New Bruce Springsteen box, "The Album Collection Vol. 1, 1973-1984" (11/17/2014)

1:59 - are those waveforms from the upcoming remasters?

 

Notice how the very interesting and informative video above seems to be promoting the vinyl edition more than the CD edition of the box set? Bob Ludwig has stated himself in a separate interview that the vinyl editions are likely to sound slightly better than the CD editions with this box set. I'm guessing this is because the signal hasn't been dithered down to CD quality (16/44.1) on the vinyl. He also stated that the usual surface noise associated with vinyl should not be present on these new reissues. This is a quote from that interview:

"The LPs are cut from the high-resolution digital masters," Ludwig notes, "so they are from 24-bit sources, and on a great system they should sound a little better than the CDs in some aspects. We got to use some of the best pressing plants in the world for these. I joke that if the major record companies had been using these plants during the original days of vinyl, there would never have been any complaints about ticks, pops and surface noise."

Apart from possible future high resolution releases of these albums (which has been mentioned as a possibility by Springsteen's people) I think the best thing would be to transfer the vinyl to 24/96 high resolution if you want the best sound quality possible of these releases in the digital domain for easy access and portability IMO. I've heard a lot of high resolution vinyl transfers of other albums and the majority of them sound fantastic and superior to the CD version, even when there is a hint of surface noise. I have found that there is a much wider stereo field.

 

I genuinely want these remasters - in all forms - to be great, for obvious reasons. But this quote from Bob Ludwig makes me laugh every time:

I read politicians & academics for a living, and that's the hedgiest sentence I've ever read:

and on a great system they should sound a little better than the CDs in some aspects

 

Are you saying that Bob Ludwig (who is a renowned mastering engineer with 35-40 years of experience) is wrong?

 

who has the best price for this box set so far?

 

What? No. I'm saying his wording makes it impossible for him to be wrong. It's his use of such hedged language - should, a little, some, on 'great systems' - that I was commenting on. There's literally no way his statement with words like that can be wrong.

Like I said, I hope & think these remasters will sound good - certainly an improvement over existing cd releases. And I'm sure that, to be more definitive than Mr Ludwig was, the vinyl will be even better than the cd version.

 

$68.93 on Collectors Choice when using the coupon (that still works).

$69.28 on Import CD out the door.

I have had a few orders via Import CD, but have never used CC.

 

Even "a renowned mastering engineer with 35-40 years of experience" is ONLY human. Plus since when isn't sound quality purely subjective opinion?

 

These LPs should sound better than the originals which were not so great.

But it's seems folks jump and praise an album if it's mastered by a particular engineer but I don't believe that any one person can always be successful.

 

I got a '69 Chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She's waiting tonight down in the parking lot
Outside the 7-11 store
Me and my partner Sonny built her straight out of scratch
And he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money got no strings attached
We shut 'em up and then we shut 'em down

 

Agree--that's like saying 'some people will really love this, some people will hate it.'

 

You're correct there. Bob Ludwig mastered Magic, remember? It was completely smashed!

 

Will the titles be available individually? Sorry if I have missed it in the thread, but haven't read every page.

If word on the street is positive in regards to how the vinyl editions sound, I would like to pick up Nebraska and The River.

 

Yeah, that could so easily have been an outtake from Tapestry

 

As far as Emmylou Harris goes, Racing In The Streets is just a good song. Not much of a problem for her with this one. She gives and explanation for why she covered the song in the middle of this version.

 

So you've quoted from the song that some people think is Springsteen's best, Racing in the Street?

So what are you saying? That women cannot appreciate this, or even just go with a story? Can they only appreciate certain types of songs related from a particular female point of view?

You quote the start so I'll quote to the end..

Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I want to blow 'em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
For racin' in the street

We take all the action we can meet
And we cover all the northeast state
When the strip shuts down we run 'em in the street
From the fire roads to the interstate
Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by piece,
Some guys come home from work and wash up,
And go racin' in the street.

Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I want to blow 'em all out of their seats
Calling out around the world, we're going racin' in the street.

I met her on the strip three years ago
In a Camaro with this dude from L.A.
I blew that Camaro off my back,
and drove that little girl away,
But now there's wrinkles around my baby's eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark
She sighs, "Baby did you make it all right,"
She sits on the porch of her Daddy's house
But all her pretty dreams are torn,
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born
For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels,
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me, we're gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands.

