Collecting Elton John MCA's

I've been able to slowly collect the MCA EJ collection (through Blue Moves) and generally find the sound to be very smooth (a little bright). My question is: some of the discs are earlier production as they say "made in Japan" and have no UPC. Later ones say made in US with a UPC. Did they use the same master for both runs? If not, which is better?

 

I think they are the same, but the "el-cheapo" budget CD's had skimpy booklets and cheesy packaging. The original mid 80's CD's had nice thick booklets w/lyrics. The CD's had nice artwork on the rear insert and smooth side jewel cases. Try and find the original CD's if you can.

 

Believe it or not, I have found that, quite often, the Japan CDs not only sound different from their USA counterparts, but that they also sound better (I haven't specifically compared the EJ CDs).

If you do a comparision, listen to the vocals - the USA CDs sound a bit "pinched" in conparison to the Japan CDs. The same digital master is used for both (they will run in perfect sync), but I suspect that some EQ has been added to this digital master for the USA CDs. If they don't run in perfect sync, a different digital master was used, but this is unlikely.

It's not a huge difference in sound (usually), but I will always pick up the Japan CD if given a choice. Even for newer CDs, the Japan versions often sound better and come with bonus tracks - for example, Sixteen Stone by Bush. Unfortunately, they are expensive, but you can often find mint used copies on Ebay for about the same price as a new domestic CD.