What are your 3 favorite CD catalogs & what 3 do you think need the most improving?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Stateless, Jan 22, 2003.

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  1. Stateless

    Stateless New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Here are mine...

    FAVORITES

    1. Ramones-The sound, liners & bonus tracks are all fantastic.

    2. Byrds-ditto

    3. Elvis Costello (Rhino)-I really like the format of putting the original album on 1 disc and the bonus tracks on the other. (Does anybody think the Ryko TYM sounds better than the Rhino? I have yet to pick up the Rhino version. I do think Rhino's MAIT & AF sound better than the Ryko's.)

    NEEDS IMPROVING (I'm not going to say The Beatles because I think everyone will probably agree with that.)

    1. Bruce Springsteen-The River (probably my fave) sounds terrible. Darkness is pretty lame too. TWI&ESS sounds pretty good though...go figure.

    2. U2-Boy, October & UF in particular.

    3. Neil Young-EKTIN is disappointing. There are still several albums out of print that I've never even heard, like Reactor & On The Beach.
     
  2. Claus

    Claus Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    Needs improving:

    1. Rickie Lee Jones
    2. ZZ Top
    3. Mother's Finest
     
  3. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    The Isley Brothers-They need to finish releasing all the titles on CD and upgrade the sound on the older CBS-era CDs.

    Raydio/Ray Parker Jr.-Not ONE of his major albums have been issued on CD!

    Curtis Mayfield-Rhino started to get this done but I guess other priorities got in the way. There have been several British companies that have released his albums but none of them sound decent and have many mistakes.

    one more...

    Dionne Warwick. See above...
     
  4. Mike

    Mike New Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Do you not like the Sequel reissues and have you compared any of them to their Rhino counterparts? I just ordered a couple Impressions titles and some other Curtom cd's on Sequel. If you don't like them, what would you say is the problem?
     
  5. Mike

    Mike New Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    One more question - what are the many mistakes you speak of? I hope it's the Charly cd's you're talking about. :)
     
  6. jamesmaya

    jamesmaya Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    FAVORITES:

    1. Byrds (Good sound, bonus tracks, intelligent liner notes).
    2. Grateful Dead (The Golden Road box set; lovingly compiled).
    3. Simon & Garfunkel


    NEEDS IMPROVING:

    1. Rolling Stones (The Abkco remasters? An opportunity squandered.)
    2. Neil Young (Waiting, waiting, waiting for that 10-CD retro).
    3. Bob Dylan (Yes I know the SACD's are on the way, but what took so long? He's only the single most important artist in rock music to come after Elvis).
     
  7. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    To be clear, I am referring to the Charly CDs. They blow!
     
  8. Mike Dow

    Mike Dow I kind of like the music

    Location:
    Bangor, Maine
    Favorites:
    Fleetwood Mac "Blue Horizon Years" Box set. A 6 disc set featuring all of the Mike Vernon/Blue Horizon sessions including tons of outtakes and illuminating chatter. Chock full of awesome Peter Green performances!

    The Who. Love the albums. For the most part, I don't mind the remixing that occurred. Having said that, I strongly dislike the loud,harsh and overly bright mastering. (see below)

    Jimi Hendrix--the Experience Hendrix editions. I think Jimi's family is, for the most part, doing a great job with his catalog and their choices of vault releases. In my opinion, The Blue Wild Angel/Isle Of Wight collection that came out in November should not have been released. Like almost every Hendrix concert, it has it's moments. Those precious few bright spots are overshadowed by Jimi's inability to overcome all of the obstacles he was facing that night/morning. From fatigue to unfamiliar equipment to the fact that he didn't even want to be there--you can hear it in his playing and in his stage chatter. If you have the DVD, check out the last few stage moments. He mumbles something about "getting it together again someday--I really hope so". Then, he takes off the guitar and and throws it to the stage before walking off. If he had lived, this stuff would now be considered "legendary unreleased performances" like the Rolling Stones R & R Circus pre 1996. He would never have allowed the Isle Of Wight material to be released.

    Needs improvement:

    The Beatles

    The Kinks (60's material only) I pieced together the 60's stuff and have a combo of the Essential and Sanctuary discs. Both are too bright and harsh sounding. Bob Ludwig did the 70's and 80's material and it's great. I love the Velvel reissues.

