Uriah Heep reissues 2015/6

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Claus, Sep 23, 2015.

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  1. Dok

    Dok Senior Member

    Thanks John! Ordered all three from PledgeMusic. About $42.27 shipped.
     
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  2. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    Not according to Corich - he did most of them years ago but somehow they got forgotten about until now. By the way, one of the two "July Mornings" is the live version mentioned previously.
     
  3. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    When were the different mixes created.
     
  4. I have the 2003 Sanctuary cds with Bonus Tracks for many of these classic titles. On these, the bonus tracks seem like they are mixed using some bad sounding digital reverbs and effects. Can anyone comment if the 2016 bonus tracks are better/more natural sounding for the period? I haven't combed through the entire thread so I apologize if this has been discussed already. Thanks in advance!
     
  5. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    According to the booklets [of the first two reissues] between 1989 and 1995...
     
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  6. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    That's what I thought but I wanted to be sure. I didn't think they were done when the albums were originally recorded.
     
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  7. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Ordered all three 2 disc sets from Amazon release date 3/31/17.
     
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  8. Pangolino

    Pangolino Forum Resident

    I ordered and received a copy of "Salisbury", and wanted to write something reasonably informative about the bonus disc for other people, seeing as the official information seems excessively vague and wasn't helpful to me at all. I remember being disappointed back when I bought the 2CD version of "Lansdowne Tapes" even given the amount of material I didn't have due to things like the inclusion of 2 "alternative versions" of Lucy Blues, both of which were the same recording as the album version, the inclusion of 2 "alternative versions" of "What's Within My Heart" that are both the same recording but perhaps from different generation of tape, etc.. It's as if, rather than choosing the best-EQed version of a given mix, like you'd figure is just part of the basic work involved when putting out a CD, they just included both, like when they include the tops of the carrots and the soggy bits of spinach when you get a salad at a restaurant.

    There are only two tracks on the "Salisbury" bonus disc that contain different recordings / performances that those you might already have. These are "Time to Live" (which is an alternate performance and great) and the live version of "Salisbury". The rest of the Alternative Salisbury tracks are beyond useless mixes (though I'm not sure if multitracks were ever involved) or edits of the same material available elsewhere (mostly on disc 1).

    Here are rough notes about the remaining tracks; I sort of wish I could bring myself to do a more thorough analysis of these, but I sort of don't:

    "Bird of Prey" - it's slowed down a bit and contains a looped segment near the end. This version actually fades later than the album version, so there is some music here that isn't on the album.

    "The Park" - looped segment, "park" recordings mixed louder (but that segment is edited shorter by about 20 sec.); the intro is tacked onto the ending, and it fades out.

    "Lady in Black" - slightly slower speed, compressed to garbage, the chorus is looped at end for additional tedium.

    "High Priestess" - looped segment in intro.

    "Simon the Bullet Freak" - seems to have a delay added (or the same track duplicated slightly off time). This effect isn't always at full volume, thankfully. The ending is extended via looping / fading. The best mix of this song, in my opinion, is the "single version" included on The Lansdowne Tapes.

    "Here am I" - looped segment in intro, othewise resembles the "Alternative Version 2" from Lansdowne Tapes in that it contains instrumental segments edited out of the "Outtake" version on the Sanctuary 2003 CD. There's a looped segment after the heavy bit in the middle (another "Here am I, give me love"). This version is also compressed to garbage.


    Overall, this is a missed opportunity to have a "definitive" CD release of this album. I'm wary about buying any more of these.
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2017
  9. Pangolino

    Pangolino Forum Resident

    Oh, yeah, I forgot "Salisbury" - it's the same recording at a slightly slower speed, and the orchestra seems to have either a delay on it, or the same tracks duplicated slightly off-time (off-time being exactly what you want in an orchestral performance, what with having a conductor and all), making the whole thing sound inept.
     
  10. Pangolino

    Pangolino Forum Resident

    Maybe someone will comment on the new 2CDs when they are released, but I'm thinking the answer to "Why Fourteen Minutes" will be something like "Because the Tape was Running at the Wrong Speed". If anyone who has Very 'Eavy, Very Umble wants to comment on the bonus material, I'd appreciate it a lot. The main question I have is whether the bonus material contains different performances / takes to those available on the albums or those released previously as bonus tracks. Whether the material is a different mix or not I have no interest or confidence in given how bad / pointless the bonus material on Salisbury sounds.
     
  11. 99thfloor

    99thfloor Senior Member

    Location:
    Sweden
    All these newly created mixes, both here and on the previous remasters, are just crazy - why? Some of the editing is laughably unmusical, just repeating bars of music randomly for no good reason, ruining structures along the way - just to create endless amounts of "bonus tracks"... :realmad:
     
  12. Claus

    Claus Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    Well, I don't care about the bonus.... I only want a good remaster of the record.
     
