The Passions - 'Thirty Thousand Feet Over China'

[FiveTenFifteen]

...will be re-issued in July with five bonus tracks. Great album, IMHO.

And even better - the band have been back rehearsing again!

More... http://www.thepassions.co.uk/news/news.html

[tenohtwo]

Agree - great album. Love the guitar work. Excellent news - thanks!

1002

[Rubellan]

I was able to confirm that the CD has in fact been remastered from original master tapes, and the bonus tracks are listed below:

BONUS TRACKS

11. I Radiate (7-inch version)

12. Some Fun (7-inch version)

13. War Song (7-inch version)

14. Don’t Talk To Me (I’m Shy) (7-inch version)

15. The Square (live)

While I did suggest this CD about three years ago, I believe the first attempt to license the album was rejected by Universal. And I'm sure I would have known about this release sooner had it not been for the bitter falling out I had with the person who wrote the liner notes, (courtesy of that lousy Balaam project). But thankfully, here it is, and I'm looking very forward to it.

The bonus tracks are interesting. It does cover all four original single B sides, yet they are not in chronological order. Also, the addition of The Square (live) is a bit odd because I'm assuming it's the from the same 4 track live ep that included a live rendition of German Film Star. But that's neither here nor there. It's about time it's coming out again, and I'm hoping if it sells well their other albums will follow.

Scott

[Bad Penny]

What bitter falling out was that then?

[Rubellan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Bad Penny[/i]
<br>What bitter falling out was that then?
[/quote]

I believe my resignation letter explained the majority of it, Alex. (Your name is listed on your profile here). No need to dredge it all up here.

[Bad Penny]

Oh, absolutely no need to dredge it up here – but then I reserve the right of reply when falsehoods are posted.

“And I'm sure I would have known about this release sooner had it not been for the bitter falling out I had with the person who wrote the liner notes”.

I really can’t see the logic here. I did not, as far as I am aware, impose a blanket of secrecy on the project in an attempt to keep it from you.

As for the ‘bitter falling out’ – if I am involved in such a thing, you’d have thought I’d know about it. The last exchange I had with you was in February, pre your “resignation” (though there was a subsequent reply to an email generated by Cherry Red that I was copied in on in April). Your “resignation” was never sent to me. So I’m a bit mystified still as to why you would think there has been a ‘bitter falling out’. I did have major PC problems earlier this year, so there is a small possibility that something you sent me was not received or lost – but certainly I can remember no exchange between us that wasn’t cordial.

So, no bitterness here. I’m very pleased indeed that ‘China’ is coming out. It’s a great album.

[Rubellan]

You were copied on the resignation letter when I sent it. But in addition to that, Iain usually forwarded any message to you that he felt you should see. As you may be aware, the main issue was being asked (by you) to be involved with the Balaam project, then due to the time constraints and the poor quality bonus material I received, being pressured to use the poor sources for the sake of meeting the deadline. When I refused, it was very clear that you were debating about axing me from the project as a 'business decision', regardless of the amount of work I had already done on the project. Not to mention the insult of being suggested that I do not include my name on the project if I didn't feel the quality of the sources were up to snuff, especially when you knew how important my name on the projects is to me. So after all of the high quality (and low cost) work I had done all on previous projects, this experience was very disappointing. Though there were two previous projects in which your handling of them gave me a bit of concern, this was the final insult for me.

[Bad Penny]

Erm, so there was no exchange between us that was less than cordial, and the ‘bitter falling out’ didn’t actually take place then?

Yes, I was sent a copy of your letter via Iain – as you will be aware, because of the nature of your indiscretions on this website, a complaint (external) was received about your conduct and from that point it became a matter for Iain to deal with. Therefore any ‘bitter falling out’ took place with him, not me –

I had no contact with you!

Yes, I asked you to master the Balaam CDs for me. You accepted. There was no pressure on you to do so.

We kept in close contact throughout the process, and I accepted your suggestions as to source material. The job changed when it became apparent that the CDs weren’t ‘straight, unadulterated transfers’ as you had originally requested. I backed your judgement and the CD was remastered as you intended. So I really don’t understand what your problem is here?

“When I refused, it was very clear that you were debating about axing me from the project as a “business decision”, regardless of the amount of work I had already done on the project. Not to mention the insult of being suggested that I do not include my name on the project if I didn't feel the quality of the sources were up to snuff”.