Tonight, tonight the highway's bright
Out of our way, mister, you best keep
'Cause summer's here and the time is right
For racin' in the street.

I still can't see how that's so male-specific in terms of audience appreciation? Yes, as is often the case with Springsteen it is largely about males (or centred around a male character) - and their rection to the world around them, as always - but that is a different thing to being 'male-orientated' so to speak.

Do outstanding (and gritty) female songwriters like Lucinda Williams, Patti Smith, Ani Difranco, Amy Rigby etc etc appeal just to women when their characters are mainly women?

 

You, know Carole King and Springsteen sound pretty different, and King withdrew into her farm of course, but their lyrics circa King's Tapesty (1971) v's any-era Springsteen are not a million miles from each other. Smackwater Jack, 'Tapestry' itself (it's slight tweeness aside) and Way over Yonder spring to mind. The rest of her album's songs (if I recall) are more homely, if wistful, love songs - and Springsteen has done plenty of them too in his own style.

This particular forum isn't a lyrics one I do know that - it's pure sound. It's not a women's one either to be frank.

Now Smackwater Jack, he bought a shotgun
'Cause he was in the mood for a little confrontation
He just let it all hang loose
He didn't think about the noose
He couldn't take no more abuse
So he shot down the congregation

You can't talk to a man
With a shotgun in his hand
Shotgun

Now Big Jim the chief stood for law and order
He called for the guard to come and surround the border
Now from his bulldog mouth
As he led the posse south
Came the cry, we got to ride
Clean up the streets for our wives and our daughters

 

To lighten things up a bit, today's (11/2/14) "Zits" comic strip:

 

Uh, no. I posted that in response to your line that you couldn't "personally see how his songs are far more attractive to men or even particularly testosterone-driven in any vaguely-negative or male-specific sense of the term." With the specific lyrics I quoted, Springsteen is taking the POV of a select group of individuals-- usually male, likely blue-collar types who are into building and racing muscle cars. Women can certainly appreciate it and even go along with the story, but I think the song might resonate more with that subset of young males. I don't think I'm off-base with that assessment.

 

Those lyrics from "Racing in the Street" sound almost like a synopsis of the film Two Lane Blacktop.

 

I thought that you merely quoting those lyrics was bit provocative given your quote of me (ie that I don't feel Springsteen's songs are "far more attractive to men"..."or particularly testosterone driven"). You seemed to be suggesting that I'm clearly wrong, and that it's a 'no brainer'.

I think the danger here is that some people can confuse the choice of artists like Springsteen to poetically/politically centre on classical male characteristics, with the reality of 'testosterone fueled rock' - when there is more than enough of that going elsewhere in the music industry. It also doesn't make much sense to me that men are "far more" likely to be interested in male characters, and women in female ones, when we know that both sexes can be intensely interested in each other. This is especially true when the target audience is not deliberately sex-specific: ie is open and universal like Springsteen's. There is just no way he writes specifically for men. Springsteen's poetic aims have always been 'high', and his general themes are pretty universal. He simply writes for a universal audience.

But yes it's obviously a question of degree of course, but the poster did say Springsteen's songs are "far more attractive to men", which just doesn't ring true in my opinion. The opening verse of 'Racing in the Streets' hasn't changed my view on that at all. Springsteen has had a history of being misunderstood by certain people, but essentially he's a rock and roll fokie - a social commenter, and an extremely valueable one for everyone who cares about that kind of thing. I'm sure there still is a sizable subset of largely-male fans who go to him purely for a macho adrenaline rush, but I'd suggest that this is A) a simplistic misinterpretation of his poetic aims, and B) well within the realms of female interest and pleasure too. And it's a subset too: Springsteen has a huge fanbase, international and American.

 

Not intentionally provocative; merely pointing out lyrics you may have overlooked, lyrics which no doubt help shape the perception among some that Springsteen's music is testosterone-driven songs for men. You could also blame the "I'm On Fire" video for promoting this image. (For the record, that's not how I view Springsteen's music at all.)

 

Will The River LP finally have some bass?

 

According to Ludwig... on a great system, you should hear a little.

 

But only if you buy the LPs.