I noticed that ELP's "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends" is available on HDtracks today as 96kHz/24bit. Does anyone have any details on this release? Is it a remix? How does it sound? Is it worth it?
I noticed that ELP's "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends" is available on HDtracks today as 96kHz/24bit. Does anyone have any details on this release? Is it a remix? How does it sound? Is it worth it?
Everyone keeps hoping that the new version of this will sound better, but it never does. I wouldn't expect much from this. Great album though, one of my all time favorite live albums. I can't hear this any other way than it is, after 40+ years it has it's charm just the way it's always sounded.
It's up on Spotify and I ve been listening on decent headphones and as ever can't really hear any difference with yet another remastering. Sounds great I think just as it is. Possibly slightly polished but I can't say how.Originally Posted by Fracktured
If there's any way this album'd sound any better it'd be through a remix rather than a remaster.
Same here, it's one of my favorites too. I know a lot of people complain about the sound but I've never really had a problem with it. I generally like to have hires versions of "old" albums if they are newer remixes but I'm skeptical it would actual improve this particular album even if it's from the original (or newer) master. I've bought some things from HDtracks that are well worth it and some that are not. This seems like one of those that would be in the "not" category so I'm going to hold off until I hear otherwise.
What's next, Third?
i noticed this release today too, i never bought this live album. and i've been waiting for a updated master possibly with bonus material. the one pet peeve about this album is that the Take A Pebble suite is cut in half and is on two separate disks. although it does appear on the Return of The Manticore box set whole, the acoustic section of Still You Turn Me On is omitted. so how bad do i want this? it's in my shopping cart now, i guess i'll go for it.
Last edited by BravadoNJ; 09-30-2016 at 09:27 PM.
I still have this in vinyl, but it rarely gets played. One of the reasons (besides being in the attic) is that the records begin to fall out as soon as I open the trifold. Poor design, always hated that. And only 1 photograph of the band?!?! C'mon!
I've got a bike you can ride it if you like
Has any enterprising fan ever done a home (partial) remix from the quad mix to stereo? I've never heard the quad (actually any quad, now that I think of it).
One of my favorite live albums of all time. I'd hope for an improvement, but I'm not holding out much hope.
As I've long said about this album, the big sonic problems started when it went digital.
In 1991, the album was transferred by Scott Hull in NYC for release in Japan. This version was mastered with the then somewhat popular Sonic Solutions No-Noise system. IMO, the result was awful. There is something that just sounds dead about it. The hiss level is way lower but at the expense of realism and excitement.
This same transfer was then pretty much the basis for every subsequent CD release. Victory, Rhino, Castle, Shout Factory and on and on. Some were further tweaked, some weren't, but that original transfer is always the source. The ONLY exception to this has been JVC's releases in Japan. The so-called "K2" remastering. These were sourced from what I suspect was the Ariola library. But whatever, they sound far better. The problem is that these had their own issues, with lots of compression being added.
Given that this album can be had on vinyl in Mint condition for maybe $15. I really think it's a case where if one is forcing the issue of having a copy on CD, it just doesn't make sonic or financial sense.
I'm interested in hearing this if it's confirmed to be a fresh transfer, but I picked this up on vinyl again a few years ago and it was the album I remembered. Not "perfect" but exciting and alive. I'm not sure I can think of many albums which have been done more of a disservice by people assuming that how it has sounded on CD really has much to do with how it sounded in the first place.
I just bought the 2016 BMG remaster of this that was just released because it said 2016 remaster. Just got it in the mail today so I haven't had time to do a detailed listening yet. The only version I have is the Japanese K2 because those other no-noised versions are terrible.
The booklet says "Andy Pearce & Matt Wortham 2016 remaster".
After a little listening it sounds like it does not have no-noise, and has less compression than the Japanese version.
I went to the HDtracks website and I was disappointed that there was very little information about this release or its provenance. It does mention "BMG Rights Management" and 2016, so perhaps this is indeed derived from the new remaster that zeprogmeister references above. It will be very interesting to read more detailed reviews of this new version.
