Hello... I don't know if this has been answered before or not, but regarding the Japan Pony Canyon CD issues of the first two Police albums, do the D25 reissues from 1988 have identical peak values to the earlier D32 issues from 1986? Thanks!
Timely that this thread resurrects. I was just asking @c-eling about This topic. I will have to read the 39 page thread later though!
Police- I'm happy with these for digital Ghost In The Machine -US DADC Reggatta De Blanc (France PMDC IFPI) Reggatta De Blanc (Japan Plat SHM) Synchronicity (Japan For US DIDX1) Zenyatta Mondatta (Japan Plat SHM)
Message In a Box sounds pretty decent to my ears. I've had it since it's release. But I have their entire catalog on SACD so that's all I play these days on the home system. Every once in a while I'll whip out the boxed set and listen to it in the car. I have no complaints with the mastering.
Is it me, or is the 2003 Zenyatta CD basically the SACD with added compression? The EQ sounds identical to me after testing both on the same player. And yes, I do like both a fair bit better than the US for US grey column CD. I just need to get the Platinum SHM and my Police collection on CD will be perfect.
I was picturing @c-eling with a look of horror on his face, realizing he had traded in all of his original Outlandos CDs for Brickwall Bobs latest, madly searching the Internet for a fix.... Oh wait, that's me!
Fortunately Jeff, I only made that mistake once, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 2007 , which lead me to re-buying a US PDO silver for dirt cheap, sometimes re-buying can work to your advantage as your actively searching for good ones yourself now
I'm probably in the minority, but I don't care for the first album as much as the other four Police albums. It doesn't help that I'm sick to death of the two singles, but I feel the band elevated their game in every way with Regatta, and especially in Sting's songwriting.
I remember when Ghost came out and they toured nearby, every kid in high school had a Police t-shirt it seemed. I was green but I loved what I heard at the time. Have their CD's on early Japan for US pressings but may have to rethink it with the more recent info here. It doesn't seem to end -s1m0n-
It's not as characteristic as their later releases but it has some great songs. Next To You, So Lonely, Peanuts, Truth Hits Everybody and the two singles are all great. Regatta is still my favorite, with Synchronicity close behind. Zenyatta has some incredible moments but is marred by some not so great moments that seem to meander. Ghost In The Machine is my least favorite, though Spirits might be my favorite Police song. I tend to lose focus when listening to that album. I have all of them on original cd's with the AM+ label and I have no problem.
I don't know exactly why, but the only Police album I DON'T like is Synchronicity. I like all of them up to that point, I think especially the first two. No matter how much Sting may progress as an artist, I will always think of him as a quirky new wave guy, and I much prefer that raw, "underdeveloped" side of him. Less pretentious.
I hear you. I think that "pretentiousness" may have started with Synchronicity, and at that time it became more about Sting and less about the whole group. With that being said, they still managed to put out a fine album. Synchronicity just hit with me somehow back in the day when I first heard it. I know it's all hits, but Side 2 is one of the best album sides of all time, imo. Side 1 is good too, with the exception of Mother. Walking In Your Footsteps and Miss Gradenko are okay. The two Synchronicities are great tunes.
Follow me, if you will, to the Beatles tune No. 9..........Overplayed MTV, Overplayed MTV, Overplayed MTV, Overplayed MTV. Mainly, like a lot of new music at that time. I will say I don't mind it , but I haven't played it in literally years. I bought the album when it first came out. I agree with a poster above about the over saturation of The Police. They were everywhere. I listen to every other more than Synchronicity.
Tensions were rising in the band. Sting wanted Every Breath to be played straight, Copeland wanted it to be played with a reggae beat. What you hear in the album is the result of a bunch of arguments. Did you ever notice that upbeat snare hit at the very beginning of the track?
Forgive me, as I'm sure that this question has been answered somewhere in the 40 pages here, but I skimmed through a few and didn't find it. Are the 2003 redbook digipak CDs brickwalled and loudness-war'd? I spotted two of them in a store today and I really like the packaging, and recently I have been getting into the band. I don't mind a little bit of compression, which they seem to use, but I want to make sure that they are not totally unlistenable. Thanks and sorry.
They are not very well thought of on this forum is my understanding. I have not listened to them myself but think most folks here would agree that you would be better off with the old stock unremastered discs which you can get dirt cheap.
How bad are they? Does anybody have pictures of the waveforms? My only concern is that it won't cause listener fatigue. And as for unlistenability, the Nevermind "remaster" from 2011 is sort of Mount Olympus. I can tolerate masterings that aren't as bad as that (like the 2009 Rolling Stones ones, I've posted pictures in the loudness war thread).
Well it certainly has its place. I do agree with some here that the mastering for "Ghost" isn't the best and there are other flaws as well including needle drops, the beginning cut off of "Shambelle" (Summers). There are other flaws as well but I've also heard worse mastering for these albums. I'd put the box in the middle of quality--not the best and not the worst I've ever heard most of these songs. The U.S. Standard version (Audio Master plus) of "Ghost" beats the version here to death. There's also some tape damage evident on one tune (can't remember which) and it doesn't include EVERYTHING the band recorded as claimed.