I don’t have the CD in front of me but It ove Hi. It's 8:26, which is the first time I've seen a remix of this song this long on CD. It sounds like they just shuffled the beginning of the song to the end. But I like it! (Sorry about the first reply, I was out and on my iphone)
Picked the CD box up a couple of days ago. Not had a chance to give it a proper listen yet but what I've heard sounds OK to me so far. Great to finally have Bite in it's original vinyl configuration with the correct album and extended mixes. Tonally it sounds better to my ears than the 2004 Bite...Plus release, despite being a touch louder. Sadly, in what seems to be par for the course with remasters, there's a small but annoying glitch at 2:20 on Stand So Quiet. Strangely, it's also the only track on the album that has the channels reversed with the guitar being on the right instead of the left. I only noticed this when I was quickly comparing the new master with my vinyl rip and the Plus CD, so there could be more issues left to discover.
I can't be too harsh on Cherry Red. They're no worse than the majors on a fraction of the budget. I mean, what other record company would take the financial risk to let us rediscover the joys of classic albums by The Dooleys and Showaddywaddy.
My box should be here any day now, and I'm so eager to see what has and hasn't been done. I will give a full report once it's in my hands. There was once a time that I would get a package from Amazon UK in 5-7 days. Now it seems two weeks is the standard minimum. Oh, and speaking of Cherry Red's limitations. I asked them a while back if the new Hazel O'Connor reissues were remastered from tapes, and they chose to ignore me. So I had a chance to sample part of the recent Cover Plus reissue, and lo and behold the one bonus track that hadn't previously been on CD was clearly a vinyl rip, turntable rumble included. So they are still taking their shortcuts with mastering while polishing up the packaging. I can't say I'm too surprised because when I worked on a Hazel reissue for them about 10 years ago, Sony had the tapes but CR asked me to work from my vinyl. I'd much rather have a quality product wrapped in basic packaging rather than a deluxe presentation with a rotten center.
OK, so here's a question for fans. Has anyone ever seen the actual promo music video for 'Love To Stay'? There is a clip on YouTube showing Clare in a football jersey in the trees with the boys, but I don't think it's the actual promo more so than a TV clip. I was trying to get a DVD put together but Sony just informed me today they cannot find a tape of the promo video, only a live performance that is on YouTube. The only thing I know is it was directed by Duncan Gibbins.
Personally, I've never seen an official clip for Love To Stay, only the two TV performances on YouTube. I've always doubted that one existed given the fact that it missed the top 40, the bands luck seemed to be rapidly running out at the time, and it looked liked they blew most of the campaign budget on the previous under-performing Bring Me Closer video. Hope I'm wrong 'cause I'd love to see it if it does exist.
I sent Clare's Facebook page a message inquiring about this. I've also sent a message to my BBC contact to see if perhaps they have a copy, if indeed it's there. I've seen the video listed in many places, first in an MTV book called 'Who's Who In Rock Video', and there's even an IMDB entry for it: Altered Images: Love to Stay (Video 1983) - IMDb
From all the details you've discovered it does indeed sound like one exists, and if anyone knows for sure it would be Clare. Keep digging, hopefully you'll find something.
OK, so I just got the box set and here's my initial impressions. As expected, it is a mixed bag. The volume on the set is all over the place. Some tracks have a good amount of dynamic range while others are pretty heavily compressed. I didn't listen to every track in full but I sampled everything to verify sources: Happy Birthday: This is pretty much a replication of the Edsel CD, though with more volume and compression added. Of the bonus tracks, 'Leave Me Alone (cassette version') is taken directly from the original Best Of CD from 1992. I know because the opening note is lopped off the same. The tape exists because I used it for the vinyl reissues last year, and still have the high resolution transfer. Pinky Blue: The original album is just a replication of the previous Edsel CD, complete with the stereo channels being swapped. Of the bonus tracks, they did pull the flexi version of Real Toys from a tape this time, but the Happy New Year is atrociously modified from the already atrocious Edsel attempted remaster. But that really is a throw away track anyway. Bite: OK. so it appears they did at least go back to tapes for the original 8 songs. But comparing them to the rare Japanese CD, the new transfer sounds pretty dull. But I guess it will have to do. And like it was mentioned by someone earlier, Stand So Quiet has had the stereo channels swapped for whatever reason. However, they did not remaster the bonus tracks. Last Goodbye and I Don't Want To Know sound just as muted and bland as they did on the Edsel CD. The 12" Album: So the big question has been about finally having the full 12" mix of Don't Talk. Well, it is the full version and pulled from a tape. However, there is some tape damage on the left channel at the opening of the song causing some fluctuation. Plus, it sounds rather dull and in desperate need of a little re-equalizing. Most of the other tracks are just transfers from the Edsel CD's with a couple of exceptions. See Those Eyes is a new transfer but the intro (the talking bit) has been tampered with and sounds terrible, but once the song kicks in it's fine. Jump Jump/Think has been redone from a tape, and it needed it. The Edsel version was a mess. I Could Be Happy is not the same transfer from the Pinky Blue CD, even though it's the same version. But this transfer is definitely louder with lots of tape hiss. I don't like it. So overall, exactly what I expected. It does disappointment me that my planned reissue of their catalog had to be scratched when I found this was in progress. But I will be doing an Altered Images compilation in the near future, remastered from tapes and all done by me. I had to get something of theirs out on my own.
