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. peterC

    peterC Aussie Addict

    Location:
    sydney

    I've said it before and I'll keep on saying it (!):

    I think His Band And Street Choir is one of the best sounding CDs in my collection. All warm and romantic!

    Dire need?? Well, I agree that the other two could be significantly improved (depending on the available sources of course).
     
  2. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    Rhino's "X" remasters are great
     
  3. DeeThomaz

    DeeThomaz Senior Member

    Location:
    In The Felony Room
    1.) Elvis Costello: What the template for reissue campaigns of major artists should be modeled upon.

    2.) The Velvet Underground: All the studio albums available at midline prices in good sound. Deluxe expanded editions of VU & N and LOADED. Live releases 1969 part 1&2, LIVE AT MAX'S KANSAS CITY, and BOOTLEG SERIES VOLUME ONE (with more promised in the pipeline). Compilations of unreleased material VU and ANOTHER VIEW. And instant VU collection available (with plenty of rarities and unreleased gems) in the PEEL SLOWLY AND SEE. Further additions to the catalog will be welcome (as will expanded reissues of the live sets), but for now, everything you need from the Velvets is there for the buying.

    3.) The Band: all their albums in print in good sound with relevent bonus tracks and nice packaging. LAST WALTZ expanded into 4 disc box set. Terrific all around, and very tidy.

    Honorable mention: Randy Newman. The Rhino campaign for the Randy Newman catalog is still in it's early stages, but things look promising!

    needs improving (no comments as they either speak for themselves or were addressed elsewhere in the thread):

    1.) The Beatles

    2.) Bob Dylan

    3.) Nick Lowe
     
  4. guy incognito

    guy incognito Senior Member

    Location:
    Mee-chigan
    I noticed that ICE magazine has an expanded edition of Newman's Good Old Boys listed in its "upcoming releases", but they already issued such a release last summer. Are they going to do another version that eliminates the second disc with Johnny Cutler's Birthday on it?

    At any rate, I'm champing at the bit for Rhino to reissue 12 Songs.
     
  5. DeeThomaz

    DeeThomaz Senior Member

    Location:
    In The Felony Room
    Tally of Favorite and Most Needs Improvement CD catalogs thread

    I did an informal tally of results from this thread. Due to the nature of some of the responses, I had to take some creative license as to what constituted a "vote", but I was pretty lenient in that regard. Sorry if I missed anyone's "ballet" (which is more than Floridans will get from Katherine Harris...). Interesting how many more responses there were to the "needs improvement" catagory!

    Favorite CD catalogs:

    1.) Elvis Costello and Byrds (9 votes)
    2.) Jimi Hendrix (4 votes)
    3.) Rolling Stones and Miles Davis (2 votes)

    With one votes apiece: Ramones; Simon and Garfunkle; Fleetwood Mac; The Who; Janis Joplin; Beach Boys; King Crimson; Steely Dan; David Bowie; Marillon; Meat Puppets; Super Hits of The 70's; X; Velvet Underground; The Band

    Most Needs Improving:

    1.) The Beatles and Neil Young (9 votes)
    2.) Bruce Sprinsteen, Bob Dylan, and The Pretenders (4 votes)
    3.) Rolling Stones and Prince (3 votes)
    4.) The Isley Brothers, U2; The Who; The Replacements; Bob Seger; Earth, Wind, and Fire (2 votes each)

    With one vote apiece: Rickie Lee Jones; ZZ Top; Dionne Warwick; Stooges; Pink Floyd; Quicksilver Messenger; David Bowie; Bee Gees; Van Morrison; Jethro Tull; Warren Zevon; George Harrison; ELO; The Jacksons; Frank Sinatra; Nat King Cole; Nick Lowe
     
  6. tomd

    tomd Senior Member

    Location:
    Brighton,Colorado
    Forgot to list my 3 favorites catalogs:

    1)Sade-the 2000 remasters (absolutely amazing the best sounding cds I own-period-would still love to have them on SACD however)

    2)The Clash-Particularly London Calling (When can we get this one on SACD?)

