That has crossed my mind as well. I also thought that maybe those Ludwig remasters may get a worldwide release on CD at some point.
I would almost say that is a near certain guarantee. Again, am hoping for an SACD option on these albums! I'd even settle for HDTracks.
No, it's impossible. Bob remastered only 6 albums, and only 3 of them fit within the new Japanese release of the early (until 1977) 13 studio albums: "A new Elton John vinyl box has been produced in association with luxury British brand Burberry and will be available exclusively in their stores from November. Limited to 800 units, this box features six albums chosen by Elton presented in a specially designed Burberry box, individually numbered and “flecked with gold glitter” and has Elton’s signature embossed in gold lettering. The albums within are Elton John (1970), Madman Across The Water (1971), 17-11-70 (the live album from 1971), Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975) Too Low For Zero (1983) and Songs From The West Coast(2001). These are 180g pressings have apparently been remastered by engineer Bob Ludwig, and the vinyl cut at Abbey Road Studios in London by Sean Magee. Speaking about this set Elton said “choosing these six wasn’t easy; however I think they are a very good representation of my catalogue between 1970 and 2001.” Obviously being a luxury brand, Burberry has attached a ‘luxury’ price to this product – £225 or $375. That’s a lot of cash when you consider this doesn’t come with even a ‘proper’ Elton signature (just a gold embossed one)." (Bob Sinclair, Oct. 2016) This is one time a very limited deal between an investor (Burberry), an artist and a major label. Uni doesn't own this remaster and any further releases or CD conversion are not part of the deal. Uni, Japan used to do their own remastering and they do it right now, as we speak. But this is also a Limited Edition, and would not go word-wide either. I don't recall any Japanese remasters (despite the fact that it belongs to Uni), that was used for world-wide release, as they are all part of local projects intended for collectors only. Bob Ludwig on this box set remastering: - How did you get involved with the mastering of the Elton John albums, and did you have any reservations about touching what, in some cases, are considered to be classics? "When I got the call to remaster Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and then the subsequent remasters I was deeply honored. These are indeed classics, and I gave them a lot of respect! In the past they were originally mastered for vinyl and cassette and, later, compact disc. For me, the goal of remastering these iconic albums in high-resolution digital for the future was to make them sound as good as I possibly could, yet paying close attention to the sound of vintage LP copies of the originals that we know were definitely approved by the artist before their initial release. That was the best pedigree for a reference." - Did Elton have any input on the remasters, or were you given free reign to do what you wanted? "I did what I thought was my best shot, and then Elton listened and made sure it was good. On one of the albums it was decided I needed to lessen some sibilance problems. A case of making it right for 2016 and ignoring that it wasn't done before!" "The Elton John box set is [was] available exclusively at Burberry stores across Asia, Europe, Canada and the US and at the Burberry website." (Ben Rogerson, Nov. 2016)
P.S. The SACD version of this release is very unlikely, since Uni, Japan is now into Hi-Res CD (MQA-CD printed on UHQCD material) Project. Will they come up with Hi-Res CD version of Elton John new release? Nobody knows, as they don't know it themselves.
I’m pretty sure he mastered all the recent vinyl issues, including Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection Mind you, he didn’t cut the records, he doesn’t do that anymore, but he mastered all the digital files that the vinyl series used.
I found 4 more albums he remastered for Mercury. Those can go CD conversion world-wide. He did Blue Moves too.
Yeah, I went back to old 80's versions of all the Elton albums for my digital library, except that one, since no complete version exists other than the mid-90's one, which I don't really care for on headphones.
You and me both. In my case, I'm still in the process of re-buying all those old CDs I got rid of when the 1990's remasters came out.
I got rid of my eighties CDs too when the 95s came out and haven't heard them since. I have the MFSLs and SACDs (can only play redbook layer) as well for relevant titles, but am waiting to see what the mastering is like on the forthcoming SHMs before deciding whether to go back or not. TBH, I played the 95 Caribou again last weekend and don't find it too bad, whereas the GBYR box set is the worst mastering I have heard of that album.
To be honest, the 95s aren't that bad. What's interesting though, is that I ripped a couple of titles to my mp3 player to do some A/B testing and, while the differences seemed very subtle to my ears (using mp3) it was noticeable that after several minutes of listening to the 95s I began to enjoy them less and less. This didn't happen with the original master so, regardless of how subtle (or not) the differences may be, I can subconsciously detect them.
Whilst not perfect I found the DJM Caribou a harder listen than the 1995 even though I have MFSL/DCC/AF cd's of the 69-75 studio titles and pre-remasters for the reminder.
Yeah, I prefer it to the 95, but haven't heard the MCA, but had heard the original DJM. When I first played it on an unwarmed stereo I was dissapointed, but now its my 'go to' version.
You are certainly right. He remastered ALL of the recent reissues: -Empty Sky -Elton John -17/11/70 (Plus the extended 2 lp set) -Tumbleweed -Madman -Honky Chateau -Don't Shoot Me -GYBR (done earlier than this series) -Caribou -Captain Fantastic -Rock of Westies -Blue Moves -Too Low For Zero -Sleeping w/the Past -Songs from the West Coast -The Big Picture -One Night Only (live)
Cd Japan description still says 2018 mastering(subject to change). Less than three weeks until release. Anyone heard any new details?
Yes the AF Rock of the Westies is a great cd in my opinion although it is my least favourite Elton album of the period up to Blue Moves. I don't think AF did any other Elton titles - is that correct?
Correct. The only other stuff Steve hand anything to do with was E.J. Greatest Hits and Madman Across the Water for DCC.
Steve also mastered "Your Songs", a CD collection for MCA from 1985 with 10 tracks and catalog number MCAD-31016.
Good news and bad news. The good news is the SHMs are confirmed to be 2018 remasters from the UK master tapes, the bad news is that they are going back to October 10th release and they will not include bonus tracks.
Personally the absence of bonus-tracks doesn t bother me. They are available elsewhere. That the remasters are made from IK mastertapes is great news indeed The bummer here is the delay but I will surely keep my order since I really want these items
The only thing that slightly bothers me about the bonus tracks is if they had been remastered, I would have wanted them, but you are right, they are well covered elsewhere. Plus other classic albums, like Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd etc etc don't have stuff tagged on the end so in reality why should EJs stuff be treated any differently.