A reasonable suggestion in the circumstances – I was conscious of the fact that you’re pretty precious that your name is only attached to work you see as first rate. It was intended only to alleviate your ‘suffering’ on the project. When you made it clear that wasn’t what you wanted to do, again, I accepted. I would never have ‘axed’ you from the project – that wasn’t my thinking at all. Fairly easily corroborated by the fact that – hey! - I agreed to all your suggestions! I made it absolutely clear that whatever your decision on being credited/not credited was, you would still be recompensed.

As for my handling of previous projects? Well, you’ve got me there. I’ve always thought we had a decent working relationship and I always did my very best on all the projects we collaborated on. If you did have concerns you might have let me know, and I’d have done my best to address them.

[Bad Penny]

That’s a complete misquote. I asked you a question as to how you wished to proceed, which included recognition of the fact the delays were beyond your control and assurances on compensation. It does not mention at any point you being relieved of the project, nor does it include any phrase whatsoever about “you shouldn’t take this personally”.

I’m afraid I never said any of that!

The GAOB has never, ever been just a month away! At the time of the email I was talking about the possibility of it coming out two or three (my preference) months hence. I was involved with over a dozen projects at the time. I accepted my oversight in forgetting temporarily you initially suggested the project (the exact phrase being ‘I’d almost forgotten it was you that got the ball rolling’) for which I apologised in a subsequent email!

I’m struggling to find anything unreasonable in my behaviour here!

[Rubellan]

As mentioned, I was going by memory. I did just scroll through a number of emails from January in which I was left in limbo while you made an 'executive decision'. You were very clear that you needed to stick to the deadline and release date planned for various reasons, and my refusal to work with the sub par source material would cause a problem, hence the executive decision. It appeared my idea to seek better source material was accepted when it was found that I didn't have access to one track at all, so I had to purchase it.

Whether GAOB was one or two months away is irrelevant. It was happening without my knowledge, and Mr. Wilson was scheduled to handle the remastering, (a horrifying revelation). As mentioned, with as much back and forth that went on regarding that project, it was a huge surprise to see it was about to happen, which I only found out by asking about it.

[schwenko]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Rubellan[/i]
<br>As mentioned, I was going by memory. I did just scroll through a number of emails from January in which I was left in limbo while you made an 'executive decision'. You were very clear that you needed to stick to the deadline and release date planned for various reasons, and my refusal to work with the sub par source material would cause a problem, hence the executive decision. It appeared my idea to seek better source material was accepted when it was found that I didn't have access to one track at all, so I had to purchase it.

Whether GAOB was one or two months away is irrelevant. It was happening without my knowledge, and Mr. Wilson was scheduled to handle the remastering, (a horrifying revelation). As mentioned, with as much back and forth that went on regarding that project, it was a huge surprise to see it was about to happen, which I only found out by asking about it.
[/quote]

What is the latest on the GAOB re-release? I had posted about buying a re-issued cd last January in Tokyo at HMV in Shibuya.

[Bad Penny]

Schwenko,

I'm afraid I can't give you an exact date as some details need to be finalised, but it is moving forward. Slowly....

[CounterCircular]

Cherry Red, if you are listening.................

One thing is certain, Cherry Red releases are hit and miss quality. When I see Scott is involved in the project, I know it will be top notch quality and don't hesitate to buy.

Otherwise, a CR release can be scary to purchase. The most dreadfully appalling release I've heard is the Ruefrex CD a couple years back. This was aural fodder to say the least, clearly from shitty vinyl chock full of noise. It is actually too painful to listen. I don't think CR should have let that stinker out the door, no matter who approves it, why would any label want their name associated with such crap quality?? In no way, shape, or form does that release even come close to okay. To take such a good LP and convert it to CD in such a way was dreadful. Mu home grown CD from my LP was 100 times better sounding. Of course, I could have gouged and scraped some defects into my vinyl then burned it and had the CR version.

So when I hear Scott is involved, I know to expect pristine, top quality sound. Why CR wouldn't want this guy handling all their remastering is beyond me. After a couple more piss-poor quality releases, Cherry Red should be ashamed to have their name on some of their releases. Clearly had he been involved, that would not have been the case.

Just my opinion, CR. You've got a long way to go to earn back my money for your releases. I now await feedback on your releases to make sure they are okay, unless I know Rubellan did the remastering. Then I know I can safely purchase the CD. If it's that simple to consumers that quality matters, why does that concept seem so foreign to CR????????????

