Cocteau Twins vinyl reissues (Head over Heels/Treasure)

Mee too, just played the original UK "Treasure" and it also has MPO in the deadwax. This is one of the few plants I never experienced any problems with. Really like it. They did a lot of Indochine vinyl too

 

Did they ? I would have thought Indochine records were pressed by CIDIS or Polydor like most rock stuff of the time.
AREACEM and DFI (identified by an upside-down "V" in the deadwax) were other very fine French pressing plants back in the day but, unlike MPO, I don't think they ever did much overseas work.

 

No more reviews yet...

 

Oh, good to know! I have the CY-4412 but it was supposedly released two years after the 30CY so I'm guessing it's the same mastering.

foobar2000 1.3.8 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2015-07-28 18:46:45

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Cocteau Twins / Treasure {Japanese}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR12 -0.87 dB -15.38 dB 3:54 01-Ivo
DR11 -2.96 dB -15.90 dB 3:41 02-Lorelei
DR11 -3.96 dB -18.31 dB 3:11 03-Beatrix
DR11 -2.05 dB -15.58 dB 4:24 04-Persephone
DR12 -1.19 dB -15.62 dB 5:34 05-Pandora
DR11 -2.14 dB -15.69 dB 3:29 06-Amelia
DR12 -1.77 dB -16.42 dB 3:26 07-Aloysius
DR12 -1.40 dB -16.36 dB 3:27 08-Cicely
DR9 -7.41 dB -19.34 dB 4:15 09-Otterley
DR11 -1.93 dB -17.01 dB 6:11 10-Donimo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 10
Official DR value: DR11

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 766 kbps
Codec: FLAC

 

And it's truly unfortunate that that's what they appear to have done. I just wish the label could have made this known; like the way the Rhino Cure LP reissues all had stickers on them saying they were remastered by Robert Smith. That way I could have avoided this Treasure LP. I mean, Guthrie's remastering is a radical enough departure from the original that I think it's something that people should be made aware of.

 

Would love to see more reviews of this... maybe I'll grab Head Over Heels (I'm perfectly happy with the French pressing of Treasure that I bought in 1986).

While I appreciate thoutah's review, it's always a good idea to read more reviews (I think back to the one single review of Talking Heads '77 on Rhino that was posted on this forum.... for a week everybody thought it sounded awful based on one review, then somebody strongly disagreed and the "forum consensus" suddenly changed!) Not saying that thoutah's opinion isn't valid, but we all have different tastes.

 

Yeah, several of the 2012 reissues have MPO carvings. Good to know about the "V"!

 

Agreed - different ears, different systems, different preferences/tolerances...,

 

So would I!

 

Matches!, US and UK carry different levels as well. Possible all are just level shifted.
I'm probably threadcrapping in a lp only thread so I'll stop
Sorry Thoutah and Rich!

 

What? No charts and graphs Cory?

 

Careful, I'll stamp em all with a 'Jeffmo Records' label, especially the Guthrie's

 

Wow, that's just mean.

 

Mean?
Wait till he starts receiving everyone's Disco 2

 

Lol - hey get back on topic or we will be reported to the gorts.

Anyone else willing to take one for the team and try out these new reissues?

 

Seriously! Anyone else want to see if they agree with my suspicion that they ran Treasure through the "Dust ball on the stylus" effect of the Let's Mess With The Hoffman Forum mastering software? I played "Pandora" from the new LP again, and when all the instruments come in after the intro, that's kind of what it sounds like. (And no, I did not have a dust ball on the stylus.) Turning the treble knob up one notch on my Marantz receiver helped a little bit, but I feel like I shouldn't have to do that. (And there's still no way to remedy the weird, extreme panning that often puts a snare in one speaker and Liz in the other, unless you hit the mono button.)

 

Well maybe we need a little kicker on why this album is so great

 

I know it's an often used term on this forum, but I really do believe there's a very strong case for the originals being the only versions to purchase with regards to the Cocteau Twins.

There is a delicate and crystalline beauty to their early recordings (and please, do not confuse this with bright or fragile!) that NO remaster has been able to capture satisfactorily since.

And in my opinion, I believe that Guthrie has single-handedly managed to depreciate the Cocteau Twin legacy with his remastering efforts for anyone being introduced to the band who may not have heard, or be able to source the original versions.

 

I forgot I procured a quality vinyl rip of the UK Treasure LP a while back so I did some ABX comparisons with that and the Japanese and Guthrie CDs today. I thought the Japanese CD sounded very close to the UK vinyl but the vinyl had maybe a bit more detail. I haven't listened to the Guthrie CDs since they first came out but while comparing Ivo, I could hear all the differences that thoutah described. I don't care for the changes that were made but I was always happy with the original sound of the album. Maybe someone who's new to the album would prefer what Guthrie did on his remaster.

 

The sad of this story is that Record companies don't care of they sell 1000 instead of 10 000. Catalog is so vast...practically unlimited.

 

The ArtsDesk give the reissues a glowing review.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Cocteau Twins

 

I just received a response from 4 AD regarding sources and where they were cut. Here you go:

Hello Jim,

Thanks for getting in touch. They’ve been cut at Abbey Road from the original Robin Guthrie’s masters.

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I have asked for clarification about the 80s masters or the 2003 Gutherie masters.

 

I agree, you can't seem to go wrong with the CDs.

 

Ok.. here is major clarification from 4 AD:

Sorry Jim, forget what I said.

These are new masters based on the originals, not based on Guthrie’s remasters.
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