XTC - Best CD Versions?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by bcaulf, Jan 30, 2018.

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  1. Indeed, Drums and Wires has three or four variations with one featuring three bonus tracks with only two listed and, as I recall, they are at the end. Then there is the Virgin/Geffen with the tracks 8n the middle, the remasters from 2001and of course the Wilson remixes.
     
  2. DetroitDoomsayer

    DetroitDoomsayer Forum Middle Child

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    Easy as pie. :D

    White Music (Geffen)
    Go2 (Geffen)
    Drums & Wires (Geffen)
    Black Sea (Geffen)
    English Settlement (2016 APE Records CD) <glorious sounding!
    Mummer (Geffen)
    The Big Express (Geffen)
    Skylarking (Virgin Canada) < tracklist is 1st press vinyl version with 'Dear God' at end of CD. My preference (for sound not the cover art) is the "Corrected Polarity" cd from APE
    Oranges & Lemons (Geffen) <some prefer the MFSL
    Nonsuch (Geffen)
    Rag 'n' Bone Buffet (collects most of the rest of the b-sides) (Geffen)
    Apple Venus (Volume 1)
    Wasp Star (Apple Venus Vol 2)

    There you have roughly 80% of the core catalog

    Sorry we got all CARAZEE in your thread here, us XTC fans can be a little obsessive. :love::wave:
     
    danielbravo, sjaca, c-eling and 2 others like this.
  3. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    I love Rag & Bone Buffet as well. My minor complaint about it is that some tracks are awkwardly abutted. "Punch And Judy", for example, seems to have an abbreviated decay on its last drum hit, which has always bothered me.
     
  4. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident Thread Starter

    No it helps, thank you!
     
  5. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Does the Geffen sound better? (Question for anyone who might know)
     
  6. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Can anyone else confirm the Geffens are clones of the Virgins? I wanted to get the Virgins because they just seemed cooler and I see them talked about a little more, but the Geffens might be cheaper for me since I live in the US and most of the Virgin discs ship from Europe, raising the costs a bit.
     
  7. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Sorry guys, I have another question. I’m now a bit confused about Drums And Wires. I understand that some early issues have the track listings incorrectly, I think some have Life At The Hop listed but it isn’t actually included. Can anyone help clarify this?

    I was looking at this one on Discogs, and some postings have it written that the track list does not match what’s on the actual disc. But there’s a Netherlands version from 1985 that has all tracks listed, but it doesn’t say that the track listing is incorrect. Does it vary in different pressings? Did all early versions have it wrong? Very confusing!
     
  8. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Also, there’s a track I found out was released as a non album single called “Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down” released on Waxworks.
     
  9. DetroitDoomsayer

    DetroitDoomsayer Forum Middle Child

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    Yes, that's right 'Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down' is on Waxworks. It's also available on Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-1992,
    and if I remember correctly Fossil Fuel contains all of the A-side single versions - meaning the correct single edits of the songs as they appeared on the 7" vinyl singles.

    I'm sorry I can't help you on your Big Express query as I only have the main catalog albums on vinyl and 2001 Japanese mini-LP replicas.

    Don't forget about the 2 Dukes of Stratosphear titles: 25 O'Clock and Psonic Psunspot both available separately w/ bonus tracks, or both on one CD Chips From The Chocolate Fireball w/o bonus tracks.

    You can avoid the mispressed/messed up track list version of Drums & Wires by purchasing the Geffen version. I believe the Virgin with the messed up track list has the LPs back cover on the back of the jewelcase, whereas the corrected version (and Geffen) have a solid yellow back cover with track list.

    Virgin UK (original): [​IMG] Geffen: [​IMG]

    and yes, by the looks of it the Netherlands copy has the UK Virgin back with the correct track list. I had never seen that Netherlands copy before.
     
    bcaulf likes this.
  10. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    The thing about that Geffen Drums & Wires is that it sticks the bonus tracks, "Life Begins at the Hop", "Chain of Command" and "Limelight", in the middle of the album. (Not to say that the original UK is perfect.)
     
  11. DetroitDoomsayer

    DetroitDoomsayer Forum Middle Child

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    the Virgin and Geffen discs are all the same with the placement of bonus tracks between the album sides.

    The 2001 Caroline reissues placed the bonus tracks at the end
     
  12. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    Well, the first UK release (CTA pressing) has one of them in-between sides, and another at the end. (And "Life Begins at the Hop" is not on there.)
     
