 that Walmart charges for it!

 

I'm sure it's a nice sounding comp, even today. Might be tempted to pick it up one day...