No, the information on the case says CLACD 180 1990. Licensed from Noeland Productions. Produced by Tony Visconti for Straight Ahead Productions. Barcode: 5013428781807 Matrix / Runout: CD PLANT MFG CLACD 180 CDM01. It also states it was made in England on the c.d.
That's the Castle I was talking about. And here's the A&M: T. Rex - Electric Warrior There are ****loads of masterings of this album. We really need a big shootout. The european ones. MARCD 503 for Slider and MARCD 504 for Tanx (but I believe RAPD 503 are the same masterings, just using the original cover art).
Ah well, there's a few that for me have that wow factor of that Electric Warrior eg... The Fall Perverted By Language (Castle 1993 release) / Amon Düül II (all CDs on the Mantra label) / Bowie Station to Station and Low (RCA West Germany) / Tchaikovsky Symphonies: Karajan (original unremastered Deutsche Grammophon box set) / Wagner: Solti Tannhäuser (original unremastered Decca set) / Love and Rockets Love and Rockets (RCA USA 1989) / Eno-Moebius-Roedelius Old Land (Relativity CD)...
Many thanks....still a bit confusing... Are the 1990 Castle and the 1998 A&M the same masterings for Electric Warrior and T.Rex or are you saying you prefer the 1998 A&M? Re Slider, that's good because I have found a reasonably priced RAPCD503. As for Tanx, the prices for the Marc On Wax are a bit too high for me but I have seen some positive comments about the 1994 Edsel and the figures here look good: Album details - Dynamic Range Database Any opinions on that one?
Apologies but I have to ask this question. I am obviously not an audiophile, but I have /have had for eg many different copies of Electric Warrior, and they all sound fine to me. How come people on here rave about the castle releases from 20+ years ago, and how can they be better than for eg the much later Remasters done by Tony Visconti who produced the original album. If the castle CD is so revered and fantastic, why don't the record company just use that but in much better packaging?
Those are very good, and relevant, questions. I certainly don't consider myself to be such an "audiophile" as many on here but I have spent a not inconsiderable amount on my set up and do appreciate good sound...if I can find it. I have the early (1990) Castle edition of Electric Warrior and haven't heard any other version so I couldn't possibly comment about those. I purchased that particular one after reading very good reviews from across the Internet. The first thing that struck me was how "quiet" it sounded. Particularly in relation to the majority of "modern" c.d.'s. I guess that's what they call the loudness wars. On first playing it I had to check my volume setting, I thought it may have been turned right down! No, it hadn't, but when I turned it up the full range was revealed. The bass is particularly nice, probably because Visconti produced it. The more I turned it up the better it sounded. Lovely and warm. Guess that's what they call "crankable." Just shows how many newer recordings have been ruined. I played the Stones latest Blue and Lonesome once and doubt I will ever play it again. Real ear bleeding stuff! On the strength of this 1990 Castle edition I have just ordered the 1988 Castle c.d. of Bolan Boogie. I imagine that I will be delighted with that as well, certainly hope so. Hope this helps.
They're different, but both good (and fairly similar I might add. the Castles have a bit more low end, but it's not a huge difference). The Edsel has quite a bit of a treble boost. I like the Marc On Wax better.
I have an original US Reprise CD of Electric Warrior, and it always sounded pretty much on par with the Marc On Wax or Cube CDs I have of the surrounding albums, so I didn’t put much more thought into it. How does that first US Reprise Electric Warrior CD stack up to the Castle version being discussed?
I have the Imperial records greatest hits that is a 2 disc set with 40 tracks.Made in Japan. It seems to me that the sound on this compilation is better than either of my edsil or demon issues.
Got myself a 'History Of T. Rex Singles Collection Volume 1' (MARC-D 510), from Ebay for £4.00 including shipping! Love the sound quality on this disc and it has three out of my favourite four T. Rex songs on it. (20th Century Boy is on Volume 2). Children Of The Revolution, Jeepster and Get it On sound better on this comp than any other version i've heard yet.
That is a steal for sure. I got the other two volumes pretty recently at average prices and I agree they are very good sounding and almost exactly on par with the MARC and Teldec CDs of the albums I have. No Vol. 1s were available on discogs at the time but your link made me look again and so now hopefully one is coming.
I finally found a Vol 1 of the "History of T.Rex," last year, after keeping an eye out for years. It was like new, and was the Marc on Wax version vs. the shorter Greenline version. As a 3 cd set, they are a great overview. Sound is a bit pale compared to the Marc on Wax individual albums, I think, but they are really nice comps. Worth noting, as has been mentioned in these forums before, is that the A&M Electric Warrior from 1998 has the channels reversed, but it is an incredibly transparent disc that sounds un-futzed with. I don't think the Reprise cd issues are as good as the UK/Euro issues. I'm a big fan of the Castle, as well, because of it's warmth, and bass, as has been noted. The Reprise DVD-A is really nice, though. The various SACD issues are great and are my references, for this album, in the end, though.
Got my code 90 slider cd today.Apparently yhe same master as the edsel,and why wouldn't be?It's marketed by demon-edsel. Oh well.I think it's much better than the chronicles issue. Yeap. Don't need 3 slider disc.Chronicles isue is going to ebay. I'll keep the edsel issue for the alternative disc.
I bought one used on your recommendation and you weren't wrong! It's a gorgeous sounding disc. Very clean and natural sounding for their catalogue, but with plenty of depth. No harshness either! I ripped it and then swapped the channels in Audacity.
Electric Warrior is a warm sounding recording to start, imo, so the "hands off" approach it sounds like a&m took, works well. The other titles that a&m released at around the same time don't fare as well although the approach seems to be the same. For those earlier albums i'd go with the most recent remasters, for overall pleasing sound. But if you're interested in the earlier albums the a&m issues sound like plain transfers without manipulation. They sound thin and don't have the most realistic tonality - issues resolved to my satisfaction on the latest Universal deluxe remasters.
