Alison Moyet’s Sony Albums To Be Reissued as Deluxe Editions (11/25/2016)

I'm glad I can't hear what most other people on here are hearing.

I don't get why people are saying it's distorted... I didn't hear that at all.

 

Well, I found the bonus disc to be a bit better, but that is not saying much.

Also, different listening hours (late evening for the original album and afternoon for the bonus tracks) could have affected my response, too.

Some distortions are in place, but they appear far less frequently; these bonus tracks on Disc 2 were probably mastered not as loud as the album tracks on Disc 1.

 

Good for you.

 

Agreed. They are wonderful and thoughtful releases and I'm looking forward to the next two; should they decide to do them.

 

Here are the DR values for these releases: Album list - Dynamic Range Database »

 

Looks like the EBTG remasters.
Same scenario: great packaging holding junk mastering.

 

I know this is about the CDs - just an FYI, I inquired on Alison's Twitter account (well, the News one where her team answers questions) and there MAY be vinyl versions next year as well.

BMG is aware there's an interest in them but there hasn't been any announcement whether they'll happen or not.


I love Moyet's stuff - not just the early stuff and Yaz but everything, so I'm in for all of it.

And to the person upthread who asked if she disliked her earlier albums - the answer is yes. I've read that she didn't like the production on Alf (Jolley and Swain team) and Raindancing's production and songs sounded very generic (in her opinion, and in mine as well). She was more proud of Hoodoo. Essex and Hometime both went through substantial pushbacks from the labels - and IMHO Hometime is amazing, I can't imagine any delay.

 

I will give further impressions after listening on my main rig, but I ripped Alf this morning and listened on earbuds at the gym. It is obvious that excessive compression was used. Too bad, because the EQ generally didn't offend me. I hate, hate, hate when a remaster is both compressed and EQ'd to be excessively bright. I'm imagining that I will end up preferring the original cds for the main albums, though I've never been 100% happy with those, either. I actually think a middle ground in terms of compression might have benefited these so they wouldn't have sounded as thin as the originals but would have still had some dynamic range.

All that being said, I didn't hate what I heard via earbuds. Sometimes cds are so brickwalled that it really isn't possible to enjoy listening to the music. Alf didn't seem that bad.

 

I don't think it's bad at all. I didn't find it to be bright.

 

Okay. So far I have only listened to Alf.

The remaster is horrible on my main rig. It's so compressed that it literally hurts to listen to it. The vocals come out like Alison is shrieking at me, with a hard edge to them. I'm a bit surprised that I even found it tolerable listening through earbuds, but I guess that speaks to how being active in a somewhat noisy environment can mask audio problems. (duh)

Looking at the DR database, it's interesting how the original cd compares to The Singles comp and then this new reissue. As I wrote, I'm not a big fan of the original release. I just compared it (I have what I think is the original European cd, CDCBS 26229) to the tracks from this album that are contained on The Singles to the new reissue. I think I actually prefer The Singles even though it, too, is compressed to some extent. The reality, however, is that this recording isn't very good to begin with. Maybe on some other system it has a soundstage, but on mine is sounds one dimensional. Interesting that some recordings of the same era have a sense of space and others have what I'd call the early to mid '80s sterile sound.

Not sure whether any of the other albums are going to be any better in their reissued form, but I received all of them and have already opened them so I'm stuck with them unless I decided to sell them.

 

Careful! Posters on this forum are getting read to filth on other forums because you're all a "bunch of know it alls" who think you know everything about sound because you have actual stereo equipment as opposed to ipads and love to look at a bunch of wave form pictures rather than actually listen. Not my words.

 

Well this post should wind them up further then.

Only got Alf to test the waters and in my opinion it's much worse than the EBTG discs. Unpleasantly loud, harsh and congested, it's a fatiguing listen. I'll be skipping the rest of them for sure, damn shame.

I don't have the original CD to compare, only the UK '84 vinyl but the difference is like night and day as far as clarity goes. When the drum hits on the remaster sound like wet farts then you know it's being pushed too far. What I presume is additional reverb on this new release only adds to the aural assault.

The gif below shows the track 'Honey for the Bees' from the original vinyl and the new Deluxe Edition. The remaster volume had to be reduced by nearly 10dB to keep the levels matched (and it still ends up slightly louder overall).

my peaks, what the **** have you done to my peaks!​

Listened to online samples of the other discs and only Essex seems to have escaped relatively unscathed.

​

 

I have all of the original cds so at some point I will compare the other three albums. I listened to most of the Essex remaster at the gym this morning and thought it sounded okay, but I thought Alf sounded okay in that environment as well.

One of the drawbacks of assembling an audio system that's capable of revealing both the good things and the bad things about various recordings is that sometimes things that sound okay on mediocre equipment become virtually unlistenable on the better system.

 

Metal Machine Music has more dynamic range than that track right there.

 

I recently bought the Alf, Hoodoo, and Essex remasters. At age 49 and after over 30 years of listening to music (CD and vinyl), my hearing acuity must be diminished because I'm enjoying these CDs.

I've not played any of the 2nd discs, but I'm not hearing harsh, loud, compressed music. Oh well, I can stop obsessing about all things audiophilia and just enjoy the music

 

Is there any justification for picking up these remasters or should I just track down used copies of the originals if I want the full discography? I gather there's unique stuff on the second disc of each release, but I'm not familiar enough with Alison's discography to know how essential that material may (or may not) be.

 

From what I read, the bonus material is the only justification for picking up the remastered discs. For a casual fan, the originals would be the way to go (I just purchased the original Alf).

 

Alison announced the vinyl reissues on her Facebook page:

Alison Moyet’s first four solo albums ‘Alf’, ‘Raindancing’, ‘Hoodoo’ and ‘Essex’ are to be released on 12” heavyweight vinyl (180g).

All four albums are available for the first time on LP in remastered form. ‘Raindancing’, ‘Hoodoo’ and ‘Essex’ are available for the first time on vinyl since the original releases. All four editions feature faithful reproductions of the original sleeves, printed inner bags with lyrics and label artwork.

These will be reissued by BMG on vinyl on 27 October.

You can pre-order these vinyl releases:
Alf - Alison Moyet - Alf vinyl
Raindancing - Raindancing [VINYL] by Alison Moyet
Hoodoo - Hoodoo [VINYL] by Alison Moyet
Essex - Essex [VINYL] by Alison Moyet

 

Yes! Great news!

 

I'm not too fussed about the first two as I have mint originals - but to get Hoodoo and Essex on vinyl - that's the most exciting part for me - I wonder if the Alison Moyet website will be offering signed copies on pre-order of these?

 

The American version of "Raindancing" had a godawful cover!

 

That is an atrocious cover!

 

It is indeed! I'm not sure what was up with Sony at that time. I remember they did a terrible cover for the Jennifer Rush album, "Heart Over Mind" that was released around the same time:

This was the international version:





This was the horrid American version:

 

The UK version of Raindancing has a much better cover, agreed.

So much of Alison's early promotion can be filed under "ways to hide her larger size." I wonder if the drawing on the US cover was another misguided attempt at this.

(PS - she was A M A Z I N G in concert last week)

 

Really? I am going to see her here on October 6th...am counting down the sleeps! I never thought I would see her live again...the last time she was here was in 1987 and I saw her on the Raindancing tour.