Thompson Twins Reissues - revived!

[obs]

[i]> Caroline claimed this was going to be remastered CD and apparently it’s not.[/i]

Sure, it's remastered -- just not remastered very well. "Remastering" doesn't always mean that the end result is going to sound good. The word is just used as marketing hype. You can rip a CD, do nothing but normalize it, and use it a 'master' for subsequent copies. Presto, remastered!

[dgraysn]

im really disapointed that i dont have these in my hands today. I checked my favorite independent store in NYC - Rebel Rebel, they hadn't ordered any copies, then went to Virgin - all they have are the multitude of crappy compilations.uggggh - guess i should have preordered.

[GJH]

Got them on the 3rd March from amazon.co.uk. Sound pretty good but only listened to whilst doing the washing up (water running, cutlery rattling. etc). Strange as to running order of extra tracks I suppose they are the same as the cassette order. Shame 'The Gap' cassette tracks are split over both discs. Still missing 'The Gap' 12" version so not a complete collection. Interesting collection of images of labels, covers, badges, etc on inlay.
GJH

[Abacab]

Can you post some wavegraphs?

Edward

[GJH]

I may seem to be in the middle ages but I haven't heard of wave graphs.What are they? Computer's infected at home at the moment so I will have to do some research at work.
GJH

[Abacab]

They look like these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Auda ... screen.PNG

It's an image of the audio track so that one can see the "peaks and valleys." Use a program like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audacity and import a mp3. Audacity will then spit out an image that looks like the above. I want to see if it looks like a brick wall (bad) or has dynamic qualities. Most remasters and nearly all modern releases are brick walled.

Edward

[obs]

[i]> Most remasters and nearly all modern releases are brick walled.[/i]

Including the Retro:Active series, which people here keep creaming over [:)].

[Abacab]

[quote][i]Originally posted by obs[/i]
<br>[i]> Most remasters and nearly all modern releases are brick walled.[/i]

Including the Retro:Active series, which people here keep creaming over [:)].
[/quote]

I had debated buying those discs. Glad I passed

Edward

[anfunny2003]

Considering these CDs were £6.99, I can't find much to moan about. Especially when you compare them to the Bananarama re-issues which were a mess and the same price...

The artwork is a four-fold gatefold sheet, double-sided with a decent summary of their career, mainly focusing on the relevant album. The images are a mixture of badges, 7"/12" single covers, press ads, vinyl labels and shaped picture discs. A slight complaint from me on 'Into The Gap' is that the artwork is a bit dark... my original 1980s CD is a lighter blue.

The sound seems absolutely fine to me but I haven't put my white lab coat on yet and had a good inspection. No vinyl rips SO FAR (there's a lot of material across the two sets!) and on the whole, the project seems to be successful. They were selling well on pre-order as far as I can tell and there will be other re-issues if they do ok so please, everyone should consider buying! £6.99 for a double album bursting with material and put together buy someone who cares is a steal. Easily the nicest re-issues I've seen for a while.

[Rubellan]

Is the album version of 'Love on your side' the full 4 minute version, or the shorter 3:30 version?

[anfunny2003]

3:59

[Spudboy]

[quote][i]Originally posted by anfunny2003[/i]
<br>A slight complaint from me on 'Into The Gap' is that the artwork is a bit dark... my original 1980s CD is a lighter blue.
[/quote]

Keep in mind that there were two different covers for Into the Gap: both very similar, but both had different poses, one was darker the other was lighter and bluer (with less shadows). I had both covers on the cassette version. (I bought one, lost it, bought another, then found the first one again!) Both were similar, but very different.

Still looking for my girl with auburn hair and tawny eyes...

[eighties]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Spudboy[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by anfunny2003[/i]
<br>A slight complaint from me on 'Into The Gap' is that the artwork is a bit dark... my original 1980s CD is a lighter blue.
[/quote]

Keep in mind that there were two different covers for Into the Gap: both very similar, but both had different poses, one was darker the other was lighter and bluer (with less shadows). I had both covers on the cassette version. (I bought one, lost it, bought another, then found the first one again!) Both were similar, but very different.

Still looking for my girl with auburn hair and tawny eyes...
[/quote]

The different covers in question:

<img src="http://www.gt350mustang.com/tt/ttd/itgus12c.jpg">
<img src="http://www.gt350mustang.com/tt/ttd/itgus12a.jpg">

All the best,
eighties

[DJ Phoenix]

[quote][i]Originally posted by obs[/i]
<br>[i]> Most remasters and nearly all modern releases are brick walled.[/i]

Including the Retro:Active series, which people here keep creaming over [:)].
[/quote]


What does this mean?

Keepin the 80s alive

[obs]

It means that the CD was mastered with the levels far too high. People on these forums all talked about how great the series is (yes, there's some gems here and I'm glad to have them on CD), but I think I was the only person who commented, or care, about the high levels. Seeing that the dude who compiles these only acknowledged praise, seems that he didn't give a shit. Some might think that this is nit-picking (which is it), and most people won't know the difference, but keeping the levels correct so that it is not brickwalled takes NO EXTRA WORK.



[i]> The different covers in question:



All the best,
eighties[/i]

Something missing here?




I leeched a FLAC rip of Doctor! Doctor! from the new two disc set. It's a bit louder than the original CD release (Arista US; ARCD 8200; barcode 7822 18200 2; bought around 2003), but it's not a brick wall.
http://www.divshare.com/download/3975804-a5d
http://www.divshare.com/download/3975805-8c1
(blue/top/left is new - red/bottom/right is original)

And since we're discussing it, here is a comparison between Simple Mind's Someone, Somewhere (In Summertime) from Retro:Active (blue/top/left) and from the CD single released in the 90s (red/bottom/right).
http://www.divshare.com/download/3975900-2dc
http://www.divshare.com/download/3975901-9c2
No mistaking which is the brick wall.