Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

Hi all,

Enjoying the forum. Before coming here, I used to blindly buy every remaster and convince myself the newest ones had to be the best versions.

Few questions for the forum:

1. This has probably been covered on the AC/DC thread awhile back, but how do the orginal Atco CDs hold up against the 1994 and 2003 remasters. I'd like to find a version of these AC/DC classic albums to blare on my car stereo without the high-end bleeding and sounding so harsh. Any owners of the orginals care to comment?

2. I understand the orginal London Aftermath is better than 2nd version and the 3rd version SACD. But HOW better? Worth tracking down and paying high prices?

3. I was wondering if any gold cd owners could recommend any of the out of print titles...basically if any are worth seeking out and paying high prices. I own all the Creedence, both Doors, the Doobies, Croce, Steve Miller 74-78, Highway 61, Born to Run, and Skynyrd's 1st two albums. Any other Mofi or DCC that are must haves? I was curious about Al Green's greatest hits, Linda Ronstadt's greatest 1 and 2, and McCartney's 1st and Wings over America (is this available gold?).

Thanks and hope to hear from you,
Chad
[email protected]

 

London "Aftermath" is GREAT! I had sold mine to a friend when the SACD's
came out and begged to buy it back! He understood!

 

Regarding 2), as I seem to be the resident Aftermath whore...

It depends on what exactly you're asking. Up until recently, the only choice you had was "London" vs "1986 ABKCO"--as far as we know, the Londons of this title were all identical--and that particular issue was a no-contest. The ABKCO used the 11-track US lineup (missing a few tracks, but with Paint It, Black) while the London used the 14-track UK lineup; the ABKCO featured muddy, often folded-down-stereo sound while the London used the wide-stereo mixes; and to top it off, the London CD was the *only* place to get the full, 5+ minute version of Out Of Time.

The issue now is a bit more complicated, as the "UK Aftermath" ABKCO SACD remaster offers theoretically the same content as the old London disc. That said, I and many others believe that something wonky happened with the remastering of this title in a fundamental sense, outside of the indignities that we can objectively call attention to (stereo is folded down in some places, intros are somewhat distractingly dehissed, et cetera.). Consequently, yes, I feel the London is well-worth tracking down.

HOWEVER, now more than ever you *don't* have to pay high prices for this disc (you never really did, but as eBay's entire philosophy seems to be based on "well, we did the work of hunting it down, and you're going to pay for the convenience..."). Thanks to the finally-available ABKCO remasters, the Londons have absolutely plummeted in price across the board; even the once "eBay-high-dollar" Hot Rocks 1 and Aftermath can be fetched for pretty cheap. And while some of the Londons are most valuable only in specific variants (i.e. the first-issue German HR1 and self-titled or the Japanese equivalent), *any* London Aftermath seems to be the good version.

In other words, it should be relatively easy to find, and I honestly wouldn't pay more than $25 for it.

-D

 

Welcome ccn103

Both Doors! There are actually 4 DCC Doors albums. Wings Over America wasn't available on a DCC Gold CD or any other Gold CD for that matter. The new Analogue Productions dual-layer SACD hybrid CCR's are actually even better, I know...hard to believe, than the DCC Golds and are in print. Born To Run is about as good as a CD version gets. The first 2 Lynyrd Skynyrd's...For the first album (Pronounced) get the "original" MCA aluminum CD pressing. For Second Helping (one of my personal favs.) get the MFSL UD1 (Made In Japan) and for Street Survivors refer to Pronounced. With Lynyrd Skynyrd avoid the remasters and multiple GH comps. and stick to the originals for better sound quality with the exception of the MFSL.

What's to be curious about? If you like the artists there is no better version available than the DCC Gold CD's.

 

Regarding 3)

If you see ANY DCC/Hoffman titles you don't have by ANY artist you may be interested in, pay what you can afford. You'll be glad you did when you can't find them in the future.

As for the titles you left out:
the Cream CDs
Band on the Run
Everly Brothers
Roy Orbison
Elvis
Ray Charles
Nat King Cole

 

The DCC Linda Ronstadt titles are worth getting. In fact, I think the second volume is the best-sounding pop-rock disc in my collection. It's shockingly good, with a very live-in-the-studio feel to it -- realistic-sounding bass, clear vocals, drum kits that sound like drum kits -- even though it's assembled from several different sesssions. This one doesn't yet command ridiculous prices either. You can still get this one new from www.musicdirect.com for $20.00!

Unfortunately, be prepared to pay high prices on eBay for any DCC Paul McCartney.

 

Re: Re: Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

IIRC, you used to have a very low opinion of the Born To Run Mastersound CD...you must have changed your mind. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I happen to find the Mastersound version less and less appealing as time goes by.

The Street Survivor tracks found on the Lynyrd Skynyrd box set (which contains every track except for One More Time) have excellent sound - even better than my West German MCA CD (not to mention the MCA gold Masterdisc). Unfortunately, the rest of the box set doesn't sound quite as good...

 

Re: Re: Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

With all due respect to Steve, I wouldn't go that far. In many cases, another issue is *different*, but I wouldn't really call it better or worse.

And while I haven't mentioned this in awhile, I still feel some songs on Best Of The Doobies sound better elsewhere, notably China Grove and Listen To The Music.

 

Ron, I think you meant www.amusicdirect.com .

