David Bowie 1999 remasters

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Mirrorblade.1, Aug 17, 2017.

  1. Mirrorblade.1

    Mirrorblade.1 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Why didn't they have bonus tracks compared the previous cds.
    I started to buy his cds .. buying just 1999 ones because I don't need a bunch of cds
    And why so many deluxe versions of his cds I was on reading wiki enough to drive person mad..
    this version that version 3 cd version.. ugh..
     
    snowman872 likes this.
  2. Simply because Bowie didn't want to have bonus tracks to begin with. Ryko asked him to do them to get fans to buy the remaster from them and it worked helping to sell more CDs to fans who had the previous RCA releases.
     
    Chrome_Head likes this.
  3. WonkyWilly

    WonkyWilly Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paradise, PA
    They sound like crap anyway.
     
    abzach likes this.
  4. mikaal

    mikaal Sociopathic Nice Guy

    Not so sure about that given recent events.
    Honestly, the blind assertions on this forum that the 99's sound like crap is laughable.
    Wanna hear crap? Play the regular (not AU20) Ryko Changesbowie...now that's really bad.
    Ooh but the 99's used nr. So what??
    What they did is sonically beef up a catalog that was at best thin and tinny to begin with...yes the holy grails : the original RCA vinyl and first RCA cd's.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2017
    Galeans likes this.
  5. For us, yes but there are some folks out there that like 'me. I'm not one mind you just saying
     
  6. mikaal

    mikaal Sociopathic Nice Guy

    Youleapfroggedme!
     
  7. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Punk

    Location:
    England
    After relistening to it this week, I think the 1999 Lodger is the 2nd best Lodger CD.

    The rest of the quote is IMO not worth responding to as it seems designed mainly to provoke.
     
    curbach likes this.
  8. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Punk

    Location:
    England
    On a case by case basis, there is IMO some worse than the 1999s..
     
  9. I never found them thin and tinny. Depended on the mastering of course.
     
    BlueSpeedway likes this.
  10. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    The only 1999 CD I think sounds really bad is Station To Station. However, it’s the only version of the album I have so I’m not sure if this is just how it is.:)

    The 1999’s were my digital introduction to Bowie and I honestly don’t think they’re that bad.. I liked the 2016(?) remasters of Pinups and The Man Who Sold The World better than the 1999 equivalents, though.
     
    warewolf95, bob60 and wayneklein like this.
  11. old school

    old school Senior Member

    The 1999 deluxe Aladdin Sane sounds good to me. The perfect album for Audio Fidelity to do.
     
  12. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Punk

    Location:
    England
    I think that was 2003 if you mean the 2CD version in a little book pack, not that it really matters. This is the first thread about it as far as I can tell, from when it was new:

    Aladdin Sane 30th Annv. 2 cd set any opinions BOWIE
     
    warewolf95 likes this.
  13. cmcintyre

    cmcintyre Forum Resident

    For a number of years the 1999 remasters were the bulk of what I had ripped to iTunes and listened to. I had passed on the RCA CDs at the time because I wasn't too impressed with the packaging (of any CD at the time), and I like the kinaesthetic value of records. Slowly I bought the RCA CDs, and sat them in a box. Recently, after some encouragement from an active forum member I began to rip the RCA's.

    I've had a bit of a listen and it's made me realise something about them and the 99s. Most of the Bowie albums of the RCA years were quite different sound wise to each other. Their sonic qualities varied a lot. The 99s, to my ears, made them sound all a bit similar, though I only realised this when I played the RCA CDs (almost exclusively US). The sonic signature of the RCAs had more variation.

    I was reminded of the fact that high quality equipment will make various recordings sound quite different, whereas with lower quality equipment, the different recordings will often sound similar - they will take on the sound of the equipment, rather than being the sound of the recording. So I figured, the similarity in sonic signature of the 99s has to be due to the way they were prepared. In isolation, they're OK, but with greater insight and a point of comparison, I realised that, if anything, they provide, for want of a more accurate term, a distorted view of the recordings.

