New Wave Outpost Forum

Rubellan Remasters is proud to announce the reissue of all three original albums by the classic line up of Missing Persons. Starting with their 1982 debut album 'Spring Session M', which achieved gold status in the U.S., and carrying through to the 1984 release 'Rhyme & Reason' to the final long player from the original core band, the 1986 album 'Color In Your Life'. All three albums have been dynamically remastered from original master tapes from the Universal Music tape archive, and include bonus material.

As a way to celebrate these long overdue and special CD reissues, Rubellan Remasters is offering the albums on an individual basis or as a special package containing all three reissues in a limited edition box. The design was created exlusively for this package and includes elements from all three albums to tie in a connected theme. The limited box edition will be exclusive to direct sales from Rubellan Remasters and not part of eventual retail distribution. The images for the front and back of the box are below and reveal the full track listing. Sound samples are available on the website: https://www.rubellanremasters.com/releases

Assuming there's no issues with the final box manufacturing (I should have it in hand next week), orders for the Missing Persons catalog, as well as the previously announced Divinyls 'What A Life!' expanded reissue, will hopefully begin next week with orders starting to ship the first week of January. Details will be listed on the website, as well as sent to my mailing list and posted on Facebook and Twitter.

The answer is...YES!

FANTASTIC!! Very excited to purchase these, thank you Scott!!

Didn't the 1982 EP (from which Mental Hopscotch and I Like Boys were drawn) contain early versions of Destination Unknown and Words? No luck tracking those down?

tikibars wrote:Didn't the 1982 EP (from which Mental Hopscotch and I Like Boys were drawn) contain early versions of Destination Unknown and Words? No luck tracking those down?

The versions from the EP were the same as on the LP. In fact, there was a master tape that had only 10 tracks and it looks like adding those two songs on the LP, making it 12 tracks, was a late decision.

The new Missing Persons and Divinyls releases will be available for purchase tomorrow. Here's the Missing Persons unboxing video for a sneak preview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc9COjV8Aqw

Very exciting end to 2020, thanks for sharing that video Scott!

Where did you find the bobblehead!??!

Rubellan wrote:The new Missing Persons and Divinyls releases will be available for purchase tomorrow. Here's the Missing Persons unboxing video for a sneak preview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc9COjV8Aqw

Dale offers them through her Facebook page. There is some cost associated with it (it's heavy ceramic, not cheap plastic) and she will personalize the box it comes in for buyers. I love it! I'm sending her copies of the box set today.

Ha, that's AWESOME! Love it!

The Missing Persons 3CD "Album Collection" set arrived today! Best investment I've made so far for 2021!

The box housing the 3 CD's was definitely worth the extra $6 - very sharp. All the CD's look great!

But the meat and potatoes is of course the music. I'm listening to "Spring Session M" now, which is hands down my favorite Missing Persons album. Holy sh*t does this CD sound AMAZING! I've got the 1995 One Way CD, the 1987 "Best Of" CD and the "Classic Masters" from 2002 which was a 24-bit remaster. This new Ruebellan Remasters reissue blows them ALL away. I didn't realize how harsh the "Classic Masters" disc was until I compared the two. The sound is so clean, balanced, full, natural and DYNAMIC. This is pretty much what I was hoping for, after purchasing the two Ruebellan Berlin reissues last year, and it absolutely exceeds my expectations.

I also have to note the bonus inclusion of the 1983 mix of "Action Reaction". I expected this to be the same track that appeared on the 2000 reissue of "Rhyme & Reason" and the 1997 CD "Late Nights Early Days". To my delight, this is a completely different mix indeed! This version certainly fits into the overall sonic palette of the "Spring Session M" album, so it's a welcome addition. Also nice to have the 3 remaining tracks from the "Missing Persons" EP FINALLY incorporated into the album. They really are an integral part of the overall fabric of the "Spring Session M" era. A gorgeous reissue of a New Wave classic.

Scanning through the "Rhyme & Reason" disc now and I'm once again extremely happy with the quality! The 2000 reissue was actually pretty decent, so I'm not surprised that there is no night and day difference between the two, but this new remaster definitely has a fuller dynamic range and a subtle warmth the other lacks. In fact I just loaded a track from each CD into my Vector 3 audio editing app and you can visually SEE less compression in the new Ruebellan version.

My favorite tracks from this album have always been the 3 mid tempo songs "Surrender Your Heart", "Waiting For A Million Years" and "If Only For The Moment" and all three have simply never sounded better. Rockers like "The Closer That You Get", "Right Now" and "Clandestine People" also shimmer just a bit more than their 2000 reissue counterparts. All "Rhyme And Reason" tracks here once again sound quite significantly better than the 2002 "Classic Masters" disc.

Of particular note is the bonus track "If Only For The Moment (Full Version)". It did previously appear on the "Classic Masters" disc, but compared to the 2021 version, the "Classic Masters" one sounds like an unrefined demo complete with excessive tape hiss. Here, it sounds polished and clean, lovingly refurbished and brought back to life. I loved this mix when I first heard it on the "Classic Masters" disc, but rarely listened to it because of the quality. So I am just over the moon with this new remaster. This track alone is worth the purchase for me! If you were a fan of the previously unreleased "Fight For Life" when it first appeared on the 2000 reissue, you will be very please with the new remaster here once again. The intro "countdown" is edited away which was a good choice and it has a weightier low end and, surprise, just sounds MUCH better.

