Eurythmics on CD and remasters

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Turnaround, Aug 23, 2009.

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  1. Turnaround

    Turnaround Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
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    In 2005, eight of the Eurythmics' albums were remastered for CD. They also replaced the 1991 compilation, "Greatest Hits" (18 tracks) with "Ultimate Collection" (19 tracks, two of which are new songs).

    What do people think of the remasters and compilations?

    The old threads on the Eurythmics have already retired into archives.

    (Their soundtrack, "1984 (For the Love of Big Brother)," was not remastered because it was on a different label.)

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  2. jsayers

    jsayers Just Drifting....

    Location:
    Horse Shoe, NC
  3. Gems-A-Bems

    Gems-A-Bems Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Duke City
    I don't think that's the reason (because it wasn't on a different label).
     
  4. Thesmellofvinyl

    Thesmellofvinyl Senior Member

    Location:
    Cohoes, NY USA
    I have these and the title I like most, Be Yourself Tonight, sounds to me to be quite a bit louder than the original CD. I've been meaning to burn the bonus tracks and trade 'em in.
     
  5. ubsman

    ubsman Active Member

    Location:
    Utah
    The only good thing about the remasters (in digipaks) are the bonus tracks.
     
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  6. X Offender

    X Offender New Member

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    It did get a release on RCA in the U.S., but in the rest of the world it was on Virgin.

    As for the remasters: They're compressed, and can get a little fatiguing. However, the tonality on some of the later albums (Revenge, Savage, We Too are One) is an improvement on the original CDs — or the ones I heard — which were trebly.

    Peace, bizarrely, utilizes different mixes on a few tracks.

    The bonus tracks are frustrating, because they're incomplete; like three of the four live tracks on the B-side of the "This is the House" 12" are appended to In the Garden. (And the A-side is an extended remix which has never been on CD.) It can't be a matter of tapes missing, because "Monkey, Monkey" on Sweet Dreams (are Made of This) is quite audibly a needledrop.

    Overall, kind of a missed opportunity.
     
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  7. Winter Hugohalter

    Winter Hugohalter New Member

    Location:
    Camas Washington
    I prefer the original discs (especially Sweet Dreams, Touch and Be Yourself Tonight) over the remasters.
     
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  8. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    That's what I did. I was seriously disappointed in the sound of the remasters.

     
  9. ubsman

    ubsman Active Member

    Location:
    Utah
    Scored an original "made in Japan" Revenge today at the local FYE for under $5. I can turn this one up. It looks absolutely brand new, including the heavy case although it does have ridges, not smooth sides.
     
  10. ubsman

    ubsman Active Member

    Location:
    Utah
    Saw another one today at a different FYE so must be pretty common.
     
  11. Winter Hugohalter

    Winter Hugohalter New Member

    Location:
    Camas Washington
    Original Eurythmics CD's (with the possible exception of "In the Garden" and "1984") are pretty easy to find.
     
  12. ReductionDeath

    ReductionDeath Member

    Location:
    New York City
    I am seriously considering picking these remasters up. Are they truly abysmal... or just louder? Louder I can handle (as long as it's not ear-bleedingly so). The bonus tracks are just so tempting!
     
  13. colinu

    colinu I'm not lazy, I'm energy saving!

    Songs like "Thorn In My Side" are IMO ear-bleedingly louder. The lessy rocky tracks are more tolerable.
     
  14. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    The "In the Garden" remaster sounded pretty loud to me.
     
  15. Very common. With the exception of '1984', the Eurythmics original RCA CD's are very easy to find. Even the Japan pressed CD's are unusually common.
     
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  16. NearysEpiphany

    NearysEpiphany Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    Does The Ultimate Collection contain remixes? Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) sounds very different from what I remember.
     
  17. jsayers

    jsayers Just Drifting....

    Location:
    Horse Shoe, NC
    It really is, but has great bonus tracks and packaging/booklet.
    But isn't that always the way?!:laugh:

    I picked up In The Garden and Sweet Dreams when they came out in 2005, haven't played them in a while, though.
     
  18. They sound like poop. I'm so glad I have my early CDs for these. By the way the Sweet Dreams remaster is out of print.
     
  19. OnTheRoad

    OnTheRoad Not of this world

    All I have is the original RCA of Touch and it's fantastic. It's made by CINRAM in Canada.

    I can't compare as I haven't heard the remaster.
     
  20. rwil

    rwil Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Fayetteville, AR
    I've seen some of these remasters (Sweet Dreams & Revenge) in the cheapie bin at Wal-Mart, and I got the In the Garden remaster in the $3.99 bin at Hasting's. So, if you're curious, they're common and inexpensive enough to take a chance on.

    In the Garden is the only remaster I've purchased, and I haven't heard the original issue of it, so I can't compare the two issues, but I loved the packaging and bonus tracks. Such a great album.
     
  21. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    Better get them fast. They are going OOP.
     
  22. Gallileo

    Gallileo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I have the digipack remastered edition of Touch. It's made in EU and it sounds great.
    In my humble opinion.
     
  23. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I'm not as down on the remasters as everybody else. The dynamic range is pretty compressed - crushed on a few tracks - but the transfers were well done otherwise. I'm a big fan of whatever equalization they did, with the exception of In The Garden - the West German pressing of that one from I think the late '80s sounds a lot better - too much treble, but the remaster is muted (and heavily compressed).

    I think I actually deleted the original masters for most of these off the hard drive. Maybe I should retrieve them from an archived backup and do another comparison...
     
  24. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Hmmm... Maybe I am as down on the remasters as everybody else.

    Turns out I hadn't deleted most of the originals from the hard drive - only Sweet Dreams, Be Yourself Tonight and Savage. Still have the discs, and since those were ancient rips I did before switching to Exact Audio Copy anyhow, I just re-ripped them.

    Hmmm.

    The originals definitely sound better, I think. They must have NoNoised the remasters, because there's something wrong with the high-end, in addition to the compression (which doesn't seem as obtrusive on the later albums, but wrecks Sweet Dreams).

    I think everybody has a bias against early digital recordings and conversions, but the reality is that stuff often sounded harsh at the time only because early CD players had crappy D/A converters. On modern playback equipment, if the CD was made properly from a good, well-equalized master, it pretty much sounds like the master. Most attempts at "remastering" will just eff things up, unless done by someone like our host who really, really knows their stuff.

    Would love to hear clean, uncompressed, 24-bit, 192kHz copies of these someday, though. If the tapes haven't deteriorated too much, the original masters probably could be improved upon...but I'm guessing not by much. Eurythmics were never particularly about high-fidelity anyhow, even if they were in a way a kind of European Steely Dan.
     
  25. Yannick

    Yannick Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cologne, Germany
    The remasters do sound considerably louder. However, I'm happy that the group reunited for those 2 new songs. Both of them are great and I feel they should have recorded a whole album of new material together. That one could have become their most consistent and thus best album ever. That's been the missed opportunity, mainly because Dave Stewart was already busy with his Platinum Weird project starring Kara DioGuardi which later turned into a mock-70s retro album. (Too bad the original was never released as a standalone CD - that one would have been great.)

    Having been into Dave Stewart's work as a producer for other artists and his solo career, "Ultimate Collection" was my first taste of Eurythmics as such, apart from the "Peace" album which, back in '99, turned out to be way too sleepy for my taste. I feel lucky to have gone after the original CDs in used condition instead of the remasters.
     
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