Has anyone bought The Who Ultimate Collection CD's?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Chris Desjardin, Jun 11, 2002.

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  1. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Actually no, in this case.

    In August or September Universal will be releasing a "Deluxe Edition" of the My Generation album, totally remixed from the session tapes by Shel Talmy himself. It will be two CDs and will have a lot of outtakes. And everything will be in stereo for the first time.

    AND, it will NOT be mastered by Jon Astley.
     
  2. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    Wow! That is really good news Luke! Ah, hope for the future. ;)
     
  3. David R. Modny

    David R. Modny Гордий українець-американець

    Location:
    Streetsboro, Ohio

    "Rarities Vol. 1 & 2" on Polydor...just make sure to get the latter German-pressed version! Mine's the earlier, truncated "PDO"....lol!
     
  4. andrewsandoval

    andrewsandoval Senior Member

    Location:
    los angeles
    Just curious if anyone here has ever listend to a British CD from 1985 called The Who Collection on Impression Records/Stylus Music. I always thought it was one of the best sounding CDs ever issued on the Who. Aside from the fact that they chopped off the first note on Happy Jack it sounds pretty impressive. It was issued as both a Double CD and two single CDs (Volume One/Volume Two). Any comments on how it compares to more recent CDs and Steve's Meaty Beaty? Also, anyone compiling a list of best sources for Who Recordings and where to find them? Might be a worthy project.

    Thanks,

    Andrew Sandoval
     
  5. btomarra

    btomarra Classic Rock Audiophile

    Location:
    Little Rock, AR
    Qouting andrewsandoval:

    I hate to say this, but I owned this and then sold it. It had the full length version of The Kids Are Alright, the long version of Magic Bus. It had Long Live Rock, Love Reign O'er Me, 5:15 all the key hits.

    I deeply regret letting it go and wish I can find a used copy out there and buy it.

    Anyone knows where I can find this rarity?

    Brian

    :(
     
  6. Bob Lovely

    Bob Lovely Super Gort In Memoriam

    A True Story

    Friends,

    Yesterday, I stopped in a local record store just to look around. The clerk saw me pawing the Who Ultimate Collection and I asked her if she had heard that the mastering on the disc was bad and she replied:

    "Like, what?"

    :D :D :D

    How typical!

    Bob
     
  7. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    While I haven't listened to this one *too* closely (I don't have a copy myself, but a friend of mine does), one thing to note is most or all of the mono tracks show up here in reprocessed form. I believe they actually took some songs right off of this disc for the "My Generation: The Very Best..." set.

    This *is* the only place to get the long/alt "Magic Bus" on CD, though.

    Another one which I've heard is good is "The Singles", but once again, I don't have my own copy.
     
  8. Jimbo

    Jimbo Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Zero/Zero Island
    I have the two separate discs. Bought them ages ago, because of the impressive track list Found 'em in a used bin. Then I found out (thanks to Luke!) they include the long version of "Magic Bus." Not gonna part with those!
     
  9. John B

    John B Once Blue Gort,<br>now just blue.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Guilty as charged officer....

    Steve,

    What are you doing inside my head?!? I had wanted to believe every remaster was better than its predecessor even though part of me wasn't that sure. Once I found this web-site, I listened again.
    What an ear-opener! Loud, clear and hiss-free is synonomous with drained, lifeless sound. The "digital age" teaches most people to listen to the wrong things.
    Thank you all!
    Hiss rules!
     
  10. btomarra

    btomarra Classic Rock Audiophile

    Location:
    Little Rock, AR
    Quoth Jimbo:

    Certainly can't blame you for that. If I found it again, I wouldn't part with them either.

    Brian

    :)
     
  11. Steve Burns

    Steve Burns Mr. Troll Dude

    Location:
    Miami, FL
    Re: A True Story

    Bob, you say that like we're the sane ones, not her!;)
     
  12. Steve Burns

    Steve Burns Mr. Troll Dude

    Location:
    Miami, FL
    Seriously, as I said before, very few folks out there will know what Lukpac and the rest of us are talking about. And even if they suspected Lukpac knows his stuff (which he obviously does), they still wouldn't care.

    My point: Until the mass audience becomes better educated about sound quality, CD remastering isn't going to get any better, but worse. Much worse. This trend toward loud, harsh, compressed CDs is here to stay.
     
  13. Steve Burns

    Steve Burns Mr. Troll Dude

    Location:
    Miami, FL
    Bob,

    In a story related to yours, I was talking recently to the owner of a used CD store about the Creedence K2 CDs. He hadn't heard them and wanted to know if they're any good. I told him I like them, though at times, due to the odd mix and the detailed mastering, John Fogerty's vocals sound quite shrill while the instruments sound good. His response? "Huh..."

