Abba - Jewel Case Remasters?

I remember before Jon Astley unleashed on the world his goddamn awful digipac ABBA remasters there were jewel case remasters everywhere and they were quite different in sound to Astley's. Don't have one to compare, since I have original Polydors which I don't find satisfactory at all. Kind of weak and lacking punch. Typical average early CDs. Now since these legenary Atlantic CDs are out of reach I really need you opinions on jewel case remasters -if thery are good or what?

 

IIRC, the jewel case remasters (ABBA Gold, More ABBA Gold) were done by Michael Treptow (spell?) the same guy who mastered the box set "Thank You For The Music". This one sounds decent. A bit like a smile-EQ, but so what. Everyone could use a little smile. It's almost springtime.

 

Just a point of clarification: The latest Abba remasters (from 2001) were packaged in both digipaks and jewel cases, so I assume that by "jewel case remasters" you are interested in the ones from the 1990's.

I don't own any of the 1990's remasters with the exception of the compilations (Gold, More Gold, and the box set). If the 1990's remasters sound similar to those comps, they are likely better than the latest remasters but nowhere near the sound quality of the few titles issued on Atlantic (GH 1, GH 2, and Super Trouper).

 

The only way to go with ABBA are the Atlantic and Polar discs(and a few budget releases done in the '80s)--everything else is remastered, AFAIK, from THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC forward. That one's not too bad, but the Astley's are God-awful and a must to avoid....

 

Ed, of course I was asking for the opinion on remasters as I'm not satisfied with original Polar CDs and Atlantics are impossible to find. I hate the sound of Astleys but suspect that 90's remasters could be the way to go. Now I wonder if anybody ever heard the separate CDs here.

 

The best option is the 1980s Polar CDs for the rest of your collection. None of the original albums were remastered until 1997 and so those CDs were available with a Polydor logo on the back for years.

Voulez-Vous on Polar sounds particularly stunning as does Abba. But Astley is better for The Album as the high frequencies on original Polar CD sound badly mangled at times.

Ken

 

So in other words, vinyl is the way to go!!

 

Very much so with Abba - and the very best pressings are the Polar ones from Sweden.

 

I don't have them in front of me, but I'm pretty sure that the 90s "pre digipack remaster" CDs were ALSO remastered by Astley. I actually liked the sound on the "Thank You For The Music" box and I had assumed that the jewel box remasters were the same. Alas, they definitely were not.

I also have the digipack remasters, but I've never bothered comparing them to anything but the box set. I preferred the box.

I have the Vol. 1 Atlantic CD, and it does sound more like the old vinyl. It just wasn't enough ABBA for me, though. Therefore, several years ago I went on a quest buying the best condition ABBA vinyl I could find (unfortunately, USA pressings only, though.) For my needs, the vinyl is the way to go. The vinyl is surprisingly quiet even on the earlier records, and the sound is just more natural. Still, to me, they're not "audiophile" experiences by a long shot. The music is a lot easier to apreciate, though, when it doesn't hurt your ears!

Jamie

 

Sorry, missed this thread earlier. I have the 1997 Abba: s/t remaster. Remastered in 24 bit by Jon Astley and Tim Young with Michael B. Tretow. Sounds better than the unbelievably tinny digipacks. Lots of bass. Not perfect, though. Compressed and somewhat too "clean" sound.

 

Hate to break it to you but the Digipaks use exactly the same masters as the 1997 Astley reissues apart from the extra tracks (like Cassandra, Santa Rose, Swedish Waterloo etc.) which didn't appear on the 1997 ones.

 

That's strange because a few years ago I compared the 97 Voulez-Vous with the digipac and the difference was huge. I actualy thought the 97 CD sounded quite good while the digipac was dreadful.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

No seriously, the masters are indentical except for a handful of tracks done in 1999 for The Singles Collection Tin box and 2001 for the digipaks.

According to Carl Magnus Palm, the noted Abba expert who was involved in the digipaks project, after the project was approved:

"Jon Astley set to work on the additional bonus tracks that weren't already available as 24 bit remasters."

http://www.carlmagnuspalm.com/abba/remasters.html

Unless someone fiddled with them after they were mastered. But my UK edition digipaks sound identical to the 1997 jewel cases, which sound identical to the 1999 Tin Box set, which sound identical even to last year's Swedish special Eurovision digipak.

Ken

 

I did a null test between the Abba: s/t 1997 remaster and the 2004 CD+DVD special edition and...

You are absolutely right. They are bit to bit identical. Thanks for setting us straight, Ken!

 

Hi all,

I prefer the WG Polydor LP's and CD releases, the Atlantics, and the Swedish and Norwegian Polars best of all. My girlfriend has all of these last (often in multiple languages). Too bad the new discs most of the time aren't up to potential. The Album on current CD is superb though!

Kent Teffeteller, CPBE!

 

What about japanese editions

There's been much talk about the awful 'remastered to death' Abba CDs.
What about the japanese editions of them, especially the pre-remastering era?
Any idea how they sounded ?
I really have to know....
Cheers

Achim