Uriah Heep reissues 2015/6

I have seen Sanctuary UK will reissue the complete back catalogue on CD/LP in the next months. Probably newly remastered.

Sources:
http://www.musictap.net/2015/09/18/...heep-classics-to-be-re-released-on-cd-and-lp/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_pg...nk&keywords=uriah+heep&ie=UTF8&qid=1443009715

 

Any data? AAA LPs? Digitaly sourced? Quality?

 

Is there hope for Salisbury after all these years?

 

I'm very happy with the sound of my Teichiku CD.

 

Bumping this. Anybody purchase any of these? Thinking about getting Look at Yourself.

 

Another bump. I saw these at Newbury Comics today. Packaging looks nice. Does anyone know who mastered these and if they are indeed AAA?

 

BTW, Did anyone listen to these yet?

 

I may pick one of these up. I just can't help myself. I know they have the original tapes and the Brits have been on a roll as of late, mastering wise.

 

I was thinking about getting Look at Yourself....I wonder if they did the mirror cover ?

 

According to a review I have read the mirror on the cover of the LP is just printed. They didn't use any mirror foil and the poster, that came with the original edition, isn't included.

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/poprock/detail/-/art/uriah-heep-look-at-yourself/hnum/8254558

 

I saw a couple of these, but like everyone else I am waiting on reviews. I only have seen the Magician's Birthday, Demons and Wizards and Look At Yourself. Are Salisbury and Very 'Eavy included in the first batch? I see releases from 2013 on Amazon for extremely large prices.

 

I can't read German....looks like a two star rating. Not so good, huh?

 

That's just a description of the record and the rating is like amazon's rating. It could be they don't like the music and not have anything to do with the mastering.

 

Ah ok. I thought he was giving us a link to the review he mentioned.

Well...I'm still curious about these. @Claus ....who did the mastering?

 

I don't know. The CD deluxe editions coming in 2016. Andy Pearce did a lot for Uni in the past, like the Status Quo deluxe (coming end of Nov). It's possible he also remastered the Uriah Heep catalog.

 

Cool...thanks.

 

The reviewer likes the music and calls the album "a milestone of rock music". He says that the sound and the pressing quality of the record are okay but he dislikes the cheap packing of the record.

 

I listened to the new Magician's Birthday. The pressing is very quiet and flat, well done. The record cover is a gatefold and looks ok.

The sound: I compared this reissue with an original UK pressing. The UK pressing is noisier for sure. The eq on the reissue has less treble than the original and has more mids and deeper bass. The reissue sound is slightly dull by comparison or maybe too polite sounding. The reissue was not as loud as the original.

I do not know exactly what the source is for the reissue. I would think they had access to the original masters since the cds have are supposed to have bonus tracks on them. If I had to answer a mulitple choice question on what I thought the they used to master the lp, I would choose 16/44.1. It could be hi-res, I'm not sure, but it sure isn't AAA.

On the original of "Blind Eye", I could hear the room the electric guitars were in as opposed to just being there on the reissue. The acoustic guitar had more shimmer and overtones and the reverb had more depth on the original. Byron's voice had more presence and was slightly sibilant on the original and had a thicker sound on the reissue.

The original just had more overtones and instrument separation. I don't know how much the brighter eq had to do with this effect.

The reissue isn't terrible, but I think they could have done MUCH better by going AAA on this lp. This looks and sounds like a low budget project and it is certainly not definitive. I would really like to see AF take a crack at this title either SACD or let KG do an AAA cut.

 

Thanks for the review

 

@ Tullman: Thanks for your review.

 

Any information about the new bonus material Ken Hensley mentioned yet?

 

A week ago I received (through amazon.ca) Demons And Wizards LP (BMG/Sanctuary, US pressing 2015) which I disliked completely. It sounded that unnatural and digital-like. Had to return and refund it.
Today I received another pair of them (BMG/Sanctuary, UK made 2015) - Very 'Eavy... & Look At Yourself.
LAY sounds nice and comfortable. Sounds a bit warmer/softer than the original UK release, but it's still very good. The vinyl is dead quiet and the cover quality is perfect. No mirror on the front sleeve though. Just a silver paint instead. I would give it 5 stars of 5.
VEVU sounds a bit worse than I expected. It's a little bit harsh to my ears. The sleeve (gate-folded) and the vinyl are perfect though. 4 stars of 5, IMO.

 

What's up with the CDs? I've only seen a release for Demons and Wizards, and The Magician's Birthday. Have any of you had a chance to hear them?

 

I believe I heard the cd mastering on the lp. It really sounds like a cd.

 

I'm content with my Castles/Mercury's.
Sweet and crankable!