Kraftwerk Reissues - Sept 2009 (apparently)

[FiveTenFifteen]

There are issues with the remastering on some of the releases, no doubt about it. Radio-Activity is easily the most obvious victim; 'Geiger Counter' has very obvious noise-reduction artifacts audible, since the hiss that was present and correct has been scoured away to such an extent - other tracks have traces, less obvious, but still noticeable (I'm listening on headphones - in the dark, natch ). I'm surprised about Geiger Counter'. It is really obvious - how could that get by Kling Klang quality control?! For me, the other one that comes off badly is 'Computer World' - it's just too compressed. With the title track in particular, what used to be warm washes of poly synth rolling in majestically in the backdrop are badly dissected now by the compression and rhythm, too much 'pumping' for my ears, sorry to say - it spoils the flow.

These are the UK editions I am commenting on. Will be interesting to hear the German edition. I always preferred some of the the German mixes of 'Computer Welt' - 'Computer Welt 2' was a very noticeably different mix compared to the UK one, the latter part of it anyway.

On the plus side, 'Techno Pop' sounds fresh, somehow.

On the packaging front however, they are fantastic. Beautiful quality printing and cardstock, I can't fault them on that front at all.

So, I can see where the reviewers sentiments are coming from in the 'Uncut' piece.

[bigwavedave]

Both you and Uncut mention the poor job on Cumputer World. Such a shame, that's the one I'm most looking forward to. Ah well, I'm still going to spring for the box when it comes out.

[yipyipcoyote]

Opinions seem to be very polarized on this one.. all of the reviews on Amazon are praising the remaster as a vast improvement over the "thin-sounding" original CD

[Fred Taghon]

[quote][i]Originally posted by StevieP[/i]
<br>The reissues are now on Spotify. The only contentious thing I've noticed so far is that the original 8 minute version of The Telephone Call on Technopop has been replaced with an edited remix that leads into Housephone. I think it works quite well, but anyone looking for the original version with improved sound quality might be a bit disappointed.
[/quote]

I have not bought the box set yet. Been sampling some online downloads to help me decide if I want to invest, mainly because my favorite KW albums are "Computer World", "Electric Cafe (Techno Pop)" and "The Mix" which you can not buy individually.

"Electric Cafe (Techno Pop)" does sound fantastic compared to the original CD release, HOWEVER, "The Telephone Call" has always been one of my favorite KW songs and I also am shocked to see the official release of "Catalogue" has eliminated the original 8minute album version entirely! The version included is in fact the 7" Remix which is an excellent version to be sure (I actually always preferred the 12" Remix over all other versions and this is just an edit of that mix) but for a 30+minute album, there's no reason this 7" Remix and the (also fantastic) "House Phone" track could not have been included as bonus tracks at the end of the album. Granted it's great to have these 2 tracks finally released on CD, but at the expense of the original?

The good news regarding this is that the 2004 promo issues of "Catalogue" DOES feature the full album version of "The Telephone Call" (the 7" edit and "House Phone" were NOT included) so if you have or can get that, then you do end up with the original album + the 7" Remix of "The Telephone Call" and "House Phone"!

Regarding "Computer World", I have to admit I am disappointed. A few years ago I made my own "remaster" by filling out the bass and increasing the overall volume somewhat, but without compression and it sounds fantastic. When I compare my "remaster" to "Catalogue" I actually prefer mine! The compression and what seems to be noise reduction on the "Catalog" version are just overdone and you lose the smoothness of the original recording (the "string" swells on the title track in particular seem to pulsate with the rhythm, a classic sign of too much noise reduction and compression).

"Man Machine" "Electric Cafe (Techno Pop)" and "The Mix" all seem to sound quite good. "Trans Europe Express" is passable but "Showroom Dummies" has a swishy sound to the "cymbal" all the way through which really detracts from the short crisp style of the song. Overall, it doesn't seem to have the bass or crispness the original CD had.