Jon Astley.........What Happened?

Well, I've just listened to the Who's Next Deluxe Edition, and I have to agree with the consensus that it sounds very good. The question in my mind, then, is what happened to Jon Astley? Why, all of a sudden, does he produce a Who product that sounds so much better than most of what he has produced in the not too distant past? I have a few theories:

1) Astley woke up one morning and turned to Suzanne Pleshette lying next to him and said,"Honey, I had the weirdest dream. I dreamt that I remastered the entire Who catalogue and it sounded bloody awful, lots of noise reduction, compression, wrong tapes used. Who would use such stuff on this classic material? Christ, I'd better start working on these albums, I'll do Who's Next first, since I happen to have the original master tapes here under the bed. See you at dinner."

2) Pete Townshend's hearing problems all of a sudden cleared up and he decided to put on some classic Who. He couldn't believe his newly cured ears. It sounded horrible. He called up Astley and said, " 'Ere Jon, what's this you've done to my music? My ears feel fine, and now they're starting to bother me again when I listen to this stuff. Start re-doing these albums immediately, start with Who's Next, that brings me the most royalties. Remember, shape up, cause you ain't my brother-in-law anymore and you can be replaced."

3) Keith Moon, dressed as Joan of Arc, appeared in a vision to Astley and intoned "Jon, I have just listened to Live At Leeds Deluxe Edition. Bloody 'ell Jon, me drums sound like tin cans. I can't have people remember me like that, get movin' mate and fix it, or I'll be forced to inject you with horse tranquilizer. By the way, how do you like the outfit?"

Just some random thoughts. Anyone else have any ideas?

Jeff

 

While not as funny as the above scenarios , I suspect he merely got tired of playing with all his "new noise-reducing toys." It's happened with mixing and mastering guys in the past: they think some new gadget is wonderful until they get some persective and realize how they've actually been ruining the sound with it all along.

Then again, maybe we should wait to see if this (re: Astley) is a new trend or just an aberration.

 

Maybe he's been here and read a few thoughts about his work. I know he's checked in here once or twice.

 

Maybe he was tired of 99% of the search engine links in his name directing surfers to this site and the ICE site.

 

Heh. I guess we really can influence the world.

 

This isn't the only open public forum which his work has been criticized.

He is one of the stars of Abbey Road, though. He's been involved in projects as early as 1969... I agree that WN sounds a hell of a lot better.

 

Wow. Maybe Peter Mew will drop by sometime...

 

Well, what's the word oh Tubey one? Is it as good as Steve's?

 

Two different animals. I *will* say quite honestly, it doesn't sound like the same tape EQ'd. It just doesn't.

What Steve's version "IS" is more of the original flavor. What the album sounded like when you bought it, no matter what format. 8 Track, Reel, LP, Cassette, CD, and Steve's mastering IS very good.

This new version is "NOT" what it used to be. It's NOT just EQ'd more intelligently. It sounds like a better tape, source, the whole nine yards.

Fairly sure some of the tracks of WN, the milti's, I think one is still missing, not sure. But the bonus tracks and the live material, like other people have said here, is WELL worth picking it up at BB for $20.

I think most SH members should try this. Keep the Hoffman master to the side, and just ask yourself.. is this one better??

In many cases, not all, I think this one is.

 

This could be part of it. Engineers have big egos. They really do care about the work they do and want the public to think favorably of them.

Recently, Shua Gur (sp?) remastered Teena Marie's "It must Be Magic" expanded edition With NO limiting/compression, and the wave I posted on this forum proves it!

This push for ending the current wave of bad mastering Isn't just for us audiophiles, it's for the betterment of all music and the industry.

 

Shua Gur did a great job with Marvin Gaye too.... He's using a careful ear as well!

 

More thoughts: Some engineers go through phases. Like Bill Inglot went through a phase of spiking treble, Astley maybe went through a phase of excessive NR, and has seen fit to step back on it. Sometimes these guys just need feedback from their customers that care and have more of a discerning ear than average listeners who wouldn't know or care.

 

But it's the same tape. Steve confirmed it.

 

Perhaps Astley was well familiar with Steve's version of Who's Next, and that coupled with the criticism he has received in the past caused him to change his tune.

 

You never know...perhaps he's been to this site.

 

I'm sure by now he's heard the criticism of his work by everybody even remotely in the music business.

This time he tried harder to get it right.


JohnG

 

Steve always said that he discovered the master tapes for "Who's Next" at the Mastering Lab in LA, where they had been filed since 1971.

These tape boxes are clearly shown in the Deluxe Edition, proving that it's the same tape Astley used.

 

Pete closed down his web page in part because of the brutal criticism of Astley. I remember reading his own comments about that. I think it was White Fang that was banned. And then the site was closed down.

 

Yes, it probably will . Be nice to think Astley has read the criticisms and taken them to heart; he should be used to brickbats anyway, since he's recorded albums of his own as well . Maybe he's finally seen the light, as it were. We'll find out with his next project, won't we?

ED

 

Yes, the deluxe edition packaging shows tape boxes which apparently match Steve's memory of the tapes he used. But what makes you assume that these are the boxes where Astley found the tapes he used? Since Astley claims he found the the masters mislabelled as safety copies, wouldn't those boxes *not* be labelled as masters?

I'm not entirely convinced one way or the other, and I'm a little reluctant to even argue this point because I'm afraid I may have offended Steve with my last post on the subject, which certainly wasn't my intention.

But if Astley claims that he found the tapes mislabelled as safeties, it doesn't really address his point to say that Steve used tapes which were labelled as masters.

 

This is an interesting thread.

Regarding engineers and their response to criticism of their work: I remember reading a lot of harsh comments directed toward Mark Linnett regarding his heavy use of noise reduction on the Beach Boys boxed set. Around the time of the Pet Sounds box he spoke to an interviewer about his decision to "leave the hiss in" as a result of comments made by fans. He made it quite clear that he had heard and responded to the feelings and thoughts of Beach Boys fans.

And indeed, the Pet Sounds box sounds terrific, IMHO.

Chris