Icehouse - and what it means to me...

By the way: inform those bands which are preferring brickwalling, there is always a volume button at your audio geaR. No need for brickwalling or compressing the music

 

By the way Eroc, let me tell you right here I really admire the honest approach you take to your work. Most colleagues of yours are not so upfront about things they are not so proud of. Everybody has to make a livin' and you have to compromise...I guess your skin is just a little bit thicker than most?

cheers from Nederland..

 

I'm a bit surprised to read that the 2012 remasters were brickwalled to hell - though I have no reason to doubt Eroc's statement. It's just that I bought several of the 2002 re-releases on Diva/Warner Australia back in the day. IIRC they were remastered by Iva Davies himself. I considered them an upgrade from previous editions and thougght they sound really good. Just checked Amazon - The tracklist of at least Primitive man and Man of colours seems to be the same for the 2012 editions, including the same bonus tracks, only the 2012 editions come with an extra DVD. So what happened? Did Iva Davies remaster them again and totally change his mind about the way these should sound?

I'm curious how the new reissues will compare to those 2002 editions. Not interested in individual albums anymore, unless they really offer a big improvement in the sound department. I might spring for that comp with 12 inch versions, though.

 

Icehouse, by Flowers is one of my favourite all time Australian albums. I consider it not only one of the best debut albums ever but also one of Australia's most iconic albums. Any album that has Icehouse, We Can Get Together, Sister, Walls and Can't Help Myself on it is going to be great. I consider it by far and away Flowers (Icehouse's) best album by a long way. With pretensions of being David Bowie, Iva Davies confidently straddles rock and pop with new wave leanings and is a great ride from go to whoah. From hereon in, Iva Davies got a bit of the technology bug, moving to a synth driven album with Primitive Man before gradually descending into pop schlock with Man of Colours.

I have three copies of this album on CD:

Regular/Festival (cat. # CD 38441) that was released in the late 80s and was a bare bones release with no bonus tracks. DR rating: 13

DIVA/Warner Music Group (cat. # 0927489812) released in 1991/92 with three bonus tracks. DR rating: 12. As mentioned earlier in this thread it was remastered by Iva Davies, Tim Ryan and Scott Ryan at DIVA and Trackdown Digital Studios. This is my favourite of the three.

DIVA/Universal 30th Anniversary Edition (cat. # DIVAU100130) released in 2011 as a 2CD, 1DVD package with the first disc being the album with the same three bonus tracks as above, a 19 track disc of live recordings and a DVD with a short live concert from 1981 and nine appearances on the Australian music show Countdown. I picked this release up for the DVD alone that was not released as a standalone issue. DR rating: 8. I was not expecting a lot sonically with this remaster and to say that it is an ear bleeding turd is being nice to it. I am not as sensitive as some to modern remasters but I found this one to be a really difficult listen. Remastered by Steve Smart at Studios 301 Mastering. I also purchased the White Heat - 30 Hits compilation for the bonus DVD as well that contained all of the video clips including alternate clips for some songs. The CDs of course are just as bad sonically as the other remasters in this series.

Below are waveforms for We Can Get Together from each release in chronological order.



As an aside, when I attended The Church/Devo/Simple Minds concert in Sydney late last year, Iva Davies was sitting not far from me. He looked like he had come straight out of Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. He was wearing a tan/orange leather jacket with bottle bleach blonde hair and a fake suntan that made him look more orange than his jacket. He looked absolutely ridiculous. On the way out of the concert he passed our group with his female friend and I really wanted to praise him for this album but give him a serve for the sonic turd that the latest remaster is. I thought it best to hold my tongue.

 

So I must have been 15 when I was hanging around Woodhouse studios. I remember Siggi Bemm being there.
I'm glad to hear that you have "seen the light" regarding the use of compression on your remasters
After my experience with the 1998 Grobschnitt remasters I was avoiding anything "remastered by Eroc" but I guess I can take you off my "blacklist" now...LOL

Now I'm definitely interested in the new Grobschnitt remasters and "Primitive Man" by Icehouse, it's a great album. I also like the first Icehouse (aka Flowers) album. The later stuff is not so good IMO.

 

Well - AC/DC, Gun's Roses and Dokken IMHO are not the kind of Metal I'm talking about. At least no Metal for grown ups. They sound great for a children's birthday party and I really like these (re)masterings transferring depth and transparency. I'm talking about other Metal. Bands you might not know like Sodom or Anti Doctrine or even Stillbirth - those are acts who throw out stuff which is really dangerous. It's drugs and you only can listen to it LOUD and then get into a very special feeling. I myself did it e.g. with Slipknot (if you know them) and it worked quite well. You must hear this as loud as possible. And if it's (clever) brickwalled it gets very close to the border to kill you. And that's what "they" need who are into that stuff. You're talking about Punk? I did masterings for bands like Betontod, Massendefekt, BRDigung, Ni Ju San, Fahrlässig, Matt Roehr (from Böhse Onkelz), the late Gus Chambers (R.I.P.) from "Grip Inc." and three weeks ago for "Kitty In A Casket" from Austria (which even was a STEM-mastering). And they all wanted it louder than loud. I always offer my clients two suggestions for test-mastering: one very great and loud but still audiophile sounding version, and one screwed up to the limit. And they can decide what they like and also can get anything between. I'm not pushing brickwall into the concerned young minds of today. But if anyone demands brickwall here, he'll definitely get it...


- Eroc

 

There is definitely a need for brickwall. Brickwall just doesn't mean only higher loudness. Involving various digital tools and settings for "hot" compression adds special artefacts to the sound which make it more aggressive. And that's what those bands and procuctions want and even need...


