Moody Blues' Octave, Long Distance Voyager, The Present - remastered!

Hey downer, thanks for the info.

Now the question is how do they sound. I still have my WG's, we'll see!!

 

Digitally remastered by Justin Hayward, is not good news. I didn't care for his last remasters. He shouldn't quit his day job.

 

I love Justin, nevertheless....

 

You know, Justin has played live for 40+ years and started way before hearing protection became popular.

It dawns on me that Justin and other old band guys are probably not the best guys to approve remastering jobs these days.

He knows what he WANTS the discs to sound like, but maybe he is tailoring the sound to what his ears need to hear NOW, which may be far removed from what the music sounded like to him when he had fresher ears.

This isn't a criticism, just a thought. He can't help the abuse his ears may have taken, but if you are working with Justin on these projects it's hard to tell him he is wrong because he is the prime mover of the band.
How do you tell one of the key guys in a band that his sonic choices are wrong ?

 

Glenn, your point about his hearing is well taken. Since my hearing is also shot, one would think that I would like his skewed compensation efforts. No accounting for taste.

I never had the impression that Justin is ego driven. He would seem to be the approachable type. Maybe not at a local Fresh n' Easy, but in a more professional setting! Yes-men, they're everywhere!

Then again, I could be wrong.

 

Heavens, no! Keep the vinyl even if just for the cover art on LDV and The Present which is much better in 12" size.

I have the W. German CD of LDV, autographed by Patrick Moraz! I also used to have the MoFi CD, but frankly I preferred the W. German. And I like the original LP best.

 

Yeah, I've played in bands for over 40 years also, with no hearing protection for most of those years, so I can sympathize with Justin...and you .

I probably have lost some high end, so I probably would be a bad choice
to approve remasters these days also.

I agree that Justin seems pretty affable, but I wonder if you are a young guy sitting next to Justin and he signs off on a remaster if you can look at him and say..."Justin, you have made some bad sonic choices here"

 

The right intro would be.... "I have a friend named Steve Hoffman."

 

Steve worked on Moving Mountains with Justin.

For the SACDs of the classic 7, Justin worked with Alberto Parodi in Italy on the Stereo Mixes and I believe Paschal Byrne and Mark Powell worked on the quad mixes for the surround.

Besides being mastered loud, I'm okay with the redbook on the classic 7 SACDs and I love the bonus stuff. I also think the original CDs are great and I like the Mofi's too. I'm easily pleased I guess.

If the new Octave, Present and LDV discs have bonus stuff - I'll be picking them up.

 

I just picked up a used copy of LDV yesterday for $5. Hopefully, with the remasters coming out, people will be trading in their old copies of The Present and Octave, so I can grab those too. I don't have a lot of faith in Justin's mastering abilities. Sorry.

 

Amazing how much these are getting dissed when they haven't even been released yet. :thumbsdn:

 

I'd imagine they'll take it from Los Angeles 12/12/78, and Seattle 5/29/79...both very nice (but heavily circulated) boots. Not sure of the L.A. show, but I'm fairly certain the Seattle is an FM.

Or, it could be neither one and they'll surprise us?

 

They taped the last show of the Long Distance Voyager tour (Poplar Creek, Chicago). And I once heard it on the radio. Anyone know if it's available? It was a great show-I had a fabulous time.

 

I'm glad there aren't going to be any live tracks included on The Present. I don't need to hear any live tracks from that tour.

 

I believe it's on Wolfgang's Vault. I listened to it a couple months ago!

 

I saw them at the L.A. Forum on that tour and loved the show. Ray really knocked "Legend" out of the park and Justin doing "Running Water" solo with just a Casio keyboard gave me chills. It was probably the only tour where they would do songs like "Blue World", "under My Feet" and "Going Nowhere."

Here's the set list. Not too shabby....

Sittin' at the Wheel
Gemini Dream
Tuesday Afternoon
The Voice
Going Nowhere
Steppin 'in a Slide Zone
The Story in Your Eyes
Hole in the World
Under My Feet
Painted Smile
Reflective Smile
Veteran Cosmic Rocker
Driftwood
Talking Out of Turn
Running Water
Gypsy
Isn't Life Strange?
Blue World
I'm Just a Singer
Nights in White Satin
Legend of a Mind
Question
Ride My See-Saw

 

Was that the same show that was broadcast on Westwood One? If so, it was a pretty good show.

I saw them twice on that tour, once early on at either the Brendan Byrne Arena or Madison Square Garden and later on in the tour at an amphitheater Garden State Arts maybe. The first show was actually really disappointing. John Lodge's voice was shot and Justin didn't sound too great either. They had equipment problems as well. Stevie Ray Vaughan opened and was great.

This show was a big let down after the stellar LDV shows I saw. Mainly the one at MSG which was covered in either Creem or Circus magazine.

The second show was better but this time I wasn't in great shape - so I'm not 100% sure.

 

I'm happy to see the 12 inch version of Sitting At The Wheel. I love that song.

 

I just finished listening to Long Distance Voyager for the 1st time. Forget the "Classic 7." How about "Classic 8?" Just really, really great pop music.

I'll have to see if The Present is as good.

 

For me, the problems & downturn of The Moody Blues' music began on "The Other Side of Life", where a producer sidelined Graeme Edge in favor of a drum machine, and Ray Thomas didn't even bother to show up at the studio.

 

I'm not glad. I'd love to hear a recording from that tour.

 

Agreed; and yet I still love the next album Sur la Mer (1988). But I know what you mean, the 80's were in...full bloom you might say, and the spirit of the 60's was dead.

 

The Present is not nearly as good. Though it's a decent album IMO and sounds very similar due to Pip Williams production.

 

You don't want to hear the NJ show, I can tell you that. I'm sure the LA Forum show is easy to find since it was broadcast - and It's not bad.

 

Update: Amazon.co.uk is taking pre-orders for the remastered CD's of "Octave","Long Distance Voyager" & "The Present", though they don't have the correct song listings. The discs are mid-price.