That's the version I prefer. I know it's on the dark side, but it's what I like for this kind of music.
I have a regular US RCA tan label Fly To The Rainbow LP, this pressing which I assume isn’t one of the better ones on vinyl, sounds so much better than my WG RCA CD.
I have In Trance, Taken By Force and Fly To The Rainbow on CD's i got from CD Japan. They sound great in comparison to the LP's i have of these. Virgin Killer, Taken By Force, Fly To The Rainbow sound bad on LP's i got in the 80's. RCA i think. As an aside the maligned 2015 reissues have great packaging, photos and extras. The extra songs on Blackout are so cool and interesting. And i dig the extras on Tokyo Tapes a lot. I'd love any early Uli or Michael? shows they could dig up. Unlikely though. They don't seem to value that stuff as much as i do.
Japan "FTTR" is too bright, same for "Taken By Force" and "In Trance". Unlistenable for me. Original german RCA pressings are the way to go. They sound stunning.
So, because i read and re read this thread i recently bought Animal Magnetism, 822 556 2. It says Mercury and Polygram and Made In W. Germany by Polygram. Sounds great as stated earlier. Been listening and comparing what i have. Didn't see links to the recomended cds. So when i look up stuff on Discogs it's hard to tell what is what. If it's the German version or not. Not straight forward. I'm not sure if my Animal Magnetism is the German version. But, i think it is just because it sounds great. Wish there was links to the prefered versions of Blackout, Love at First Sting and Lovedrive. Are the typical American cd's bad? The rest of my stuff sounds fine to me. But on further inspection the 50th ann reissues are pretty poor sometimes. The reissue of Lovedrive is so bad. Blackout and Love at First Sting have no bass. Real weird they would reissue this stuff with poor sound. Makes no sense.
Oh, I wanted to post too. I only had the EMI(/Electrola)/Harvests for Lovedrive and Animal Magnetism. Then there was a song I wanted to track down (pretty sure it was China White on Blackout), that Holy Diver helped me with behind the scenes, but since, I've picked up all the EMI/Harvests and then Mercurys up through Face the Heat. Some good stuff on those later albums that I didn't know about. I did get a chuckle out of this one: Pure Instinct - Wikipedia " The album has more ballads than non-ballads." And this one: Born to Touch Your Feelings: Best of Rock Ballads - Wikipedia I will not ever be getting those two!
Pure Instinct is good I have it Not a bad album So do you like the Harvest discs or the Mercury's better? I think for AM the Mercury might be better
I knew what I wrote wouldn't be clear. I got the EMI/Harvests up through Savage Amusement, and then Mercuries after that, because they were global releases from then on. I didn't get any Mercuries for the older stuff to compare. I just went with the "consensus" that the EMI/Harvests were better for all the earlier ones (Lovedrive and later). And really, they sound good enough that I'm set.
So, just got a copy of Lovedrive on CD, per this discussion. Sounds awesome. Especially in comparison to the remaster. The drums sound terrible on that one. And especially evident on Coast to Coast the sound is degraded? or something. This cd sounds great. Got it off Discogs. Looks like a Uk one CDP 746 733 2. Sounds great. Electrola Emi 1988. Thanks all for pointing out so many ways to go for some good sound. Gonna stop with Animal and Lovedrive on replacing remasters. The rest of my stuff i'm happy with. Those two sound poor on the remasters. Not boosted or eqed or poor numbers. They sound bad on the remasters. Of course this is through this forum pointing it out. Thanks.
Just cracked open the shrink wrapping on this set and it sounds nice, albeit a tad loud on some tracks, but still very enjoyable to me. States 24/96 mastering. I have the four AF titles but this box of is a best of the entire bands output. Really nice selection. Did MFSL ever issue any Scorpion titles on CD? Scorpions - Box Of Scorpions
Hmmm, I have a couple I think....wait - sorry, what I have is not MFSL. They are on "Audio Fidelty". Love At First Sting - gold HDCD Virgin Killer - gold HDCD Blackout - hybrid SACD I don't know if MFSL did any or not (?).
Those are great versions. Along with best of audio fidelity sacd are in my collection. I seem to recall one gold Mfsl but maybe I’m mistaken.
No Scorpions on MFSL unfortuantly. Audio Fidelity was planning to release Lovedrive right before they closed shop. Pretty sure the mastering was complete but sits out there alone by it's self someplace, never to see the light of day...
What is the general consensus on the 50th anniversary series? I just picked up Blackout and it has extra tracks and a great bonus DVD featuring a 1983 show and short documentary on making of the album. I suppose I’ll need to buy them all.
I bought them all for the bonus extras. Don't recall exact details as to what everything has. I do recall criticism up here about the sound quailty but luckily the sound doesn't bother me at all....
