I want to know why this band has been so badly treated in the remastering world?? Their debut was the biggest selling debut of all time, until Hootie & the Blowfish "Cracked Rear view". And, although not as good as the first one, "Don't look back" has been the same cd issue since maybe forever. And their third record for MCA, have a weird sound. I know they all could be improved...What you guys think??
Try the Sony SACD of the debut. Some feel the MFSL LP of Boston's debut is best, I tend to like the "Wally" Epic mastered at Capitol. AFA Don't Look Back, maybe the Mastersound Gold. The stock CD and LPs didn't sound bad at all to me. Third Stage, impossible to make sound better IMHO. Sonic trainwreck, but umm, in a good way?
I have the "Third Stage" LP, and it says that the master of "Cool The engines" got glued in the machine player, and they had to use some kind of silicone to run the tape...What's true about that???Where the tapes so badly handled that even to the original release (1986) they were getting glued to the machine heads???
Only when you're Tom Scholz and it takes over 8 years to make a record. Yes, one of the OD tapes was trashed and got sticky from use. A normality when it comes to the use of modern tape formulation. What helps glide the tape through the guides becomes sticky after about 5-6 years. It's the Whale Blubber thing. It started around 1975 or so when they replaced most tape formulas in use. This is why most parts and master tapes have to be baked before use or they get sticky and self-destruct on the machines.
Is Tom Scholz THAT irresponsible with his art?? I know it may sound dumb, but can you imagine to hear all the "Third Stage" effects in 5.1???Imagine the possiblities..SACD woul be great....
Will never happen. Tom Scholz & the labels would not get along. Here's what doesn't mix: 1. Tom's graduated from MIT. He has patents, inventions. Should be a smaat guy, right? 2. Since when would Tom NOT know that modern tape doesn't stick when it gets old? 3. Why would Tom store a workpart away for more than 5 years? A lot of people thought Third Stage was a GOOD album (not great) but that such a feat shouldn't have taken more than two years. Instead it took between 6-7. Sonically, it sounded like a bag of wet sponges. The MFSL doesn't sound all that better. To boot, the album could have grown to CD-optimal length. Fans thought Tom and others took their own sweet time. I agree. Tom lost faith in the recording industry, and vice-versa.
Well I just listened to the SACD and it is pretty impressive. I mean there is no ultra high or low end and it's dry and dull with that MCI type sound, but that's what it always sounded like to me. I can hear all the heavy eq, heavy compression, and sharp edits which generally means it sounds like a master tape. I don't have the Mobile Fidelity record to compare it to. But I do have the CBS Mastersound 1/2 speed record. I'll put that one one of these days to review it, but I think the SACD sounds better then I remember it.
I've never heard what seems to be so bad about the standard Epic CD issue. Sure, it hasn't been remastered since it was first pressed to CD in the late '80s, but it doesn't sound bad at all to me. Any thoughts?
For me the S/T album is a toss up with the slight edge going to the SACD over the Japanese 2nd pressing. The Mastersound pressings of both Boston albums are a wreck being really bright and harsh. I'm hoping one day to possibly get/hear a Japanese 1st pressing of the both of these and Third Stage as well although I couldn't begin to guess what to expect.
For Boston's debut, my favorite is the SACD. After that, the original Japanese CD pressing released in the U.S. is quite good. It beats the later U.S. pressing. I need to do some comparisons with Don't Look Back, but I recently listened to a couple original Japanese pressings, and they sound great. I'm speaking of the original Japanese release with catalog number 35 8P-7 and the corresponding Japanese pressing released in the U.S. with "DI8P-50007" beneath the catalog number. Third Stage is a great album, but I am not really enamored with the sound of the standard MCA disc (Japanese pressing) or the MFSL gold CD. I am waiting for the original Japanese release to arrive in the mail (catalog number 32XD-538) and am hoping for the best there soundwise.
