The Cure on CD...Remasters or originals?

So my wife wants to get a few Cure CD's and Im trying to figure out which versions to get. I understand that some of the old CD's are a bit muddy. I was just wondering if the remasters are the typical compressed maximized junk that most remasters are. Im not interested in the deluxe Editions or vinyl, just the single disc editions. I think the albums she wants are Faith, Disinegration and Seventeen Seconds. Any help would be great

 

IMO, Get the west German cds.....those are the overseas originals
Staring at the Sea 829239/2 Fiction
Head on the Door 827 231-2 Made in France Fiction
Kiss Me Kiss me Kiss Me 832130-2 Fiction
Disintegration 839353-2

BTW, I have yet to hear a great sounding Disintegration. I have the Uk vinyl (which doesn't have all the tracks as the cd) and it sounds like the cd.
The remasters sounded too loud for my tastes.

 

well disintegration hasn't been remastered yet so that solves that issue right there. I think the CD on the market sounds fine.

Both Faith and 17 Seconds remasters sound fine to me as well, 17 Seconds sounds pretty improved actually; I haven't sat down and examined waveforms but they pass my ear test. The only remaster that sounded kind of weird to me was The Top; I know there are some issues about fading some tracks early on that as well.

 

The only remaster I heard was Head on the Door. Way too loud.
Enough for me to seek out those W German cds.

 

I agree to that.

I own the Deluxe editions, they not compressed, maximized and badly EQ'd.

The most "improved" on is 17 seconds. Faith is OK. Pornography is really good.

 

The Cure remasters have been really strange. The first four (3IB, 17 Seconds, Faith, Pornography) sound great. Amazing improvement. And the 2nd disc bonus tracks rock. Then the next set (Top, Head on the Door, Kiss Me) really suck. I think they're too loud, and I actually prefer the originals to these. On top of that, the bonus tracks are really weak (nearly identical demo versions). Hopefully that trend is reversed for the next set of remasters.

 

I think the regular US Disintegration is okay. I'm not sure there will ever be anything better.

Staring At The Sea is frustrating. You get the great horns version of Close To Me, which is better than the HOTD original. But what the hell is up with The Walk? It sounds as if cotton balls are stuffed into your ears all of a sudden. Is there a better pressing with a decent sounding version of this?

 

the bonus tracks on any of these don't really do much for me, honestly....I would have almost rather have had the b-sides (which I know are on join the dots) appended. some of them are interesting, but only once or twice.

this may be the case that the albums after pornography didn't really need remastering, too. they've always sounded pretty good; the earlier cds def. sounded kind of flat and lacked dynamics. there was just more room for improvement on them.

 

One thing I am wondering about is this business of the liner notes: "This album was mixed to be played loud, sop turn it up."

 

As someone said above, I'd go with the remasters of the first four or so then get the regular CD's after that.

If your a fan, the B-Sides boxset is ESSENTIAL. Some great tunes got left off their albums, especially "Wish"

 

I know there more room for improvement on the first four, the the second set of remasters sound worse than the originals. Especially Kiss Me. I was looking forward to that, because it has really great some really great drum and bass lines on it. They didn't shine they ought to on the originals, but they kind of got ruined on the remasters. Oh, well. It's my favorite band. I would morse code or braille versions of all The Cure albums.

 

I actually dislike the extra tracks on the DisintegrationCD. I had the vinyl long before the CD and IMHO, they seem to interrupt the flow.

 

Get the deluxe remasters..

 

I wondered about that. I've never owned it on vinyl, so the 2 extra songs "belong" there to me. You don't even like "Homesick"?

I didn't care for the remastering of KMKMKM either. I wonder what changed in their remaster philosophy in between the first and second groups of remasters?

I don't think KMKMKM or anything past that even need to be remastered. Wish has always sounded super, hasn't it?

The bonus tracks: 90% of them are inessential, I'm sorry. Join The Dots, despite disc four being a waste, is definately, definately essential.

I would love a definitive 12 inch singles collection - and i'm not banking on the forthcoming expanded "Mixed Up" to do the job. Still trying to track down a cd copy of "Open (Fix Mix)" as the vinyl is Very Muddy. Too bad, cuz it's the better mix, I think.

to everyone in this thread.

 

I don't dislike "Homesick," "Last Dance" now I could take or leave. The CD and cassette have the proper running order so the vinyl is the oddity but it was what I was familiar with. No worries though, I can simply bypass them on the iPod or the CD player.

 

I believe Open (fix mix) was only available on the High 12" single., so you may really have a hard time tracking down a CD version. But that seems like the kind of thing that would end up on a 2nd disc of a Wish remaster, so there may be luck.

 

I haven't done any A B testing on any of them except Faith which is my favorite Cure album. When I got the deluxe remastered edition something just didn't sound quite right to me so I compared it with the original US Elektra CD (60783-2) as well as the original UK vinyl. The deluxe version is louder of course and not really all that bad but I would definitely say that it doesn't have the same "air" especially in the drums as the original CD. It's a pretty subtle thing but having listened to this record hundreds of times over the years it makes a difference to me. The vinyl sounds even better but you were asking about CDs so my vote goes to the original. I haven't heard an original UK CD so I don't know if that's any better. One of these days I will have to track one down.

 

Is there any word yet on the release dates for Disintegration and Wish deluxe editions? It was rumored Wish would be a DVD-A release.

 

No word yet other than sometime this year..

These are my two favorites, so I'm really looking forward to them.

I know it sounds nuts, but I'd maybe even go so far as to say "Wish" with a different running order, and substituting a few weaker album cuts for a couple of the great b-sides, would maybe be my favorite Cure album! I'd open the album with "Cut". Thats a killer Cure song IMO, thats buried on "Wish"..

 

The latest 'word' is that the next three (Disintegration, Wish and Mixed Up) are due this year, so I see a Spring, 2009, release. I'm almost certain 5.1 mixes were done for both Disintegration and Wish, so that could be interesting. I'm actually really looking forward to Wild Mood Swings and Bloodflowers.

 

I prefer the originals, not that they're amazing though. I didn't like the EQ on the new versions at all. But what you describe as "muddy" I describe as "realistic." Different strokes.

Judging from your posts in the Zeppelin thread, you'll probably prefer the remasters. Not that the originals are anywhere as good as Barry's mastering, but the remasters are more like the Marino CDs. YMMV.

 

The Open fix mix is available on CD. I'm really not sure how rare it is. I'm not home right now, but I believe the thrid entry on this page is what I have. It is in a cardboard slipcase.

http://www.musicfanclubs.org/cure/singles/highcds.html

 

Wish had some amazing b sides, especially This Twilight Garden and Play. I still listen to my High CD5 more than the actual album.

 

I don't think it was necessarily a change in philosophy so much as the first batch were albums originally issued on LP and then put out on CD by the label without any input from the band. It was enough just to use better tapes and attention to detail to make them sound different. With the last batch, those albums came out on CD originally and didn't really need remastering.

 

Well, aside from the most recent ones. The last couple of Cure discs have been really LOUD and harsh, and could use a good remastering!