  13. DetroitDoomsayer

    DetroitDoomsayer Forum Middle Child

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    That's correct, but no one was advocating to buy that mess of a disc.
     
    bcaulf likes this.
  14. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    I'll advocate for it, because it sounds fine, the running order is fine (compared to the others), and it's the first pressing. If someone runs across it on eBay or in the bins, let's just get the facts straight for them here -- since the list shown on the package is wrong.
     
    jsayers likes this.
  15. DetroitDoomsayer

    DetroitDoomsayer Forum Middle Child

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    One bonus in the middle, one bonus at the end and one bonus track missing. I'd understand if all of the bonus tracks were present and at the end.
    Why would anyone want that mess when the 2nd press Virgin most likely is the same mastering and you get all three bonus tracks plus no messed up printed track list?
    I mean there's still a track inserted into the middle of the record. One insert or three, it's still not the original running order.

    I guess we'll just have to disagree, as I can't get with that CD oddity.
     
  16. catnip nation

    catnip nation Forum Resident

    Location:
    new haven ct usa
    The first version I ever got to hear of Drums And Wires was a Canadian LP pressing which had Life Begins At The Hop as the first song,and Day In Day Out was the omitted tune. I've never seen a CD of this version.
     
  17. Paul H

    Paul H The fool on the hill

    Location:
    Nottingham, UK
    I've been reading this thread with mild interest, as I'm a lightweight fan in the sense that I like many of their singles but am not especially keen to delve deeper. I have the Fossil Fuels collection which serves in terms of content, but I find it to be rather forward in presentation. The waveforms don't look too bad, but the songs still sound loud and overbearing. Is there a better sounding compilation around (caveat: must include Dear God) or is it really worth my while tracking down each album just to gather up the singles? Put another way: just how good/bad does Fossil Fuel sound compared to other masterings?
     
  18. ad180

    ad180 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I'd recommend Upsy Daisy Assortment. It includes "Dead God." I think it sounds pretty good.

    https://www.amazon.com/Upsy-Daisy-Assortment-Xtc/dp/B000000OWS
     
    Paul H likes this.
  19. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    I agree with you Fossil Fuel has a little bit of what I call a masking glare compression, where it is harder for things to stand out clearly or naturally because of a white glare, most likely from early digital, and hence you are left straining to discern things more than you should; so without being compressed it sounds compressed, it kind of wears on you similar to if it was brickwalled. On the whole I am not knocking it, it is a pretty good mastering from what I remember as it has been a while since I heard it; but that glare aspect was always there for me and so I didn’t go to it very often.

    Another example is the common early US CD of English Settlement; try the new 2016 remaster against it and I’ll never go back. Unfortunately I can’t help with alternative compilations, but I do remember playing Upsy Daisy Assortment quite a lot, and I am one who really likes the remixes if that helps.
     
    Paul H likes this.
  20. Phil Tate

    Phil Tate Miss you Indy x

    Location:
    South Shields
    Agree about the CD/BD sets - the best value for money of any reissues I've ever known.

    And it's not just Nonsuch - the artwork on all the 2001 reissues is awful! LP inner sleeves reduced to CD booklet size so lyrics and notes are utterly unreadable, and hilariously the oranges and lemons on the Oranges and Lemons front cover weren't coloured in, they were just white blobs!
     
    nlgbbbblth likes this.
  21. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    I don't think you'll find a better comp that includes “Dear God”. I mean, check out Upsy-Daisy if you can; I've not heard that one. I'd be surprised if it sounded much different than Fossil Fuel. (I'd be happy to be proven wrong.)

    Nobody has mentioned The Compact XTC, which is a nice collection with a decent early CD mastering. (It was one of the first CDs I ever bought.) Obviously it won't have “Dear God” or anything past The Big Express, but maybe worth combining with something to cover the later albums.
     
    SimonSaysCake and Paul H like this.
  22. Paul H

    Paul H The fool on the hill

    Location:
    Nottingham, UK
    Thanks for the replies, all. I'll check them out. It's not that I don't like Fossil Fuel, it's just that there's something about it that just sort of sneaks up on me.
     
  23. kaztor

    kaztor Music is the Best

    FINALLY I have been able to score a cheap original cd of that gaping hole in my XTC collection: Go 2, on Geffen.
    Much like the Dukes' Chocolate Fireball cd any original cd of Go 2 seems to be in the $20-$30 range, so I guess I got lucky with my $10 purchase!
     
  24. kaztor

    kaztor Music is the Best

    Interesting. I've got both the UK and US configurations (my lovely wife got me the last one some time ago).
    Haven't been able to compare them yet.
     
  25. kaztor

    kaztor Music is the Best

    I guess I got lucky with getting the Geffen one. Didn't know about the variations until later.
     
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