Al Green on CD..

Sorry to hear you got stung with a crappy mastering. Then taking the hit on a trade in. It's happened to me plenty of times, that's why I always try to go back to the oldest pressing I can get my hands on as a general rule. In less you are talking about MFSL, AF, or DCC gold discs the cutoff is about 1990, for Japanese pressings it ends about 1993. Not saying there are not exceptions, but that's what I have found in my sonic journeys to be a good measuring stick.

 

I picked up this import version of Greatest Hits released in 2014:

AL GREEN - Greatest Hits: The Best of Al Green - Amazon.com Music

It doesn't give any mastering credit in the booklet but I think it sounds great...DR values for those who are interested:

foobar2000 1.3.7 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-03-18 23:59:17

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Analyzed: Al Green / Greatest Hits
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR14 -0.16 dB -16.78 dB 3:18 ?-01 Lets Stay Together
DR14 0.00 dB -15.76 dB 2:58 ?-02 Sha La La (Make Me Happy)
DR11 0.00 dB -13.25 dB 3:09 ?-03 L-O-V-E (Love)
DR11 0.00 dB -12.86 dB 2:51 ?-04 Tired Of Being Alone
DR12 0.00 dB -14.15 dB 3:58 ?-05 Are You Lonely For Me Baby
DR13 0.00 dB -14.77 dB 3:47 ?-06 I Can't Get Next To You
DR13 0.00 dB -15.26 dB 4:16 ?-07 Here I Am (Come And Take Me)
DR12 -0.02 dB -13.72 dB 2:28 ?-08 The Letter
DR14 0.00 dB -17.24 dB 5:33 ?-09 Funny How Time Slips Away
DR13 0.00 dB -15.23 dB 3:13 ?-10 I'm Still In Love With You
DR13 -0.40 dB -15.11 dB 3:12 ?-11 You Ought To Be With Me
DR13 0.00 dB -14.92 dB 3:10 ?-12 Livin' For You
DR13 0.00 dB -16.34 dB 5:35 ?-13 Let's Get Married
DR15 -0.66 dB -16.92 dB 5:13 ?-14 Full Of Fire
DR13 0.00 dB -14.70 dB 3:44 ?-15 Take Me To The River
DR14 0.00 dB -15.50 dB 3:13 ?-16 Let It Shine
DR13 0.00 dB -15.18 dB 3:36 ?-17 Have A Good Time
DR14 0.00 dB -15.46 dB 2:54 ?-18 So You're Leaving
DR12 -0.26 dB -14.18 dB 2:51 ?-19 You Say It
DR12 0.00 dB -14.38 dB 2:47 ?-20 Oh Me, Oh My (Dreams In My Arms)
DR12 0.00 dB -14.14 dB 4:51 ?-21 Belle
DR13 0.00 dB -15.51 dB 5:06 ?-22 Love And Happiness
DR12 0.00 dB -14.20 dB 3:03 ?-23 Call Me (Come Back Home)
DR14 0.00 dB -15.10 dB 3:06 ?-24 Keep Me Cryin'
DR13 0.00 dB -15.07 dB 2:24 ?-25 What Am I Gonna Do With Myself
DR12 0.00 dB -13.55 dB 2:59 ?-26 Driving Wheel
DR11 0.00 dB -14.14 dB 3:55 ?-27 Light My Fire
DR13 0.00 dB -14.50 dB 3:47 ?-28 I'm A Ram
DR13 0.00 dB -13.85 dB 3:26 ?-29 It Ain't No Fun To Me
DR13 0.00 dB -15.31 dB 3:39 ?-30 I've Never Found A Girl
DR12 0.00 dB -15.42 dB 6:22 ?-31 How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
DR12 0.00 dB -14.08 dB 3:19 ?-32 I'm Hooked On You
DR13 0.00 dB -14.56 dB 2:45 ?-33 I Gotta Be More (Take Me Higher)
DR12 0.00 dB -13.92 dB 4:20 ?-34 Love Ritual
DR12 -0.02 dB -14.12 dB 3:40 ?-35 What A Wonderful Thing Love Is
DR13 -0.02 dB -16.28 dB 6:26 ?-36 For The Good Times
DR14 -0.08 dB -16.44 dB 4:06 ?-37 Could I Be The One
DR13 0.00 dB -14.63 dB 3:25 ?-38 I Tried To Tell Myself
DR14 0.00 dB -17.72 dB 3:11 ?-39 I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
DR13 -0.93 dB -15.96 dB 3:14 ?-40 One Of These Good Old Days
DR11 -2.12 dB -15.89 dB 3:25 ?-41 Starting All Over Again
DR14 0.00 dB -17.72 dB 4:10 ?-42 Simply Beautiful
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Number of tracks: 42
Official DR value: DR13

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 1411 kbps
Codec: PCM
================================================================================

 

On paper this one should sound good. Dynamics look like they are intact.

 

Just bought the 1986 HI UK CD 405.

I wonder how it compares to the other CD versions mentioned here.

Peak level

1. 92.4 %
2. 97.0 %
3. 100.0 %
4. 100.0 %
5. 100.0 %
6. 100.0 %
7. 92.7 %
8. 94.5 %
9. 100.0 %

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Al Green / Let's Stay Together (HI Records HI UK CD 405)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR13 -0.68 dB -16.21 dB 3:20 01-Let's Stay Together
DR13 -0.26 dB -16.80 dB 3:32 02-La-La For You
DR13 0.00 dB -15.60 dB 2:57 03-So You're Leaving
DR13 0.00 dB -15.44 dB 3:45 04-What Is This Feeling
DR13 0.00 dB -16.39 dB 3:20 05-Old Time Lovin'
DR13 0.00 dB -14.83 dB 3:42 06-I've Never Found A Girl (Who Loves Me Like You Do)
DR14 -0.66 dB -17.80 dB 6:26 07-How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?
DR13 -0.49 dB -16.32 dB 3:48 08-Judy
DR13 0.00 dB -14.75 dB 3:29 09-It Ain't No Fun For Me
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 9
Official DR value: DR13

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 834 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

 

This is indeed a great sounding release. Would be interesting to know who mastered it. I just wish they could have included some more details in the booklet. Nothing except for song titles and original release years.

 

Maybe I'm particularly unlucky, but two copies out of two have digital glitches in the song "Belle" (CD1, track #21). You can hear them at 4:22 and 4:32. They're nasty.
Spotify has this compilation too, and I noticed that the two glitches are here as well, in all their glory

Belle

Did anyone notice or are other copies faultless?