That set list looks like a blast. Did they have the wonderful back-up singers? Spanish Model has yet to float my kayak, but it seems lots of fans are picking it up.
I didn't attend the Cincinnati show but I'm intrigued that he chose to cover "Truth Drug" an early Nick Lowe single that barely slipped out. You never know.....
That was probably Nick's weirdest phase, between Brinsley Schwarz and Jesus of Cool. And it's also one of his most unjustly neglected phases. His early solo singles are kind of fascinating.
Many tracks on the IMP Fiend have smiley face EQ compared with the 2021 remaster. Comparatively the IMP 'This Year's Girl' has a treble boost on the level of a pre emphasis curve. Or the 2021 has a major treble roll-off. On other tracks I checked the difference was a little less extreme. I also noticed speed differences. Some tracks play half a second per minute slower on the 2021. Like the Columbia secret remaster of Get Happy!! the second Columbia This Year's Model indeed has almost the same mastering as the IMP. The IMP has a bit more energy in the high frequencies and the volume levels of the stereo channels were also edited independently, though less extreme than on Get Happy!! I'm guesstimating that the Columbia2 discs contain the original 1986 digital masters, possibly made by Tim Young, and that the IMP discs contain lightly edited versions.
Thanks. I think the 2021 remaster is great, but I do want to experiment with adding a bit of treble. What's your opinion of the 2021? I know you love early CDs but I'm curious if this one is worthy.
Regarding Big Tears, I'm hearing the same thing. Sounds like some tape damage or an azimuth issue. Definitely does not sound as crisp as the other tracks. Otherwise, aside from some noise and pops at the end of side 1, it's a great sounding remaster!!
The 2021 vinyl arrived from "Sound of vinyl" today, this one sounds really good. Nice discount going on from them on it too. Pleased.
I have all the IMP Fiend CDs and all of them are by far the least bright of any digital version I've heard of any given album (IMP, some of the Columbias, Ryko/Demon, Rhino). I haven't heard the 2021 This Year's Model, so I don't doubt your comparison to that one. By the way the IMP Fiends are my favorite digital versions by far.
The Demon discs are definitely the least bright when compared to Columbia or Rhino, but the 2021 remaster of This Year's Model is darker than the Demon/Columbia. I loved it at first, but now I'm beginning to think some high-frequency energy would work wonders for this mix. I haven't tested which frequency ranges work and which ones don't yet. The 2020 Armed Forces 16/44 remaster is also very good but it needs the treble toned down a touch (Bob Ludwig, so expected).
Ok I hear what both of you are saying, yes you are right, this is true for IMP/Fiend This Year's Model on a number of tracks, even compared to Ryko/Demon as well. I have the 2021 now to compare to (had no interest until reading this thread, was always happy with the IMP/Fiend). Strange because the rest of the IMP/Fiends are downright "dark," most people here would probably call them muddy, although I love them.
hi guys. id like to ask if the 2021 european pressing is as good as the usa one. different matrix numbers though sterling stamp is present. but i read bad reviews on the european one. and it is much cheaper. any opinions? cheers
Thank you very much. Hopefully someonw with the eu vinyl will eventually respond. Do you hear also the glitch one the bonus track as well?
just received the eu pressing on vinyl. sounds good enough, but i hear sibilance at places. not on the end of the record sides. in general. still nothing thaaaat bad, but still i wonder if this happens on the us pressing. My turntable is fine, i have an at vm95ml. i never hear sibilance unless it actually is evident on the pressing (white stripes white blood cells comes to mind)
Yes, just that one. I wonder if it was feasible simply because they were already accessing the original tapes for Spanish Model? Like they were going to dig out the tapes and transfer them digitally anyway, might as well remaster the album for a new CD release.
Armed Forces also had a pretty good remaster in 2020, but it didn't come out on CD. I think it's still an indication that we could get more.
It's the same track list as that set, but there's no download card. You can purchase the download separately. For some reason, the hi-res version is very compressed, only the 16/44 download has the good mastering.