The Van Morrison cd thread

Me too. If they're from the original masterings, then they are not actually remasters? If they have the same peak levels they are also not level-adjusted. That leaves maybe a bit of EQ tweaking, and it can't have been much or it probably would have altered the peak levels, at least slightly. It sounds a bit weird to me - perhaps you are hearing pressing plant differences Dave?

 

As expected, my copies of Wavelength and Into The Music match yours, Russell. My Into The Music even has the exact same matrix number as yours (my Wavelength is also SRC+06, but ends with M3S2).

 

Cool, and I agree, I reckon Wavelength and It's Too Late To Stop Now might be the two best sounding WB CD's. I'll wait a couple of days to see if anybody else wants to comment on these, then move onto Common One and Beautiful Vision.

 

Is this the one currently in stores?

And for that matter are any other Van Morrison CDs (new, not used) on the shelves in the US unremastered?

 

It used to be, I don't know if it's been replaced as part of the 2008 remaster series yet. Check this post from earlier in this thread: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=3347364&postcount=23

 

Thanks. I'll look out for those, those I still need to get Veedon Fleece first. If I recall that one will need to be found in the used bins or on amazon.

 

That is correct. The '97 remaster is loud and bright. This one may have come out in the '08 remasters - I'm not sure. The old WB is excellent though.

 

No.

It could be, all I know is one sounds really very good and the other like crappolla.

 

Can you tell me how to Identify the old WB of Veedon Fleece, like for amazon sellers if I send them an email in advance of purchase?

 

Any Veedon Fleece CD on the Warner Bros label is what you're after. It was only the original US CD that was on this label. In the rest of the world it was on Polydor, and it has been in the States too since the '97 remaster. This applies to every album from Tupelo Honey to Wavelength BTW, and while it makes them easy to identify, in my experience they can be a bit difficult to find. Good luck!

 

Thanks! At least they are easy to ID.

 

West German Mercury 800 057-2
Matrix: 800057 2 01


Track 1
Track01.wav

Spitzenpegel 100.0 %

Track 2
Track02.wav

Spitzenpegel 95.0 %

Track 3
Track03.wav

Spitzenpegel 100.0 %

Track 4
Track04.wav

Spitzenpegel 96.0 %

Track 5
Track05.wav

Spitzenpegel 96.7 %

Track 6
Track06.wav

Spitzenpegel 92.6 %

Track 7
Track07.wav

Spitzenpegel 100.0 %

Track 8
Track08.wav

Spitzenpegel 96.2 %

Track 9
Track09.wav

Spitzenpegel 84.4 %

Track 10
Track10.wav

Spitzenpegel 98.2 %


"Full Force Gale" drummer's metals right
"And The Healing Has Begun" opening acoustic guitar right

 

Great, thanks. So the label changes from Polydor to Mercury outside the USA after Wavelength?

How do you find the SQ on this CD?

 

Just ordered a mint copy from amazon for $4.49.

 

That's a nice buy, George. I don't know how easy those older WB discs are to find on the net, but I certainly don't see them turn up in the used bins very often.

 

Amazon is a treasure trove for non-audiophile original CDs. I got a bunch of stuff from them dirt cheap in the last few years. They are usually labeled as 1990 for some reason.

 

Sorry if this was covered before but are original US Warners identical with european Polydors soundwise for post 1971 material? I know it's rather hard to find original Warners here in Moscow but Polydors are still pretty common despite the remasters replacing them in the shops.

 

Nope, original Polydors are different in every case so far. . .

 

Common One
U.S. WB 26399-2
Matrix: 1 26399-2 SRC-01 M3S9

96.0
91.4
98.2
93.6
92.7
79.8

"Haunts of Ancient Peace" electric guitar pieces punctuating opening vocals right
"Spirit" opening electric guitar right

No complaints here. A fine sounding CD indeed. I assume the European version of this was on Mercury, not Polydor, since beatlebum reported this for the previous album?

 

Beautiful Vision
U.S. WB 3652-2
Matrix: 1 3652-2 RE-1 02 M1S2 CI

71.0
87.9
71.5
73.1
71.2
93.8
69.4
83.1
70.8
94.6

"Dweller on the Threshold" opening electric guitar left
"Aryan Mist" acoustic guitar left

This was the album I really wanted to get to. The Warner CD has the drummer's metals way up front all the way through, but particularly prominent on "Dweller on the Threshold" and "Northern Muse (Solid Ground)". It seems to me it was mixed this way, rather than being an overly bright mastering, as the rest of the instruments and vocals sound pretty natural. The issue was briefly touched on once in the archives, and I think it was mentioned that the WB vinyl sounds the same.

So the question is, does the original European (Mercury?) CD sound like this too? Is it just the way the stereo master was mixed? What is the significance of the RE-1 in the matrix of my CD? Any other opinions - I wouldn't exactly call my ears highly trained

 

I think it was me that commented on that grating hi-hat in the Van album-by-album thread. Very poor mix on this one it seems. "Dweller" doesn't sound any better as mastered on the Polydor Best Of Van Morrison. Not sure if your RE-1 means anything sonically, likely not. I have a Canadian Cinram pressing of this one and I'll try to get the EAC numbers this evening. Should match yours, but we shall see. . . (I guess this would be the first non-anecdotal evidence that the Canadian WBs do indeed match the U.S. WBs)

 

A reference quality disc as far as I'm concerned and one of my favorite Van albums to boot. And this un-remastered version is still in print in the U.S.

 

The European version of this was on Polydor.

 

The European Inarticulate Speech of the Heart was on Polydor, too. I guess Into The Music was one-off on Mercury (until later in the 80's). Of course, Mercury and Polydor were related labels (I think Polydor was the parent label?). Not sure what went into deciding which label would issue which albums. Saw the same thing with Deep Purple in the 80's (Perfect Strangers on Polydor, House Of Blue Light on Mercury).

 

Re: Common One

Gentlemen, apparently the answer is both. There is a WG Mercury Atomic pressing for sale in the classifieds right now:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=164611

(You're welcome for the free plug, Scarse )