Very good news! It seems the new master uploaded to streaming services has much less peak limiting! Here's what the opening track looks like in Audacity. The top one is the old EU CD. The bottom one is the 2020 master downloaded from TIDAL.
Interesting. I know there were two different masterings in 2004, both were loud but one was less so...wonder if this is that one, or a totally new version?
That's interesting. I wasn't aware of there being two different masters in 2004! I can tell you that my CD is the expanded EU edition with 2 bonus tracks. Perhaps US copies are the better ones then?
I hope so as i totally wanted to get this album but the loudness from it put me off. Here's hoping...
Can you do this with "Who Killed Tangerine"? I'm asking because that is the song I used in my lengthy comparison over at my forum! I'm also curious about DR values. The problem I have with "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending" | The Tears For Fears Connection
This is encouraging! The original mastering is rough, with a DR value of 5! I even bought one of the pre-release promo CDs on Arista (before they switched labels), and it was the same. I'd love to hear a better master of this album. Is this 2nd mastering that you mention from 2004 for the vinyl?
There's been threads on it here in the past. But the DR database has both versions you can check out: Album list - Dynamic Range Database
Yes, they have a download store. You can choose between MP3 and lossless FLAC. Obviously FLAC albums are more expensive.
Streaming this on Apple Music now. Forgot how much I love this album. "Who Killed Tangerine" is so epic!
Indeed. The only time they ever played in my city was on the Hall & Oates joint tour though, so I know their time was limited. Although I get the impression that even their headlining gigs aren't that much longer, generally.
I think they grew tired of promoting it for over ten years, somewhat understandable. Hm, I remain skeptical. For the most part that looks pretty compressed too, check the first loud part - all on the same level. The US mastering might even be better than that, according to my comparison (bear in mind though that I used WMA rips, so may not be 100% accurate)
Thanks for the screenshot. Your original CD waveform looks even worse than mine. Some nasty clipping going on there. The "Gold" waveform looks pretty similar to the new TIDAL download I'd say.
Probably down to the lossy format, which introduced all kinds of clipping. But as I stated on my forum, I didn't want to risk ruining my CD drive by ripping again to lossless WAV. But I could look at the Gold CD again since that doesn't have copy protection. Either way, it doesn't look like there's a new master of the album ready for CD release yet. I mean Tim Palmer confirmed that his mixes were more dynamic so it's certainly possible for the future. OK, another question, does this Tidal download contain the two bonus tracks? Because those were only ever on the EU CD.
If that's the case we can surmise that Gold uses the US mastering for the ELAHE songs. I've always thought those songs sounded much better on Gold than the original CD. But I've only ever had the apparently inferior EU CD for comparison. It would be really useful if somebody could post a "Who Killed Tangerine" waveform from the US CD to confirm it matches Gold. Anybody up for it?
A vinyl reissue would be a very welcome surprise (and a well timed one if The Tipping Point is really close to being ready for release). I'm listening to the TIDAL download as we speak. As the waveforms indicate, there's still a bit of compression here but compared to my original EU CD it's almost a revelation. The songs can finally breathe and I can really enjoy this album for the first time. Quite a startling experience in the best possible way.
Hey everyone, Why wait for the vinyl reissue when a rare promo copy could be had for lest than a surgical procedure!! Wow!!!Tears For Fears - Everybody Loves A Happy Ending - RARE 2004 Promo Only Red Wax! | eBay
Can you imagine if The Tipping Point was released digitally before Christmas (e.g. previous Radiohead, Duran or U2 albums) with physical product to follow in early 2021?
