Thompson Twins Reissues - revived!

[moni]

I just got Quick Step from HMV sill waiting for Into The Gap to arrive[:(] I have to say it sounds brilliant and it does appear they have used the original masters and not cassette or vinyl rips.Can't wait till The Gap arrives.[:)]

[Abacab]

Wow, I am kind of shocked. That isn't even remotely close to a brick wall given all the rubbish that is put out today. Listen to the AAO remaster of Into The Gap. Bleeding ears! I wish these things would get here....tired of waiting already.

Edward

[obs]

Wow, never seen this variation of the cover before:
<img src="http://www.gt350mustang.com/tt/ttd/itgus12c.jpg">

Only variations I have are when they couldn't decide whether the track was titled:
No Peace for the Wicked
or
No Rest for the Wicked
[:)]


edit// Damn well getting mixed up between BBCode style and HTML!

[eighties]

[quote][i]Originally posted by obs[/i]
<br>Wow, never seen this variation of the cover before:
<img src="http://www.gt350mustang.com/tt/ttd/itgus12c.jpg">

Only variations I have are when they couldn't decide whether the track was titled:
No Peace for the Wicked
or
No Rest for the Wicked
[:)]


edit// Damn well getting mixed up between BBCode style and HTML!
[/quote]

From what I remember, this cover was only available on the first issue of the US vinyl release.

Are there any Thompson Twins vinyl collectors on NWO?
Has anyone ever seen the Australian 'Into the Gap' pressed on orange vinyl? Or do I own the only copy?

All the best,
eighties

[Spudboy]

Actually, I had both versions on the US Arista cassettes. One was bought in May, the other two months later.

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

[mojowkn]

I still need to do a detailed listen with headphones on both sets, but overall they sound good.

Just took a couple of minutes to do a quick profile -- interesting comparison between the 2004 remaster and the new one of Into the Gap's "No Peace for the Wicked."

If you don't feel like downloading the graph, the result is that the new disc looks better than the old 2004 remaster, which is much closer to a "brick wall."

http://www.zshare.net/image/8989956fa2d388/

[jaybag]

Interesting review someone posted on Amazon of "Into The Gap":

"The actual album and cassette remixes and most of the 12" versions sound fine; however, "You Lift Me Up (Machines Take Me over Remix)," sounds awful. The beginning of the song has a flutter to it with a few crackles. This was "NOT" remastered. As for "Sister of Mercy (Extended Version)," there is a slight screeching sound in the background. It sounds like the leveling was rised too high. It's my favorite song. I'm so mad that it sounds this way."

Can anyone verify this? I'm sure I'll triple-dip on this thing anyway. Funny that people didn't seem to like the most recent remaster of ITG since I thought that one sounded phenomenal. If this new version is less brick-walled I'll probably melt into the floor.

[Abacab]

Yeah, the crackling is definitely there. These were, not surprisingly (and unfortunately) taken from vinyl. Bleh. The other review on Amazon is largely well written but the author clearly has no clue as to what "remastering" means (aka marketing gimmick). He wants his CD to burst his eardrums. I'll pass. Bloody needle drops.

Edward

[surreal_eyed]

In a wav editor, You Take Me Up 'looks' to have been taken from original master tape, along with <u>all</u> tracks on both sets.
The 'errors' (on YTMU) do not 'look' like vinyl crackle. To my ears it sounds like real digital problems with the resulting file. 'Digital crackle and distortion'? How these things get past, um, quality control, I don't know.

These are more than acceptable reissues. You Take Me Up (Machines Take Me Over) has errors, and some people report problems with Sister Of Mercy [Extended Mix]. My copy of SOM sounds entirely like my original vinyl, so I can't add to that discussion/complaint.

