Since "Beginnings" is the only sample provided to judge the new remix, which prior version do I compare it against? I have it on Group Portrait 4 disc comp as well as their Greatest Hits comp, the one with the group as billboard painters painting their logo on a white field. After EQ'ing the Group Portrait version which is much better already than this 50th Anniversary remix, I was able to make that one sound more detailed in the brass chorus in Audacity. So I have to wonder what reference system and equipment they remixed the new one on. I gave it second listen on YouTube and it's even worse after listening to the Group Portrait version without edits. I mean they have access to the tapes and the brass chorus is nothing but mush and pushed behind Lamm's vocal where it seems his head is resting on the acoustic guitar. The drum tim-toms sound like a toy drum set. There is some really odd stereo imaging junk I haven't heard even from Lo-Fi stuff from the '60's.
Just downloaded the iTunes "Beginnings". Listening to it on computer speakers so I'm not going to judge too much, but one thing that I thought was interesting was how Pankow's and Loughnane's solos were treated. On every version I've heard, once Loughnane comes in, Pankow is pushed back in the mix. Not on this one. Kind of fun to hear clearly what Pankow is playing during the trumpet solo. Both are balanced equally through the section. Something different anyway.
As a big fan of the last track "Liberation" (for which I probably don't have too many fellow spirits), I'd be interested to hear the last part of that song remixed. The drumming on there is incredible. This is the type of thing that I love SHF for, to learn about things like this, that I don't learn easily elsewhere.
Oh boy... It gets Robert's vocals and Terry's guitar right. Peter's bass and Danny's tom pops are WAY too upfront. It sounds like somebody put a towel over the speaker for the horn section. Then at the end when you need things spaced out to hear each part, everything gets dumped into the middle. Not how I'd want to hear this done unfortunately.
Holy cow! Did any of you notice that when the horns drop out for a spell during the song that it feels like a slide area in the mix developed? It feels as if you'll side into it.
Amazon now has the release date for the cd as September 13th. https://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Transit-Authority-Anniversary-Remix/dp/B07SSDQNMN
Monday or Tuesday I am getting the SACD of the original mix. That should do me. I too love "Liberation" . Lets see what happens. Definitely sampling on Spotify before buying the remix. CTA is a monster guitar album.
Geez! Why such a long wait on the release? Maybe they're reading the feedback in this SHF thread and taking more time to remix again. Ya' think?!
Steve Wilson did the honors on the recent remix. Who was the one who did the remix for the DVD-A (where instruments like the shaker on MMS were omitted) that came out around 2004
IMO, it’s very unlikely they’re paying any attention to a handful of comments on a web forum and, even in the unlikely event they are, it’s even more unlikely it would push them to go back to the drawing board.
First time I heard "Liberation", I was not hopeful, was expecting a political track. Instead got 14+ minutes of joy. Yes the drumming is incredible.
Yeah, I was joking. But what's even more of a joke is the 860 views and 9 comments on the "Beginnings" remix YouTube page. I'ld expect a bit more for such a highly regarded iconic band that's been around 50 years that they're still touring and filling seats.
The video is blocked in some parts of the world (unavailable for me), maybe that explains it a bit...
350 million folks in the US and only 860 are interested? Out of that the baby boomers who would most likely be interested in such an iconic band should be enough to run the numbers up. CBS already did a 50 year retrospect on ZZtop. When they do the same for Chicago, maybe the YouTube view numbers will reflect it.
Spotify just dropped the second sample from the upcoming remix, "I'm a Man". It is easy to A-B within Spotify with the original mix. Again, the remix is not an improvement at all. Just my opinion, you guys take it away. What were they thinking? Nobody listened beforehand? I got my newly-arrived SACD of the original mix, will give it a try this weekend.
Pete's in front, ok. Danny is.................................way in the back, with the percussion somewhere in between. Terry's guitar almost sounds like it's coming from inside Lamm's organ. Two sounds right on top of one another that need to be separate. Lead vocals are ok...good Lord what is with those backing vocals?!? Phasing? Robots? They pushed Danny to the front for the drum break, good. Percussion is a little overwhelmed but distinct. Now Terry's guitar is out on its own at the end. Ends ok. You're right, I don't see how you listen and say "....OK let's go with it, great!" But I'm just a listener...
Here it is on YouTube: Really, really weirdly EQ'd. It's almost like they were trying to make it sound like the second album for some reason. The backing vocals are almost painful. They sound like an extremely low quality lossy stream. The remix is actually worse than I was expecting. The original mix is like a breath of fresh air in comparison.
The two tracks we have samples from the upcoming release sound like they took the multi tracks, downsampled to 128 kbps MP3, then did the remix, and then upsampled to CD quality. I would want to know who had final approval of this. Maybe every original band member left have their hearing so shot that they could not be involved, but somebody in the record company has to be able to make a judicious judgment on this, given that the only thing you are selling is the sound quality of the release.