zombies decca stereo anthology

OK. That makes sense w/ the new Hugh overdub on She's Not There. I'm thinking about picking this up but want to make sure they didn't use any noise reduction or master it too loud. I assume they didn't since the Big Beat Zombie Heaven box was well done (IMO).

Chris

 

Well, for one thing, more honestly they should have just called this THE DECCA REMIX ANTHOLOGY. For all the work they put into this, it's more a valiant attempt to get near the 45's than getting there in reality; sometimes they get close, other times not so close despite best efforts.
Reverb has been put back on vocals and instruments, but to say these are in the realm of 'stereo 45 remix' would be stretching things quite a lot, IMO.
Some work, others don't. Faves: "I Want You Back Again"(last track of Disc 1--strong try at matching the 45 mix...almost), "Leave Me Be," "Don't Go Away," "Whenever You're Ready"(proper 'verb on Colin's vocal, finally!!!),
"How We Were Before," "I Love You"(with 45 intro finally in stereo--a shame Steve didn't have access to it!), "She Does Everything For Me." The sound is very good but doesn't make you want to trade in the SACD , by any means. But it's still essential if you're a Zombies lover, obviously, as a lot of work did go into this, and it's a fun listen for what it is....

Back in '69 they finally started remixing to stereo, and at the time, the only big US hit they avoided was "Tell Her No" thanks to that hideous dropout that's on the stereo master. They had the tape; just didn't want to use it, so they rechanneled the mono version for the EARLY DAYS Lp. Years later, on a few comps, they finally put it out, I guess figuring who the hell cares, it's buried on a comp, nobody will notice.....WRONG! One of the interesting aspects of collecting the Zombies on CD is remembering which versions have the dropout, and which try to cover it up. On this set, it's nowhere to be heard; to balance that, unfortunately, they still don't get the vocal 'verb right; very clean sound, but it's missing something, which is why the collection doesn't quite live up to its title. I'd still recommend it, but it's not perfect.

ED

 

Many thanks Ed. Is the reverb you mention crappy digital sounding reverb (like the Rubber Soul remix) or is it better than that??

Chris

 

Well, on "Whenever You're Ready" a conscious effort was made to isolate the 'verb to the vocals, which is what you hear on the 45. And of course they rerecorded percussion for "She's Not There," and it almost works. How they added the 'verb I've no idea, but, as noted, it's hit and miss: "Tell Her No" still isn't quite right, and I wish I had the mono singles CD at my fingertips just to check it out. On some songs, I don't hear a lot different from the old stereo mixes; it seems some got more time than others, or else, for whatever reasons, they decided not to go to great pains with some 'lesser' tracks and focused on the ones they knew we'd be listening closely to. They did come up with some new stereo for some EP and 45 tracks that had been mono(on vinyl, usually horribly rechanneled)for too many years. The good news: Ace distributes Big Beat, and since Ace UK does not put out any old thing or put up with crappy sonics if it's avoidable, this had to be more than presentable. It is. But it's not a SH job, and nobody expected those standards.

Now, if Ace could talk Dave Clark into doing something like this, I'd be crazy with anticipation. But Zombies stereo is commonplace, so this is nice to have but didn't send me into fits of joy. Very good, however.

ED

 

Dave Clark--- we have a fat chance in hell of him remixing the DC5 stuff that remains mono. He had a "focus group" done in 1993 when they were preparing the Hollywood Cd, and the results were that people wanted the mono DC5 hits the way they remembered them.

some things, like "Any Way You Want It" DO have a mono punch that would be hard to recreate in stereo, but I happen to LOVE the stereo DC5.

Dave seems to have pu the DC5 Lp releases on the back burner. He wants a FORTUNE to liscense them, plus 100% control over the releases. No reissue label in their right mind is gonna go for that, as Hollywood found out.

Dave terminated the agreement with Hollywood because he "didnt like" the way they advertised the DC5 greatest hits CD. He feels they should have done more, but Hollywood is a small label without a whole lot of market penetration and he should know that.

I think its gonna be a few more years until the DC5 lps end up on Cd, legitimately. Myself, I have all the Lps on Bootleg Cd in great quality, so I dont really care, unless the real issues are stereo, which they most likely will not be.

And no, "Over and Over" was never mixed to stereo. All "stereo" versions are rechanneled.

Mikey

 

My 2 scents...oops, cents!

If you don't mind the sound of Furmanek's/Reeves EMI CDs, you know, all those Best Of Manfred Mann, B.J. Kramer, etc, discs, then you will probably also really like The Zombies Decca Stereo Anthology.

If you are a "die-hard", original mix/sound Zombies guy...then you may want to take a pass on it.

I think it is great (yes, I LOVE stereo) and to hear the material sounding this detailed is a big benefit to me...and losing those annoying glitches/drop outs, etc, helps too.

As David Modny correctly mentioned (and I mispoke on, in another thread) these were done from multi-track tapes (I said they sounded like "lower generation tapes", I think). The improvement in sound was a plus for me, others may differ.

 

I just got the box set, and have played it through in the car...which got me thinking, I also have the old DCC Greatest Hits, but I do not have a SACD player. For those of us w/o SACD, is there any reason to pick up the new Zombies SACD (it's a hybrid, right?)? In other words, does the redbook part of the new SACD (assuming it is a hybrid) show any improvement over the prior DCC issue?

 

The new Zombies SACD (I'm talking about the redbook layer) is better than the older DCC release. It's actually quite a bit better. The DSD layer is even better. This new SACD is just stunning. You can get rid of all the other Zombies Greatest Hits CDs. This one beats them all. Honestly, it's that good.

 

Wow!, The DCC Cee Dee is wonderful...Geez,the SACD must be AMAZING! Thanks...

 

The Zombies Decca Stereo Anthology booklet "forgot" to include composer credits and original release information!

The Decca Stereo Anthology was
"Compiled and remixed for stereo by Alec Palao."

Alec's credits, according to the All-Music Guide:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=1:27:10|PM&sql=R172225#APPEAR

 

Jamie, I've been meaning to ask how you got the 'yesman' moniker?

 

Have a little ass with your kiss?

Seriously, I've spent damn near millions of dollars on Zombies CDs. This new SACD is the best... by a fair amount too.