Blondie 1974-1982: Against the Odds

Numero's sets never sell out immediately after release, do they? I want to hold off on this because I want to see if the remasters are an improvement. (If they're heavily compressed like the few Numero sets I already have, I'll probably pass and settle for the rarities-only set.)

 

On the Numero site the 8 CD edition is sold out, but with a notification option when restocked. The price jumped up by 50 bucks as well.

 

I mean, they do sell out of the preorder allocation from time to time, especially colored editions. Also figuring that they didn’t get as many as they normally might have because it is being spread around to all these different sellers (Numero, Blondie site, UDiscover, Amazon all around the world…) and Numero has been trying like hell to get out of CDs for a few years now.

I’m sure you will be able to get it later but you are very likely to pay more for it.

 

Thanks all. Yeah, paying more sucks, but tbh, a lot of Numero's sets seem to have quite a bit compression and Blondie's most recent round of remasters are heavily compressed. If they're involved in the mastering, I don't think these are going to be the audiophile masterings I've been waiting for, so I'm going to see if that plays out. BUT the extras look great, and if you don't mind compression, the presentation is amazing (the books, the foil-wrapped box, etc.) And to be fair, I still get Numero stuff because even with the compression, my favorites typically deal with music unavailable anywhere else OR they will still manage to sound better because the material was so poorly mastered before. So the extras I'm in for, but with the four albums and the additional singles I'd want, I'm guessing most likely I'll end up sticking with the CD's I already have.

 

Not to derail the conversation but which Numero sets are you saying are heavily compressed?

 

Savage Young (Hüsker) Dü, the Scientists, Bedhead and Unwound's No Energy...probably the Ork set but that's a good example of something that still sounds a LOT better than what was on CD before. These are all on CD or digital downloads, so the vinyl editions may sound better, but the format's too much of an expensive pain for me.

 

Gotcha. Thanks.

 

Bullmoose has the 8 CD deluxe up for pre-order at $125.97.
Amazon has it for 139.98.

 

This has been my experience as well (Unwound box, Bedhead box, Eccentric Soul compilations, Savage Young Du, the exotica compilation Technicolor Paradise). But the packaging and extras are A+. I think if Numero takes the same approach with this Blondie box in terms of mastering we can expect CDs with DR range of 8-10.

 

That sounds about right to me in terms of the DR.

I have a rather large Numero collection and my thought is that a lot of the source material is subpar to begin with, and so I don’t expect miracles as far as sound goes. Like the Husker Du set is mainly from cassette tapes recorded in basements and the like for instance. I’m hoping that because the Blondie material was at least professionally recorded in a major label studio, it will require a lot less compression (or other such tweaking) to get where they wanted it to go… at least that is my hope.

 

While I’m thinking of it… does anyone know the DR values on the last round of Blondie remasters? If my memory serves me right, a DR of 8-10 would be an improvement.

 

Good info.
And importcds has it for:
Today's Order
Thursday, June 16, 2022 11:06 AM
Subtotal$98.05 Standard Shipping$2.99 Sales Tax$10.71
Total$111.75
Against The Odds: 1974-1982 (8 CD) Blondie 602508760969
CD
Release date: 8/26/2022 1
Pre-order $98.05

 

$118 at Target.

 

And eligible for Buy 2 Get 1 Free until Saturday night.

 

Still sold out on Numero, yet they increased the price again to $200.

 

I have this preordered at Amazon. Based on what I’m reading here , I guess Amazon will eventually cancel my order.

 

Maybe, maybe not. There are many releases that Amazon often has deep pockets of. Prince's 1999 huge vinyl box is one example. They had it in stock for nearly a year after everyone else had been sold out.

 

Price gouging is a big turn off.. ... and price is too much.
I never heard of the cd company.. sounds like there inexperienced with mass appeal
with certain artists.. red alert...red alert

 

You would think that with all the time this set has been delayed, they would have gone back to the multi-track takes and remixed and remastered from scratch. Isn’t that what an archival set like this is supposed to do? Let!s hope they did!

 

No. Most fans want original mixes alone, or remixes along with the original mixes. Lots of people would complain if the set was released and contained only remixes.

 

Well at least remastered.

 

I'm guessing the new set will feature new mastering, but whether that will represent an improvement over what was previously released is no guarantee but certainly something we can hope for.

 

why do you think they will cancel your order?

 

They’ve done it before when demand exceeds supply . Last years Nancy Sinatra Start Walking Color Vinyl, a couple of other limit edition CD box sets. It seems like there a strong demand for this set , so I’m wondering if Amazon will have enough in stock, and since this is a small company, will they be able to repress quickly.
Having said all that, I notice Amazon has lowered the price for the CDs from $140 to $118.

 

Well, Numero is small(ish) but Universal sure as hell isn’t. I don’t think there is going to be any sort of an immediate rush on the CD or standard black vinyl at all.