Thanks for the review, I'll always keep the original Vinyls that sound perfect and the Edsel Cd's for the bonus tracks. You saved me some hard earned cash. I did not get any of the recent LP reissues either. Nothing wrong with the original LP's.
My full review is now up on Amazon, for those interested. And I'm ok with the LP reissues, I remastered them for Vinyl 180 so none of those expected issues.
I was going to buy them for the novelty, but they should have put the colored vinyl on the main 12", not the 7" single. Wasted releases. I'm not going to put that kind of money out if they claim it cost too much, then want us to pay an arm and a leg for it anyway.
I agree and I did try to talk him into colored vinyl 12" but he seemed to have been influenced by all the people who still insist "colored vinyl doesn't sound as good as black", which is total BS nowadays. Plus, he said that it added to the cost. So yes, my dream was gatefold sleeves with colored vinyl but he had his mind set and we got black vinyl 12" across both configurations.
Nines all round, could be a lot worse. Having finally got round to listening to them all I'd say that Pinky Blue is the one I like least due to the swapped stereo channels. It sounds wrong to my ears having grown up listening to the original vinyl. Analyzed: Altered Images / Happy Birthday -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Duration Track -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR11 -2.35 dB -15.88 dB 0:46 01-Intro - Happy Birthday DR8 -0.10 dB -9.65 dB 2:18 02-Love And Kisses DR8 -0.09 dB -9.12 dB 3:22 03-Real Toys DR9 -0.10 dB -11.42 dB 2:38 04-Idols DR10 -0.09 dB -11.88 dB 3:30 05-Legionnaire DR9 -0.10 dB -12.88 dB 3:51 06-Faithless DR9 -0.09 dB -10.00 dB 3:07 07-Beckoning Strings DR8 -0.10 dB -9.27 dB 3:00 08-Happy Birthday DR7 -0.09 dB -8.94 dB 3:41 09-Midnight DR7 -0.09 dB -9.11 dB 4:18 10-A Day's Wait DR8 -0.09 dB -9.94 dB 4:08 11-Leave Me Alone DR9 -0.09 dB -10.39 dB 3:31 12-Insects DR12 -0.55 dB -14.65 dB 0:47 13-Outro - Happy Birthday DR7 -0.10 dB -9.11 dB 3:16 14-Dead Pop Stars DR8 -0.09 dB -9.31 dB 3:25 15-Sentimental DR9 -0.10 dB -10.93 dB 4:13 16-Leave Me Alone [Cassette Single] DR8 -0.10 dB -8.90 dB 3:00 17-Who Cares? DR10 -0.10 dB -11.60 dB 3:35 18-A Day's Wait [7" Version] DR9 -0.09 dB -11.15 dB 3:48 19-So We Go Whispering DR11 -0.10 dB -12.21 dB 2:28 20-Jeepster -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of tracks: 20 Official DR value: DR9 =================================== Analyzed: Altered Images / Pinky Blue -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Duration Track -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR8 -0.10 dB -9.96 dB 3:09 01-Pinky Blue DR9 -0.10 dB -9.77 dB 3:10 02-See Those Eyes DR8 -0.10 dB -8.68 dB 2:40 03-Forgotten DR8 -0.09 dB -9.14 dB 2:42 04-Little Brown Head DR8 -0.10 dB -8.98 dB 3:16 05-See You Later DR9 -0.10 dB -10.35 dB 4:14 06-Song Sung Blue DR9 -0.10 dB -10.64 dB 3:24 07-Funny Funny Me DR9 -0.10 dB -10.14 dB 2:52 08-Think What It Might DR9 -0.09 dB -9.98 dB 5:38 09-I Could Be Happy DR9 -0.10 dB -9.55 dB 3:12 10-Jump Jump DR9 -0.10 dB -10.53 dB 4:07 11-Goodnight And I Wish DR9 -0.10 dB -9.72 dB 3:31 12-I Could Be