Black Sabbath - The 70’s Era CD Picks

Here are my CD picks for each title:

S/T - 2016 remaster
Paranoid - 2016 remaster
MOR - 2009 remaster
Volume 4 - 2009 remaster
SBS - 86 Castle
Sabotage - 2009 remaster
Technical Ecstasy - 2016 remaster
NSD - 2016 remaster

 

I haven't done any closer listening to the 2016 s/t, TE or NSD releases, but your CD picks from Paranoid through Sabotage are real good IMO. Did you post them here Roland's favorite CD versions of Black Sabbath albums (part2) already?

 

Not yet... I like the 2016 S/T mainly for Wicked World, and I’ve heard the 2016 release resembles the original U.K. vinyl. For TE and NSD, I have the original WB’s which sound great. On the other hand, I also love the 2016 releases since they fix the problem of having used the wrong remasters on the 2009 versions. Also, I live in a condo so space is limited and I’m subject to noise restrictions. Therefore, I have a smaller system than I used to. For that reason, I like the extra kick that the 2016’s have over the original WB cd’s

 

I own the Sanctuary /Castle 1996 CDs and I'm happy with them

 

Interesting... I had a few of those, and found them a bit too bright for my liking.

 

My picks:

S/T - original Castle CD
Paranoid - original Castle CD
MOR - SHM-SACD
Volume 4 - original Castle CD
SBS - SHM-SACD
Sabotage - original Castle CD
Technical Ecstasy - original Warner Brothers CD
NSD - original Warner Brothers CD

 

Yeah, the 2016 s/t has a great-sounding mastering for Wicked World. Otherwise the SACD is my favourite version for the s/t, except maybe for Evil Woman because it has a tape problem. Original Castle is also fine. Generally I found every song that I checked from the 2016 CDs (remastered 2012, same remaster that was used for the 2014 HDtracks) awfully bright. Even those that are otherwise great (the Paranoid album and Wicked World - I haven't checked NSD and TE) would need EQing to sound right (except with a sound system or room that sounds very bassy/dull/non-bright, which regrettably is the case for my current setup). Last time I listened to NSD, I preferred the Spectrum release if I remember correctly).

I prefer the SACDs for the s/t (minus Evil Woman, and Wicked Woman needs to be added from the 2014 HDtracks or 2016 CD), MOR, Vol4 and SBS.

 

SBS - '86 Castle
Sabotage - '86 Castle with Creative Sounds for the bad tracks.
TE - WB
NSD - Spectrum

 

Black Box.

 

I really think the posts from this thread should all be integrated into Part 2 of Roland's.

 

My choices...

S/T - 2009 deluxe
inc. Creative Sounds

Paranoid - 2016 deluxe
inc. original WB

MOR - 2009 deluxe

Volume 4 - 2009 deluxe
inc. Creative Sounds

SBS - original WB

Sabotage - original WB
inc. Creative Sounds

Technical Ecstasy - 2016
inc. original WB

NSD - 2016
inc. original WB

Past Lives - 2016 deluxe

 

Why do you need a CS release to complete Vol4? And why the original WB to complete NSD?
I believe I read that the 2016 Past Lives is just a reissued of the 2002. Or am I wrong?

 

Yes, you are correct.

 

Thanks! So I guess there is only one mastering for Past Lives available anyway...

 

WELL....it's either, I like both; or I'm not sure yet.
Easy to keep both w/o taking up more space. Store one (in a CD sleeve) inside the digipack. No harm. Besides, how much would a record store give me for an old (mint) CD?

 

You can get an original mastering of most of the material e.g. the 1972/73 tour, excluding 1970 and 75’ on Live At Last. I had a copy of that in the early 90’s but it’s long gone, unfortunately.

 

I am not a big fan of the 2016 versions...some of them are too bright and all of them have a narrower stereo image (especially in the bass range), because they were remastered for vinyl cutting and later pressed to CD...

 

My choices

Black Sabbath '86 Castle
Paranoid '86 Castle
Master Of Reality '86 Castle
Volume 4 '86 Castle
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath '86 Castle
Sabotage '86 Castle

Someday I'm going to have go back and try some original USA Warner Bros. CD's for Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die. So far I just haven't been impressed with the ones I've heard.

 

The SACDs for S/T and Vol 4 sound a bit too bright to me.

 

Now I got it. Thanks for the explanation.

I did notice the brightness (hard to NOT notice that, it is awful e.g. on Vol4), but not the narrower stereo image. I will have to check out that sometime. Thanks for the hint.

Ah, I see. Not to me, either due to different setup, hearing, or taste.

 

Moi:

s/t: 33PD + Creative Sounds
Paranoid: '86 Castle (with a nod to Dave on this one )
MoR: SACD (then '09)
Vol 4: '86 Castle (& SACD)
LaL: '86 Castle
SBS: '86 Castle (& SACD)
Sabotage: '86 Castle + Creative Sounds
TE: US WB
NSD: WG Spectrum

 

The Complete 70's Replica CD Collection box set (Castle), supplemented with the 2016 remaster for s/t.

 

Very cool to read about several people's preferences here. I still feel it would be good to integrate this thread into Roland's though, because it is exactly the subject matter that has been discussed there for years.
Roland's favorite CD versions of Black Sabbath albums (part2)

 

I know, thanks. "Live at Last" is highly dynamic, "Past Lives" is compressed to death:
Past Lives DR
Live at Last DR

The incomplete Brussels '70 and Asbury Park '75 recordings included in Past Lives were always rather annoying anyway. Complete, great-sounding copies of both shows are available on numerous bootlegs, and Brussels has finally been released officially as part of the Paranoid 2016 Super Deluxe 4xCD box set.

 

Wait, there are 2016 remasters? Where have I been!? I've been real happy with a combination of the 1986 Castles, 2009 Sanctuarys, and 2014 HDtracks (I'll try to break it down album by album later). If the 2016s really are upgrades then I'd consider collecting them. So are the 2016 remasters completely different masterings or based off an existing one?