I have The Babys Silver Dreams the remastering is quite good not to loud.. Sadly , I feel Paul, can't take any criticism for any product he pushes. When I listened to whole cds on the youtube page.. it is very loud.. The only good thing it is free to listen too.. really have no need to buy it.. I never thought go west was that big.. The amount time it took to release Indian Summer.. Maybe you could ask him questions on twitter or facebook? Oh I have Future Now cd from Japan.. it's no where loud as this.
I know how you feel. I’ve waited years for a deluxe edition of this album, and THIS is what we get? God, I hope Lexicon of Love gets better treatment!!
I decided to dig out my 2-disc Music Club Deluxe of The Very Best Of Go West, released in the mid-2010s.... Look at this....why on earth did they feel the need to butcher the debut era material when you have these numbers? Analyzed folder: Go West - The Very Best Of [MCD 2CD]\The Very Best of Go West Disc 1\ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Filename ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR10 -0.50 dB -12.60 dB 01 We Close Our Eyes.wav DR11 -0.38 dB -13.15 dB 02 Call Me.wav DR10 -1.08 dB -12.47 dB 03 Don’t Look Down- The Sequel.wav DR11 -1.00 dB -14.04 dB 04 Innocence [Edit][The Desperation Edit].wav DR12 -0.00 dB -14.59 dB 09 S.O.S. [The Perpendicular Mix].wav DR12 -0.00 dB -14.36 dB 10 Man In My Mirror.wav DR11 -0.10 dB -14.12 dB 13 Missing Persons.wav DR12 over -14.63 dB 15 Ball of Confusion [Live][Live].wav DR12 -0.51 dB -14.88 dB 16 Call Me [Indiscriminate Mix].wav ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Analyzed folder: Go West - The Very Best Of [MCD 2CD]\The Very Best of Go West Disc 2\ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Filename ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR11 -0.61 dB -13.19 dB 01 Goodbye Girl.wav DR12 -1.30 dB -14.88 dB 02 Eye To Eye.wav DR11 -1.27 dB -14.26 dB 06 One Way Street [From Rocky IV].wav DR12 -0.71 dB -14.63 dB 15 Don't Look Down [The Stratospheric Mix].wav DR13 over -15.24 dB 16 We Close Our Eyes [Total Overhang Club Mix].wav ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EG.
And just for good measure, the debut era tracks from 1993's compilation Aces & Kings: Analyzed folder: Go West\Aces And Kings; The Best of Go West\ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Filename ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR10 -0.40 dB -12.45 dB 01 Go West - We Close Our Eyes [Unreleased Version].wav DR11 -0.10 dB -12.94 dB 04 Go West - Call Me.wav DR10 -0.28 dB -11.62 dB 06 Go West - Don't Look Down - The Sequel.wav DR11 -1.07 dB -14.06 dB 07 Go West - One Way Street.wav DR10 -0.11 dB -12.64 dB 11 Go West - Goodbye Girl [Single Version].wav ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EG.
Amazon finally shipped mine today, charged the lowest price £34 I have that 2012 Very Best Of, decent comp and has single mix of Goodbye Girl
Glad you got charged the lowest price, that's good. Hope you enjoy the set, it's very pretty but I simply cannot listen to that mastering/mix...brings on a migraine. EG.
I'm creating a "Directors Cut/Alternate Takes" version of the album. Same 9 songs, but in different versions (ie the 1993 mix of We Close Our Eyes, the 7" mixes of Don't Look Down and Goodbye Girl, 12" mixes of the rest where available) and also with the B-side and the Rocky song added. Much more fun than the boxset, and I already have everything I need. Sounds better too! EG.
Ask Gary S why he mastered it like that & ask Cox & Drummie why the band approved it? With those approvals then it would be difficult for Chrysalis to push back unless they wanted a reputation for not meeting the band's wishes. Catch 22 for the label which is why they prefer, generally, to use trusted audio peeps to work on this stuff before taking proposed mixes & masters to the artist: look at the difference between this and the Ultravox releases where the preferred approach is used.
According to that interview on SDE Cox & Drummie never even listened to this before it was released. I don't know if Gary Stevenson has ever remastered anything before but going by this i would suggest he doesn't do it again.
I think only Cox said that but, regardless, they approved it, whether they listened or not and so they bear some of the responsibility. Gary S is a well known & respected producer and was the original album (and demo) producer and has therefore mastered dozens of releases. As such, he could be considered a natural choice to do it - rightly or wrongly. Not trying to defend the end result, just the thought process.
My 11-track "Director's Cut" edition, with a variety of alternative and extended mixes of as many of the original 9 tracks that I have on various comps (and the original CDs of the S/T and Bangs & Crashes). EG.
The original version of the album was mastered by George Marino. I'm not finding any albums on Discogs where Stevenson is specifically credited for mastering, let alone remastering.
That's really more of an excuse on their behalf though, isn't it? Mastering & remastering are really the same thing: remastering just has a time factor to it. And, no he may not have many 'mastering' credits but as producer he would have had either mastered himself (typically more recently - in the same way that Steven Wilson often does it) or he would have sat with the mastering engineer and worked the mastering together (as was done in the good old days). Titles such as 'Producer', 'Mastering Engineer', 'Engineer', 'Mixer' and 'Editor - plus others - are often simply titles of convenience with much cross-over between them.
Still it seems FUBAR... Mean while on SDE everything about this release in just peachy.. No bad vibes lol.
My box arrived today. Played CD1 - the volume on the amp had to come down straightaway. Pretty savage. Much worse on headphones but tolerable on speakers and in car (went for a quick drive for the last 3 tracks) My favourite Go West track is Don't Look Down (The Sequel) - and in particular, the first 12 seconds that have the kind of moaning. A friend and I spent ages trying to copy the vocal sound in school.
i recall reading somewhere that a deluxe 40th box is planned for later in the year. No detail yet as to what bonus materials it will include.
Your hearing is more tolerant than mine! I don't know what they've done to it, but it triggers something in my brain which gave me a migraine. It sounded horrendous through my hi-fi. Played the older masterings last night, to create my Directors Cut, and it's fine...just like I remember and love it. EG.
Everything is just peachy because Paul won't publish any negative comments toward this. It amazes how people are praising this elsewhere as they must be deaf.
As I listen to some of again on there youtube page.. it reminds me of Robert Plant remasters. I only have one remaster of robert plant the rest are the original german ,japanese issues.. Those remasters were pretty harsh. Will maybe some people are indeed death.. It's sad as big as his site is he won't allow constructive criticism on any release..? Even talking with Peter Cox on facebook page .. we won't get answers..
I've got a few of those Plant remasters....they are bright, and quite loud. But still listenable. Something, to my ears anyway, has gone badly awry with the Go West remaster. It's not just the fact it's louder. EG.
We have similar tastes, although I would definitely have included the b-side Dreamworld (although I appreciate the only official digital release of that track is found in this box set and sounds like crap). I’d also have included the Total Overhang Mix of We Close Our Eyes, for THAT guitar solo…