Last edited by jefftiger; 10-03-2016 at 06:01 AM.
They'd have to do a proper stereo mix. As I recall, they only ever did a quad mix, and then folded that down into stereo, which is why it sounds the way it does, due to phase cancellation between the rear and front channels.
I have a 2011 Sony UK CD and this new 2016 BMG CD. I've listened to both using my Sony MDR-7506 headphones with flat equalizer. The new version sounds better than the 2011 Sony UK version.
I have not purchased the HDTracks version, so I cannot say how it sounds.
I also have the original vinyl.
Wow! I decided to go for it. It's definitely worth it from what I've listened to so far. Compared to the Victory CD version from 1993 it sounds much less distorted and distant (likely from the lack of noise reduction mentioned in an earlier post). Carl's cymbals at the beginning of "Take A Pebble" are much more present and cleaner. Comparing the waveforms the HDtracks version is louder but not at all clipped or compressed. Even the audience cheering sounds far less "phased". I don't know how it compares to the various other releases since 1993 but I'm happy with this version.
I do wish there was some more information about this release. This is the biggest problem with HDtracks (that and the lack of user reviews). They have a lot of good stuff but they also have a lot of stuff that is really no better than the CD releases and it's really hard to know what's what.
The only CD I have is the 2000s Sanctuary one...don't know how that is viewed.
There is also a frustration that nobody has put the encore of 'Pictures...' from these shows onto the album as an extra track- I read that part of it is on one of those 'Official Bootleg' boxes but the end is missing. I hope the tapes still exist. It would easily fit onto CD, it's actually fairly short for a triple album- 100 minutes or so. Even on record, that's fairly short, but I guess they wanted to keep the sound quality as good as they could.
I think it's a pity those Bootleg Series boxes went out of print. There doesn't seem to be an abundance of multi-track recordings of ELP at their peak given how little has been released, so these would have been better than nothing. I think there's only ever been this album from the 1973/4 tours.
I remember a thread where someone (JeffCarney or Jeremy Bender) YouTube-linked to the Buffalo '74 version of 'Pictures...' (the tour encore which has never been on any version of Welcome Back) and it was astonishing, Emerson especially was on fire that night. They must have been one of the best live acts in the world at the time.
Such a shame there's not a full film of them during this period. I mean, the Manticore Special film (broadcast on the BBC on the Old Grey Whistle Test in Christmas 1973) and CalJam are better than nothing. However, the former is a documentary more than a concert film and the latter is brutally edited. Deep Purple's whole set was taped and kept, making it more galling ELP's apparently was not.
Last edited by JJ88; 04-14-2017 at 07:23 AM.
I have the latest reissue of Pictures, which has the
I have the latest reissue of Pictures, which has the Live at the Lyceum Theatre, London, UK, 09/12/70 on disc 2.
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Laura
^Not what I was talking about, I'm talking about the encore of 'Pictures....' from the shows used for this album.
What songs were in the encore you're referring to?
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Laura
I have a few CD versions of this but nothing really recent.
I sold my vinyl when the Japanese release came out which was really stupid. Then I sold back the Japanese CD when the first few remasters came out.
I've learned the hard way that you mostly have to keep everything unless the flaws are pretty major and there are no exclusive tracks to the release.
Not really interested in any reissues of this unless they dump Jeremy Bender/The Sheriff (which isn't from the BSS tour, it's from the 1973 European tour in Germany) and added Benny the Bouncer and Pictures at an Exhibition from the same Anaheim show so it's the complete show. Too many great BSS tour bootlegs around to bother with it otherwise.
...or you could love
http://www.newsweek.com/interview-gr...mer-elp-507023
Long new ELP article/interview in Newsweek, which shows the popularity of the band outside of prog circles.
you mean there's life outside of prog?
One night last week I woke up with "Paper Blood" in my head. Had not listened to ELP in a while so I'm kind of bingeing.
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