I'd forbid remasters by law! >:-[

[dreamcatcher]

Uhm, here's a thought: listen to the originals if you don't like the re-masters.

Fin.

~006

Good point, but it seems that a producer's forum is an appropriate place to discuss (and perhaps learn from) the phenomenon.

 

[Radd]

It's not that easy to find originals because of these remasters - unless you order online or get used stuff (which isn't always a good move). I was looking to get an original Rust In Peace (admittedly one of the better remasters, but some parts just are not even close because not all of the original stuff could be found) and I couldn't get the local stores to grab a copy for me - I ended up buying what I was told was a non-remastered version from two different online sellers (bloody Amazon Marketplace) and recieving in the mail two remasters. Actually, 006, since you live in the same city, let me know what stores you know of that still carry the original versions of the Megadeth stuff, or O:M, or the Nuclear Blast stuff - I don't know of any myself (partly because I can't get to too many places other than B&N, Borders, and Best Buy), not to imply that they don't exist, but I'd like to.

Jeff

ebay - you might find one still sealed

 

[JBroll]

Two problems with that: first, I know that for a lot of people buying online is not an option at all - I just got my first credit card yesterday (I'm 18 and just entering college) and all I've been able to do is money order stuff (when parents really hate the stuff you listen to they don't make it very easy for you to keep up the habit); second, I, along with many others, don't fully trust eBay because of misleading and often completely fabricated info on the stuff I'm buying, and because of all of the horror stories (and, on the flip side, all of the available information on how to rip both buyers and sellers off) even in more recent years.

I'm always cautious of used, as well, just because of all of the times I've waited for something I've really wanted to come in to CD Exchange and gotten the product in very bad order.

It seems to me that the people who were behind excessive guitar solos in the wonderful age of hair metal (not *all*, just excessive or poorly executed) who wanted solos and more solos (Van Halen and Rhoads are popular, durm, let's do it too!) regardless of how it worked with the song just ran out of places to put them and now have taken to the exact same practice with remastering old stuff (hey! people are buying the Beatles and Pink Floyd stuff again because it's remastered, let's start doing that now!). If something is bad for music, it's up to people who truly care about it to call the bullshit and try to make this as unprofitable and undesirable as possible so it stops as soon as it can - there are far more instances where 'Don't like it? Ignore it!' was the wrong thing to do than situations where it worked out well, so I strongly disagree with that being the solution to this.

Jeff

 

[dreamcatcher]

Good point, but it seems that a producer's forum is an appropriate place to discuss (and perhaps learn from) the phenomenon.

...provided it stays technical

 

[STINNETT]

Focus was most certainly remastered, and bloody well, too. I'll spend more time with the original soon, but I do recall very clearly (before I knew what little I know now about mastering and production) that I thought it wasn't easy at all to hear what was going on. So much going on, and when I first heard it the sound seemed to not be open enough for what they were doing. I also couldn't hear the lower parts of the bass track, just the fills and things Malone did higher up. In the new one everything comes through clearly. There's also a message from Masvidal, more artwork and pictures, and a few bonus tracks (including an instrumental version of I'm But A Wave To..., which happens to be my favorite song on Focus). I'll pull up the old one whenever I find it.

I also can't help but wonder what the sound on the Death records (especially The Sound Of Perseverance) would have been like if there were more - and thicker - guitar tracks. I remember reading an article where Yngwie Malmsteen was asked about several songs without his knowing what they were, and some of his responses were quite amusing - he called a Jeff Beck song on being out of tune, said that John Petrucci should use a Fender vintage-style trem, and single coils (he did know who Petrucci was), and said that one of the Death songs - The Philosopher, I believe - sounded like it was recorded on a Tascam tape recorder while the vocalist was sitting on the toilet. For the record, I love Death, but I will say that while I'm not sure what the producer was trying to accomplish, I know that he chased a lot of people away from them with whatever he did to those poor tracks.

Jeff

The Focus remaster certainly does sound good. However, I hate the sound of the re-mixed "Veil of Maya" that was also included....

By the way, I think the production on The Sound Of Perseverance sounds pretty awesome. I think the guitar sound fits for that music. I don't know, maybe it's just because I've been a fanatical Death fan for so many years that the albums sound just right to me now?

 

[SickBoy]

By the way, I think the production on The Sound Of Perseverance sounds pretty awesome. I think the guitar sound fits for that music. I don't know, maybe it's just because I've been a fanatical Death fan for so many years that the albums sound just right to me now?

I think that TSOP production is stellar, as most of those that Morris has done! I mean, just listen to Iced Earth's "Horror Show"...
And concerning the guitar sound, it's in a league of its own, I really like the fact that it's not "a usual" recto or 5150 sound...

 

[SteelRat]

I know this is a comment in the opposite direction of the title of this thread...but please, God...someone remix and remaster ...And Justice for All!

I love the songs, but it just sounds like ass...put some friggin' bass in it to begin with...

Or am I alone on this one?

 

[JBroll]

I'll be the first to say that I haven't been into death metal as long as I'm sure most of you have. I didn't grow up with it - I was pretty much into classic prog, classical, and some jazz until I heard Dream Theater's "The Glass Prison", and then what I got into had massive sounding production - I got into Nevermore shortly after that, and eventually I got Whoracle, Damage Done, and My Arms, Your Hearse, so I'm guessing that I'm expecting similar results out of other death metal. TSOP seems somewhat 'separated' and not quite as... huge and bonecrushing as, say, Stigmata or Silent Night Fever. It does help with being able to hear everything being played at every second of every song, granted, but it could be put together so that everything 'combines' so that it sounds more full and complete. I've heard live recordings of the guitar sound, and yes it is very unique and much better than having another guy playing a Mark IV or JCM800, but on the records it comes across as more scratchy and fuzzy than it does on most of the bootlegs I've gotten. I'll probably come back to this in a while and be able to say it better, but that'll be all I can put together right now. I do agree with the remix being a bad move, by the way.

I'm with the idea of putting bass in AJFA. Metallica does seem to be an exception - I'd much rather see a better-produced version of that, and possibly Kill 'Em All, than another Reload or St. Anger, and I doubt I'm alone. Testament did very well with the First Strike Still Deadly stuff - they were able to redo great songs and add what they learned about taste, technique, and production, and I end up playing that more often than a lot of their original versions of the songs. Granted, there are tons of terrible attempts at reliving former glories that just kills everything, but still...

Jeff