U2 "Boy" - original CD vs. 2008 remaster

Can anyone else confirm whether the German Sonopress 610 559 CID 113 version has the full unedited Electric Co?

 

I can check when I get home tonight. I have the version with the full unedited The Electric Co. It was only after quite a few years that I learned that most other editions of this album were edited.

 

I have this version. Found it in a used CD store for $4 here in Colorado, and it definitely has the "Send in the Clowns" snippet in all it's glory. Here's the info:

Track length: 5:23
Made in Germany
Island/BMG
Catalog #: CID113
UPC: 4007196105591
Matrix: SONOPRESS 610 559 A

More info here:
http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/alb004.html
(scroll down to "Other Notes")

 

Many thanks for the info Popmartijn and morgan1098. Very much appreciated. Very interested to know which version you have morgan1098.

Meantime I shall try to track down a copy of the Sonopress Made In Germany version.

As I said earlier my UK copy has the short version but is Catalog #: CID113. Goes against the info on U2wanderer site.

 

Another way to find the full Electric Co on UABRS CD is to track down the original Festival-label Aussie release. I am not 100% certain, but I believe this earliest edition down under does NOT have variations, meaning that any Festival-label version would have the full song. (In any case, it's no greater risk than buying the German CD without knowing the matrix #.)

Australia, Island / Festival, D19177

 

I have two EU cds of 'Boy', the original US cd and the 2008 remaster and the EU cds sound closest to my UK and Jpn vinyl. The remaster is the hardest sounding and worst of the bunch. It's very compressed compared to the older editions. The US cd is a little mushy, obviously not from the master tapes but still a pleasant listen. I have no fear of using the volume control when the cd is cut low.

I have an EU cd of 'October' and the original US cd, either are a toss-up (different eq, roughly the same clarity). Again, the 2008 remaster is the loser.

The 'War' remastered cd sounds so much worse than the MFSL it is not funny. The MFSL sounds like it has had some large EQ moves applied to it, but it is still a good listen.

I only kept the remasters for the bonus tracks.

 

I had the MFSL version of Unforgettable Fire and found it a little lifeless. By contrast, the DE remasters I like very much - Boy, October, Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, and Achtung. I think they are significant improvements over the original CD's. Yes, compression has been used, but in my opinion, in service to the music. It is judiciously applied and has not crushed the recording. The waveform posted shows many peaks and valleys and is not simply a wall of blue. But the real test, of course, is how it sounds - I still listen to things before I make that judgment.

 

The key test is: can you turn it up past halfway without it hurting your ears?

 

Wow, we could not be farther apart in our two opinions. The only vinyl copy of 'Unforgettable Fire' I like as much as that MFSL gold cd is the German pressing. I have not heard any stock cd come close to that gold cd.

 

That's not a key test for me, because I have never turned the volume on my receiver even close to halfway for any CD, old or new. I almost never turn the volume above 10 o'clock, actually. As I've said before, whether or not a CD is "crankable" doesn't matter to me, because I don't crank my music. At the volume at which I do listen to music, the U2 remasters sound very good to me, although the original LPs and remastered LPs sound better still.

 

Re: a few of the bonus tracks, the performance/sound/mix on a few of the bonus tracks on disc 2 seem to sound pretty good to me on their own terms, maybe none more so to me than the instrumental Speed of Life. "Saturday Night" has always been a bit strange for me to hear since "Fire" was modeled after it and what I heard first, but it too has its benefits in being quite a bit longer in duration than its successor and also sounding professionally recorded as a bona fide studio outtake. "I Will Follow" is quite interesting to listen to as an alternate to the album track as well. Good to revisit a few of these bonus tracks as well as of course Another Day and Boy/Girl, etc.

 

I go with the original old Island cds.
I love them... and sounds great to me.

The thing with the deluxe editions is the bonus cd
(With all these b'sides and live tracks) I bought only the deluxe edition of The Joshua Tree for the dvd. I own an extensive collection of old singles and many material is really unnecesary (IMO)

If you want to collect all U2 stuff, well buy the old versions too (specially the old and early Island cds.

 

I love the 2008 remasters.

 

Anyone else get a smile when one of Norm's old threads pops up. He is missed.

I mainly bought the deluxe remaster for the bonus disc and should get the main album out again.

 

I still stand by my "clip fix" versions of War & October I made by reducing the volume of the 2008 remasters & then using Audacity's clip fix function. Much better dynamic range with the clarity of the remasters. On songs like "Rejoice" & "Gloria", the original pressing sounds during loud passages like the tape is damaged-lots of distortion.

 

I ha

I have the Island Masters of The Unforgettable Fire, Live Under A Blood Red Sky and War. They sounds great, same as the early Island cds. Are cheap reissues from Island made in EU. Now are more dificult to find but not are expensive.

 

Yes. I have it and is there.

 

I prefer the original CD to the remaster. Even though the original sounds somewhat cheaply made, the band was still pretty green and that's just how it was recorded, giving it a kind of lo-fi indie sound. I was hoping the remaster would somehow sound "better" but you can't really fix the way they made the album, and the remasters sound kind of fake somehow. At least the original sounds bad in an authentic way.

 

Roland, which one do you prefer? I have the blue green mastering.

 

I think the yellow column mastering (by Barry Diament, as far as I know). But the differences aren't huge, IIRC.

 

thanks

 

Which column is the Barry mastering for War, Roland? I searched the thread and couldn't really determine it. Great charts by the way. I have the pink column. Sounds like a Barry D to me.

 

Yellow

 

I don't know if Barry remastered the debut but it sounds quite a bit like my original vinyl (or did when I compared them several years ago).

 

bump just to prevent the lock