    I don't think he knew what I was talking about (or else he didn't care), and he's a CD store owner! Imagine that poor clerk you dealt with!

    BTW, if one (or several) of us were to write ICE complaining about the inferior sound quality of The Ultimate Collection, do you think they would publish it in the Watchdog page? If they did, we could get the word out to a wider audience. I looked for comments about the CDs in the ICE chat room, but that thing is an absolute mess.
     
  14. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    You *might* be right, but keep in mind this is an isolated case - it's not as if the record company is mandating this mastering. As far as I know Universal doesn't even like the job Astley is doing.
     
  15. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    ICE will certainly print stuff like wrong versions/mixes - I bet they'd make mention of the fake stereo tracks. However, I have a feeling they wouldn't touch a "the mastering is really bad" letter. Even if they did, they'd a) dumb it down to make it sound like the person writing wasn't very smart, b) get a quote from Astley to make everything "ok".
     
  16. Steve Burns

    Steve Burns Mr. Troll Dude

    Location:
    Miami, FL
    Lukpac,

    I know exactly where you're coming from. I liked ICE back in the early '90s, but not anymore. They've sold out bigtime.
     
  17. theferginator

    theferginator New Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Beatles 1

    The Beatles 1 CD has been described in this forum as a "sonic disaster." Imagine if a typical CD buyer who owns that disc came upon that comment: They would think the forum member who made that assessment is insane. A sonic disaster? C'mon, it sounds snappy and loud! No-noise? It's the digital age, baby--I want my CDs to sound clean!

    Who is saying tha the Beatles 1 CD is a "sonic disaster". My musician friends really like the sound.
    Ferg
     
  18. Jimbo

    Jimbo Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Zero/Zero Island
    Is it? I've been posting there for 4 years, and haven't noticed.
     
  19. Steve Burns

    Steve Burns Mr. Troll Dude

    Location:
    Miami, FL
    Re: Beatles 1

    Ferg,

    It's in an old Beatles thread, though I can't recall the name. Perhaps you could perform a search. But in case you think it was me, no.
     
  20. KLM

    KLM Senior Member

    Thanks to Lukpac and all. I just received my copy of Meaty Beaty (Steve's version) and Who Better Who's Best from HMV. And as usual you are right about the sound being better than the current Ultimate Collection.

    While the sound on Ultimate is a mixed bag and at times no where near the sound of Meaty Beaty or Who's Better, it is a great collection of songs. Too bad Astley couldn't do a better job.

    One question is on Who's Better, the song Won't Get Fooled Again is listed as extended version and is one that I never heard before. I expected a longer "extended" version but found this to be a shorter edit of the original song and one that I never heard before. Does anyone know the origins of this one?

    Just curious.
     
  21. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    That's the single edit. Don't know why it's listed as "extended version" - it could be they changed what version was on there along the way, but the artwork didn't sync up.

    My copy (which either has no marking or "single version") has the short version.

    Some people have said that their copy has I'm A Boy in mono, but my copy clearly has the stereo mix.
     
  22. Steve Burns

    Steve Burns Mr. Troll Dude

    Location:
    Miami, FL
    Jimbo,

    I was on there yesterday and saw several threads where only the last few posts are left. All the earlier posts in the thread are missing, so it's hard to tell what everyone's talking about. Also, we're told not to post in the Reissues forum, so the threads that would go there are scattered all over the place.

    Compare that chat room to this one and weep.
     
  23. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Well, ICE did do a Watchdog column which addressed reader complaints about the poor mastering of Live at Leeds Deluxe Edition. Unfortunately, they allowed Jon Astley to have the last word. In defense of the fact that DE sounds worse than the 1995 single-disc reissue, Astley claimed that the Tommy portion of Leeds sounded worse than the rest of the show, and that he therefore had to digitally muck with the sound of the whole show in order to give it a consistent sound throughout. This of course is patently untrue, as a listen to the boot will demonstrate. By allowing Astley to defend himself, the column probably did more harm than good in terms of "getting the word out." I get the sense ICE does not want to be too harsh on Astley, because right now he is a good source of inside Who information for them.
     
  24. Jimbo

    Jimbo Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Zero/Zero Island
    Thanks for the advice, but I see no reason to weep. I can and do enjoy both. I invite you to check out the ICE chat room on a regular basis, if your mind's not already made up. You don't know what you're missing.
     
  25. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Well, that's just the nature of the board engine - old posts get deleted in favor of new ones. I don't like it myself, but that's how it's always been.
     
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