- Eroc

 

Could well be. I joined one of the hardest schools on earth: Grobschnitt live on the road. And it always was fun and also learning-process. And that's what's going on right now when I do my jobs: having fun and still learning. I have made any mistake possible in my live. And I have learned from those mistakes. So where would I be without them...?

Groeten naar Holland!

- Eroc

 

I totally agree. A wonderful album.

 

I will pick up these remasters. It is rather hard to find Icehouse on CD. Been trying to find the box set for over a year now. The White Heat comp I bought sounds bad.

 

I also had trouble finding Icehouse on CD. But they all turned up cheap second hand eventually:
Primitive Man (Massive 1992)
Flowers - Icehouse (Massive 1992)
Sidewalk (Warner Strategic Marketing 2002)
Man of Colours (Chrysalis 1987)

 

What is wrong with the original Icehouse discs? I have a slew of them and they sound sweet.

 

This is from a needledrop I did of the B-side of Crazy 7inch, is this live version of "No Promises" on any cd release?

 

For the RR releases it's not scheduled, but you can find it on the Australian CD "Measure To Measure" as bonus-track in spot #16...


- Eroc

 

Thanks Eroc, Much appreciated!

 

In listening to White Heat yesterday, putting SQ issues aside for the moment and concentrating on content, I was struck by the career parallel with Simple Minds. Early experimental with lots of synth, middle period with some pop and commercial success, latter day seem sort of lost trying different styles (and failing imo). I really like the first 2/3 or so, with the first 1/3 being my favorite period.

 

One of my prized cds is the US/UK version of the band's debut album, which had a different mix to the rest of the world's. I don't believe this one's ever been reissued anywhere.

 

Hallo Eroc,

ich habe auf Discogs geschaut, weil dort die Vinyl-VÖ's aus allen Ländern aufgelistet sind. Da sind die UK/ US Version und die German Version, French Version und Canada Version laut den dortigen Angaben alle gleich. Da ist nichts von unterschiedlichen Mixen erkennbar...

That's what the man in charge at RR says. Briefly translated: I checked at Discog's. There is the UK/US version as well as the German, French and Canadian versions listed. And they're all the same, nothing to find about different mixes.


- Eroc

 

Wikipedia has the differences broken down well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icehouse_(album)

 

I have both the CD, Flowers — Icehouse and the US/UK release, Icehouse — Icehouse. They are different as stated in Wiki.

 

Thanks - I'll pass that on to Repertoire ASAP...


- Eroc

 

As I feared all the Icehouse latest remasters are HOT HOT HOT and almost unlistenable. the remasters from 2001 were wonderful. Anyone have a copy of Man of Colours I can buy from the 2001 remaster series?

 

If you want a great CD seek out a copy of the Australian Great Southern Land disc. Great sound and many more tracks than the US version.

 

Someone at NewWaveOutpost posted the track lists. Not sure why the 1994 version of "Great Southern Land" is on the Best Of. It's nothing like the iconic version that people know and love. Also, the track list for Primitive Man is different than the previous reissues, once again adding Great Southern Land (1994 Version) and eliminating a couple live b-sides and 12" versions. Anyway:

The 12 Inches-Vol. I
Disc 1
1 Can't Help Myself (Us Club Mix)
2 Hey Little Girl (12" Version)
3 Great Southern Land
4 Glam (12" Version) 6:36
5 Uniform (Extended Mix)
6 Taking The Town (Extended Dance Mix)
7 No Promises (Us Club Mix)
8 Cross The Border (Steel Love) (Dance Mix)
9 Mr. Big (Extended Version)
10 Crazy (12" Mix)
11 Electric Blue (12" Version)
12 Satellite (The Ex-static Mix)

Disc 2
1 Miss Divine (The Spellbound Mix)
2 Nothing Too Serious (12" Version)
3 Big Fun (12" The Riddler Mix)
4 Hey Little Girl 6:11 (Us Version)
5 No Promises (Extended Mix)
6 Uniform (German Version)
7 Byrralku Dhangudha ('great Southern Land' - Rem
8 Big Wheel (General Dynamics Mix)
9 Electric Blue (Extended Mix)
10 Lay Your Hands On Me (12")
11 Mlk
12 Dedicated To Glam (12" Mix / Icehouse / 808 State)

Primitive Man
1 Uniform
2 Street Cafe
3 Hey Little Girl
4 Glam
5 Great Southern Land
6 Trojan Blue
7Love In Motion
8 Mysterious Thing
9 One By One
10 Goodnight Mr. Matthews
11 Break These Chains
12 Over The Line
13 Uniform (German Version)
14 Hey Little Girl (Single Mix)
15 Great Southern Land (1994 Version)

The Best Of
1 Can't Help Myself (Single Version)
2 We Can Get Together
3 Hey Little Girl (Single Mix)
4 Love In Motion (Original Single Mix)
5 Great Southern Land (1994 Version)
6 Uniform
7 Street Cafe
8 Taking The Town
9 Dusty Pages (Single Version
10 No Promises (Single Version)
11 Mr. Big (Single Version
12 Electric Blue
13 Crazy
14 My Obsession
15 Touch The Fire
16 Miss Divine
17 Anything Is Possible
18 Where The River Meets The Sea
19 Satellite
20 Big Wheel (Single Version)

 

Same here. First got the Flowers but it didn't sond quite right - my reference was the Icehouse LP.
I checked Wiki and it convinced me to seek the Icehouse CD. Informal comparisons confirm subtle
differences, most notable on the vocals.