 

Re: Re: Re: Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

The reason I said that is that I've yet to hear a better version on CD. I'm with you in that those MCA gold CD's were a big disappointment after hearing the original releases. I haven't heard either the box set or the German MCA so I can't comment, but I'm willing to take your word for it until I do get the chance to hear them.

 

Re: Re: Re: Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

On which album Luke, a box-set or the standard CD? If you are speaking about the standard CD I do agree with you on Listen To The Music but not on China Grove as Steve's drums are more alive sounding like the drums on LTTM on the standard CD.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

I recently picked up an old domestic "made in Japan" CD of Born To Run. While it's far from perfect, I prefer it to the Mastersound, which sounds less detailed by comparison.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

Sounds like I may have to make an attempt to give this Japan CD a listen. Can you please post the catalog # and the label. Thx.

 

Re: Re: Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

Me, too. It was like being lost in the woods to most of us, I think. This forum can be used like a map to finally find your way out.

Exactly! This certainly seems to be the case whenever I compare versions.

The 'simple' fact that Steve consistently delivers the best-sounding product makes him exceptional, and arguably unique in the reissue mastering biz. And he is HERE and answers questions, honestly and helpfully. Neat-o!

With all due respect, Mr Pacholski, as I just said, I'd go that far and even beyond.

You can always complain about three or four songs that have rubbed you the wrong way, I suppose, but IIRC, Steve has patiently explained those circumstances to you more than a few times here in the forum.
(It mostly seems that because 15 years ago Steve left a couple of Who tracks "flat", you want to qualify your recommendation of his works? )

I mean, should I complain because a couple of old Elvis tracks popped up on Rhino comps from "nonexistent" tapes, and therefore sound finer than on 24 Karat Hits? I don't think so. Let's keep things in perspective!! Steve's not God, you know.

So, my recommendation remains unqualified: Steve's reputation derives from his work, and it is unsurpassed.


FFF

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

Try CBS CK-33795. Early CBS discs that are truly "Made In Japan" are pretty tough to find (IMO, tougher than most targets). I don't have the Springsteen disc, but if my Billy Joel discs are any guide, you're looking for a back insert to say "Record Manufactured in Japan by CBS/Sony, Tokyo, Japan". The center hole will then say "MANUFACTURED BY CBS/SONY RECORDS INC." The bottom silkscreen of the disc will say "Made In Japan" as well.

The early US made discs will have the same back insert indication of "Manufactured in Japan", but then when you open it up it will something like "Made In USA by Digital Audio Disc Corporation" on the center hold.

Not necessarily a bad thing, and I'm sure the pressings sound exactly the same between the US and Japan pressings.

 

Re: Re: Re: Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

That's my whole point. While his versions are best *most* of the time, I don't think it's fair to issue a blanket statement saying they are *always* better (which is what Dave did). Exceptions *do* occur. And, like I said, it is often subjective as to what "better" or "worse" are.

 

They DO NOT. The Japan ones use pre-emphasis and the US pressings do not. This was the very first secret remastering of CDs in the early days. I know this because:1-My original 1984 Technics CD player had a light that went on whenever a disc had pre-emphasis (as many of the first CDs did). The Japanese one turned on the light, the US didn't (and sounded better than the Japan--one of the WORST CDs ever, IMHO, the gold disc kills both); 2-I had a running correspondence with a Mr. Clarkson in Sony QC over these issues (especially the reversed channels & horrible sound of Abraxas, which he had redone twice as a result of our talks). He let me return all Japanese discs that were re-done W/O the premastering--these included Wish You Were Here, 52nd Street, Abraxas, Off The Wall, and many others of Sony's original releases--and he sent me DOZENS of replacements (he was nice enough to take back not only my CDs, but all of my friends' also). I have never seen the pre-emphasis issue mentioned anywhere, because so few CD players tell you about it (and I don't believe it's used anymore, anyway). THIS is the reason many Japan-made CBSs sound different (and why the exact same CD may sound different in different players, each player seems to handle pre-emphasised discs with varying success as the decoders differ).

 

Larry - thanks for the info. I've bumped into discussions on pre-emphasis before on a thread discussing EAC, and I didn't see the connection here until now.

I guess the Japan pressings are collector's items only!

 

My old Cambridge Audio CD2 has a pre-emphasis indicator light on it (and an error correction light). However with around a thousand CDs I've only ever seen it lit once, for an early Richard Thompson solo album.

 

I once had a Cal Aria that had that pre-emphasis light. Like the above poster said, I only had 1 or 2 discs that triggered it. I never did have the technicality behind that encoding format.

 

If you got into CDs early in 1984, like I did (bought my 1st player on 3/10/84), you would have DOZENS of CDs with pre-emphasis (or would have GOTTEN RID OF dozens).

 

What's wrong with pre-emphasis? I'm not advocating its use, but I certainly don't feel that a CD with pre-emphasis is inferior to a CD without it.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Atco AC/DC - London Aftermath AND Gold CD questions

There are also a fair number of CDs that are missing both the "Made In Japan" silkscreening and the "Made in USA by DAD" imprint around the center hole (like my CK-33795 Born To Run CD) Others have a "CMU P ###" imprint instead. I suspect that all these CDs are made in Japan also.

However, I don't really care where the CD was manufactured. I seek out these early CDs because I feel that, in many cases, they sound better.