Jethro Tull - Aqualung DCC

Just got through listening to this masterpiece once again. Steve, it must have been a thrill for you to work on this gem. Simply fantastic!. You've undoubtedly heard this a million times before but thanks for all your great work.

 

The DCC is the only version that sounds like my memory of the Island/Chrysalis UK 1st vinyl pressings. Beware of MoFi vinyl - lots(!!) of eq. Beware of the EMI 25th anniversary lots(!!) of every device known to man to improve the sound

 

I agree Gary, on both accounts. Mofi remastered 6 Tull titles to CD and Aqualung was not one of them. I wonder why DCC could not acquire those same tapes?

Sure would have been nice to hear Steve's remaster of those.

 

I have the Mofi vinyl and the EMI 25th on vinyl and CD. Agreed. The DCC is simply the best sounding copy I have ever heard. And I have many copies of Aqualung.

 

I am not familiar with that story although I have heard he used to store his tapes in the garage. Oh my! That can't be good. Anyway, I am sure he has wised up to that and now realizes the value of these tapes.

He just played here last week (Rochester Hills) and I missed the concert. Could not be helped and I am greatly disappointed.

Listening to Minstrel In The Gallery. Superbly crafted.

 

FWIW, I seem to remember reading, many years ago, that MFSL did indeed use the original tape, personally delivered and picked up by Ian himself (didn't even want to trust a courier). MFSL was allowed to have the tape for four days, no more. Sounds like this all took place in England, but it may have happened in the US, and Ian may have delivered the tape himself because he had other business here.

 

I seem to remember reading in ICE that Ian only allowed Steve to have that Aqualung tape for three days. (Shed some light here, Steve?)

 

Contrarian

I love my MOFI "Aqualung" vinyl......it kills. The music explodes out of my speakers...


I haven't heard the DCC Aqualung vinyl....do have the Gold CD...



Best,

Ben

 

A quote from inside DCC's Aqualung booklet:
"Please note, this is not a remix of Aqualung. This is the first American release made from the original British 1971 two-track master mixes. S.H."
.....and it sounds WAY closer to Island vinyl, as I said before, than the heavily equalised MoFi (which may explode out of the speakers, but if it does, it's not the correct Aqualung sound).

 

Friends,

I consider the DCC Aqualung as mastered by Steve to be the definitive version of this classic album. I have used it to demo my system with friends.

Their immediate reactions have been smiling faces, nodding heads and requests to look at the jewel box and liner notes!

Bob

 

I have yet to get the DCC version, but I do have all the MOFI's. The 25th anniversary release of Aqualung didn't thrill me at all, which is why I hesitate to invest in another.

Ian's own remastering in the box set (also I guess the single classics) was really terrible. Percussion like military ordinance, grand canyon echo on all vocals, poetic license I guess. Someone should get these out of his hands.

What's the story on the quad version? I bought this when it first came out and was surprised to find that not one track used the same tapes from the original.

(my first post! greetings!)

 

Regarding the Quad Aqualung - it seems to me that most of the performances are re-mixed versions of the same takes used on the stereo lp, except for Wind Up - which is a totally diffrent recording, and possibly a different vocal take on the "sun streaking cold" section of the title cut. I still have this lp, but haven't listened to it in ages. What other differences do you hear? Obviously - these had to be re-mixed from the multi-tracks to accomodate the additional channels, but aside from what I mentioned, the performances seem to be the same.

 

Quad

It has been awhile since I've listened to it too.

But it always seemed to me that the vocals and instrumentals were close but not the same. As if it were a re-creation of the original, the last track totally different as you said. The violins on the quad slipstream are not the ones on the original, Martin's solo on the song Aqualung is not quite the same. There are differences throughout all the songs that suggest different takes are used. Close but not the same.

This was HQ quad, I remember the SQ(?) quad records sounding exactly like their stereo originals. Was there a difference in the two processes that made it necessary to use different takes?

 

Hi and welcome!

After you do aquire DCC's Aqualung that 25th Anniv. will be on Ebay quicker than a Jack-rabbit in heat! Even your prized Mofi's will take a sad second place to this one.

 

Re: Quad

I actually have Aqualung on a CD-4 discreet quad disc. I will listen to it later to see if I notice any differences. On many quad lp's certain solo's were different from the released stereo versions - I've often felt that, in many cases, final overdubs were not done on the multi-tracks, so years later when they were pulled out of storage, they didn't have exactly all the required elements to re-mix (Alice Cooper Billion Dollar Babies and Allman Brothers at Filmore had some varying solos).

I also have SQ quad of Santana's Abraxas lp, and it is DRAMATICALLY re-mixed.

 

hmm.. I can't see (hear) using this album as a demo. It's just not that well recorded. (Ian Anderson concurs).

That said, SH did a fine remaster.

 

Re: Quad

Some of the quad mixes are bonus tracks on the 25th Ann. edition. IIRC they sound dreadful.

 

I remember reading that story about the tapes being lent to Mofi with IA in attendance, *and* I've read that the DCC is supposedly the only American release that came from the *true* master tapes. Always wondered about the discrepancy.

 

KA,

A demo in this sense--as compared to sound of the original release on CD. I enjoy the sound of the recording. It is intimate, smooth and well-defined as mastered by Steve. I have found that the most effective "demos" are recordings that people are very familar with.

Bob

 

Define "correct."

 

Correct (IMHO) = as close as possible to the A1U/B1U UK Island/Chrysalis vinyl pressing.
MoFi's attempt was so different that I thought it was a remix at first. Further listening revealed very heavy equalisation to make it more dynamic. I guess now you would call it maximised - LOTS of bass added, lots of treble.
I would have liked Aqualung to have been better recorded too (ESPECIALLY the drums) The MoFi sounds like what was done to the Virgin Bowie CDs (and I like these - not because they are faithful, but they sounded better than the Rykos to me - and try getting hold of RCA CDs in Australia)