[DavePlym]

just to add my bit - yes, skid that version of You Take Me Up, just pretend it's a track you don't like - Sisters of Mercy sounded fine apart from a short bit somewhere around minute six where ther's a volume drop for 20 seconds or so, however, this is of little concern as it's on CD at last. For the price and sound quality throughout (apart from the YTMU problems) there's still 120 minutes to brighten your day. anyone who says they'll avoid this because of one isolated flaw needs their head banged against a wall long and hard, unless you don't like TT of course. This is the best reissue and i'll wager will
never be improved on.
as for quick step and side kick, the 2 cd's are flawless and sound astounding, i really thought the cassette tracks would be from a chewed cassette and the vinyl tracks from vinyl dragged down from the attic - not so, the sound quality is the same from the original lp songs throughout all the extras. i played the whole thing through
headphones and this has got to be one of the best and most comprehensive reissues in many years. as a cynical misery i'm rarely happy but this made me grin inanely for over 2 hours. hooray.

[bruiser]

[quote][i]Originally posted by DavePlym[/i]
<br>just to add my bit - yes, skid that version of You Take Me Up, just pretend it's a track you don't like - Sisters of Mercy sounded fine apart from a short bit somewhere around minute six where ther's a volume drop for 20 seconds or so, however, this is of little concern as it's on CD at last. For the price and sound quality throughout (apart from the YTMU problems) there's still 120 minutes to brighten your day. anyone who says they'll avoid this because of one isolated flaw needs their head banged against a wall long and hard, unless you don't like TT of course. This is the best reissue and i'll wager will
never be improved on. [/quote]

BULLSHIT on much of this.

i, as a consumer, fork over my hard-earned money supposing that i will be satisfied with my purchase. 100% satisfied. i should not have to "ski(p) over" a track on a cd, and pretend it's not there, to compensate for shoddy work on the part of a record label.

i mean, i don't know about you, but if something has a 20 second volume drop-out at some point in a song, i'm not fine with it. i don't care that it's on cd at last. it's not right, it's not done right, it's not what it is supposed to be and what is claimed on the packaging. it is flawed, and should have been corrected before release. i'm not going to make excuses for the record label. it is [i]their[/i] job to do this right the first time. did nobody listen to it? it's glaringly obvious what is wrong at the beginning of "sister" and "you take me up"!!! hey, i can burn an mp3 of a song onto disc, whoopee! it's on cd! is it "remastered from original masters"? NO.

perhaps i should, as you helpfully suggest, bang my head against a wall and question my t.t. fandom. perhaps i should, because i won't make excuses for the record label and ignore a shitty job on two key tracks, be happy about the price (which really: $22.00 here in new york? not a "bargain") and the fact that the cassette bonus tracks sound so good. perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

but the fact is, i can't. i love the gap album. love the bonus stuff, and how it sounds. and then we get to the bad stuff and my mood plummets, because we were so close to perfect. years of getting screwed by "hits" and "rarities" collections, edits of mixes, etc. this was IT. this made up for it.

and then it didn't.

[eLeMeNOhPeaQ]

My first post here, and it should be Thompson Twins related. The following is what I just wrote up at the yahoo group...

Okay, I must admit that when I received my copies of the reissues, I
skipped through them pretty quickly while playing them on the
stereo. I have a good excuse why I did so...I was just about Twinned
out. "What's that?," you might ask. Well, throughout the past year,
I've been working on my Twins vinyl collection, when time permitted.
There were times when I would be listening to one song more than a
few times while I was editing it on the computer. That lead me to
become "burned out on Twins music" (aka Twinned out).

Last night, after listening to the 12" of "Sister Of Mercy", I caught
that humming at the beginning and ending of "Still Water"...the key,
I was wearing headphones. I read Derek's latest response to the
problem with the 12" of "Sister", and of course I checked it out
while wearing headphones again. I must admit, though it's faint to
me, I can hear what Derek is talking about. The most noticeable time
when you hear the "metallic" sound is towards the end of the track,
right about the 9:17 marker.

I then looked into what Derek commented on the "Down Tools" track, to
see if I could spot out the same problem. Although I didn't
immediately catch it, I did notice that the humming is there too. I
then started the disc with Track One, and played the beginning of "D!
D!" and guess what...the humming is there too. I skipped to the end
of "D! D!"...and not to sound like a broken record, the humming was
there as well. I then thought to myself, "I bet the humming is
throughout both discs." It is.