I rarely ever listened to "Rhyme & Reason" from start to finish, but I anticipate this new remaster is going to pull me back in to reevaluate it as a whole, 37 years later. I already find myself thinking, wow I didn't realize how good "The Closer That You Get", "Now Is The Time (For Love)", "Clandestine People" and "All Fall Down" were! This is a completely different album, style-wise, than the first one. And maybe that's why I never delved into it when it came out. But I'm finding now that on it's own merits, it really is a pretty darn solid collection of songs.

Most of the interest in these 3 reissues will undoubtably focus on the first two albums. "Color In Your Life" has always been just too overly-produced for my personal tastes. There are definitely some good tunes here, but unlike my rekindled interest in "Rhyme & Reason", I probably still won't find myself listening to "Color In Your Life" from start to finish any time soon lol. That being said, as with the two other albums, this new remaster is at least a more enjoyable listen, sonically. Another clear improvement over the 2000 release. Nice to have the 3 bonus versions of "I Can't Think About Dancin'" all in one place as well. I don't think the Single Version has ever appeared on CD before. An excellent remaster of what otherwise comes across as a bit of a labored effort musically.

If you're a fan, you will not regret purchasing these remasters, and likely won't ever bother listening to any of the other issues or compilations ever again. Thank you again, Scott Davies and Ruebellan Remasters, for providing such high quality releases!

Just ordered the MP box and the new Divinyls - can’t wait (especially considering the glowing reviews)!

Fred Taghon wrote:The Missing Persons 3CD "Album Collection" set arrived today! Best investment I've made so far for 2021!

The box housing the 3 CD's was definitely worth the extra $6 - very sharp. All the CD's look great!

But the meat and potatoes is of course the music. I'm listening to "Spring Session M" now, which is hands down my favorite Missing Persons album. Holy sh*t does this CD sound AMAZING! I've got the 1995 One Way CD, the 1987 "Best Of" CD and the "Classic Masters" from 2002 which was a 24-bit remaster. This new Ruebellan Remasters reissue blows them ALL away. I didn't realize how harsh the "Classic Masters" disc was until I compared the two. The sound is so clean, balanced, full, natural and DYNAMIC. This is pretty much what I was hoping for, after purchasing the two Ruebellan Berlin reissues last year, and it absolutely exceeds my expectations.

I also have to note the bonus inclusion of the 1983 mix of "Action Reaction". I expected this to be the same track that appeared on the 2000 reissue of "Rhyme & Reason" and the 1997 CD "Late Nights Early Days". To my delight, this is a completely different mix indeed! This version certainly fits into the overall sonic palette of the "Spring Session M" album, so it's a welcome addition. Also nice to have the 3 remaining tracks from the "Missing Persons" EP FINALLY incorporated into the album. They really are an integral part of the overall fabric of the "Spring Session M" era. A gorgeous reissue of a New Wave classic.

Scanning through the "Rhyme & Reason" disc now and I'm once again extremely happy with the quality! The 2000 reissue was actually pretty decent, so I'm not surprised that there is no night and day difference between the two, but this new remaster definitely has a fuller dynamic range and a subtle warmth the other lacks. In fact I just loaded a track from each CD into my Vector 3 audio editing app and you can visually SEE less compression in the new Ruebellan version.

My favorite tracks from this album have always been the 3 mid tempo songs "Surrender Your Heart", "Waiting For A Million Years" and "If Only For The Moment" and all three have simply never sounded better. Rockers like "The Closer That You Get", "Right Now" and "Clandestine People" also shimmer just a bit more than their 2000 reissue counterparts. All "Rhyme And Reason" tracks here once again sound quite significantly better than the 2002 "Classic Masters" disc.

Of particular note is the bonus track "If Only For The Moment (Full Version)". It did previously appear on the "Classic Masters" disc, but compared to the 2021 version, the "Classic Masters" one sounds like an unrefined demo complete with excessive tape hiss. Here, it sounds polished and clean, lovingly refurbished and brought back to life. I loved this mix when I first heard it on the "Classic Masters" disc, but rarely listened to it because of the quality. So I am just over the moon with this new remaster. This track alone is worth the purchase for me! If you were a fan of the previously unreleased "Fight For Life" when it first appeared on the 2000 reissue, you will be very please with the new remaster here once again. The intro "countdown" is edited away which was a good choice and it has a weightier low end and, surprise, just sounds MUCH better.

I rarely ever listened to "Rhyme & Reason" from start to finish, but I anticipate this new remaster is going to pull me back in to reevaluate it as a whole, 37 years later. I already find myself thinking, wow I didn't realize how good "The Closer That You Get", "Now Is The Time (For Love)", "Clandestine People" and "All Fall Down" were! This is a completely different album, style-wise, than the first one. And maybe that's why I never delved into it when it came out. But I'm finding now that on it's own merits, it really is a pretty darn solid collection of songs.

Most of the interest in these 3 reissues will undoubtably focus on the first two albums. "Color In Your Life" has always been just too overly-produced for my personal tastes. There are definitely some good tunes here, but unlike my rekindled interest in "Rhyme & Reason", I probably still won't find myself listening to "Color In Your Life" from start to finish any time soon lol. That being said, as with the two other albums, this new remaster is at least a more enjoyable listen, sonically. Another clear improvement over the 2000 release. Nice to have the 3 bonus versions of "I Can't Think About Dancin'" all in one place as well. I don't think the Single Version has ever appeared on CD before. An excellent remaster of what otherwise comes across as a bit of a labored effort musically.

If you're a fan, you will not regret purchasing these remasters, and likely won't ever bother listening to any of the other issues or compilations ever again. Thank you again, Scott Davies and Ruebellan Remasters, for providing such high quality releases!

Thank you for the very nice feedback. I appreciate when people take the time to share their positive thoughts on these projects. It's been a very strong seller so far. Hopefully, more new titles to come this year.