New david bowie song / major compilation

Yeah, I was struck by that as well. Glad they didn't just try to make it sound different just for the sake of it. The whole thing just sounds clearer, more dynamic.

 

Reading about the variations on this release reminded me of the "Best of Bowie" issue from 2002. I guess it could be worse:



In each of the 21 territories that the album was released, it was given its own track listing, based upon which songs were most popular locally. In a number of countries, there were two versions – a single disc version, and a double disc version. All in all 63 tracks appear in at least one of the 20 different versions. The country the edition came from can be identified by a small national flag on the spine, except for the Argentine/Mexican, Eastern European and UK editions, which are "flag-less".

I ended up with the 2-CD US and 1-CD Australia comps.

 

You should probably use a different word than "dynamic" to describe it, as that is the one/(only?) thing that can, literally, be proven "wrong" by science...

 

I love how big they made the orchestration sound, and I never liked the warble in Bowie's voice, and they cleaned that up as well. It does what I love about a great remix; pays respect to the original but gives us sonic improvements.

 

Except Life on Mars is fairly dynamic...it's not like the life has been beaten out of it.
(Top new remix, bottom Ryko version)

 

I said it "sounds" more dynamic, and I'll stand by that.

 

No. Those extra seconds consists of silence. It is an error it's there in the first place.

 

Apparently the only song that appeared on every single version of the album was Fame.

 

Thanks for answering the question in my head and how this mix 2003 existed in the first place. I do like this mix just for the power it adds to Bowie's double tracked vocal but the original mix is still superior IMO.

I've been enjoying the 3 CD version in my car and it's mixed bag for the different tracks and mastering. Overall happy with the package and some of the sound. I just received the 1 CD Japanese version and will spin that next. I'm still debating about getting this on LP.

 

Though, the German CD (among a couple others) actually had the 1990 remix, not the original version found on most editions

 

To their credit, the Ryko reissue campaign of 1989-1992 was probably the last comprehensive treatment of the core 1969-1982 Bowie catalog that made sense and seemed to be done with care.

 

I didn't mind the Ryko sound at the time! If you actually compare (I did for Hunky Dory) the Ryko CD to the other digital versions (RCA & EMI 99's) they have a "brighter" sound which is almost glaring and isn't very pleasant (I have not compared closely 1990 Ryko's to the 1990 EMI pressings but think the EMI's might be better?). So although the Ryko's have good dynamics they are not my "go to" versions for anything other that what is exclusive to their discs (not sure there's much left?) and the two bonus live tracks from their Station to Station CD are far superior to the EMI Station to Station box set/Special edition. I did read somewhere that Steve Hoffman gave some graphic equalizer setting advice that reduced the overly bright Ryko sound but I haven't seen the comment myself (I don't have a graphic equaliser).

On the bonus material I think that Bowie severely limited them to what they could use and then they've got them all over the place (wrong version credited to the wrong album etc.) so not sure they should be lorded for this either. They are/were very welcome at the time and I loved all of those releases as they came out. Now, 25 years later, I never play them.

 

i wonder if it's an error of plant locales - it seems to me that (if anyone is willing to corroborate) the UK/Europe pressings have the 4:55, while the US version has the 4:20...

 

read my post again. 30 seconds of silence is the difference. unless you can provide more evidence than a running time, i'm sure this is the reason.

presumably you're using the word "dynamic" to mean it has more punch? it is markedly less dynamic in the traditional mastering sense. the punch has been attained by compressing the track and removing the space and air of the original.

EDIT: I see both of these questions were addressed by others while i was in the land of nod. thank you.

 

So are Fashion and Scary Monsters unique to this compilation then?

Also, is Buddha Of Suburbia the single version from the CD single?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buddha_of_Suburbia_(song)
Quote: Single track No. 1 is labelled just "Buddha of Suburbia" but does show "featuring Lenny Kravitz on guitar" in the credits. A careful comparison shows that this track is primarily the same as album track No. 1, but has the ending section of album track No. 10 (featuring Lenny Kravitz) instead of the original ending from album track No. 1.

 

No. I have an EU pressing and mine is 4:20.

Yep, the cd-single version.
Unique edits of Scary and Fashion, yes.
Further unique edit appear on the 2disc version: Absolute Beginners (shortned)
The 1disc Japan version: Space Oddity (stereo edit)

 

this is also on the 1 disc edition. it's the first time on CD but not unique, it's the US promotional edit and was previously available on 7" and 12".

 

In regards to the 1 CD edition, is the mastering closer to that of the 3 CD set or the 2 CD set?

 

are you referring to this one track or the whole compilation? i recommend the 2CD version over the 1CD for this particular track, it's less compressed (a different master). http://tinyurl.com/lbjpxyp
for the whole CD... it's a tough call. for me, all 3 compilations are louder than necessary and few tracks are spared from limiting (however minor it might be elsewhere).
1CD - http://tinyurl.com/p6lztkf 2CD - http://tinyurl.com/lcek3p7 3CD - http://tinyurl.com/nuuetfp

 

I was referring to the CD as a whole, those screenshots are very helpful, thank you for posting them!

 

you're welcome. some will no doubt point out that crammed into a single frame the tracks look worse than they would individually, but what should be obvious to most is that the majority of tracks are either brickwalled (most post-93 tracks, as they always have been) and peak limiting has been applied to most (but not all) of the remaining tracks. as i'm discovering there are even cases of quieter masterings... e.g. the Buddha Of Suburbia single version (correct edit), Where Are We Now? (0n 1 and 2CD editions) and Sue (edit). while nobody is claiming this to be an audiophile release, it goes without saying that if this was an AF of MoFi release, the forum would be ablaze.

 

I've been listening to this 2 compilations all this weekend thanks to Spotify

 

10 inch + double.

 

Are you boasting?

 

David Bowie( nuff said).