I had a Japanese pressing/US release of Don't Look Back that I traded in for the US release, back in the days when I was young and foolish and believed that all remasters/reissues would be sonic improvements. I remember that the Japanese was quite smooth with very extended bass--the drums that bring the band back in after the middle part of the title cut were very impressive indeed. I think the Japanese like to boost the low end on occasion, and that might have been the case here, but it sure served the music well. My preferences, in order, for the first album: SACD (very nice) "Wally" cut Epic LP (I have a white-label demo that's very, very close to the SACD) US CD The US CD of the second album doesn't sound all that bad, but it's not as good as the Japanese pressing. The Mastersound gold disc of Don't Look Back is very, very bright; too bright for me. I never bought the third album, but there's enough good stuff on there that I might one day. The sound is pretty awful, though. Very wonky mids, as I remember.
There are actually two Japanese pressings of Don't Look Back made for the U.S. market. Both pressings have the same catalog number as the standard U.S. pressing you would buy today (EK 35050, going from memory). The first pressing is the CBS/Sony plant pressing. My copy has "MANUFACTURED BY CBS/SONY RECORDS INC." stamped on the clear plastic ring, and it has "35-8P-7", the original Japanese catalog number, as part of the matrix code. The disc also has "DI8P-50007" beneath the catalog number. The inserts differ from those that you find with the standard U.S. pressing. The inserts with the Japanese CBS/Sony pressing have "Record manufactured in Japan..." on the back cover of the booklet and on the back insert. The other Japanese pressing of Don't Look Back made for the U.S. market was made at the Denon plant. The matrix code shows the U.S. catalog number, and it's in a dot-matrix style. The inserts are identical to those found with the standard U.S. pressing. Thus, back cover of the booklet and the back insert show the New York address for Columbia Records. I've never gotten around to comparing these two Japanese pressings, but I've listened quite a bit to the CBS/Sony pressing, and it sounds very good. I'd post scans of the two discs, but I'm not home right now. Unless someone beats me to it, I'll post scans when I am home later today.
Japanese pressings of Don't Look Back, Part I As promised, here are scans of the two Japanese pressings of the U.S. version of Don't Look Back. I will do this in two posts. Note that both discs have catalog number EK 35050. Shown here is the CBS/Sony plant pressing and the corresponding booklet cover and back insert. This is the original pressing. The matrix code is "35 8P-7-10 1A4", and "MANUFACTURED BY CBS/SONY RECORDS INC." is stamped on the clear plastic ring. "DI8P 50007" appears beneath the catalog number. The disc does not actually have "MADE IN JAPAN" at the end of the copyright line, but it has all the markings of an early Japanese CBS/Sony pressing (as opposed to a U.S. DADC pressing, for example). This disc came in a smooth-edge jewel case with "Patent pending" embossed on the back. The total running time for this disc is 34:13.
Japanese pressings of Don't Look Back, Part II Shown here is the Japanese Denon plant pressing of Don't Look Back, along with the corresponding booklet cover and back insert. The matrix code is in the typical Denon dot-matrix style, and the matrix code is "EK-35050 1A5 6Y". The disc does not have "DI8P 50007" beneath the catalog number. The inserts are identical to those packaged with the U.S. pressing available today. The total running time for this disc is 33:56.
I noticed that the later Don't Look Back had a triangle-inside-a-circle insignia on the right. I.I.N.M., that's what they used on pressings emanating from CBS/Sony's Carrollton, GA plant (I saw that symbol on the labels of a few vinyl LP's on Columbia and subsidiary labels from that factory).
Thanks for that information. I have no idea what the significance of that symbol is. Some early U.S. CD pressings from CBS/Sony's DADC plant in Terre Haute, IN have it, while others do not. Also, early CBS/Sony discs pressed at the Japanese Denon and JVC plants for sale in the U.S. have the symbol. Japanese CBS/Sony plant pressings made for sale in the U.S. do not have the symbol.
I've been trying to find the SACD of Boston's first since it started getting good comments here. The last copy I saw was at Circuit City for $20. Since then, they sent back all the Sony SACDs they had. Anyone still see copies on the shelf, or online? Tim
Should be tons at Sonymusic. http://www.sonymusicstore.com/store/catalog/MediaTypeDetails.jsp?mcode=00005&alpha=B
The original Japanese pressing of Boston's S/T CD is excellent. The SACD is also very good. I need to sit down and compare the two. I would be very interested in hearing about Don't Look Back on how the US and Japanese pressings compare.
