I suppose this question can only be answered if we compare peak levels. There are too many cases of different masterings with the same catalog number and vice versa. There is a good chance that these still have the old mastering, I would think.
I own fly To The Rainbow, and Virgin Killer from the newer looking ones. I also have Tokyo Tapes and Taken By Force that look exactly like those except TT isn't silver in the center, it is clear instead. My In Trance cd is also early RCA but this one seems to be a little different in color scheme. It is grayish green instead of grayish silver like the rest. I suspect it's a bootleg, it does have sonopress written in the matrix though.It says 1975 BMG Ariola Hamburg GmbH on the disc. The front insert has nothing inside the flap. I can post pictures of them and if they look different from yours in any way we can compare peak levels.
Are the 1997 US Mercury remasters for Lovedrive, Animal Magnetism & Blackout worth picking up ? They're cheap and relatively easy to find. Over here all we get in the racks are the 2001 EU EMI remasters.
Much better than the 2001 EMI remasters. Maybe a little bit compressed but not loud or bass or treble boosted badly. Sound could be better but because of their quite cheap price I think they are ok
I did now receive this Rhino/Rampage CD release. It does sound really nice. It is a little brighter and has more detail than the WG Brain CD release. The dynamics are great on the Rhino/Rampage CD release and maybe even a little bit better than the WG Brain. Tonality wise, I would like something in between these two CD releases. Overall, I might still prefer the WG Brain CD since it sounds a little more natural/laid back to me. But the Rhino/Rampage is certainly fine, and I will definitely keep mine.
This weekend I finally found a white OBI japanese RCA of Taken by Force (full package) and while it cost me $60 it was worth every penny. AMAZING SOUND!!! Blu-Spec while impressive doesn't even begin to approach it.
So what's the current preference on Tokyo Tapes? I just auditioned the japanese 2 CD fatboy from 1995 with K2 mastering and blue OBI and it sounds like crap.
My olriginal assessment is still valid for me: That one sounds really nice in my opinion. And it is the complete album.
I have to update my thread with regards to this album. 10. Love At First Sting The AF Gold CD is now my preferred version of this album on CD. Compared to the Japan Harvest, it sounds overall smoother to me, less brittle or coarse, with a more solid bottom end and also a little less bright. It is a bit louder than the Japan Harvest CD, but nothing that would compromise the listening experience in my opinion.
I need to fill the Scorpions hole in my collection. I have the AF Love At First Sting and pre-ordered the AF Virgin Killers. However, I am wondering how much sense it makes to start seeking out the old German RCA and Harvest/EMI versions of the other titles you suggest when AF appears to be on somewhat of a Scorpions run. Is there much speculation that AF will redo the Scorpions titles to the extent they have done with Deep Purple and James Taylor?
Hmmm...will have to watch for that one - I have the blu-spec cd of TBF - and it is impressive. "Amazing" might be worth the coin to get this one - my fav from this era.
Any thoughts or speculation on how much further AF is likely to delve into the Scorpions catalogue? I am itching to fill this hole in my collection but will feel silly spending a bunch of funds on titles AF ends up doing.
If "Virgin Killer" also sells well, I would think that we would see some more titles by AF. I really don't know what their plans are, but I would think that "Blackout" and "Lovedrive" would be candidates from the newer era of the Scorpions, and possibly "Taken by Force" and "In Trance" from the old era.
Hi Roland, what do you think of the AF "Vigin Killer" compared to your original preference for this title (German RCA if I am not mistaken).
I haven't received the AF yet. It will be a while, since I have it mailed to the U.S. and will not be able to pick it up until August. If somebody wants to post some short samples, that would be great.
Do you think it is a "WOW" upgrade over the original USA CD? That one sounds fine to me but I have been pleasantly surprised by some AF's I've picked up lately, was wondering if this one was worth checking out.
Compared to the US Mercury non-remastered CD? Yes, a big upgrade in my opinion. Compared to the old Japan for Europe EMI Harvest CD, it is also an upgrade but the difference is not that huge in my opinion. But that CD is quite hard to find anyhow, and I still prefer the AF. If I would put the upgrades which almost all AF releases offer over any previous CD version into three categories a) minor b) easily noticeable but not "night and day" c) "night and day" difference, huge upgrade That one would fall in the c) category compared to the US Mercury and in the b) category compared to the EMI Harvest. All in my opinion, of course.
100% agreed. The original red face Mercury based mastering is awful. Mine is the 1st Press WG with 01 matrix. Granted like slipkid I thought it was almost decent at one point, in my case for 15+ years, then I heard the original Harvest and Japan RPCD [both unique masterings] and amazed at how much superior the sound was. The Mercury is inferior in every conceivable way that it can be in sound quality included the source as compared to the other masterings it sound like it's from a high gen tape. So go for the AF it's at minimum the SQ of the Harvest and very easy to find at current time. Well worth the coin [$20.87USD at importcds] if you are a fan of the album, and not you probably would not have posted to this thread. P.S. The Japan RCA RPCD102 still has the best sound stage of any digital version I've heard, but due to it's hen's tooth scarcity and current 3 digit price tag I can not recommended it unless you a Scorp's collector with deep pockets.
Thanks. You guys have convinced me! Thanks also for the tip to save a couple bucks on it. I looked at it originally on AF's website when I just bought a couple CDs, they wanted $30 for it. Think I'll pick it up along with the new AF Virgin Killer.
I found out that China White on Blackout has two different guitar solos. One UK and one US. The UK is better. I hope that if AF does the album they use that one.