    3)Bob Marley-Read they finally found and used this time the flat masters (sound speakes for itself)

    4)Steely Dan-fantastic sounding for cd (realize I was supposed to only list 3 but this catalog must be mentioned)
     
  7. Chris M

    Chris M Senior Member In Memoriam

    IMO the VU catalog wasn't done nearly as good as it could of been.

    -The mono VU and Nico comes from an inferior tape source. There are CDR needle drops of the mono LP that are much better than the official disc.
    -I'm not too crazy about the early 80's remixes of the VU comp stuff. Lots of fake sounding digital echo, etc. The original '69 mixes on boot are said to be much better.
    -The Live '69 tracks are nth generation dubs of the original 4 track recordings. Universal is supposed to be negotiating to buy the original 4 tracks of those shows. It's hard to listen to Live '69 and the Quinne tapes knowing that pro recordings of some of that stuff exists.

    Chris
     
  8. DeeThomaz

    DeeThomaz Senior Member

    Location:
    In The Felony Room
     
  9. Matt

    Matt New Member

    Location:
    Illinois
    How do they compare to the original CD's? Besides the bonus tracks and restored artwork, how do they sound?
     
  10. MrPeabody

    MrPeabody New Member

    Location:
    Mass.
    Sal Mercuri on one of the VU boards says there is no other mono source for VU & Nico in existence, other than the UK production master, which was used for the Deluxe Edition. Ya got what ya got.
     
  11. Chris M

    Chris M Senior Member In Memoriam

    They should of used the vinyl then :mad:

    Chris
     
  12. JohnG

    JohnG PROG now in Dolby ATMOS!

    Location:
    Long Island NY
    Needs improving:

    The Beatles/ of course....SACD is needed here like the Stones.

    Bruce Springsteen/ his catalog is woefully sounding poor on cd for years. Whatta ya say Brucie...splurge on some SACD mastering.

    Steve Hackett/ ...I know he's not a big star but his catalog on cd could use some sonic upgrades. His current cds sound so thin...no bass.
     
  13. mrmaloof

    mrmaloof Active Member

    Location:
    California
    Best 3:

    - Steely Dan
    - Elvis Costello
    - Bruce Cockburn

    All of these have been through multiple releases, but now are finally coming out with a combination of great sound and great packaging (full graphics and lyrics). Costello and Cockburn are works in progress but what we have so far is fantastic.

    Most in Need 3:

    - Bob Seger! The first 7 albums for starters! At least the last Stranger In Town remaster is on the right track after the Live Bullet disaster. Rumor has it that Back in 72 may finally see the CD light of day, but I'll believe it when I see it. Maybe Greatest Hits going to #1 on the Billboard Catalog chart with the help of some advertising also promises more to come.

    - The Beatles

    - Prince. 1999 is certainly a contender for worst-sounding CD of a great album in my collection.
     
  14. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    SACD would be a nice bonus, but I really think that the mastering itself is a *lot* more important than if the discs are SACD hybrids or not. I think the Stones discs made that clear to all of us. Or, at least it should have.
     
  15. Dob

    Dob New Member

    Location:
    Detroit
    Besides any licensing issues and such that may exist, I get the distinct impression that Bob is "less than interested" in releasing his back catalog on CD. I remember being perplexed upon hearing that he ditched his old band mates and got new ones for Like a Rock...he even hinted that their playing wasn't quite up to par. :confused: He acts like he was never really happy with the old albums and finds them faintly embarassing. This is probably reinforced by the fact that he didn't "make it big" until Stranger in Town, and didn't have chartbusting hits until he started doing songs for movies, so the feeling may be that the back catalog wouldn't sell well anyway (and the label(s) may agree).

    Looks like we're going to have to make do with vinyl for quite some time, though I hope I'm wrong.
     
  16. lennonfan

    lennonfan New Member

    Location:
    baltimore maryland
    ok as they are:
    Stones Virgin remasters
    Early Bee Gees (tho Best Of should never have had Spicks and Specks replaced)
    many of the Fleetwood Mac (buck/nicks & welsh eras).

    dire need of rehab:
    the Yma Sumac catalog (how DARE they treat Madame Sumac with such carelessness? These recordings are legendary!)
    Jefferson Airplane - Baxters (even the 2nd remaster is lame-o!)
    Enrico Caruso-anything (all the original 78's sound far more satisfying than any cd remasters)
     
  17. Evan L

    Evan L Beatologist

    Location:
    Vermont
    Yes, Amy Camus' music should be reissued>;)

    Top 3 catalog upgrades:
    1)The Smithereens; These should be reissued, with bonus tracks. 11 is only 34 minutes long!

