New Wave Outpost Forum

Cherry Pop just posted the following on Facebook about this release:

"Disc 3 has been fully remastered from scratch from original tapes, and all errors and poor sources on previous CD editions of the first two albums have also been fixed/greatly improved."

So it's pretty clear now that only Disc 3 has been remastered from tapes and the other 3 discs are "remastered" from previous CD editions. I expect that means the flexi tracks are just pulled from the flexi again. When I remastered the Vinyl 180 vinyl editions last year, we had the tapes pulled for the the flexi tracks. Shame this new CD edition will likely use an inferior source. But I'll be curious to see how they "greatly improved" issues on the first two albums and 12" mixes.

Scott

funnily enough another blog posted a video of cambridge 1980 a couple of days ago.

CONFIRMED: Don't Talk To Me About Love on CD4 is the full length, UK extended version - 8:30!

anfunny2003 wrote:CONFIRMED: Don't Talk To Me About Love on CD4 is the full length, UK extended version - 8:30! :D

Finally! I'll buy it!

Any news on the sound quality?

The following Amazon review unfortunately suggests that this boxset is yet another botched reissue:

5 stars for the music, 3 stars for the expected budget "remastering"
By Scott Davieson 10 March 2018

I had been anxiously awaiting someone to revisit the Altered Images catalog in hopes they would do it right after all the mistakes with the last reissues in 2004, to the point that I almost did it myself before I heard of this release. But when Cherry Red responded to inquiries by announcing the only thing being remastered from actual tapes was the Bite album, I knew we were in for a mixed bag. Well, after finally getting my hands on the set, I was 100% correct. The majority of the songs are just copied over from the previous Edsel CD’s with a few new blunders. This includes opening notes on a few tracks being lopped off and early fades on many songs cutting off 3-5 seconds earlier than they should.

Happy Birthday: All the main album tracks are just taken off the previous Edsel CD. Of the bonus tracks, ‘Leave Me Alone’ (cassette version) suffered the fate yet again of having the opening note lopped off as it was on the original 1992 Best Of CD. What’s worse is ‘Who Cares’ is now missing the first second, so it sounds like someone dropping a needle on a record. ‘A Day’s Wait’ (Single Version) cuts off before the fade out is complete.

Pinky Blue: Most tracks are taken straight from the Edsel CD, complete with stereo channels swapped, incorrect from the original album. ‘I Could Be Happy’ (Single Version) uses a better source than the Edsel CD but they cut the first second off and it starts right at the first drum beat. On the plus side, they included the correct version of ‘Insects’ from the single’s B side and the pulled ‘Real Toys’ (Flexi Version) from a tape instead of the original flexidisc like on the previous CD.

Bite: They apparently did go back to the original tapes for only the original 8 album tracks, so you finally get the correct versions of the songs. However, the transfer sounds rather dull and muddy on most of the tracks compared to the rare Japanese CD from 2004. Plus, the aforementioned early fades plague any track with a gradual fade out, eliminating at least 3 seconds from those songs. And oddly enough, ‘Stand So Quiet’ has had the stereo channels swapped. The bonus tracks are just transferred from the previous CD, which means ‘Last Goodbye’ and ‘I Don’t Want To Know’ still sound muted and hollow.

The 12” Album: Most of these are just transfers from the Edsel CD. But there are some new transfers, which doesn’t necessarily mean they are problem free. Even though ‘I Could Be Happy’ is the same as the album version, this is a different transfer and not very good. It’s very compressed and sounds extremely dull. ‘See Those Eyes’ is a better transfer than the previous CD but it’s still rather blah. ‘Don’t Talk To Me About Love’ is finally presented in its full 12” version. But the tape does show minor damage with some left channel fluctuation during the opening of the song. And, it’s as dull sounding as any of the few new tape transfers. ‘Jump Jump/Think That It Might’ is a much-needed new transfer from the terrible quality that was on the Edsel CD, but of course you get another slightly early fade.

So there it is, another cost saving budget “remaster” from Cherry Red that’s essentially repressings of songs previously mastered nearly 15 years ago and some lackluster new transfers. It’s a good thing we’ve come to expect these things.

If this is from Scott/Rubellan who gives a f*ck.

Altered Images did about 5 good songs, plus the worst song ever, namely "Happy Birthday".

