Album reissues that replaced the original versions of songs

Hi all,

I've been looking through some CD's tonight and it strikes me just how many album reissues actually replaced the original version of the song for an alternate mix.

A few examples I've found are Kate Bush "Hounds of Love" which replaces "The Big Sky" with the single mix, Blondie's "Parallel Lines" which seems to have been completely bastarised over the years with so many altnerate versions, most notably "Heart of Glass" and Fleetwood Mac's "Mirage" was has a different version of "Straight Back" on all CD releases.

I wonder why this is? I know Kate prefers the single mix of "The Big Sky", but personally I think it takes something away from the listening experience if a track has been substituted for an alternate mix.

What's your thoughts? Any other notable instances of this happening? I'm sure there are loads...

 

ZZ Top - Eliminator:
Legs

I like the original better and I don’t like these kind of changes.

 

Michael Jackson and Epic Records kept tampering with Bad several times until about a year after its release when they seemed to settle on a "final cut" of the album. I had the tape as a kid and it was a first pressing, Bad, Dirty Diana and I Just Can't Stop Loving You were all different on that than the latter pressings of the albums, the biggest change was the spoken word intro of IJCSTLY was removed from later pressings, and given how creepy MJ giving pillow talk sounded (even without what we now know), it was probably for the best they cut it out.

 

I do think they ended up going back to the original mix after sales for Eliminator began to decline into a catalog title. I got the cd in the mid-90s sometime and that had the original mix vs. the single/MTV remix I was more familiar with

 

Well, there's the entirety of Neil Young's debut solo album. Upon second release of the LP, most if not all of the songs were remixed — in some cases rather dramatically.

 

The version of Bread's debut album on streaming sites has the rerecorded, hit version of "It Don't Matter To Me" rather than the original version from the LP.

 

There's a mix substitution on one song in CDs of Fleetwood Mac's Tusk too I think?

 

My gripe is with the silly censored mix of "Turnham Green" on McDonald & Giles.

 

That’s why I have several Bad discs due to these variations lol

 

Yep. The first CD release contains the edit of “Sara”. Apparently this was done to keep the album on 1 CD. It wasn’t corrected until the 2004 remaster.

 

My Capitol CD issue of Tubes' Outside Inside includes the re-recorded single version of "The Monkey Time" (with Michelle Rundgren), while my LP copy includes the 1st version with Martha Davis. I am not sure, but I think the Capitol CD came out a few years after the LP.

The subsequent Iconoclassic reissue features both versions.

 

the first cd pressing subs the single mix of Sara for the full length because of space limitations. That's been fixed in later pressings

 

Only three songs on NY S/T were remixed. Of course, that LP has a complex history.

Sometimes the master can’t be found. For example, on Neil’s Trans CD, the version of Sample and Hold which is dramatically different than the shorter, more fuzz tone Crazy Horse version originally released on vinyl. Because the master cannot be located...

 

Shiny Toy Guns-We Are Pilots, V3, 2006
Trans-X Living on Video, 1986- when it finally received a compact disc release in 93 it used a bunch of remixes.
Most originals are still vinyl only.
Whitney Houston-S/T, 1985
Later issues replace the original 'Greatest Love of All' with a different mix.
Original uses a piano for the intro.
The Shamen-En-Tact, 1990
Was mostly remixed and re-released in 91 as 'Update'
Howard Jones-Dream Into Action, 1985 -86 European LP's traded the original No One Is To Blame with the 'Phil Collins' version.
James-Gold Mother, 1990 US
Come Home was replaced with the Flood Remix in 1991 and a different tracklist for UK and Euro manufactures.

 

Robert Fripp -"Exposure", and "Under Heavy Manners"

 

King Crimson - Sleepless

 

Heart's 1985 self-titled album had a few variations with 7" mixes substituted in various iterations (there's a whole thread on here about how to identify the different releases and differentiate the mixes). This one's really irritating in that through all the variations, the catalogue number never changed, so you can only identify them by the matrix information on the discs.

Kylie's Fever album was re-released with the single version of "Come Into My World" after it was redone for release. Not sure if the same was done for "Body Language" when "Chocolate" was similarly redone for single release.

Whitney Houston's debut album has a couple of iterations with different mixes for "How Will I Know" and "The Greatest Love Of All".

As mentioned by the OP, Kate Bush replaced "The Big Sky" on "Hounds Of Love" with the single mix in all releases since she reclaimed ownership and started releasing through Fish People.

I'm sure there are many, many more in my collection that I'm not thinking of right now. It's annoying not being sure which version you're buying or what has been swapped out with no notice!

 

Blondie's Parallel Lines switched after the first couple of pressings to the longer disco mix of "Heart of Glass," which basically just adds a repeat of one verse and chorus.

 

When Roxy Music's Manifesto was first released, there was (if I recall) a more laid-back version of "Angel Eyes" on there which was replaced on later versions of the album by the more well known re-recorded single version which is stylistically more disco.

 

Don't get me wrong, our host did an amazing job on The Beach Boys' DCC "Endless Summer" and "Spirit Of America" compilations, but I prefer hearing the non-hit versions of "Help Me, Rhonda" and "Be True To Your School" and the live version of "Graduation Day" that I grew up with when I listen to these compilations (especially "Graduation Day", I really dislike the studio version).

 

Didn’t Frank Zappa replace some songs with re-worked drum tracks?

 

Yes, he did. He replaced the bass and drum tracks on the '80s issue of We're Only In It For The Money, if memory serves. I didn't realise it at the time, but this was also the first version of the album I heard, so it was quite a weird experience when I heard the original, unaltered '60s version. I now prefer the '60s version, but it took a while to re-adapt!

 

Later pressings of Enya's third album, "Shepherd Moons" replaced the original Gaelic lyric version of the song "Book of Days' with the English language version featured in the film Far and Away

 

Great example. I knew I was forgetting one!

 

Ozzy’s first two albums were rather infamously re-recorded due to acrimony with former bandmates