I suppose for a lot of these companies they find it more lucrative to have a set amount of sets sell out right away as opposed to mass producing the sets and having them available indefinitely? I definitely am no expert in the business end of that but can totally see that being a viable strategy especially in the streaming age where a lot of people who maybe a few years ago would have pulled the trigger on one of these sets may stick to just listening to the material on Spotify/Apple Music
True. It sucks for those who might get into vinyl later than others, but it makes sense. Although in a way, given how much the aftermarket value for the 1999 set goes for instance, wouldn't they have rather pressed an additional x000 units and make some of that money themselves instead of ebay/Amazon sellers? Shout Factory did such a thing in the late 2000s with Freaks And Geeks, they reissued the uber-edition that only came with the first pressing (2003 or so) because they found themselves with a property that had a lot of "new" fans thanks to Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, etc... rising to fame AFTER the initial DVD release and the initial deluxe DVD was going in the 200-300 range, so they pressed one additional batch
That's a pity. There is a such a jump in what's offered on the 3CD to the mega 8CD/1DVD package. I'm not sure that was entirely wise. But then the 3CD isn't too much more expensive than the standard 2CD remaster, so I suppose you get what you pay for...there just could have been another format inbetween the bare-bones 3CD and the big set. EG.
It's odd, on amazon, the 3CD only cost 50 cents more than the 2CD. But on the Prince website, the 2CD is $16.98 and the 3CD is $29.98, so I figured the 3CD had to have at least a nice thick booklet, with some of the interviews/essays from the super deluxe. Nope! I agree, they should have done a 2CD and something more substantial between the Super Deluxe and the 2CD, more than just what they gave for the 3CD set. On the plus side, the mastering is good. Just as you said, Bernie Grundman opted for a warmer, smoother sound this time around. It's mastered hotter than I like, but since the EQ is better than the original CD, I think I prefer it. It's one of those things where neither mastering is ideal, there's things I like about both.
A version with the album and maybe 2 CDs of the 'best' vault material would have been an idea. But for SOTT, the SDE was always going to be the way to go.
Price dropped to $122 on Amazon, so I pulled the trigger. It'll probably be out there for $10 next week just to spite me!
Ugh! I'm gonna keep a copy of the "Sign" SDE in my Amazon cart. If the price drops significantly in the semi-near future, I can order a copy and return it under the banner of the $122 copy!
I spoke too soon. After listening to the original CDs again and comparing to the the remaster, I have decided that I prefer the more dynamic and more transparent textures of the original CDs.
I can understand that completely...I miss that transparency in the 2020 remaster. I might revisit my original CD, I'm certainly never going to offload it. All my original Warners 80s Prince discs are staying put! EG.
The Super Deluxe CD set is $110.79 at Popmarket during their current sale: https://www.popmarket.com/sign-o-the-times-super-deluxe-edition/603497847563 p
The 13 lp set is a monster. A guy who I work with got it and it is insane. Overkill in my opinion, but I can see how some people go crazy for it
Blurgh. I jumped on it when it was $140, thinking it would sell out quick, before getting discounted, like 1999 sold out, but here we are... But the, I swear, if I would've waited, it would've gone out print! Such is my luck.
Yeah, I admit the "1999" situation made me a little worried that it'd go OOP. But "1999" wasn't that tough to find for a little while after it went OOP, so I wasn't terrified or anything! Eventually I just decided to take the plunge and not continue to follow every 2-cent price change!
Deep Discount has the 8cd/1dvd set for $99 I got an additional $10 off the set by using Deep10 discount code.
Sign of the Times comparison: Original Euro German pressing - 1987 2020 remaster - from the box set 2020 remaster - special Peach vinyl version. Thought it would be fun to compare the the 3 versions - nothing scientific - just playing 1st track in its entirely and the start of Play In the Sunshine. put the Peach vinyl on first, then played 2020 Black vinyl, then original 1987 Euro pressing, then back to Peach vinyl to compare 2020 Peach vinyl - sounds good - slightly more bottom end weight than the 2020 black vinyl but lacks a bit of treble extension. Play in the Sunshine is a brash aggressive track - the new remaster peach vinyl has taken too much of that attack and top end aggression away - a deliberate decision from Burnie no doubt to tame some of the top end aggression on some tracks.. 2020 Black vinyl - immediately slightly tighter bass and faster in the upper frequencies. The drum echo is clearer on the black vinyl on Sign of the Time. rest of the sound is pretty similar to the peach. 1987 original Euro German pressing - EVERYTHING is tighter and faster. the musical notes have edge and aggression. has better left to right soundstage and detail and Prince's voice is more centred compared to the other two pressings. Maybe I am used to the original pressing after playing it for 33 years, but to me it is easily better sounding than the 2020 remaster. overall ratings 1. original 1987 Euro German - this to me is the essence of a 29 year old at the top of his game - this sounds tight, aggressive and plain wonderful 2. 2020 Black vinyl - You can hear from the 2020 remaster that everything has been slightly smoothed over when directly comparing to original pressing. Sounds more balanced to me vs the peach vinyl. has better treble extension and space. This sounds damn good and very enjoyable. 3. 2020 Peach vinyl - last place I am afraid sonically. First place with the stunning embossing - hard to tell from my photos how beautiful the embossing is.. Like many coloured vinyl pressings compared to the black, this sounds just a little more subdued in the top end and thicker in the bass region. It still sounds very good and if you system edges to being lean or thin - buy this.
Finally got to hear this and compare my original cd to the new remaster cd. Love it. I can hear far deeper in to the mix and all of the layered instruments and detail, that before created more of an overall impression but lacked nuance. Been listening to this album since the day it was released, but the new remaster gives me a far greater appreciation for how masterful the production and mix is. It’s incredible, but I never realized that multiple stacked instruments are creating times that I just heard as one unified sound before.
