Kinks VGPS Deluxe tracklist

The song is actually from the Face to Face era. However, Sanctuary, [sarcasm alert] in its infinite wisdom, chose not to include either the mono single mix or the stereo mix as a bonus track on the Face to Face reissue. There is, however, a connection to the VGPS era in that it was the flip side to the Days single. So it would certainly be appropriate to include the mono mix on disc 2, which includes other period single tracks as bonus material. In addition, the stereo mix was, if I recall corrected, slated for inclusion on the Four More Respected Gentlemen album. Some of the stereo versions found on disc 3 come from that project.

 

I suppose that this track probably belonged on the BBC collection. Another brilliant move by Sanctuary.

 

I should point out that BBC versions of Village Green Preservation Society and Monica appear on the BBC Sessions set.

 

In all fairness, Ray has final say on all track listings. I really doubt Sanctuary is vetoing individual tracks.

 

Fair enough. [Sarcasm alert] Another brilliant move by Ray.

 

Well I guess the six tracks from the BBC TV show "Where Was Spring?" belong together.

They are (according to my boot CD):

Did You See His Name
Where Did My Spring Go
When I Turn Off...
Till Death...
Pictures In The Sand
Berkely Mews

 

Ugh, y'all are making me think about cancelling my preorder.....

 

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. There's plenty of good stuff included. It's just that some of the omissions are a bit strange.

 

Ray requested the removal of several tracks (including Pictures In The Sand) and the addition of such things as King Kong and Groovy Movies. He's the artist and has final say. The exclusion of tracks only has partially to do with Sanctuary. As I have been told many times, we are fortunate that Ray approved the use of such items as Misty Water, as well as some of the oddities that you have not yet heard. Also, the exclusion of the "original" stereo mixes of Starstruck and Wicked Annabella is no mistake. They are not different mixes after all. A careful A/B of the 12 song master against the 15 song master revealed no differences.

Andrew Sandoval

 

Thanks for the inside scoop, Andrew.

 

For what it's worth I've emailed Sanctuary and asked them the questions about source tapes digital vs. analog, and mastering. Haven't heard back yet but it hasn't been long

 

Thanks for the response. While I'm happy to FINALLY be getting some rare/unreleased material from the VGPS era, I have to admit that it's pretty disappointing that a well-known outtake like Pictures in the Sand was left off. And while She's Got Everything is not a VGPS outtake, it would have made sense to include the stereo mix (previously unavailable on CD in the UK) on Disc 3 because it was one of the tracks intended for Four More Respected Gentlemen. Finally, given that Disc 3 runs only 60 minutes (at least if the times given in the press release are correct), it's hard to see why other BBC recordings from the period (such as Village Green Preservation Society and Monica, which appear on the Kinks BBC collection) aren't also included. Again, I hate to sound ungrateful -- I most definitely AM grateful to Sanctuary and Ray for this release -- but considering just how close this set is to being the definitive VGPS reissue, the handful of omissions are, well, frustrating. There just seems to be an unwritten rule about these kinds of releases which requires that SOMETHING be left off in order to piss off completists.

By the way Andrew, what's happening with the much-delayed release of the unreleased 1969 Dave Davies solo album? I think it was originally scheduled for release in 2002, and then pushed back to 2003.

 

[/QUOTE]I don't know when the Dave album will come out, I mastered it years ago.

 

Well, "Ultimate Collection" was loud and still sounded fine, so...

Just curious: I couldn't tell whether you meant they were lost, but how do the Kinks multitracks sound? Would remixes of the crappier-sounding albums be at all possible?

 

Ok, I'm optimistic...

...yeah, I'd say a lot of us are on board with these statements...

...OK, now I'm a bit concerned. This music does not need to be made 'louder' through additional compression/limiting. And Steve is not the only engineer out there who resists this practice...

I'm not boycotting the release or anything, but I do have some concerns. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

 

Obviously Andrew would probably know the full story, but it was my understanding that most of the earlier multitracks were either lost or, more likely, "wiped" after the album mixes were made. Pye didn't have quite the production budget that, say, EMI had, so in many cases the multitrack tape was simply reused. I do know that at least some of the Something Else multitracks survived into the 80s, because one of the PRT discs featured remixed of two tracks.

 

Good point David. As I've said over and over and over again:
It's ok that the loudest point of the signal hits digital zero. Not only is it ok, it's preferable. Even an occaisonal over (if short enough) is ok as it is inaudable. If you look at the waveforms of many of Steve's discs, you'll see this. Don't confuse this with digital compression!!

Many recordings are compressed to begin with (as has been discussed before), but the crime is when they are further (digitally) compressed to squash the dynamic range enough to bring the overall level up.

The Kinks Ultimate Collection is loud, but to my ears it doesn't sound overly compresed - certainly not more compressed than a typical classic rock album.

 

Thanks for the info Andrew. I've pre-ordered this one.

 

Reading between the lines of Andrew's comments, it's probably Ray who requested the loudness/compression, not the engineer. That seems to be the case more and more these days... artists request that crap, and the engineer has to go along with it or they find someone else. Myself, I'm just happy about the eschewing of NoNoise.

 

The problem with getting artist approval of mastering is that many artists -- especially those from the British Invasion period -- don't have the best hearing. They probably want a lot of compression because otherwise they simply wouldn't be able to hear the quiet parts.

 

I think you are jumping to conclusions on this. The disc may just be cut loud, but with no added compression.

 

Or not. He didn't really address the issue of maximization/compression, just said it would be loud and mentioned that some compromises were made.

 

Hard to believe that Till Death Us Do Part was dropped unless on legal grounds.

Nothing wrong with it artistically. A great track.

 

If that were the case, I don't think Mr. Sandoval would be anticipating unhappy campers posting waveforms here, or be explaining in advance that "compromises have been made". But I will look on the bright side: even with some digital compression, there is still a good chance it could be the best-sounding version of VGPS we've had yet, simply by lack of competition.