John Cale "Fragments of a Rainy Season". Is this the first brickwalled acoustic album?

I love this album, but am not interested in an lp version and with accompanying crackles. The original cd version is just fine.

 

The LP.

 

I think the original CD could have been improved upon, but it beats the new version. Though I've listened to the remaster only via Spotify, the sound is so bad that I don't think listening to a CD would help.

 

i managed 1 min 28 seconds of the new cd

 

I think I might have made it past the 2:00 mark, but I can't say for sure.

 

I have the vinyl version of this release - and while certainly no audiophile treat - it sounds ok and is pressed on very quiet vinyl. Sounds much better than the brickwalled cd reissue.

 

Gee, he's a record producer, and he just doesn't care/know what his final products sound like?

Look, many artists that you (not you, gazatthebop, the royal you) LOVE make really loud remasters now. You have to just accept that's their decision to make with their catalog, and there's usually earlier versions of EVERYTHING.

 

What I find to be very disappointing is that the songs on the new bonus disc are just randomly bunged on there with so little care. Tracks have the beginnings harshly chopped in, there's no thought to the sequencing and little info as to where and when they were recorded.

Also, does anyone know why the song order on the main album has been changed?

 

[QUOTE="

Also, does anyone know why the song order on the main album has been changed?[/QUOTE]

The song order now matches more closely the original concert(s) running order

 

Huge Cale fan for around 75% of my life but not buying this, sounds like a disaster.

 

I believe the very first brickwalled acoustic album in the history of the universe is the hot master of the American 'Rubber Soul'!
Once again, the Beatles had their collective fingers on the pulse of everything even back in 1965!
Take that John Cale!
:--)

 

Agreed, but the earlier version was no sonic masterpiece by any means. People like me are truly disappointed about this missed opportunity. I wonder what people think of the sound quality of bootlegs, and there are a few Cale boots from that period. Are the bootleggers less likely to "brick wall" their product? I'll need to listen again to my John Cale With Strings boot. My ears are a bit more sensitive in this respect than they used to be. And then there's the Fragments video . . .

By the way, when I returned my LP, I emailed the record company itself to confirm the return process. Even though I stated the record was unopened, they asked me why I wanted to return it. They seemed truly curious. I provided the reasons stated here and asked why they manufactured the record in that manner? They did not provide any response.

 

Cale's 75, how good are his ears these days? My theory is he's leaving it to his mastering engineer to do the damage

 

Maybe a Dynamic range score sticker would be as useful as those bad language ones?

 

DR is only useful because the data of a CD can be interpreted digitally without conversion or even audio equipment of any kind. Somewhat meaningless for analog.

 

Well he loves hip hop now, and those records tend to be loud. So there's that.

 

What would you expect them to say? It's not a defective product, it's just not to your liking. I hate to say it but these are the gripes of the very few.

 

Seriously? For the love of............................

Like others here, I have been looking forward to buying this. Have the original CD, but the extra tracks were a big draw. Are these "remasters" done by computer or something?

 

While it's good to have the album back in print, it's sad to see such a waveform for an acoustic album. I'm glad I got my original 1992 CD when I could still find it cheaply.

 

I didn't expect them to say anything in particular. That's usually the reason I ask a question - i.e., I'm curious about the opinion of the person to whom I'm posing the question. I guess I generally thought they might defend it - possibly giving me a basis to reassess my conclusion - or as you say, state that my gripes are those of the very few, etc. Ultimately, I was just telling everyone here that I did ask and got no response. I wasn't being critical of their failure to respond or somehow suggesting that their silence was evidence or an acknowledgement that the product was "defective".

 

I think emailing them is fine. Is it too much to expect a record label to respond to questions about their product? I'd think letting them know why you returned it was doing everyone a favor. The more labels know it bothers you, the better, no? Whether the label responds is their business, but I have to say, I'd think higher of them if they did, even if it was to disagree with you. As it is, the label goes into a list of labels I'll no longer trust.

 

Yes. I hoped, but did not expect. Specifically, I was hoping - naively, I guess - they'd say something like "we wanted the CD to sound that way, but the LP was mastered differently". All I had to go on was Spotify and what people here were saying, and the former confirmed the latter. The only way I could hear the LP was to open it, which would have killed my return possibility.

 

If you want to talk to someone about Cale @ Domino Records you have to find the person looking after him at the label. It was Ryan McCaan
but he left about 18 months ago, he was very helpful whilst at the same time giving little away (i never understand why labels are so secretive).

 

I finally got my 3LP copy yesterday. Last night I played the first 2 discs. I stopped a few times I adjusted my stylus. I cleaned it and re-cleaned it but it kept sounding like Cale was singing through an AM radio static infused speaker. The original CD is one of my all-time favorite discs. After sticking it out 4 sides of the reissue and hearing one of my favorite albums ruined with distortion and loudness I was going to give up. But when I went to take off the record I saw my "45" needle.

I had a quick epiphany, if this helps with "hot pressed" singles I wonder how it'll do on this LP? After a quick switch and rebalance I replayed the fourth side with a conical stylus and it completely opened up. I agree it's no "audiophile treat" but it is now an enjoyable musical one. I relistened to the rest of the album and the bonus disc and am now glad I got it. If anyone else wants to try this.

 

I was just listening to this CD today (the original one) and thinking it would be nice to have this on LP. There was never an LP issued back in the 90s and I came upon this thread. Now, I don't have to waste my money.

The odd thing is that the 3LP Circus Live Cale, issued in 2007, sounds great and is one of my favorite live rock recordings.