Johnny Hates Jazz - Turn Back The Clock (30th Anniversary Edition 3CD 2018)

After posting on JHJ's Facebook page that I hoped their forthcoming triple CD reissue of their 1988 debut album would maintain the dynamics of the original album, I received a positive reply from lead singer Clark Datchler agreeing with me!

I was optimistic until today when I received the set. Sadly, the reality is the opposite:

1988 issue CD: DR13
2008 reissue CD: DR10 (original tracks only)
2018 reissue CD: DR6 (original tracks only)



I've added the full DR values to the Discogs entry: Johnny Hates Jazz - Turn Back The Clock

As you can see, all discs are compressed. Sadly, many of the rare tracks on CD3 cannot be found on any other CD.

I thought the loudness wars were over??

 

Thanks for the report, appreciated. Will be skipping this unfortunately.

 

Shattered Dreams indeed.

 

That was disappointing. Over at Paul Sinclair´s SuperDeluxeEdition there are some positive comments about the sound quality of the original tracks. I got my copy in the mail a while back, but I haven´t gotten around to palying it yet. I hope it sounds better than it looks.

 

I have received this yesterday. Sounds 'Loud' indeed. What software is needed for me to look at loudness of CDs in terms of spectrum like the image shown above? Thanks.

 

I was just thinking about this group the other day - shame about the loudness.

 

Love this album. Remember being allowed to play it on a coach back then on the way to a Pompey away game (up north somewhere) - the lads were well impressed but on a serious note, Different Seasons and What Other Reason - just

 

Hi, I used Audacity which is a free audio editor

 

I had this on vinyl when it first came out and played it to death. I have all three editions of the CD. When I got the new anniversary set (didn’t know that it was going to be autographed!) I compared Shattered Dreams right away from all 3 sets. I listened to the first few bars of each version from oldest to newest and my facial expressions changed rapidly as I had to keep turning down the volume.

 

I had this on cassette back in the day and wish I still did!

 

It would probably sound better than this remaster!

 

Do you have to rip the CD first to and into what format? Thanks.

 

The waveforms won't look massively different if you rip into compressed formats like mp3 or wma, however if you want to see exactly what's on the CD you'd have to rip into lossless formats like WAV or FLAC. What can change is the exact nature of peaks, e.g. peaks that are very near the absolute maximum can be clipped during conversion (one of the reasons why the loudness war is bad).

I have to add that the above image somewhat overstates things - the linear view does not correspond exactly with how we hear things. I have set Audacity to logarithmic view by default, and that's more along the lines of the human hearing.

 

It does seem as though the recording, like a few others I have experienced is at such a low volume.

Yesterday Different Seasons I had to notch up to 80 whereas conversely Woman In Chains, the song that was next, was slightly too loud at 60.

In My Tribe is another album I have had both on disc and cassette where the recording is too low in volume.

I've no idea why this happens but It's pretty annoying when you have to physically turn the volume up or there is an imbalance of volume when songs are played in a shuffle.

 

Digging up this old thread...

Thanks for posting the DR range values to the link. I love the 12" extended mix of "Shattered Dreams". I found the CD3 contains that mix and I was considering ordering the set solely for that song version. But I found this thread first and then found your posted results:
DR6 0.00 dB -7.72 dB 5:12 01-Shattered Dreams [12” Extended Mix]

What a buncha crap.

The original song (non extended mix) went from a DR13 (1988 release) to DR6. I can only imagine the potential the extended mix on the CD3 would have had; maybe it could have had a DR13 as well. Guess I'll just stick with the youtube rip.

(for those who haven't heard it before, see link below)

 

I've been looking for the US promo cd single with this mix for years (at a good price) with no luck. An edit of it can be found on the the cd single for Turn Back The Clock.
Thanks for bumping this thread though, I went ahead and ordered the old 93 Best Of which carries the full length mix.
For a great sounding album grab the old 13 tracker, it adds 3 extra 12's

 

Just listened to this and sadly dynamic range's been totally butchered by Mr. Dick Beetham.
Fortunately I still have my original disc from 1988, which sounds a thousand times better!
I appreciate Paul's SDE, but to be honest, when it comes to sound quality, folks there aren't much more knowledgeable than the average Amazon reviewer, which means louder = better.
If you want SQ info you can rely on, there's really only SHMF.

 

I am just about to order this edition, a bit disappointed, but well ... My argument is the acoustic version of the album which has not been mentioned here so far. Have been listening to that on Spotify on a regular basis and my mind has not changed since the first time: I love it. I really did enjoy the hits when they were on the radio, did not ever listen to the whole album until now. To me the old version is good, but the acoustic version is ... it speaks to me more. And I often do love electronic sounds more than acoustic sounds. This new recording is delicate and coherent, IMO doing the songs themselves more justice. An unexpected surprise.

 

Reworked this treasure to include the extended mixes and in the desired order of songs.

1. Turn Back The Clock (Extended)
2. I Don't Want To BeA Hero (Extended)
3. Shattered Dreams (Extended)
4. Heart Of Gold (Extended)
5. Don't Say It's Love (Extended)
6. What Other Reason
7. Foolish Heart
8. Different Seasons
9. Listen
10. Don't Let It End This Way

Me and the cat listening now. Like 1987 all over again.

 

What’s your source for each track?

 

My source?

 

I thought you made your own compilation & used different sources? I was wondering what they were?

 

No, just the usual YouTube downloads of the extended versions and a shuffle of the track order.

 

Pretty cool, the old Best of carries the b-side Living In The Past, a nice little instrumental.

 

Which Best Of do you have Cory?

Cat is going "I like Icehouse better"...