I was late to the King Crimson party. I've owned various Fripp and Belew albums through the years, but little Crimson. Then Steve Wilson started doing the 40th Anniversary releases, and I got those. I've never felt a desire to go back to original mixes for any of them - they sound great to my ears. I suppose of any of the albums became absolute favorites I might change my mind, but as it is, I'm happy with what I have.
A short listening to both should give you a clear explanation. In short the original mix never sounded too "hifi" and the remix is pristine, fidelity-wise.
The original mix had an overall very flat sound/texture; the acoustic tracks weren't bad but the ones with the entire band sounded cluttered and lifeless. SW's remix is a beautiful balance between enhanced clarity and depth. Nothing is overdone, nothing is added that wasn't already there..it's all just highly improved. The difference (to me)was literally instantaneous with the opening riff of the title song.
The 1997 mix, but via the Record Store release cut by Kevin Gray, without the brickwalled compression of the CD: The original mix was flat out terrible. I can finally enjoy this without any reservations. Also the occasional live album that wasn't mixed well the first time out, like Rock of Ages. I prefer this:
As good as it is, I wouldn't call it better...it has less of the panning. I'd call it equal and different. One thing I noticed on my cd, is at 1:04 during Little Wing, there's a funny sound/noise...as if Jimi played a lick and it was potted up in the mix. That's not on the regular stereo mix.
The remixed 20th anniversary reissue Ornette Coleman's (technically Pat Metheney's) Song X was and continues to be a total revelation. Never need nor want to hear the original mix ever again.
I think I got it wrong. It was only a remaster but it was a hell of an improvement over the previous CD release.
It's a single track, but Fatboy Slim's remix of "Body Movin'" is way better than the original version.
Joe Walsh - County Fair. My first time hearing this song was on The Best of Joe Walsh. I played it regularly last year and it became an instant favorite. What I didn't know is that the version on that Best of was actually remixed. Only recently have I finally listened to the original mix from So What, and much to my surprise, I didn't care for it all that much. The positioning and volume of the instruments was odd IMO (even without comparing each version), and I also missed the double-layered vocals from the remix. Not sure if it's just me, but it also seemed like the So What mix was wetter than the Best of one too. The thing that I was most disappointed about was that the original has the main riff in mono, while the remix divides the instruments between the left and right channels. Dare I say it, but the original sounds a bit unfinished in comparison. Here's the So What version: Joe Walsh - Country Fair And here's the Best of remix:
The Quad mix of Dark Side of the Moon, even in stereo. I have needle dropped it as stereo and still find it a far surperior mix to the original. Its the version I listen to.
Some of the Steve Wilson remixes for both XTC (Nonsuch for example)and some of the Yes and Jethro Tull best but don’t necessarily replace the original versions IMHO.
The original mix also had a lot of hiss...and Wilson managed to eliminate much of it by simply using the original multi-tracks. I also think his remix of "Benefit" crushes the original. They have been using the UK master which for some reason doesn't sound as good as the old US CD, but the US CD is riddled with dropouts. So the master tape situation appears to be even more dire than "Aqualung".
IME no remasters are clearly better than the originals, in fact this thread would be much bigger. If you use a decent HiFi set up and don't suffer from sensorineural hearing loss or presbycusis, the first pressing is the way to go..
MJQ - Odds Against Tomorrow Ellington at Newport - Created stereo by synching Columbia and Voice of America recordings.