Ah, my much favored band BLUR never really did it for the Americas. I can't help that, but I'd welcome advice from audiophile Blur fans. Do you think the UK and US CDs show differences? My impression is they do, in sound quality -- my UK Food "Parklife" is much better than the USA disc. I'm also lucky to have the LP of Parklife (scratchy, despite an eBay-er's description). And I have a USA "Greatest Hits" -- the sound maximised, I think. I wonder if the European issues are better?
Interesting! Never occurred to me that they'd be from different masters (if that's the case). I have the US editions of 'Rubbish' through 'Blur' but have never heard any alternates.
Well they don't have to be different masters to sound different... different pressings = different software\hardware = different sound. I have the USA pressing of 'Modern Life is Rubbish', and I can honestly say it is one of the worse sounding discs in my collection. Shame, 'cause there is some great music in there. I have a European pressing of 'Parklife' and it is very nice sounding. I must buy a Euro pressing of 'Modern Life'.
I have the Blur UK issue CD's of Modern Life is Rubbish, Parklife, Blur and 13. Modern Life sounds very good and is worth picking up. Parklife is good but is compressed to a degree...like most modern recordings tend to be.
Thanks for the responses. Did anyone like the newest album? (Blur with no Graham Coxon? I gave it a miss, but was I wrong?)
I think "Think Tank" is one of the best releases of the year!! Sure, it's not Kinks-inspired Brit-pop like "The Great Escape" or "Parklife", but what it is is very innovative and beautiful. I like the sound of "Think Tank"- it's one of the few rock CD's where compression works for it and adds to the overall sound (like the Flaming Lips last 2 CD's), and it's very listenable. I figure it's the way they wanted it to sound rather than the label. It seems like some of the bigger artists get some say about the sound of the finished product, unlike say... Self (whose 1st CD I liked). James
I have the US pressings and never thought that there might be a difference. I don't have their latest. A great band that should have had more of an impact in the US.
I love Blur and am glad to see a thread about them here. I never really thought about comparing the sound quality of their albums from different countries and different formats. I have all their albums on LP (except Think Tank - I've seen it in a couple stores but they want more than $30 for it!). My Leisure is scratched so I can't really listen to that one, but I could take some time to compare the others to the various CDs I have. I kind of remember that I thought the Great Escape vinyl did not sound very good. I also have Japanese CDs of Great Escape and 13 so I could compare those to their US counterparts as well. I'll let you know what I find. I do know that the US CDs are sometimes different in terms of content - MLIR has Popscene and a couple other songs added, the US Leisure has "I Know" instead of "Sing", etc. -George
I did a little bit of "comparative listening" last night (didn't have a whole lot of time, but hope to do some more the next few evenings). First, a few grains of salt: 1. My ears are not as sharp as those of a lot of guys on this board. 2. My system is far from audiophile-quality, but it does the job. Anyway, what I have been able to compare so far are the first 3 songs on The Great Escape. I have the US CD, the Japanese CD, and the UK vinyl. First off, they all sounded very good to me - the only problem I noticed was that the beginning of "Stereotypes" sounded shrill on the vinyl. I thought that "Country House" and "Fade Away" sounded "warmer" on the vinyl than they do on either CD. I do think there are some slight differences between the 2 CDs - it's hard for me to explain how they sound different, but certain instruments stick out more on the Japanese CD than they do on the US one, and vice versa. They are not significantly different, not as different as, say the David Bowie RCA Station to Station CD and the Rykodisc version of the same title. More comparisons as time permits, -George
I had high hopes for "Parklife" on vinyl, but in the event, that's a long album to put on 2 sides, and the grooves are pretty jammed. I missed the crystalline clarity of the CD, frankly. Now what I really want is to hear "Tender" (from the album "13") in the warmest possible analog sound, -- oddly, it was never a 12" single, it was a 10" , but in UK only and I've never seen it.
The "Tender" 10' was promo-only, I think, so it would be pretty hard to find. I know I don't have it, and I have TONS of Blur stuff! The 13 LP is a double, so it shouldn't be as jammed as Great Escape and Parklife are. It's been a while since I've listened to it but I remember loving the sound of 13 on LP (especially songs like "Trimm Trabb" and "Caramel"). I know that the self-titled album was released as both a single and double LP. Unfortunately, I only have the single LP version. -George
