New Wave Outpost Forum

Wow, definitely a hot topic! Some excellent and valid points have all been made, so I don't have too much to add, save that Spaz and Rubellan both have been working tirelessly to help preserve these lost treasures, many of which seem to have lost access to their master tapes. I also agree with Grunch that some kind of disclaimer should be printed indicating the source material is vinyl -- seems fair enough to me.

When all is said and done, I'm just looking for decent -- not necessarily pristine -- quality sound that I can live with. Mastering from vinyl has been going on for some time now through official channels, and for the most part, I've been happy with what I've heard. I remember when the Go-Betweens '1978 to 1990' Best of was released, and how I was slightly taken aback by the pops and crackles in "People Say", clearly lifted directly from the 7" single. I also recall one of the Wah!/Pete Wylie tracks on his 'Handy Wah! Whole' being recorded from vinyl, complete with an unfortunate off-center warp that was probably impossible to correct without complex digital processing. Other more recent releases are decidely murky sounding like others noted (for me, the recent After the Fire collection comes to mind) -- almost worth running through some equalization just to make them more palatable to the ears.

Lastly, Spaz has done a spectacular, mindblowing job with the MFV series and I am truly in awe at the sheer volume he has produced (think of all those hours, folks!). He is perhaps the most passionate music afficionado I've ever known and his encyclopedic knowledge is staggering. When I started hanging out with his cadre, I felt like an apprentice being initiated into the School of Lost 80's music ... and I thought I was pretty savvy at the time! For all you fans of my Song of the Week, now you know where most of my offerings come from. Just posted another one courtesy of the Spazmeister's tireless efforts.

Having interviewed Ray Burmiston myself (and he paid for lunch!) about his time in the band, he was very pleased to have a copy of the album on CD and didn't have any problems with the sound quality.


--

"As chairman of the Cradle of Filth fanclub I'm the most insensitive man in Britain, but even I can see there's tension there"

Are the Captain Oi Vapors reissues from vinyl? I have them and they do sound good though I have not given them an intense, analytical listening.

Edward

The more I think about it...........the less I'm inclined to think I'd buy it.

The Captain Oi Vapors CD's are not from vinyl at all. They were mastered using previously mastered versions from Best Of CD's, and the ones that had yet to appear on CD did all come from tapes. The CD's were not without their problems though. New Clear Days does not include the original LP version of News At Ten, but instead uses the single remix twice on the CD. Also, the Magnets CD does not include the actual single remix of Jimmie Jones. Though it states it as a bonus track, it is just the same album version. I have the single and it is a different mix.

I also have the Captain Oi reissue of the Revillos "Rev Up" album. All but two songs came from masters, and unfortunately the two songs taken from a vinyl 7" are not mastered very well, and they are a couple of the best songs. I have no other releases from that label.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Rubellan[/i]
<br>The Captain Oi Vapors CD's are not from vinyl at all. They were mastered using previously mastered versions from Best Of CD's, and the ones that had yet to appear on CD did all come from tapes. The CD's were not without their problems though. New Clear Days does not include the original LP version of News At Ten, but instead uses the single remix twice on the CD. Also, the Magnets CD does not include the actual single remix of Jimmie Jones. Though it states it as a bonus track, it is just the same album version. I have the single and it is a different mix.

I also have the Captain Oi reissue of the Revillos "Rev Up" album. All but two songs came from masters, and unfortunately the two songs taken from a vinyl 7" are not mastered very well, and they are a couple of the best songs. I have no other releases from that label.
[/quote]

What is the running time of the LP version of "News At Ten"? That happens to be my favorite song on the album. How could they miss they were using the same mix twice?

Edward

Obviously, not everyone is going to be pleased with the sound of any reissue. Even if something comes from master tapes, someone is going to say that there's too much of this or not enough of that.

For anyone who has been following this thread, I will say that the Expression CDs sound really good, no matter what these folks have said. So does the Sal Solo. Perhaps someone can put a song in the hub (NOT the entire album cuz that wouldn't be fair to the label or artist) and the NW Ouposters can judge for themselves?

On a final note, I recieved an e-mail from Sal Solo today, letting me know that he recieved his copy of the Cherry Red reissue that I did the digital transfer of:

"thanks for making it possible - if you had not presented me with that CD, I probably would never thought of getting them to reissue it!"-Sal

That means a lot.

End of story.

Signing off.


SPAZ
Born of innocence. Free of ignorance.

-What is the running time of the LP version of "News At Ten"? That happens to be my favorite song on the album. How could they miss they were using the same mix twice?-

It's the same length, just a different mix of the song. And it's only on the UK LP. The U.S. LP had the single remix on the LP.
With a lot of these 3rd party labels, when they master a CD for release, they will often take the songs that are on already available Best of CD's and just put them on their CD, sometimes not knowing or realizing they're actually different version to the LP.