Happy (7" Version) DR9 -0.10 dB -10.92 dB 3:29 13-Insects (Re-Record) DR10 -0.09 dB -10.84 dB 2:35 14-Disco Pop Stars DR10 -0.10 dB -11.54 dB 3:25 15-How About That Then (I Missed My Train) DR10 -0.10 dB -11.62 dB 2:49 16-Think That It Might (Dance Mix) DR7 -6.38 dB -16.10 dB 0:23 17-Happy New Year DR9 -0.10 dB -10.44 dB 3:27 18-Real Toys (New Version) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of tracks: 18 Official DR value: DR9 =================================== Analyzed: Altered Images / Bite -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Duration Track -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR9 -0.10 dB -11.00 dB 3:13 01-Bring Me Closer DR8 -0.10 dB -9.24 dB 3:28 02-Another Lost Look DR9 -0.10 dB -10.28 dB 5:34 03-Love To Stay DR9 -0.10 dB -9.99 dB 4:44 04-Now That You're Here DR8 -0.10 dB -9.93 dB 4:52 05-Don't Talk To Me About Love DR9 -0.10 dB -10.59 dB 4:23 06-Stand So Quiet DR8 -0.10 dB -9.91 dB 3:46 07-Change Of Heart DR11 -0.10 dB -13.42 dB 5:01 08-Thinking About You DR12 -0.10 dB -13.20 dB 3:02 09-Surprise Me DR11 -0.10 dB -12.95 dB 3:45 10-I Don't Want To Know DR7 -0.10 dB -9.22 dB 3:46 11-Don't Talk To Me About Love (7" Version) DR9 -0.10 dB -10.58 dB 3:16 12-Last Goodbye DR9 -0.10 dB -10.11 dB 3:22 13-Another Lost Look (Live) DR9 -0.10 dB -10.13 dB 3:23 14-Love To Stay (7" Version) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of tracks: 14 Official DR value: DR9 ==================================== Analyzed: Altered Images / The 12" Album -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Duration Track -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR10 -0.10 dB -11.18 dB 7:00 01-Happy Birthday [Dance Mix] DR8 -0.09 dB -9.03 dB 5:38 02-I Could Be Happy [Dance Mix] DR8 -0.09 dB -9.99 dB 5:32 03-See Those Eyes [Extended Mix] DR8 -0.09 dB -9.85 dB 4:55 04-Pinky Blue [Dance Mix] DR10 -0.10 dB -11.87 dB 5:58 05-Jump Jump_Think That It Might [Segued Dance Mix] DR9 -0.10 dB -10.61 dB 8:26 06-Don't Talk To Me [Extended Dance Mix] DR11 -0.10 dB -12.33 dB 6:13 07-Bring Me Closer [Dance Mix] DR10 -0.10 dB -11.64 dB 5:36 08-Love To Stay [Dance Mix] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of tracks: 8 Official DR value: DR9
Wow that was fast! Thank you! I have to say those numbers are a little lower than I expected based on the qualitative comments so far.
Just so happens I was having a bit of an Altered Images afternoon bopping around the house while doing some housework when you posted your query, hence the quick reply! I 'd think if you don't own the previous CD releases then this set is a decent introduction. They don't sound that bad to me.
I stumbled across a US vinyl copy of Bite today in my stack of records. I don't remember buying it but I love it.
New greatest hits compilation coming out on vinyl: Altered Images / Greatest Hits pink vinyl | superdeluxeedition
Never heard the Pinky Blue album before so I gave it a few spins over the weekend and there are some gems on there. Whilst I much prefer the single version of "I Could Be Happy", tracks such as "Pinky Blue", "See Those Eyes", "Think That It Might", and "Goodnight and I Wish" are really good post-punk pop songs. Most enjoyable.
