Well disc 1 (2016 remaster of the original album) sounds rotten, painfully muted - does that count? Keep the 2002, or play the blu/dvd instead. Have heard a few very muted remasters coming out of "Abbey Road" lately.
Spent a bit more time with this set lately. The dvd (2 channel tracks) is brighter and more upfront than any other version of NGD I heard before, and the remaining discs in the box are more muted than any previous versions. The contrast is just huge, very strange to think that nobody appeared to notice or care when putting this box together.
I like your profile picture of the Echo and the Bunnymen's new live vinyl release. I just go mine in the mail the other day. My favorite version of NGD is still my original gold vinyl. I thought that the box set was great and liked it's completeness but I listened to it once and then it found it's way on the shelf.
Hard to top that 2002/3 remastered CD IMHO. I have three other versions (not this box) and that one is my favorite. I don't have a multichannel system or an SACD player though, so I haven't checked out those versions.
I picked up that Bunnymen vinyl last week! Pull out the box for the BBC sessions and rarities. Fun to hear alternate versions of those great songs.
SACD uses the same 2002/3 mastering I think - they sound very similar and don't use the extended versions on the DVDs.
I just bought the deluxe set on discount. I am not sure how often I will play it aside for the Alternative Mixes cd and the Radio Sessions cd; I've heard all the configurations of the album tracks so many times. BUT the packaging is excellent, the sound quality is excellent, the price is excellent .
An interesting thing is the writing credits. Most songs credit Kerr/Burchill/Forbes/MacNeil, but in several different orders. No explanation is given for this - does anyone know why? Would a Forbes/Burchill/MacNeil/Kerr credit mean that Derek had most to do with the song and Jim least, for example. Also, strangely, Mick MacNeil has no credit on Someone Somewhere.
That's interesting. Just checked my original vinyl pressing and the credits just say Words & Music by Simple Minds. Very weird that they would remove a writing credit from MacNeil.
I thought so too. However, in that case these credits mean the band must have sat down recently and decided who contributed not only most, but also next-to-most, next-to-least and least to a song. Because the credits are different on almost every song. Very strange. Or it's just very sloppy editing. Someone Somewhere (Kerr/Forbes/Burchill) Colours Fly (Forbes/MacNeil/Kerr/Burchill) Promised You A Miracle (Forbes/MacNeil/Kerr/Burchill) Big Sleep (Forbes/MacNeil/Kerr/Burchill) Someone Up There (Forbes/Burchill/MacNeil/Kerr) New Gold Dream (Burchill/Forbes/Kerr/MacNeil) Glittering Prize (Forbes/MacNeil/Kerr/Burchill) Hunter And The Hunted (Burchill/Forbes/MacNeil/Kerr) King Is White (Forbes/MacNeil/Kerr/Burchill)
Hard to make sense of this. So Kerr contributed to the instrumental Somebody up there, but MacNeil contributed nothing to Someone Somewhere?
There were actually lyrics written to Somebody Up There, and vocals recorded, but they were not used on the album. That might explain it. But yes it's hard to believe Mick MacNeil contributed nothing to Someone Somewhere.
Kerr / Burchill / MacNeil / Forbes according to dream giver dream giver redux | songs | released | someone somewhere (in summertime)
I thought the sound was pretty poor, flat and lifeless - not a patch on the 2003 mastering. Disappointed.
I don't think the proper album has ever (digitally) sounded worse - I prefer the original UK CD and the SACD (either SACD or redbook layer). However, the extant material that has been previously released sounds better here than on the lifeless "theme" CD singles or as bonus cuts on the X5 box (much too loud).
Do Simple Minds themselves not have any say in their product quality? But otherwise I'd suggest Virgin have done a pretty good job of keeping the band canonized and available, and even if it's just the die hard fans buying this stuff over and over again, it does always seem to be fairly visible. I have none of the "extant material" because there's no definitive way to get it, except that I appear to be amassing a selection of early/mid Simple Minds 12" singles, so that's something.