[Bad Penny]

Sorry, been away.

Anyway, a response to Scott's latest groundless accusations seems to be in order.

“As mentioned, I was going by memory.”

Hardly a retraction, but still . . .

“I did just scroll through a number of emails from January in which I was left in limbo while you made an 'executive decision'.”

I’ve got a total of 36 emails from you for January. That’s right, THIRTY SIX. Each one, I believe, I responded to. I’m pretty sure ‘next day’ (or possibly over a weekend) was the longest you had to wait. Hardly limbo, is it? I don't know what the exact metric is for a self-obsessed drama queen tackling a perceived lack of attention, but I'd still have thought 36 email exchanges would have had it covered.

“You were very clear that you needed to stick to the deadline and release date planned for various reasons, and my refusal to work with the sub par source material would cause a problem, hence the executive decision.”

Er, ‘executive decision’ was to agree to your proposal, and deal with the consequences of that on scheduling! You seem very confused about this!

“It appeared my idea to seek better source material was accepted when it was found that I didn't have access to one track at all, so I had to purchase it.”

All of which I agreed to. And had approved for you. Again, you seem to overlook such trinkets of info!

“Whether GAOB was one or two months away is irrelevant.”

If it is not relevant, why did you cite it as an example of how far things had progressed without your knowledge?

I am amused by your capacity to mask rampant conjecture as evidence, then dismiss it as ‘irrelevant’ when anything approaching a fact emerges.

“It was happening without my knowledge, and Mr. Wilson was scheduled to handle the remastering, (a horrifying revelation)."

I don’t much care for your habit of abusing people in this way. especially when they have no right of reply – it’s unpleasant and unnecessary.

Inaccurate as well. It was NEVER a project scheduled to be undertaken by Mr Wilson. As for “about to happen” – does the fact that it is still not out there resonate at all with you?

HELLO!

Despite the relentless self-aggrandisement that characterises every post Scott makes (LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!), he never did manage to engender a 'bitter falling out'. He still hasn't. To that end, I have to thank him. As well as his excellent remastering work across a number of projects, he also brought this forum to my attention, which I might never have known about otherwise. So thanks, Scott. Next time I see you, you have a big soppy kiss coming.

In response to CounterCircular - I am not, nor ever have been, an employee of Cherry Red. So it would be unfair and inappropriate to speak on their behalf. However, if you have questions, I can either attempt to answer them myself, or pass them on to the relevant party.

[Rubellan]

Oh Alex, who's the drama queen. You've probably 'been away' because you've desperately been researching in an attempt at point/counterpoint. Yes, Mr. Wilson (who remastered the Ruefrex debacle, right??), WAS scheduled to do GAOB, as he was clearly copied on the email with the tentative release schedule. Not to mention he's the regular CR mastering guy. I've always tried to get you to understand the importance of sound quality, but you just never got it, (a prime example being the compressed and poor source material used for my Scientists remaster, which is the one CD I've not advertised at all thanks to those shortcomings, and I'm not just talking the 'rough' tracks). And your pressured suggestions (regardless of how you try to twist it) with the Balaam project just proved it, and resulted in my giving up on you, and essentially CR. Why else would I call it quits? Beating my head against an ignorant brick wall gets old really fast.

Also, I showed you this forum a long, long time ago so don't act as if this is a new revelation, you hypocritical fraud. You've always come off as tempermental whenever the slightist hint of anything could be read into. I don't know how many emails (36??) I had to explain because you got bent about something unintentional. And if you want to count emails, I have pages and pages and pages of your saved messages, many of which were NOT responses, more so than questions or 'suggestions' from you. Now go crawl back in your hole, because you've proven yourself to be nothing more than just another lame internet flamer attempting to mask it with a very thin layer of attempted sophistication. Though I've essentially severed ties with CR, I wonder how Iain would love to see how mature and classy you represent them (official employee or not), since you know very well that you are involved in steady stream of their projects, that Iain makes certain decisions based on your input, and that you are doing little video ditties for their YouTube presense. Now grow up and save your drama for personal email rather than the juvenile public display. The thread clearly shows you fishing for a confrontation from your first post, something you could have clearly done off-board if you had any questions about my simple comment in my first post.

Oh, and to CounterCircular, thank you for the kind words. Also, Alex was hugely involved with the Ruefrex CD, so you've directed your comments/concerns to one of the right people.