The new Klaatu remaster has been released!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Gary, Mar 13, 2002.

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  1. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    I think that some of you may recall that I am a Klaatu fan. :) I picked up the newly released “24th Anniversaary Edition” of Klaatu’s first album, 3:47 EST. (Yes, they spelt Anniversary that way! Cute, huh?) With a mixture of anticipation and trepidation, I brought it home. “Hear” are the comparison results.

    1) Justin Entertainment Inc., JEMD-9. Remastered by George Graves. Perhaps ‘remaster’ in this case means from analogue tape to digital. I am not aware of any other prior CD release. Distributed by MCA Records Canada. No release date. Minimal packaging (Justin Entertainment’s ‘Hope’ has even less packaging!)
    Well this sounds like a normal CD, folks. OK separation, not too bright, no obvious glares like boomy bass, etc. Dull. Acceptable.

    2) BGO Records, 2-fer (3:47 EST and Hope) Made in Great Britain. Released in 2000. Great packaging. This is remastered but there are no details on who did it. And, folks, this sounds like a typical remaster. It’s screechy. Listener fatigue sets in before the album, uhhhh CD, is over. Pass.

    3) Bullseye Records of Canada. BLR CD-2510. 25th Anniversaary Edition. Remastered by Glenn Belcher for Prisma Sound, Toronto. Fair packaging (some writing is fuzzy). When listening to it, I am sorry to say that I am reminded of something that Steve said in a previous post (paraphrase) “People, protect your ears!”

    The new Klaatu is compressed to the extreme. It is the worse remaster that I have ever heard. It is not subtle, like an Abbey Road remaster (I can hear you now: A R remaster is SuBtLe!?!?!) It blasts out of your speakers. The only thing that compares to this – compression wise - in my CD collection is the new CD from Ozzy, Down to Earth. I cannot believe they did this to such a classic album. It is painful to listen to, from an emotional point of view and from the point of view of my bleeding ears. I’m sure that they also raised the volume a few notches, too.

    I am very disappointed. No, extremely disappointed. Avoid it at all costs.
    :(
     
    Gary, Mar 13, 2002
    #1
  2. Holy Zoo

    Holy Zoo Gort (Retired) :-)

    Location:
    Santa Cruz
    Well that's a bummer :(

    I guess it's vinyl hunting time on ebay...


    Thanks for the careful run-through, Gary.
     
    Holy Zoo, Mar 14, 2002
    #2
  3. tomcat

    tomcat Senior Member

    Location:
    Switzerland
    Gary
    I guess the new remaster came out last October. Last May I had an e-mail conversation with David Bradley who runs the official Klaatu homepage (klaatu.org). I asked him about the quality of the Collector's Choice Music Twofer of "3:47 EST" and "Hope". This is what he answered me (thanks to David):

    <<The sound quality of this CD is atrocious.

    First off, put on headphones you like the sound of and crank this disc. You'll quickly find out the bass is muddy, the midrange has digital artifacts, and the high end is full of hiss.

    The original LP sounds beautiful.

    Capitol doesn't have the original masters for any of the band's albums. John Woloschuk himself does. They've never bothered to approach him for those, and instead used their safety copies. But worse than doing that, they edited the master for the albums to make it fit on one CD without special costs for manufacturing. They released in on CD back in 1992. Since that time, it has been re-issued by Capitol or a label they sold rights to two different times. In each case, Capitol sent them the digital master they had prepared. That digital master was then subjected to digital manipulation by people who do not understand the need for proper processing. They applied digital normalization, digital EQ, and digital compression in the 16-bit realm, all of which left colorizations and digital artifacts all over the master.

    Attic records in Canada released a wonderful sounding version of each of these two albums using the original master tapes with mastering handled by the band's drummer, Terry Draper. The sound was head and shoulders above the Capitol master used for the Capitol release in 1992, the Collector's Choice release in 1999 and the brand new BGO release in 2001. AND, the actual masters sound even better than THAT and are currently being remastered with attention to sound quality being the number one priority, for release on an independent label in Canada hopefully later this year or the beginning of next year. The quality will blow all previous CD releases out of the water.>>

    Sadly the new remaster doesn't seem to be what I expected and hoped for...
     
    tomcat, Mar 14, 2002
    #3
  4. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'm sure the new CD was only available here in Canada starting in late February, 2002. But the "October" comment explains the promotional material (poster) which mysteriously has "01.10.23" on it! I guess it was supposed to be released last October but there was a delay.

    Think I'll hunt around for the Attic release! It seems to be "the one" to get on CD!

    And of course, a second, back up, copy of the vinyl!
     
    Gary, Mar 14, 2002
    #4
  5. TSmithPage

    TSmithPage Ex Post Facto Member

    Location:
    Lexington, KY
    Sorry to hear this remaster is lame. I guess I'll keep my 2-fer with Hope. Hopefully, they'll do better when they release Sir Army Suit and Endangered Species. I've still not had any luck finding these on CD, as they go for big $ on ebay and otherwise are out of print.
     
    TSmithPage, Mar 14, 2002
    #5
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