Still the best Ziggy booklet I think, so I have this and the 30th Anniversary edition, plus of course the two in Five Years. Hmm, I'm not sure I need them all!
I'm still wanting to continue with this thread and listen to more titles, but I'm waiting for an order. You see, I didn't have a Graphic Equalizer on my system - and the amp being a Linn, there are no tone controls. Reading about how much better these sound with increased bass got me wondering. And yeah, I hopped on Ebay and ordered myself a GE. Should be here mid next week. Then I'll get back to posting comments. Hm, having decided to revisit these I've had to rebuy all the discs, and now a GE as well. The things we do for love.
I hadn't played any of them for a while, but played Heroes a couple of days ago and am currently playing Lodger. They do sound very good. I haven't had to turn the bass up all that much. I'm happy to have them.
It's probably been asked and many times, but are the UK 1990 remasters with extra tracks exactly the same sounding as the US Rykos?
One of the ryko staff confirmed it on here I believe though I don't know the exact thread. The only actual possible difference between them is in volume if any at all.
I currently own 6 ryko discs (used to have copy of Young Americans but had a scratched bonus track and I did not like the remixes) and its pretty odd how all of them have the same EQ yet its shocking how different they effect each album. The Man Who Sold The World I know a lot of people here like on ryko but the lack of heavy bass just makes it sound way to tinny and flat. Hunky Dory sounds fine and I really don't notice the lack of bass all of the rykos suffer from, I think if I had to choose between the 2015 remaster and the ryko i'd go with the ryko for the bonus tracks but the 2015 has a nice natural bass. Ziggy Stardust to me sounds exactly like the RCA Japan for US CD I own except a little louder and less bass. Diamond Dogs is just kind of ok, I bought it for Dodo and Candidate to begin with but I don't have a problem with it and some might like that it tones down on the tape noise without no-noising it to death. Low on ryko is the opposite of the 2017 remaster for me, the ryko has a good and punchy side 1 but side 2 feels cold and empty, 2017 remaster is the opposite with side 1 having too much bass and side 2 benefits from the big bass. Lodger on ryko is the best sounding version to me and the lack of bass kind of helps how muddy the album is in general so to actually hear Lodger clearly without muddy bass, compression, or noise reduction is very pleasing.
They are very close but not digitally identical in all cases. EMI never got the AU versions as such, though I'm not 100% sure that there were no secret remasters. Tim
I believe the AU20s were just the rykos with the dynamic range of the original tapes? They sound fuller and maybe louder but still deprived of bass.
They are different masterings. Opinions vary about whether they sound better, worse or similar to the non-AU20s! Tim
They can be a bit pricy sometimes but they should have a few on discogs. Still cheaper than the RCA's.
Actually never knew they were different masterings. They both used the original tapes however to remaster them and both lack bass so really neither of them are better, i'd say the au20s are probably marginally better since they sound fuller but they're still not worth the price.
Yea, but the Ryko 'Lodger' flips the artwork so the back cover is on the front and the front is on the back. Whose dumb idea was that, anyway?? That's never not gonna bug me.
Circa 1991, I bought the Rykodiscs of "Ziggy Stardust" and "ChangesBowie" and liked them a lot. I loved the extras on the "Ziggy" record and loved the merging of changesOne and changesTwo to a single compilation. Only wish that CB contained the original version of "Fame" not the remix. But almost 30 years later they are still my "go to" versions of those albums, and generally speaking I have a good memory about Rykodisc. They seemed to treat these Bowie and other releases with the respect they deserved, and gave the consumer good bang for the buck with the extras.
I bought the first Sound and Vision box on CD with great excitement. At that time I could not have considered buying all the individual albums on CD, too expensive. I was massively disappointed with the thin weedy sound. Tim
Do you still feel this way? Meaning, have you tried them lately? The thin sound always really bugged me, at least I thought it did. But these revisits have brought out some new thoughts, and mostly positive. My GE should be here mid-week, and that should help fix the bass issue. The GE cost me less than a copy of Lodger would cost on RCA......
I have a complete set of the 1990/1991 releases. All bar 2 are UK EMI, space Oddity and Lodger are Ryko (I don’t know how that happened as all were bought at the time of release in the UK). I always thought they were ok, still quite thin sounding similar to the 80s RCA releases that I had though better clarity. The main selling point were the bonus tracks. Have you tried that GE yet Vaughan?
Although the EMI box was far sturdier and made the release more special than the Ryko card box! Minor difference but it is better.