I do have the previous reissues and they sound fine on a very high quality stereo system.

I didn't read all of this interminable blathering, but imagine the HORROR of losing 3 seconds from some dumbass song. ::shudder::

My only request is stop reissuing this extremely minor band. FOREVER.

Barmy wrote:If this is from Scott/Rubellan who gives a f*ck.

As I wrote in these forums before. some people don't, but some people do. I like having all the information so I can decide if I want to (re)buy the albums and/or how much I want to pay.

Like you, I'm not much of an Altered Images fan, so the 2004 were okay for me.

That leaves the real question: If it's a complaint from Barmy, who gives a fuck?

Barmy wrote:If this is from Scott/Rubellan who gives a f*ck.
Altered Images did about 5 good songs, plus the worst song ever, namely "Happy Birthday".
I do have the previous reissues and they sound fine on a very high quality stereo system.
I didn't read all of this interminable blathering, but imagine the HORROR of losing 3 seconds from some dumbass song. ::shudder::
My only request is stop reissuing this extremely minor band. FOREVER.

Ha ha! Oh, you make me smile so. Every time you claim you haven't read my full posting, I don't doubt that not only have you read it, you've read it multiple times. And just to irritate you further, I might as well let you know that I AM releasing an Altered Images compilation. A new master transfer has already been done by Sony and I've got the artwork half done. And the plan is to also include a DVD, though a recent snag happened when Sony confirmed they cannot find the 'Love To Stay' promo video. But as no one has ever been able to confirm it existed, who can say. But I've requested a list of other Sony owned video material for the band so I hope to include additional material to help compensate for that loss, but we will see. Stay tuned Barmy, the number one Altered Images fan!

Rubellan wrote:I've got the artwork half done.

Let me know if you need any help with cover art and clean up.
I restore and manipulate photographs digitally for a living.

Example cover scan: https://www.discogs.com/Altered-Images- ... ase/402680

Great news Scott... always nice to have someone involved who cares to ensure the finished product is the best it can be.

A quality compilation would be cool. This band did so much dross that I cannot conceive of listening through their entire oeuvre. Sadly, I assume "Happy Birthday" will be included. Video is also welcome.

Sorry Scott, I did NOT read your entire review. The moment I saw the words "3 seconds", I knew what you were going to say.

Would love to hear Grogan's lost album, but I gather that it is truly lost.

Hugs.

It's like we have Russian trollbot of our very own, except it went off script and is now really into new wave music.

Fading down an existing fade-down is an amateur way to hide tape hiss. That someone doesn't care does not mean it is proper. There is a responsibility in the caretaking of music, to make sure that what you are passing down through history is not altered. Losing the beginnings and endings of songs is akin to losing the edges of a painting or photograph - it shows a lack of respect for the original, and a lack of character in the one who did it.

The Crimson Bolt made a speech about this in the film Super... There's a right way and a wrong way, something something.

eighties wrote:

Rubellan wrote:I've got the artwork half done.

Let me know if you need any help with cover art and clean up.
I restore and manipulate photographs digitally for a living.

Example cover scan: https://www.discogs.com/Altered-Images- ... ase/402680

Excellent scan! Now I have to dig around Discogs to see what else you've uploaded. I've been going through my iTunes and updating some of my artwork using content I've found on albumartexchange.com. I like that site, but Discogs is easier. I've been taking songs that I've loaded from a CD (such as a greatest hits comp), changing the metadata to reflect that it's a single, and then loading single artwork like what you've added to Discogs. My car displays artwork on the center screen when I play iTunes from my phone, so it's cool to hear an '80s song and see the corresponding single artwork. Nerdy, but I don't care.

eighties wrote:

Rubellan wrote:I've got the artwork half done.

Let me know if you need any help with cover art and clean up.
I restore and manipulate photographs digitally for a living.

Example cover scan: https://www.discogs.com/Altered-Images- ... ase/402680

Thanks for the offer. I did already do high res scans and restorations of all my sleeves months ago. In anticipation of this, I've been working ahead of myself. I'm about done with my full artwork for the 2 titles I licensed from Warners. They are looking for masters now. Those are definitely going to be the first ones coming from my label. Nearly a full year with Sony and still nothing finalized. Still waiting if they will allow me to see the inventory list of video titles for this release.