    The Who. I love the bonus tracks and the informative notes but these great albums need the love and attention of someone who knows how to master great recordings. Ahem....I wonder...any ideas? Really though--someone like Steve or Bob Ludwig. Someone who still uses their ears instead of looking at the VU meters to see if "she's pinned to the red".

    Just one more:
    Neil Young. Maybe Neil is waiting for the arrival of the "Googlephonics" system as described in the classic Steve Martin bit. He should do something about this soon--really. We're all getting older and it would be nice if we could actually purchase premium Neil Young remastered reissues while our legs and vital organs will allow us to walk into the store by ourselves. I'd hate to have to have my future grandchildren bring the reissues to me one day when I'm in "the home".
     
  9. tomd

    tomd Senior Member

    Location:
    Brighton,Colorado
    :realmad: Which catalogs need the most improving-hmm let's see?

    1)Neil Young-For the love of god Neil PLEASE give us some more cd/DVD-A remasters or one of the missing six before you give us another "new" album!

    2)The Pretenders

    3)The Stooges-Self titled and Funhouse

    4)The Replacements -(on Sire)
     
  10. TommyTunes

    TommyTunes Senior Member

    First off I think Sony has done a great job when they select a artist to remaster. Although it takes them a while to get started

    The three IMO that are best

    1. The Byrds - Great sound and tons of bonus tracks

    2. Janis Joplin - Although rather limited in scope a good job was done.

    3. Hendrix - We could argue for years on the sound but at least the Family is working to get everything out.

    The three worst. I will not include the Beatles because we all know that.

    1. Neil Young - IMO the sound is not that disappointing but for God's sake give us the missing albums and the never released material.

    2. Pink Floyd - Not for their commercial catalog but for the missing BBC sessions, the "Scream thy last Scream" b/w "Vegetable Man" single and other vault goodies.

    3. Quicksilver Messenger Service - A legendary SF band who's CD suffer from both bad sound and lack a proper box set retrospective.
     
  11. Stateless

    Stateless New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
     
  12. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    Major catalogs in best shape:

    Elvis Costello - The Rykodisc/Demon remasters set a standard (for me) for how a major artist's catalog should be treated: bonus tracks, liner notes from the artist, original artwork, etc. The Rhino remasters are even more generous.

    The Byrds - As someone else noted, Sony/Legacy does a very good job once they put their mind to it. See also Miles Davis, Janis Joplin, Simon & Garfunkel, The Clash, etc.

    The Rolling Stones - We complain about it, but we now have every single Rolling Stones album remastered by Bob Ludwig. I'm happy. And the ABKCO catalog comes with what amounts to a free SACD layer.

    Honorable mention: The Doors, The Ramones.

    Major catalogs in worst shape:

    The Pretenders - Some of these sound pretty bad, especially II.

    Bruce Springsteen - Several of these albums sound pretty lean. Where's that big Spectorian wall of sound? Why's the synth on BORN IN THE USA sound like a toy? However, the remastered songs on the TRACKS box from the same sessions don't sound all that great either, leaving me to wonder if his albums can be made to sound good without re-mixing or heavy-handed knob-twiddling.

    Neil Young - My favorite Neil Young record growing up, after LIVE RUST, was TIME FADES AWAY. Guess I'll go pick that up . . . oh. This guy needs a remastered, complete catalog; a series of DICK'S PICKS-style live releases; and to finish off the long-delayed DECADE follow-up. His obstinacy about the inadequacies of digital is a self-fulfilling prophecy. While other artist have had their careers re-evaluated and reputations enhanced by the CD reissue boom -- James Brown, The Byrds, a hundred or so jazz artists like Tina Brooks -- Young's actually decreased his historical presence. Sorry, but CDs are what people listen to.
     
  13. jeff e.

    jeff e. Member

    Location:
    NY
    My three favorites:

    1) The Byrds--As others have said, the sound quality is superb, there are tons of bonus tracks, and the liner notes are informative and well-written.

    2) The Beach Boys--Every LP from the 60's and 70's is available in gorgeous remastered sound (60's material in HDCD) and the two-fers and bonus tracks just sweeten the deal.

    3) Elvis Costello--I thought that the old Ryko reissues were as good as it could get, but I've been proven wrong with the new Rhino series. To my ears, the sound is better than ever and separating the extremely generous bonus tracks onto a second disc is a really great idea.


    The three most disappointing:

    1) The Beatles--I don't think I need to expand on this one.