    I've had two previous moments like this, when I realise that what I was "OK" with, was not as good as it gets. Listening to the BOBIL/RASPUTIN UK Hunky Dory and the first time I played a UK Philips LP.
     
  14. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Punk

    Location:
    England
    The Rykos had that new-to-the-catalogue uniformity too. It's quite unusual in my experience, and I can't think of any other artists with a large or largish catalogue who have had it happen. It shouldn't be a deal breaker or tool to bash people who don't mind the Rykos or 1999s, but their uniformity of sound is quite a significant aspect of the Ryko and 1999 catalogues for those of us interested in that sort of thing.

    That's why it was IMO always going to be important to hunt out the positives in the 2015-2017 remasters, albeit recently very difficult, because at least they didn't do that uniformity thing.
     
    TonyCzar and cmcintyre like this.
  15. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Right 2003 I was way off. It looks like it got crappy reviews until they closed the thread.
     
    warewolf95 likes this.
  16. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Punk

    Location:
    England
    Yeah, seemed to be a bit of Mew inspired bashing even before they'd heard it. There's been better threads on the album but I wouldn't bother with them if you're happy with your 2CD.
     
    old school likes this.
  17. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I have the RCA, 1999, 2003 and 2013 CDs of Aladdin. I think they're all decent, but the former has more warmth and heart.
     
    old school likes this.
  18. They are improvements IMHO based on comparing them to the earlier Mew mastered editions.

    As far as "Aladdin Sane", I dislike the 2003 however it is very slightly less compromised compared to the 1999 IMHO or it could just be the EQ (not sure--I no longer have either after I ripped the bonus disc)
     
    BlueSpeedway and Bobby Morrow like this.
  19. Colocally

    Colocally One Of The New Wave Boys

    Location:
    Surrey BC.
    When EMI acquired the worldwide rights to Bowie's 1969 - 1989 catalogue they initially wanted to release 2cd versions of each album, with the second CD including bonus tracks. However from what I have read, they were then persuaded that this would take too much time and that the whole catalogue needed to be rereleased to co-inside with the release of the 1999 album "hours..." They then proceeded to rerelease some albums on their 30th anniversary, starting with Ziggy, going on with Aladdin Sane, skipping over Pin Ups and then doing Diamond Dogs. Then the 30th anniversary tag had to be rethought as it took longer to release Young Americans (2005) and then STATIONTOSTATION didn't end up with a rerelease until the Super Deluxe Edition in 2009. Things seemed to be getting back on track with the 2cd Space Oddity 40th anniversary reissue, but that was the end of that due to the selling off of EMI and the contract renewal.
     
    mozz, deredordica, warewolf95 and 2 others like this.
  20. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    i thoroughly enjoy the ryko's, every one of them.

    and i treasure the bonus tracks.
     
  21. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    I have all my Bowie CDs in these 1999 versions. They sound fine to me, I never thought they sounded bad at all as some people of this forum say.
    Am I wrong? Who cares, anyway
     
    scobb, warewolf95 and snowman872 like this.
  22. Rne

    Rne weltschmerz

    Location:
    Malaver
    Do you enjoy listening to them? It's perfect, then! :)
    I generally dislike those remasters a lot. And that's perfect too. :)
     
  23. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    I don't have any other cds to compare
     
  24. raphph

    raphph Taking a trip on an ocean liner…

    Location:
    London
    I have slowly repurchased all the early 90s EMI CDs with bonus tracks and liking them since that's the general audiophile "Sound" I'm used to..

    Though I found an RCA Station To Station in Vegas last month for $3 in a used store.

    Considering I also have these new boxsets (Which I mostly regret owning) - is there any further need for the 1999 remasters of shall I dispense of them?
     
  25. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    I used to have a Station to station LP 1991 version which has the first 5 songs (30+minutes) crammed on side 1, and Wild is the wind and two live bonus tracks on side 2!! . Flimsy vinyl and no sonic wonder in any way.
    Now I see that costs 69€ on Discogs
     

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