    2)Bruce Springsteen; Obvious choice. Can't believe those old crappy '80's CD's are still the only ones available. The River is one of the worst mastered CD's ever.

    3)Bob Dylan: Ridiculous that an artists of his stature is represented by such a bad sounding catalog.
     
  18. mrmaloof

    mrmaloof Active Member

    Location:
    California
    Bob Seger's early albums

    Four of the Seger's first seven albums have been on CD (Ramblin' Gamblin' Man, Mongrel, Smokin' O.P.'s, and Seven) and likewise were reissued on LP when Night Moves hit it big. They're now out of print. The other 3 (Noah, Brand New Morning, Back in '72) have never been on CD except for those of us who make CD-R's from our vinyl, and I agree that's very likely Bob's decision.

    But maybe he'll get over it! Back in '72 is one of his best albums, even if Bob is right that the mix is substandard (but no worse than some songs on Seven, IMHO). Punch has been quoted as saying it may be out on CD soon. Brand New Morning is Bob's Nebraska or Unplugged album. Yes, all the songs aren't perfect, but it's a beautiful, moving album. Noah on the other hand is for completists, and I can understand why that may never see the light of day except for a couple of tracks someday on a box set.

    All of these came out pretty early in the CD era. With A-D converters so much better now, a well done remaster (like Stranger In Town) would work wonders for any of the 70's and 80's albums.

    Too bad I didn't know about Steve's Night Moves when it was in print!

    - Joe
     
  19. Casemeister

    Casemeister Forum Resident

    1. Lynyrd Skynyrd. Great CDs. Bonus tracks, etc... really nice.
    2. Van Halen. I have all the Dave albums except "Diver Down," and so far I've been very impressed. They could have nicer booklets, but the music is what matters... and I like the music and the sound.

    I don't have enough CDs by other artists to choose a third.

    1. Waylon Jennings. Buddha Records did well, but it seems that's come to an end. Many of his classic albums have never, ever been on CD. We're talking gold albums here, too -- not just obscure stuff. RCA, COME ON. This is pathetic. CDs have been around for almost 20 years and you've sat on some great stuff for that whole time. "Music Man," "What Goes Around Comes Around," "Turn The Page," "Are You Ready For The Country," "I've Always Been Crazy"... they're just a few of them. They're great albums that deserve to be on CD.

    2. ZZ Top. Now, I haven't heard the non-drum machine versions, but, man, I'd love to!! It seems everyone wants remastered, "un-drummed" ZZ titles. I'm holding out on buying all their stuff till it's redone. Looks like I might be holding out for a while...

    3. Spinal Tap. Killer Tap has been OOP for years. David St Hubbins said it's because their music confuses the A/D converters, but, man, I'd still love to hear "Intravenus De Milo," "Shark Sandwich," "Brainhammer," "Rock 'n' Roll Creation," "Blood To Let," "Silent But Deadly," and, of course, "Smell The Glove," along with all their other classic albums, on CD. It's all classic Tap, yet it's never been on CD. Compression wouldn't be needed -- they are one of England's loudest bands! This is criminal!
     
  20. Jason Smith

    Jason Smith Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago
    John Lennon

    Where do I start?

    Frank Zappa

    His catalog is a mess. Most of his cds are remixed, edited differently, or sound bad. And Ruben & The Jets has different bass and drums.

    Bob Seger

    Most of his cds sound ok, except for the new remasters.

    Ramblin' Gamblin' Man - The out of print cd has clicks and fake stereo.
    Noah - Not on cd (I actually like this whole album)
    Mongrel - The out of print cd has phasing problems (especially on Big River and Lucifer).
    Brand New Morning is my favorite Seger album. Unfortunatley it's never been on cd, and it's impossible to find a clean pressing of it for under $100.
    Smokin' OPs sounds ok. Heavy Music sounds terrible on there.
    Back In 72 is another great album that's never been on cd.
    Seven and Beautiful Loser are ok.
    Live Bullet - The new remaster has too much noise reduction.
    Night Moves - The new remaster is a compressed piece of garbage. I'm so glad I have the DCC.
    Stranger In Town - I don't know. The old cd is fine, how is the remaster?
    Nine Tonight - The cd is edited.
    Against the Wind, Distance, Like A Rock, Fire Inside, and It's A Mystery sound ok.
    All of the singles and soundtrack stuff needs to be on a cd.

