I feel like we need a reissue campaign without Steve's involvement. Given the flaws with both the '98 and most recent reissues, I think its more than likely Steve was the common link. I think he needs to just approve things rather than be directly involved.
It’s a great (really, outstanding) guide but I always trust my ears first as a musician and audiophile and know those are without question 2 completely different masterings. I was open to what others said and got the UK a couple of years ago after having the US since it was released. All I can say is, those who own both CD’s can tell they are different masterings and those who don’t have no way of knowing and cannot knowledgable say one way or another without hearing something. I have no horse in the race. Just trying to help other Maiden audiophiles the same way others helped me on this forum. Been a fan since 1982 and always will be. Saw them in ‘83 and ‘84. These have been among my all-time favorite albums, played constantly, for nearly 40 years. Up The Irons!
I wonder how or why so any musicians ended up agreeing with and approving all of these loud over compressed remasters.Some have a different philosophy but most don’t comprehend anything is wrong.I trust my own ears but so many remasters crush the life out of the music.The last Maiden vinyl wasn’t bad.I don’t know what they were going for with #Of The Beast.I would just think those involved in making the music would engineer and have have their music mastered better.
It’s just what they and many others are aiming for wich baffles me. I thought the Thin Lizzy Rock Legends sounded pretty good.
I think at this point they are just mastering for streaming services which has volume normalization which kind of fixes the loudness issue. I have no problems with most modern masterings with ReplayGain or Soundcheck in Apple Music.
Here,a friend and a few at work play me streamed music.I don’t understand it but it sounds overly harsh compared to other sources especially my home system.It has become such a bother I like listening mostly at home.I’d be okay if it sounded decent to me,but it’s just not there yet.
I guess because of my age I grew up when music was generally already compressed so I guess I am just used to it thus why it doesn't bother me like it does the majority of here. It does bother me with certain albums mainly modern metal albums were its pretty much unlistenable.
I can take it or leave it at this point. There are things I wouldn't go back to such as the '04 Megadeth reissues
Amen to that. Steve’s ‘Good enough!’ approach was responsible for the horrible sounding original Dance of Death CD, which was a shame as the album had some fantastic tracks on. The recent remaster improved matters but both D0D and the rest of the catalogue could have been so much better, I’ve pre-ordered the recently announced Queenryche Operation Mindcrime box, never having quite got around to getting it on CD. After clicking Add To Credit Card on the set, my first though ‘If only Seventh Son were getting this sort of treatment…’
Its amazing they aren't doing expanded sets for the classic albums. They could have done that with the recent reissues and like I said before do an updated version of the '95 sets. His "good enough" approach is probably the reason the catalogue is in the state it is in when it comes to CD. It's borderline similar to how poorly the KISS catalogue has been treated by Stanley & Simmons.
Maiden completely missed the boat to release delux editions. Instead we just got more remasters in ****ty card sleeves.
How great would it have been in 2015 when the Hi-Res remasters were first released they did proper deluxe editions. It's a shame they cheaped out massively.
They’d make a killing if they put out those book-style sets that Jethro Tull have been releasing the last few years. Fabulous looking product and pretty much the final word on those albums from what I’ve read.
I just quickly re-read myself through that Maiden CD mastering thread and stand corrected: it really seems the Capitol Killers is indeed inferior to the EMI UK CD. Still, I wouldn't speak of a "completely different mastering" because one could think of a dedicated, alternative approach which isn't the case - it's just sloppyness and bad sources. As for Powerslave, there are NO different masterings among the original CDs. What there is, that's pressing qualities (Black Triangle) - if that's important for you, go for it.
For Killers, if you actually listen to the CD’s, you will hear they are indeed completely different. No way to know that unless you listen. It’s no minor difference. The EQ is completely different. The UK is much much darker. The US has much more predominant mids and highs and actually sounds more like the S/T US CD, while the UK Killers sounds nothing like the US S/T CD. I always considered the first 2 US CD’s as companions not just because they both have Paul, but because they sound similar. But the UK Killers is altogether different and it took getting used to. But it is an outstanding CD and by far the best of the early Maiden CD’s. It makes me wonder if Capitol had a different EQ for the US Killers from the beginning for the US vinyl and cassette. Again, the dropout in the US CD is an indication that a different master was likely used for the US CD. The intro edit of the title track is another indication. For Powerslave, the DR database has 2 different sets of numbers, which possibly indicates different masterings. My UK EMI and US DADC sound different. But is it different mastering different, or just a pressing difference? I haven’t dug deep enough to know and I don’t care too much because I’ll never afford one of the gold WG CD’s and my DADC sounds good enough for me. Compared to Killers, it’s a minor difference.
It makes me wonder if the US had a different EQ from the beginning with the vinyl and cassette because they likely pulled a vinyl or cassette master for the US CD.
It really comes down to what is being streamed and on what. If I stream my original Maiden CDs that I’ve ripped through my setup it sounds killer. If I stream their newest remasters on a Bluetooth speaker, not so much.
No argument there... I can understand Harris wanting a bit of compression to tighten the bass and groove things up a bit. And some light mastering eq. But what is heard on the 1998 Renasties and the current 2015 CDs is BOGUS. Anyone on here could have done better. My 83 year mother would have done better. You want an answer? To sound current. I can understand that in 1998, but wanting your 1980 - 1997 album catalog loud and gross in 2015 makes no sense. I doubt weather anyone in Maiden got to hear any of their albums on compact disks. Often the company says, "Let's put those Iron Maiden albums out," and it gets done. But some musicians actually think that max compression is good. Just listen to the current crop of IM albums. Many heavy metal musicians believe that Metal to sound good must be loud and compressed.
My 1997 remastered Paul Stanley CD is fabulous. Same sound as my 1980 vinyl. No compression at all. And great CD packing. They gave you a normal old fashioned CD case.
