Warning: Fleetwood Mac 2013 Then Play On remastered CD

[soundsweird]

I bought this when it came out. Played it a few times, sounded great. Then the other day, I put it on again, and by the time it got to track ten, I could hear some tics and pops in the background. The disc is pristine, no scratches or even scuffs. As it played each track, the digital noise got louder and louder to the point where the disc stopped playing completely. Good news? I just bought that 8-CD box set covering 1969-1974, so I have another copy. Incidentally, though the timing matches on both discs (69:55), the discs have different label artwork and the "silver sides" actually look different, too.

[progmatist]

One of the drawbacks of CDs is they're hit and miss in terms reliability. I have a mid 90s CD copy of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, which is now completely unreadable. With CD-Rs in particular, some last forever, some went bad after only a couple of years. Some went bad if you wrote on them with a Sharpie, others couldn't care less.

[soundsweird]

Yes, I have CD-R's that were treated horribly before I inherited them that play just fine. This Fleetwood Mac CD is from Rhino; hadn't had any trouble with them since the first CD versions of Todd Rundgren's albums.

[progmatist]

More often than not, reliability has more to do with the techniques and materials used in a particular year. Most labels did and still do farm out their CD manufacturing to a handful of plants. There's also a variation in the quality of product turned out by each plant.

[GuitarGeek]

And remember when they first came out, they said they'd "last forever", so long as you took care of them? Then after a few years they said, "Well, it turns out they'll only last like a 100 years'. Now it seems like even that might not be true.

[Dave (in MA)]

And remember when they first came out, they said they'd "last forever", so long as you took care of them? Then after a few years they said, "Well, it turns out they'll only last like a 100 years'. Now it seems like even that might not be true.

If mine don't last 100 years they'll be hearing from my 130 year old lawyer.

[SteveSly]

I have the same CD and pulled it out for a listen when Peter Green died. So no damage to mine as it still sounds great.

[progmatist]

^^ Individual results may vary.

[JJ88]

This is getting to be an issue again with CDs. There was a recent Richard/Linda Thompson box, which was apparently (I don't have it) a total disaster in terms of both playback and ripping onto computer. Universal had to send out replacement discs.

Before this CD, the UK version of the album had never been on CD at all. It still has a minor flaw, in that it doesn't restore the correct single edit of 'Oh Well' Parts 1/2. And it's a real shame there's no stereo mix of that song...it's such a cinematic track, it would benefit from stereo IMHO.

For me, it's a key album in their career. With Danny Kirwan coming in as another writer with a more pastoral approach, it moves away from the straight blues-rock of the earlier albums. Jeremy Spencer's singing is mercifully absent from proceedings altogether. There was originally going to be a bonus EP of material from him, just his usual schtick of unfunny parodies. It's been released on a 2cd called The Vaudeville Years, which consists of studio outtakes/unedited jams/different mixes from this period.