What the hell did Edsel do? How can that humming be on every single
track of both discs? Even if Edsel pulled a track from an existing
release (say...the Japanese issue of 12 Inch Collection), that
humming shouldn't be there. But, even the messed up "You Take Me Up
(High Plains Mixer)" is also affected.

I started to worry, and immediately reached for the QS&SK 2CD. That
humming can be heard at the beginning and ending of each track, and
during quiet portions of songs on both discs of QS&SK too. I'm
actually taking back eveything good I've said about these reissues.
(Except for the artwork...but who wants to pay $20 USD for artwork?)
In fact, I haven't even written any reviews for them anywhere but
here at the group and at the Born Again 80's Forum. I feel it's my
duty to warn anyone looking to purchase either of these reissues,
about the humming in the background.

I found it ironic that I had just finished uploading all of the b-
sides, single versions and remixes for both the QS&SK and ITG albums
at the multiply group...and then, word came that these reissues were
coming out. I have to admit that most of my vinyl rips that I
posted, were of better quality. 1) there is no humming in my
recordings, 2) I didn't fade songs out early or apply a special
effect to cover any flaws, 3) I recreated some of the special edits
using the 2004 "remastered" cds (even though some people bitched
about them being "brickwalled" in sound), and 4) none of my vinyl
transfers have any of the problems that have been brought up about
either of these two reissues.

I won't be looking to Edsel for a reissue of HTFD, as I feel they
blew it with QS&SK and ITG. I am really sick and tired of purchasing
and repurchasing these albums time and time again, only to be let
down with every edition. I have now purchased QS&SK 7 times now (2
copies of the double play cassette, 2 copies of the record album,
the '97 Japanese issue [which is still the best], the 2004 Superfecta
reissue and now the 2008 Edsel reissue). And, I'm not even counting
how many times I've received the album as a "bonus" item, being
included in an online purchase (be it an eBay auction or purchase
through an online vinyl shop).

I've really snapped now! I'm steaming! Moreso than the pile of crap
that these reissues are!

I'll be taking the HTFD task upon myself. I do not want any label to
even think of reissuing HTFD, simply because I don't want it to
become another ruinned finished product.

- jeff

[Alex Hush]

[quote][i]Originally posted by obs[/i]
<br>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.

As 'the dude who compiles these', I will respond to your comment. I do not reply to every posting addressed to me in a general fashion on here but I do reply to the ones that are more complimentary. Thats human nature I think.
As far as 'he didn't give a shit' - thats not true. I like to see all feedback on the RA series, good or bad. Fact of the matter is apart from you, I dont think anyone else mentioned the mastering. If I missed some posts to the contrary then I stand corrected.
Remastering 80s tracks can be a tricky business. I looked at your waveform comparisons and yes there is a huge difference. Also an interesting piece here on mastering loudness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war
What this does not address is multiple sources.
Not every source master we get arrives as a 'flat master' Labels may have masters as 1/2 tape, 1/4 tape, cd, cdr etc etc. Some send over mastered copies, some don't. Classic tracks that you think would be locked anyway in a heat proof vacuum sealed vault are more often than not sitting on a dusty shelf somewhere.
The sources we get greatly determines the mastering for the overall cd, for if you get a 'brick walled' source master for 1 track, you do your best to have the same listening level for the entire cd.
Are some tracks maybe a tad loud for the audiophile? perhaps, but you can believe me when I say the utmost care is taken to make sure all tracks sound as good as they can be. Many many hours of mastering (both manual and using the latest software) are spent to ensure that the tracks on the RA cds are the best they can be.
There will always be some people who think the newest cds sound too 'hot', others will say they need to crank it up in the car to hear it. There is no right or wrong, just personal choice.

Regardless, I thank you for your comments and hope you will enjoy RA7.


[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.
[/quote]

[anfunny2003]

They still sound better than many re-issued 80s albums to me! They've really put some effort in here.

[obs]

[i]> The sources we get greatly determines the mastering for the overall cd, for if you get a 'brick walled' source master for 1 track, you do your best to have the same listening level for the entire cd.[/i]

But it doesn't mean that all the other tracks have to be jacked up to meet the one with the highest level.

Anyways, thanks for the reply.