    2) The Who--Their reissues range from listenable (Who's Next, Live at Leeds, The Who Sell Out) to dreadful (just about everything else). All they got right were the bonus tracks (fascinating to listen to even with the uneven sound) and the liner notes.

    3) David Bowie--We can choose from RCA's flat transfers from questionable tapes, Ryko's bonus-track-laden but hit-and-miss (to be kind) transfers, or EMI's NoNoised messes. Now that Bowie's on Columbia, wouldn't it be great if Bob Irwin could get involved with a real reissue series?
     
  14. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    My three favorites:

    1. The Rolling Stones -- yes, the Abkco CDs have flaws, but they're a hell of a lot better than what came before. And the RSR/Virgin CDs have been good for many years. All that's really missing is a good post-1971 singles and B-sides/remixes collection.

    2. The Byrds -- can't argue with that.

    3. Elvis Costello -- every album with an extra CD of bonus tracks? Wow.

    Three in most need of improvement (other than the Beatles):

    1. Bob Seger -- almost none of his music before 1976 is currently on CD, and some of it has NEVER been on CD. Some of those LPs that are on CD haven't been remastered since the dawn of CD time.

    2. Bee Gees -- there's no US compilation of the Australia years; most of the pre-Main Course albums are out of print in the US; and some of their post-1990 work is already out of print. The two major compilations (the box set and The Record) are excellent, though.

    3. Neil Young.
     
  15. grbl

    grbl Just Lurking

    Location:
    Long Island
    The best:

    King Crimson: 30th Anniversary remasters - excellent sound

    Steely Dan: Wonderfully recorded and beautifully remastered.

    Bowie: The Virgin remasters. A controversial choice, I know (I also love the latest Roxy remasters, which are universally reviled here), but to me they realy sound the most like my original lps.

    The worst:

    Neil Young: I'll echo everyone else here. The missing 6 include 3 of my favorite Neil albums (On The Beach (my favorite album of all time), Time Fades Away, and Reactor). It's ridiculous that 20 years into the cd era they've never seen the light of day. In addition the rest of his catalog sounds terrible - thin and tinny.

    Van Morrison: Astral Weeks, Moondance, His Band and the Street Choir. The later cd's have been remastered, but his early masterworks are in dire ned of a good remastering.

    Jethro Tull: The remastering process is progressing at a snail's pace. Excluding Mofis and DCCs, only 8 have been remastered to date (2 a few years ago as special anniversary releases) and the rumor is that the next 3 aren't due until fall.
     
  16. Whiskey Man

    Whiskey Man New Member

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Best:

    Elvis Costello: Ditto what everyone else has said.

    The Byrds: Ditto.

    Miles Davis: Columbia/Legacy has done right by Miles.

    Worst:

    The Beatles: The state of the Fabs catalog on CD is a cultural crime. EMI/Capitol/Apple whoever should buy an Elvis Costello or Byrds reissue and be shamed into action.

    The Stones: Squandered a golden opportunity to add bonus tracks and liner notes a la the Byrds, the Who, and Simon and Garfunkel. Reissued cheap cash-in albums like Flowers and More Hot Rocks that never should have been released in the first place. Confused the casual fan by reissuing slightly different UK and US versions of key albums such as Aftermath and Between the Buttons. I know this point has been devoted before, but wouldn't one worldwild release of the UK Between the Buttons with the Let's Spend the Night Together / Ruby Tuesday single added as a bonus make more sense and provide better value for the consumer? Ditto for the UK Aftermath plus Paint It Black. Why is Hot Rocks a 2-CD set when it could fit on one CD? Couldn't they have gotten rid of More Hot Rocks and added the key missing a-sides such as the The Last Time and We Love You to Hot Rocks? There's certainly enough space. How about some liner notes? And on and on and on. I have bought 5 or 6 of the reissues anyway, and will probably eventually end up with all of them, but I am p*ssed off. I will have to spend a weekend with the CD burner to create versions of the albums that *should* have been released, but that I will never be able to listen to on an SACD player. Arrggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!

    Bob Dylan: I am, of course, referring to the present state of Dylan's catalog. Those Bootleg Series albums sure are *a lot* nicer than the regular Dylan CD catalog, huh? Will Columbia/Legacy follow the good example of its Miles Davis/Byrds/Simon and Garfunkel reissues or the bad example of ABKCO when it reissues the Dylan catalog on hybrid SACD? I'll buy 'em all anyway, but PLEASE don't make the mistakes the Stones made.
     