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  13. Pangolino

    Pangolino Forum Resident

    My impression, from seeing a video interview with Mr. Corich, is that he was playing around with the tapes for his own amusement many years ago, making these different "versions" and compiling entire alternate versions of the Heep albums for his own amusement (maybe making copies for friends, who probably couldn't figure out why he bothered). I don't get the impression that any of this was created for the purpose of being "bonus tracks" - more like they were by-products of his learning how to use a studio / learning about musical structures / dicking around and making different "versions" because he had the tapes and he could. I just think that he, or other people involved with the reissues, didn't ask themselves the most basic questions that should be asked when a reissue is undertaken - questions like "what bonus material SHOULD we include if we're intending to make this the "Definitive Edition" of the album?" / "how can we make sure this material is the best-sounding it can be?" / "is anyone going to care about playing this CD more than once - or even ONCE all the way through?" That it's all "previously unreleased" is probably the only thing that occurred to them. I'd interpret that to mean "keep your previous editions for the bonus tracks, because the same songs on the new editions are going to sound worse / be messed around with in annoying and irrelevant ways and the only way we're going to know about it is if Heep fans pull together and communicate this stuff to each other".
     
  14. gkella

    gkella Glen Kellaway From The Basement

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I started my Heep journey with Salisbury.
    It is my favorite Heep album.
    Looking forward to the reissues of Demons and Look at .yourself.
    Can someone comment on Very eavy,very umble.
    I have never heard it.
    How does it compare to the rest of the catalogue.
     
  15. Great classic album! Hell the first six albums with David Byron are all absolutely essential in my book.
     
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  16. It's a slightly better album than 'Salisbury' IMO.
     
  17. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    Some of the tracks do have longer fades though. I agree they're not great overall, apart from the non-album and live track(s).

    He mainly did them for a friend who, according to him, was the biggest Heep fan in the world and had incurable cancer at that time. I think the link I posted one page ago has some reference to that. I don't share his view of not repeating stuff that was on the previous remasters though, at least not if there's enough space.

    One thing we shouldn't forget - the label and Mick Box both gave this project the go-ahead. So whatever we may think of it, it's not a vanity project by one person and Mick said that he wanted to do something similar to the Led Zeppelin deluxe editions (whether he's achieved that is up to everyone's own opinion).
     
  18. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    For some reason, my local Müller has now stocked a lot of Heep again, and right next to the new "Salisbury" there was the old "Salisbury". Yeah, it seems like most or all of the bonus tracks are unique. I find that kind of annoying, particularly since these bonus discs are not filled to the brim...
     
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  19. Great. I'm now going to have to track down the last remastered series/unique bonus tracks. I'm with you, why not fill the bonus discs to the brim.
     
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  20. Pangolino

    Pangolino Forum Resident

    Well, to be fair, on the "Salisbury" bonus CD at least, there wouldn't be enough room left on the bonus CD for the alternate take of "The Park", the alternate take of "Lady in Black", "Here am I" and "Simon the Bullet Freak" what with the 49 minutes of completely pointless edits they included (and the 22 minutes of otherwise unreleased good material, i.e. "Time to Live" and the live "Salisbury").
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2017
  21. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    I didn't intend to say that all the bonus material would fit on one CD, but that they could have recycled some of the previous bonus stuff to fill up the disc.
     
  22. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    I missed this post of yours. Unfortunately I can't compare to the Landsdowne Tapes or the previous remaster, but overall the bonus material doesn't seem much more interesting compared to Salisbury. "Lucy Blues" e.g. has a strange short delay effect added (plus part of the ending repeated) and the speed of "Gypsy" (which is "extended" but probably just looped) noticeably varies a couple of times.

    A quick rundown of the others:

    Walking in Your Shadow: A bit faster, a longer passage in the middle (looped? Or edited out on original release?). However the ending is significantly longer

    Come away Melinda: The final "Come Away Melinda, come and close the door" repeated

    Dreammare: Strange. The intro is much too slow (a complete step too low) but the rest seems OK speedwise. The wah-wah solo is shifted around in the stereo panorama (which suggests Corich indeed had access to the multis) and the fade is quite a bit longer. Probably one of the more interesting bonus tracks

    Real Turned On: Looped intro. Too fast. Extremely compressed. A few previously muted vocal parts in the ending

    I'll Keep On Trying: The vocal is more at the front but feels a bit distorted. A short looped instrumental passage

    Wake Up (Set Your Sights): Drums in both channels (but not true stereo)! Again some elongated (maybe looped, maybe not) instrumental parts

    I can't compare "Magic Lantern" and the two versions of "Born in a Trunk" to anything.
     
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  23. Pangolino

    Pangolino Forum Resident

    Thanks so much for that! I should avoid that 2CD, though I am tempted by the possibility of a better-s0unding album than the Sanctuary mid-line CD I currently have.

    Incidentally, on The Lansdowne Tapes 2CD, the alternate mix of "Walking in Your Shadow" is 5:01 and has a longer ending than the album version. The alternate mix of "Real Turned On" has a bit more vocal during the end, where David Byron asks Mick Box to "do it for me", etc. that had been muted on the album version.
     
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  24. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Look at Yourself, Demons & Wizards, Magicians Birthday I got yesterday on the 31st. Great packaging listened to Look at Yourself in the car on a very good system sounded awesome. Will give all three a good listen tomorrow when I have the house to myself. Any thoughts on these Pearce mastered gems?
     
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  25. Nice. I'm looking forward to mine arriving form Amazon UK, hopefully this week. Interested to know what you think when you have heard them after your critical listing session tomorrow. :agree:
     
    old school likes this.
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