Heaven 17 Reissues

[Surly]

Sirendisc.com is listing a 10/2 release date for a greatest hits CD + DVD! Hopefully our friends at Ideal Copy will be adding this soon...

"Words like conviction can turn into a sentence"

[ApolloZero]

That is wild how soon they are releasing a greatest hits so close to the release of the remasters, usually labels wait awhile to get money off the reissues first.. i hope heaven 17 gets released in canada so we can have an NSTC version.

[jaybag]

I just ordered the first three discs from amazon.co.uk. It was probably a mistake but P&P was listed at a price of £2.99! (about $5.50 US). The other two were listed at £6.99 (~$13 US) which seems a bit more in line. The bad news is, shipping costs to the US are a b*tch (about £5 or $9.50); the good news is, the prices shown include 17.5% GST which US citizens don't have to pay. UK residents should probably jump on it, especially if you can get free shipping by ordering other stuff along with it (US residents - forget it - we don't qualify for free shipping).

Anyway, long story medium-length: the whole order cost £19.50 out the door, or about $36.50. So call it $12 per disc, which is fantastic considering they're all imports. Now, I'm half expecting to get a form letter from Amazon telling me the P&P disc had an incorrect price and would I like to purchase it for £6.99? Hmmmm ... I don't know ...

[jaybag]

Update - A quick check of amazon.co.uk shows that P&P is now priced at £6.99 like the others, which still isn't that bad but cduniverse has all three for between $10.35-$10.65, so that's a better deal for U.S. residents.

[yipyipcoyote]

Just received P&P today in the mail. No dramatic improvement in sound quality compared to the 1997 Caroline reissue after a cursory listen, but it's great to have 'Are Everything' on CD. 'Groove Thang' and 'Decline of the West' are from the excellent 'Music for listening to' CD, but the latter (a gloomy instrumental) really doesn't fit on this album. 'Honeymoon in New York' is a "new" track to me, a nice little upbeat synth workout with the BEF Ident tacked on at the end.

Now the whining.

'I'm Your Money' 12" version is still missing the BEF Ident (a different version) at the end of the original vinyl 12". Also conspicuously missing are 12" mixes of 'Play To Win' and its B-side 'Play', 'Penthouse And Pavement' and its B-side instrumental and the single version of 'Height of the Fighting'.

6 out of 10 but at £2.99 maybe I shouldn't complain too much [:o)]

[Abacab]

I strangely received only The Luxury Gap today and not the other two reissues from Amazon. Whatever. They will arrive eventually. There are some distinct differences between the Caroline master and the current remaster. I did not recognise the engineer so I cannot speak to his other work.

Fortunately, this release does not follow the current trend with CDs of releasing them as HOT AS POSSISBLE. SO MUCH THAT IT BLOWS MY EARDRUMS OUT. It's sufficiently loud, but not overbearing. As a general note, I wish engineers would remember that I have a volume control knob. Ugh. I am grateful that the gentleman doing this remaster did not take that route. It's a few decibels lower than the Caroline issue.

As I wanted to get my thoughts here as quickly as possible to say (almost), "First!" I will only comment on overt differences. On "Who'll Stop The Rain", the treble is significantly decreased over the Caroline disc. It is vastly warmer and the snare drum is less crisp (especially in the opening bars) or dare I say harsh. The new remaster is more pleasing to the ears. On "Temptation", the opening synth line is on the left channel on the Caroline disc, here it is on the right. The same thing happens with "Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry." For "Come Live With Me" where the opening bars sound more center right and the Caroline disc is more center (a touch to the left channel). It's funny because on the new disc the "Come Live With Me (12" version)" the linndrum goes upbeat while on the album track it does downbeat. Perhaps that's just a difference in the mixes. "We Live So Fast" starts on the right channel on the new disc; it starts on the left on the Caroline. "Let Me Go (Extended Mix)" sounds lower in pitch with the vocals right off the bat on the new disc.

I don't have the original vinyl to compare to so I cannot say whether or not the changes over the Caroline disc are accurate or goofs. I got the impression that Heaven 17 themselves were involved as the discs were announced on their website. They are not on the reissue part of the credits. Perhaps someone here with the original vinyl can comment on whether or not my descriptions are accurate with the vinyl?

Edward

Edit: Here's the engineer and his webpage for the company he works for:
http://www.masteringworld.com/engineerdetails.asp?EID=1

[Abacab]

Anyone care to comment on this?

Edward

[jaybag]

I don't have the vinyl OR the Caroline discs so I can't say either way. I DO have the original CD's of P&P and Luxury Gap and of course the new ones sound much better.

[Abacab]

Well, if you have the original CDs, can you compare the channels to see if they match?

Edward

[ApolloZero]

Well, i think these remasters are excellent.. brings new life back into the layers of the band.. Light years away. Some great remastering going on lately, those Cure cds are excellent as well.

[Abacab]

Someone with the old CD issues stated the channel placement is the same as the Caroline disc. I have not found anyone with the vinyl to compare the new remasters to. I would put the new one as the likely goof.

Edward

[Abacab]

Finally got confirmation on the vinyl versus the new remasters. The new remaster has the correct stereo image while the Caroline/old Virgin US reissue have flipped channels on a few songs.

Edward

[Surly]

I finally got the Greatest Hits CD+DVD and it's very good. The DVD is PAL, but Region 0, and the videos look great.

CD track list:
Temptation (edit)
Come Live With Me
(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
Play To Win
Penthouse And Pavement
I'm Your Money
The Height Of The Fighting (He-La-Hu)
Let Me Go
Temptation (original demo)
We Live So Fast
Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry
Sunset Now
This Is Mine
And That's No Lie (edit)
Contenders (edit)
The Foolish Thing To Do (Version 1)
Trouble
The Ballad Of Go Go Brown (7" version)
Train Of Love In Motion (7" version)

DVD track list:
Penthouse And Pavement
Let Me Go
Temptation
We Live So Fast
Come Live With Me
Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry
Sunset Now
This Is Mine
And That's No Lie
Contenders
The Foolish Thing To Do
Trouble
Train Of Love In Motion
Temptation '92
Penthouse And Pavement '93


"Words like conviction can turn into a sentence"