    I wish he'd change his mind and re-release Brand New Morning. It would be great to hear a clean version of that album.
     
  21. ATR

    ATR Senior Member

    Location:
    Baystate
    It's tough to rate this by catalog, since artists switch labels during their careers and their catalog covers all of it. Also, if well done a great box set is going to get a lot of attention for the presence of alternate takes or unreleased stuff and documentation that may not add substantially to the brilliance of the original recordings. Taking that into account I'll say that the best for me (and not yet mentioned) are

    1. Pere Ubu, because of the Datapanik in the Year Zero box.
    2. Bud Powell, because of the many excellent collections of his work including the Complete Verve and Complete Blue Note boxes.
    3. John Coltrane, because of the general availability of his recordings both on his own collected in Heavyweight Champion (Atlantic) and Complete Quartets, Live at the Vanguard, Major Works (Impulse) and with Miles Davis on Columbia, as well as in several DCC releases. Not to mention deluxe versions of Love Supreme and Blue Train.
    4. Honorable mention for Led Zeppelin

    For worst I'd have to say that the most complaining and controversy continues to surround The Beatles catalog, and I'm not confident that that will ever be straightened out to general satisfaction.
     
  22. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I've only bought This Year's Model (mainly to hear the legendary "Neat Neat Neat"). The sound is different: it is louder (I don't know whether this is due to compression) and the high end is not as sharp. For example on the Rykodisc I noticed that the background vocals were singing/whispering "Listen, listen, listen". This is not as noticeable on the Rhino.
    Overall, though I'm happy with the sound on the Rhino and the liner notes are great: There's a great story about Elvis at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park introducing Bruce Thomas of the Attractions as "the Real Future of Rock and Roll" and the group having to lock themselves in their dressing room to escape the somewhat agitated Springsteen fans!

    John
     
  23. Whiskey Man

    Whiskey Man New Member

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I know from your responses to one of my posts in another thread that some of you don't like the Pet Shop Boys, but I recently picked up the two disc reissue of their 1993 album Very, and I would have to add them to this list as one of the best reissued catalogs out there.

    Much like Rhino's Elvis Costello discs, each of the first six? Pet Shop Boys albums has been reissued as a two disc set, with the original album on disc one, and a generous selection of contemporary b-sides, outtakes, demos, and remixes on disc two. The bonus disc for Very features no less than sixteen bonus tracks, some of them better than the songs on the original l.p. There is a very thorough booklet, with liner notes on a par with the Costello reissues, and track-by-track commentary on the songs from the Boys themselves. If you have any interest in this band, I would highly recommend these reissues.

    Further, I think the two-disc reissue model employed by Costello, the Pet Shop Boys, and MCA's Deluxe Editions should become the standard practice for major artists. It preserves the integrity and running order of the original album on disc one, for those who are concerned about that, and provides 80 minutes of space on disc two for b-sides, outtakes, live material, and mono or other unusual mixes. I realize that we have a snowball's chance in hell of seeing the Beatles or Dylan catalogs in this format, but a man can dream.
     
  24. rontokyo

    rontokyo Senior Member

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    The Elvis Costello reissues on Rhino have received almost universal praise here for including a separate disc for bonus tracks, thus "preserving the integrity" of the original album. If the original album plus bonus tracks couldn't fit on one CD then I'd say sure, it makes sense to break the material up with the original album on one CD and bonus material on the other. But if all bonus tracks were to fit on the disc containing the original album, then I'd say that's the better approach. For one, it's cheaper. Also, the original album's integrity can be preserved by simply programming the CD player to exclude bonus tracks. Don't forget that the Byrds' reissues also received almost universal acclaim.
     
  25. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    You can never SHOUT LOUD enough when it comes to the Beatles!!!
     
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