Old Polydor CD "Strange Brew-The Very Best Of Cream" mastered by Dennis Drake. Best sound, cheap!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Dec 25, 2016.

  1. stevemoss

    stevemoss Forum Resident

    If you already have the Drake masterings (and/or DCCs) of the individual albums, is there benefit to this compilation?
     
  2. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    I have this. Doesn't everyone? On my computer I have the tracks rearranged to the old ATCO Best Of Cream order.
     
    GerryO likes this.
  3. steveharris

    steveharris Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    I checked the time on my cd,it`s 43:54 clear hub usa polydor p2-11639 at 3 o clock and matrix 5 p2 11639-2 src01 m1s7
     
    rjstauber likes this.
  4. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Thanks for responding. I will take a shot with that one. I am guessing it will be the same as the USA PDO but it is impossible to tell without EAC values matching the PDO.
    I am not sure what the STK means.
     
    Vinyl Fan 1973 likes this.
  5. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    I remember getting this CD when it first came out, but for the life of me, couldn't tell you what label it was on. I can't say I remember a bad CD from the 80's.
     
    CrazyCatz likes this.
  6. Vinyl Fan 1973

    Vinyl Fan 1973 "They're like soup, they're like....nothing bad"

    I'm sure you'll be fine, it matches mine and my copy sounds great.
     
    Rose River Bear likes this.
  7. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    Was there even a non Drake mastering of this album on CD?
    I know there was an early red cow RSO CD of the original Best of Cream (the one with the vegetables cover and contains 10 tracks), but not sure if the Strange Brew compilation had one?

    I used to have the red cow RSO CD of Disraeli Gears and it sounded like ****e.
     
    jamesmaya likes this.
  8. GerryO

    GerryO Senior Member

    Location:
    Bodega Bay, CA
    Visited a local CD store early this afternoon and found three copies on the shelf; one P2 11639, one Record Club version and one a Made in the U.S.A 422-811639-2 03! FK with a cool vintage Compact Disc Warehouse price tag on the case, in addition to the selling store's own $3.95 sticker. Had 'em open it at the register and almost didn't complete the purchase, as the top surface appeared to be SERIOUSLY scuffed up, but closer inspection at home revealed a streaky-smeared brownish residue that rubbed off nicely AND not just a Sharpie-done, BUT a GREEN PAINT OD! The CD sounds great!
     
    CrazyCatz likes this.
  9. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    43:54, total time on mine.
     
    rjstauber and steveharris like this.
  10. DennisF

    DennisF Forum Resident

    I'd like to know this too.
     
  11. jamesmaya

    jamesmaya Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Good question. I don't recall ever coming across a US copy of Strange Brew that was NOT mastered by Dennis Drake (according to the booklet credits, at least).
     
  12. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    It would be great to have a complete list of all CDs mastered by Drake.
     
  13. GerryO

    GerryO Senior Member

    Location:
    Bodega Bay, CA
    Wonder if that is the same CD I bought.
    WORST sounding CD EVER!
    Nearly all hiss with ZERO bass, even with things pumped through an equalizer.
    It took some talking, but the store did finally give me my money back.
     
  14. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    That CD actually sounded like a very bad vinyl rip, on the song We're going Wrong you could clearly hear the loud record pops!
    Does anybody remember those horrible Deep Purple CDs from Creative Sounds from the eighties that were mastered from horrible sounding vinyl records?
     
  15. tone ded freb

    tone ded freb Senior Member

    Location:
    Arizona Snowbowl
    This old list was my go-to list for many years. It's not complete, but it's a good start.
     
    lambfan68 likes this.
  16. Grant

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

    I've never, even seen this CD, and now that you've done this thread, I probably never will! :D
     
  17. JimSpark

    JimSpark I haven't got a title

    I am lucky, I have had this exact CD since around 1989. It was my first Cream CD, and the one I go back to most often. I must admit I never thought of the sound being anything truly special, but I know I never found it bad, either. I certainly would defer to S.H. on the sound quality, and I plan to play it start-to-finish real soon....like, maybe right now....:righton:
     
    GerryO likes this.
  18. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

  19. JimSpark

    JimSpark I haven't got a title

    Just finished listening to it :) and yeah, it's got a nice clean sound, and seemingly no compression. Nice track selection too, but the sound quality is certainly more praiseworthy. "Badge" and "Sunshine Of Your Love" have never sounded better, and the same can be said for the Ginger Baker Double Bass Drum Party at the end of "White Room." And the very end of "Spoonful," when the sound fades completely out, then Bruce screams "EVERYTHIN'S A DYING ABOUT IT!" sounds just right.

    'I'm So Glad' :rolleyes: this thread was pinned, I wasn't sure what I wanted to hear tonight, but once I realized that I owned the exact version Steve mentioned, I knew what I needed to do :cheers:
     
  20. I have not been able to reach that conclusion at all. Actually, I think that Steve's disc with the 06 matrix has a different mastering. I think the mastering with the 100% peak levels on several tracks is actually not the preferred one, but I could be wrong.

    I think all artwork states "mastered by Dennis M. Drake", and sometimes he secretly remastered his own CD's.
     
    Whistle and Dave S like this.
  21. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland

    Isn't that exactly what happened with the recent Aqualung LP ? Still claimed mastered by Peter Mew even though the vinyl wasn't.
     
  22. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Not unusual with early CDs. I have three copies of Brothers in Arms with different masterings.
     
    Dave and CrazyCatz like this.
  23. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    The safest bet would be to get a made in USA version like Steve's. Not easy in Europe, but not impossible either.
     
  24. Robert C

    Robert C Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Are you sure the mastering is actually different? It could just be shifted levels. Worth comparing the eq with a frequency analysis to know for sure.
     
  25. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland

    Tried that but Amazon want 14$ to ship it to me. Negates the 0,49$ price.

    I found a copy on eBay of the German pressing for cheap, I'll try that.
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine