New Wave Outpost Forum

I know that lots of people (incl. myself) were rightly disappointed by the "deluxe remaster" of Spandau's debut album "Journeys to Glory". A new, "right" remaster isn't likely, so I thought - is it possible to gather tracks of that album from various SB compilations released over the years. Some of them include big chunks of "Journeys" - and not only the singles but album tracks too. So i decided to get those and see what could be done.

I checked and compared those releases:

Journeys to Glory (original CD from 1983 - most common source)
Musclebound (a Dutch compilation from 1996)
The Collection (an EMI Gold compilation from 1997, reissued in 2001)
Reformation (box set from 2002)
The Collection, Vol. 2 (EMI compilation from 2004)
The Ultra Selection (a Dutch compilation from 2005)

I only used my own ears, mind ) And from what I've heard, "Journeys" CD sounds the worst - at times like an mp3-sourced something! Dull sound, low and seemingly uneven levels. I know that CD transfer technology wasn't that great in the 80s but for it to produce such miserable results... Hmmm. What's worse is that "Musclebound" seems to use those same sources - which, though, is a common practice for the Disky label that'd put it out. And "The Ultra Selection" is simply a rehash of "Musclebound" with no sound improvement whatsoever. So those releases were out of competition.

"Reformation" was next and, it being a product supervised by Gary Kemp and done rather lavishly by a major label. The sound, I find, is great - very clean and crisp. "Mandolin" is a pure bliss, mixes and demos are a welcome addition.

Then I checked "The Collection" releases - and noticed an interesting thing. The first volume doesn't sound remastered, it's somewhat boxed, but still louder than "Journeys" CD. But the second one that includes album versions of "Musclebound", "Confused" and "Toys", is clear as a bell. And I wonder if it's from the same remastering session as "Reformation" tracks. Should I conclude that the first album was remastered in the early 2000s (surely it's only logical to do the whole album than just several selected tracks) but something happened and another (butcher) job was comissioned? Very interesting to know.

Anyway, "The Collection Vol. II", to me, can be seen as a companion piece to "Reformation" - a real representation of Spandau's early, New Romantic/Pop Soul sound.

Unfortunately, between them they include only half of the album (though lots of would-be bonus material). And if we take tracks from the first "Collection" as a palliative it's still not enough ("Age of Blows" would be missing).

What I haven't heard is that "Singles, Rarities And Remixes" 2-CD set released on Philipinnes in 2006 - anyone can shed a light on the sound quality?

So, the quest to obtain an alternative (good) remaster of "Journeys to Glory" proved only partially successful and it doesn't seem likely that anything more an be achieved. I find the whole situation surreal - one of the best-selling bands of the 80s wasn't and to some extent still isn't adequately represented in the digital media! That's baffling and very sad.

P.S. By the way, is it me or does the second CD of a "deluxe remaster" sound rather good?

P.P.S. Anyone heard a Dutch release of "Journeys" from the late 1990s where they put single mixes of "The Freeze" and "Musclebound" in place of original versions? If so, what about the sound quality - is there any improvement on the original CD?

I could be wrong but I have a feeling the original CD of JTG has pre emphasis. If it does then it will sound shit on a computer.

I have the EMI Gold budget re-release from the mid/late nineties and it sounds pretty good. This is a different master than the original CD's from the eighties, and it's nothing more than a straight transfer of the master tape without any tinkering. You can even hear tape hiss straight between the tracks, indicating they didn't do the usual fade out/fade in between tracks, and it's not brickwalled in the least. The versions are all the original LP versions as well. To me, this is the definitive version.

The bonus disc on the garbage 2010 reissue was still pretty bad. It was highly compressed but it didn't have the overall horrible sound of the main disc.

Japanese cds are usually very good. How many times was Journeys To Glory issued in Japan. It would be nice to obtain a copy.

I have the japanese mini-lp cd issued in 2008.
http://www.minilps.net/spandau-ballet/j ... tocp-70575

The overall level is low compare to any recent CD in the market so you can definitely crank it up. I have to raise the volume knob about 40%-50% more compare to when listening to recent CD.
Based on my own ears, the sound is mellow and smooth. Bass and Mid tones are there and sound natural. I can still hear detail of instrument like hi-hat, guitar, synth but they are not sparkling clear (in your face).
I've never heard original CD or late 90's CD so I can't compare the sound quality.

Passing_Stranger wrote:
What I haven't heard is that "Singles, Rarities And Remixes" 2-CD set released on Philipinnes in 2006 - anyone can shed a light on the sound quality?

I have this compilation. Mastering credits go to Ray Ang. Although I enjoy this remaster, I know that many of you would claim that it is too loud and brick-walled. Indeed. It is loud and brick-walled (and ever so slightly too bright), but it is far from the worst offender of the "loudness wars" that I've come across. Hope that helps. Let me know if you would like me to send you a clip of a track or two.

I have a copy of the Teledisc 2CD set "The Best Of" from 1989 - http://www.discogs.com/Spandau-Ballet-T ... se/2169883

This has four of the tracks off "Journeys To Glory" and they are definitely not cloned from the original CD release. The tracks sound much clearer, the separation is better and there is actually some high end.

However, it seems to me that the stereo channels on the tracks are reversed. This is clearly also true on the 7" version of "Glow" (which was why I bought this compilation in the first place), when compared to the same track on the "Reformation" collection.

Anyone else spotted this?

Every time the title "Journeys to Glory" is mentioned, it makes me so sad because it reminds me of the biggest remaster disaster EVER!! Worst worst sounding version - totally awful! At least the album on disc 1! The bonus tracks on disc 2 sound sbetter - at least to my ears.

The best version I own is the japanese cd in mini-lp style.

All i can think of is for someone to get a near mint LP, transfer all the tracks in FLAC onto their computer and then upload them. Otherwise we'll always have inferior sounding versions.