  17. Whiskey Man

    Whiskey Man New Member

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Whoa, sorry for some of the stream of consciousness typing errors above. What exactly is a "worldwild" release?

    One of the greatest things about the Elvis Costello reissues is the way that they solve the endless debate over the integrity of the original album vs. bonus tracks.

    If you believe that the original album is a timeless work of genius that should never be tampered with - listen to disc one. If you want to hear all of the non-lp singles, b-sides, outtakes, and live tracks, listen to disc two.

    If you're like me you might burn your own single disc combining the best of discs one and two, but hey . . . you've got the choice.

    I was never a big fan of EC before the current reissue program, but the attention to detail that Rhino has put into these releases lured me into buying This Year's Model, and from there I progressed to records I never would have heard, such as All This Useless Beauty.

    What if Rhino could somehow acquire the rights to the Beatles' catalog? A man can dream . . .
     
  18. guy incognito

    guy incognito Senior Member

    Location:
    Mee-chigan
    And some of those that have been remastered actually sound worse than the previous issues! (q.v. Live Bullet)

    I think Seger himself, along with manager Punch Andrews, are keeping a lot of his earlier stuff from being reissued. Bob seems to think a lot of that stuff just wasn't that good. (Personally, I'll take Back In '72 over Against The Wind any day of the week, but it's not my catalog.)
     
  19. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    Of course, his really, really early stuff is controlled by Abkco, and we all know what that means. How "Sock It To Me Santa" ever filtered out onto CD is anybody's guess...
     
  20. CardinalFang

    CardinalFang New Member

    Location:
    ....
    Faves:

    1) Elvis Costello - Wonderful job. Leaves the Ryko releases in the dust
    2) Miles Davis - Even though Teo hates the Bitches Brew reissue, I loved it. The box sets are incredible... especially the 60s quintet box.
    3) Hendrix - The family is doing it right

    Most in need of help:
    1) Dylan - I'd like Mono and Stereo mixes on SACD
    2) Springsteen - what they said
    3) U2 - I feel that every album prior to Achtung Baby is lacking.
    4) Prince (Warner Bros catalog) - Eratic mastering, even over the course of one album (Sign O' The Times). Bonus tracks would be nice... but given Prince's relationship with Warner Brothers, I doubt this will happen any time soon.
    5) The Beatles - obvious
     
  21. Rspaight

    Rspaight New Member

    Location:
    Kentucky
    Good ones:

    1) Marillion -- all the EMI albums have been reissued with a disc full of bonus tracks (like Costello) and a thick booklet full of interviews and essays.

    2) Byrds -- ditto to above posts

    3) Doors -- no bonus tracks, but the current issues are good

    The Bad:

    1) Warren Zevon -- can we get this guy's catalog whipped into shape while he's still with us? Seems the least we can do. The Elektra/Asylum albums that are still in print sound all right, but there's way too much out of print.

    2) Neil Young -- ditto to above posts

    3) The Beatles -- 'nuff said.

    Ryan
     
  22. guy incognito

    guy incognito Senior Member

    Location:
    Mee-chigan
    True. Of course, if those rumors about an impending Cameo-Parkway project prove to be true, I suppose anything is possible...
     
  23. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Because it can't - it's 85+ minutes.

    If you get rid of More Hot Rocks, where do all of the tracks unique to it go?

    As much as I despise the London/ABKCO catalog format, I really think More Hot Rocks is a nice package - lesser hits, key album tracks, and a bunch of rarities.
     
  24. Whiskey Man

    Whiskey Man New Member

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I stand corrected on Hot Rocks. However, 79 minutes of those 85 could fit on one c.d., leaving approximately 70 minutes of blank space on the current two-c.d. set. What could ABKCO fill that space up with? Hmm, why not "The Last Time"? "We Love You"? "Dandelion"?

    The Beatles Red Album is a similar rip-off double c.d. set, but at least it doesn't omit any U.K. a-sides.

    I'll never understand your affection for More Hot Rocks. It exists because ABKCO did a cheap shoddy job on the original comp, that's all.
     
  25. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    That one, on the other hand, could *easily* fit on a single CD.

    Er...what *wouldn't* be a "cheap shoddy job"? Would you rather ABKCO hadn't released all those "previously unreleased in the US" tracks?
     
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