...and, as advertised, they responded and said they'd be sending a book my way.
In the meantime, I've listened to the rest of the cds. A few more thoughts:
---I think the remastering of GGT is okay. Since the only other source I ever heard was my original LP, the compression is pretty obvious, but it's not as egregious as some recordings I own. The playing is excellent as I remember, and the compositions hold up quite well. I've never been in the "anti-Jeff Berlin's voice" camp. I think he sounds quite good singing some particularly knotty melodic material, and there are times when his vocal quality reminds me of two other bassist/vocalists: Jack Bruce (mainly in the mid to higher range) and Mark King (mostly in the lower register). Hearing how he really owns it in the live context is pretty cool, too.
---The remastering of TBT, on the other hand, strikes me as seriously wanting. I never owned the LP, but had a roommate who did and I remember listening to it and thinking it was a quite good-sounding live recording. The remaster sounds VERY "FM-radio" to my ears, which of course is what it is, but I somehow never had that thought with the LP. The playing is great, of course, but the sound really detracts. I may have to look for an LP or earlier CD copy of this one.
---The recording from "The Venue" is a nice addition. As I said above, it's nice to hear live versions of the vocal material, and the re-arrangements of several of the cuts are interesting as well. From first listening, I actually prefer the sound quality of this disc to TBT, in spite of a couple of obvious drop-outs and places where it seems two different sources were spliced together. Overall it has an energy and punch that the TBT disc lacks.
I'll enjoy continuing to dig into this, and hopefully soon enough be able to read the liner notes without squinting quite so much!
David
Happy with what I have to be happy with.
Listening now to the cd with inedit material for the first time, I must say there are a wealth of great ideas that would nicely fit into Bruford's fourth album had the band not collapsed before it. Most of the underdeveloped ideas found here are more interesting than the whole career of many of the bands often discussed here. IMO of course.
Update: received the 12X12 book of liner notes today, nicely packed flat in bubble wrap and double cardboard. Burning Shed has created a satisfied customer!
David
Happy with what I have to be happy with.
There isn't any added compression to the CD, AFAIC -- it is exactly the same as the 2005 Winterfold reissue, which IIRC was itself was no different from the first CD issue.
Again, I have doubts it was really remastered at all.---The remastering of TBT, on the other hand, strikes me as seriously wanting.
Your comparisons all seem to be to memories of an LP version, which isn't a particularly reliable way to judge. I think you will find that the earlier CD copies sound the same, and the LP will sound somewhat different, because LP and CD are vastly different technologies at both the production and playback ends.I never owned the LP, but had a roommate who did and I remember listening to it and thinking it was a quite good-sounding live recording. The remaster sounds VERY "FM-radio" to my ears, which of course is what it is, but I somehow never had that thought with the LP. The playing is great, of course, but the sound really detracts. I may have to look for an LP or earlier CD copy of this one.
Based on recent interviews with Bruford, I get the sense that he doesn't actually have the original 2-channel mixdown master tapes for his EG albums, which if true measn that all CD releases to date have been from later-generation copies (possibly even production copies EQd for vinyl). And we know he did not have access to the multitracks for Gradually Going Tornado.
I dig, and agree that I'm in some ways comparing apples to oranges. These are the first CD versions I've heard of any of this material, except for the tracks that are on the Masterworks compilation. My memory of the sound of TBT will have to suffice, as I never owned that LP, but I have done an A/B with my original vinyl of GGT, and as I said, to my ears the compression, while not violent, is clearly evident in the relative dynamic range, both within the individual tracks and in the overall recording. As for your doubts that either has been remastered at all, I suppose I'm going by the liner notes, press, and reviews. Naïve, perhaps.
David
Happy with what I have to be happy with.
So I guess the supply from the second production run of these boxes exceeded the demand? Still widely available from some Amazons, Wayside, Synphonic, etc. The first run was gone in the blink of an eye.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
There's a huge bin of them down at Costco.
FYI for those who might be interested and who don't already have all of this...
The releases by Bruford and Borstlap are being put out as a complete collection:
https://burningshed.com/store/billbr...bandon_3cd_dvd
Last edited by Dave (in MA); 01-28-2019 at 04:45 PM.
If I may be so bold to correct the above, incomplete link:
https://burningshed.com/store/billbr...bandon_3cd_dvd
τί ἐστιν ὃ μίαν ἔχον φωνὴν τετράπουν καὶ δίπουν καὶ τρίπουν γίνεται;
εἰσί κασίγνηται δισσαὶ, ὠν ἡ μία τίκτει
τὴν ἑτέραν αὐτὴ δέ τεκοῦσ` ὑπό τὴσδη τεκνούται
τίς δὲ κασίγνηται δύο;
That looks pretty nice. I have two of the three CDs already though... really great stuff IMO!
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
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