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Well, the Bubble & Scrape remaster sucks. Was not expecting this. Too bright, too compressed; louder parts got robbed of impact, vibe generally lessened. The other Sebadoh remasters aren't so bad (though I'm not crazy about the Bakesale one for similar reasons, if less extremely so).

Mastering is weird.

StopReferencing wrote:Well, the Bubble & Scrape remaster sucks. Was not expecting this. Too bright, too compressed; louder parts got robbed of impact, vibe generally lessened. The other Sebadoh remasters aren't so bad (though I'm not crazy about the Bakesale one for similar reasons, if less extremely so).

Mastering is weird.

It's hard to do right, I'd say most of the time you get too thin or mud first time through, that's why you need to really have a bout 4 sets of monitors and good and bad headphones to even get close on stuff that needs a lot of work.

i thought the III remaster sounded pretty good. i'll stay away from the Bubble & Scrape. honestly, the original one was fine. it's not like it's a really well recorded album anyway.

I'm of the opinion that people shouldn't tamper with most classic/essential records. FOH with that.
Remixing? Non-lazy sampling? I'll lend ears to elements of old ideas from a new perspective. But remastering robs the original recordings of their character and historical context.
Remastering for a new format is different...but I cant think of even one example where I prefer a remaster to the original.
Unsure and unconcerned whether that's a product of the sonics, sentiment...or both.
Maybe it's the preservationist in me. 20th century recordings (to tape) had that specific delivery medium in mind throughout the production process, and decisions were made to suit [it]. Sometimes by choice, often times not so much; different formulas of tape have varying sound and response as do the tape machines, consoles and outboard etc. The various flavors of distinct analog hardware coupled with elements of unpredictability that keeps things interesting and frustrating. Happy accidents happened as they sometimes do, and imperfections are part of those classic records. If removed, I miss them.

rustywire wrote:but I cant think of even one example where I prefer a remaster to the original.

Pretty Hate Machine?

Raw Power.

Nope x2

Pretty Hate Machine didn't need remastering. The original TVT vinyl has a great sound afaic.
Raw Power is infamous as being a sonic disaster/production clusterfuck but I think that's part of its charm...like The Beatles (white album)

Unless I'm misunderstanding, that would be the Raw Power remaster -- which Iggy handled -- a.k.a. the loudest CD ever made. Pretty much everyone loves the David Bowie version (the original).

No, the original. Iggy recorded it himself, and attempted to mix using only like 3 tracks with no real understanding or vision...putting all the instruments in a single channel, lead guitar in another and then the vocal in the last...and it was Bowie who salvaged what he could from it.
Everyone loves the original because of the material, the energy, attitude and its character. IMO anyway. Attempting to remaster that is like, sacrilege. Even if it's Iggy doing so.
It's like George Lucas adding extra shit to Star Wars

Relevant: the sentiment talked about in this AMG writeup http://www.allmusic.com/album/raw-power-mw0000202295

[After its release, Iggy was known to complain that David Bowie's mix neutered the ferocity of the original recordings. In time it became conventional wisdom that Bowie's mix spoiled a potential masterpiece, so much so that in 1997, when Columbia made plans to issue a new edition of Raw Power, they brought in Pop to remix the original tapes and (at least in theory) give us the "real" version we'd been denied all these years. Then the world heard Pop's painfully harsh and distorted version of Raw Power, and suddenly Bowie's tamer but more dynamic mix didn't sound so bad, after all. In 2010, the saga came full-circle when Columbia released a two-disc "Legacy Edition" of the album that featured Bowie's original mix in remastered form]

Moral of the story: Do it right the first time and then leave it tf alone.

That story only works if you think the 1997 CD version is worse.



AKA if you're totally wrong.

*Totally wrong* is the very existence of the 1997 version. Your preference is immaterial.

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