Frank Zappa - Entire Catalogue Remastered and Reissued (part4)

Great news

 

Thank you

 

Bumping this thread because of a new development with my 2012 disc of The Grand Wazoo.

Many reported problems with a defective disc as it would play in some players, but not others. I assumed that mine wasn't defective because it played in all my players and my computer could rip the disc.

However, today, I discovered that my Sony Blu-Ray player doesn't recognize the disc.

So, it would appear that my disc is defective, as well. I just lucked out that none of my other players experienced difficulty before today.

It's been six years, so I doubt there is anything that I can do about it other than play my CD-R copy in the blu-ray player. Just weird that it didn't surface until now.

 

My copy does not play anywhere (it was rejected by four different players, at least), but somehow I was able to make a FLAC rip with Foobar, so I burned a CD-R and that's what I listen to.

 

TGW is a weird one, alright.

The recurring gripe was that, tho it would play back reliably, it wouldn't rip. I took a chance on a used-bin copy for $3, despite a handwritten warning on the package. dbPoweramp wouldn't rip it, but iTunes did. If it did so in a subpar manner, I can't detect it.

Apparently iTunes will rip a crepe if you feed it one.

 

Well, what about those other players now? Not weird at all, you had not tried the BR player until now.

 

EAC ripped it just fine, although it did take a little longer than expected.

True. I had not tried any blu-ray players before. I know it won't work in two of them. Haven't tried the others yet.

It still plays fine on my computers and old standard CD players.

 

What is Eil?

 

eil.com rare vinyl records, 7", 12", albums, LPs, singles, CDs, CD singles & music memorabilia including imports, new, collectable, promo, vintage, withdrawn & deleted at esprit. We buy & sell record collections

 

Are the 2012 Zappa remasters worth it? I own all of the older remasters on Rykodisc, but I’ve read these particular remasters weren’t true to their origins as Zappa added a good dosage of reverb to these remasters.

 

These are the ones that are worth it.

Absolutely Free
Hot Rats
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Chunga's Revenge
Fillmore East, 1971
Just Another Band from LA
Waka/Jawaka
The Grand Wazoo
Over-Nite Sensation
Apostrophe
One Size Fits All
Bongo Fury
Zoot Allures
Studio Tan
Sleep Dirt
Sheik Yerbouti
Joe's Garage
Tinsel-town Rebellion
Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar
You Are What You Is
Them or Us​

The rest are the same as the 1995 Rykodisc versions.

2012: What We Knew and When We Knew It

 

The 2012 for JABFLA is compressed. I think lp is the only way to go for that one.

 

Same with Absolutely Free.

With those two titles, you have to pick your poison when it comes to the CD: digital reverb or compression.

JABFLA sounds so different, many have speculated that the Ryko is a remix.

I don't mind the compression on the 2012
JABFLA. It comes from a good source tape.

 

It was a four track recording with two tracks for the band, one for the vocals and one for the audience. I believe one Zappa fan I know said that an audience noise comes from a different stereo position in the Ryko (the audience track was presented in mono in one mix, but converted to pseudo-stereo in the other mix - I could look up the details if anyone's curious). I think he spotted a slightly different edit at one point too.

 

For what it’s worth, I’ll easily take some compression over the digital reverb. It’s not even close.

 

I wouldn't get hung up on the question of over-compression for the UMe remasters. The fact is that there was no compulsion to apply dynamics processing for loudness reasons.

 

I can't see how the RYKO "Joe's Garage" could be improved upon. It sounds flawless to me -good sources, well mastered, superior dynamic range and with no errors that I remember.

 

There was nothing wrong with the original Ryko JG (except for the missing artwork and changing some of the song titles) but I am a convert to the new UMe. You might have to have headphones on to notice the difference, but it does seem like enough of an improvement to justify the purchase.

I don't think the new TTR, SUAPYG or YAWYI are an improvement on the most recent Rykos, though. Or that the new 'Apostrophe(')' or OSFAs are any better than the Au20s.

I haven't heard the most recent vinyl editions of the first five albums, but are any of the original Verve LPs compression-free?

 

It's really a matter of personal preference.

Joe's Garage is one of the Ryko CDs that I absolutely defend. It does sound very good.

 

The UMe OSFA is better than the Au20. I have both. I resisted buying it for a couple of years, but I had to admit that it was better.

The UMe Apostrophe(') may be better than the Au20, but not significantly. I've stuck with my Au20 clone on that one.

I can't speak to TTR, but the 1998 Ryko YAWYI has this awkward edit where Spencer Chrislu tried to segue sides three and four. For the UMe, they simply left everything complete. Side three fades out and side four comes in full volume. That's one of the reasons that I prefer the 2012 UMe CD.

 

You don't need earphones to notice the improvement of Joes Garage. The old CD has a little bit of the bass-shyness that is known from the EMI Cds and is a little bit trebely.
The UMe has a wonderful even frequency range with a great and natural bass. This CD is a definitive and not so small improvement over the old mastering(s?)

 

Both UMe 'Apostrophe(')' and OSFA are better than the AU20s for my ears.

 

The Ryko Joe's Garage is not bass-shy. Not even close.

 

I’ve been holding out on upgrading Apostrophe and OSFA since I already have the Au20s, even though the consensus seems to be that the 2012 remasters are better. I should probably grab them before they mysteriously go the way of the 2012 Studio Tan CD.

 

I don't feel like all are necessary unless you're a fanatic. And you'll want to hold on to your Ryko Hot Rats, Weasels, and Sleep Dirt since they have major differences due to mixing and content. The 2012 Shut Up sounds a bit tubby in the low end. Depends on your preferences. One Size, and Bongo Fury sound fine on my Ryko CDs.