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In Reply to: Moody Blues SACD posted by Classical_Confab on March 16, 2007 at 18:12:25:
After buying "Threshold of a Dream", which is the lowest priced of all, I will probably not buy any more of these SACD reissues. I like the Moody Blues (and SACD) a lot, having reached adulthood in the early 70's, and having seen them live, in person and in hallucinations, a few times back then. I was very excited at the announcement of their release, but then it took forever for them to come out, and the product was a huge letdown, or bummer, in the vernacular of the day. These remasterings are a big flop, in my opinion, with muffled highs and only somewhat improved midrange with a little more air and detail. In addition to the outrageous price being charged for thirty-year-old material, I'm not the least bit interested in a bunch of crappy out takes and radio show recordings. If these are issued again as the original albums with a lower price, I might go for them.Notice how quickly the flurry over their initial release died down quickly? That's because they suck, so they were politely ignored. Even the inmates couldn't find a lot to be positive about. In my opinion, this series is the biggest ripoff (more dated vocabulary) of all extant reissues of older material, including classical and jazz genres. We can get beautiful remasterings of some of the best classical recordings ever made for under $10, but we should pay more than $25 for ancient prog rock with mediocre sonics and a bunch of filler? I have nothing against record companies and artists making a profit from their efforts, but this smacks of corporate greed.
I suggest you buy only one as a sampling, and report your findings back here.
Follow Ups:
"Ancient prog rock, filler, thirty year old material". If that's complimenting this music, I'd hate to see the critique.As far as extra tracks being a "bunch of crappy outakes", many feel this is milestone music, and historical studio recordings/outakes are valued to see what nuances the group went through in developing these timeless classics. Afterall, people still buy barely listenable 100 year old Caruso opera recordings because they love the man's voice and music.
I haven't purchased all of the Moody Blues SACDs, but to my ears Days of Future Past sounds better than other CD issues I've heard, and Question of Balance is the BEST version I've heard (including 70's vintage vinyl, subjectively speaking, heard over gear from that era); BTW, I'm talking about 2 channel only, since I'm not set-up for surround on SACD yet.> > > "Notice how quickly the flurry over their initial release died down quickly? That's because they suck, so they were politely ignored." < < <
Sorry, but that's not the impression I've been given from the posted reviews of these releases I've read; my ears have borne that out.
Keep in mind that the general enthusiasm over SACD died down somewhat as the format become more of a niche market, but still less niche than the other Hi-Rez format. IMHO, few if any releases get the number or kind of raves now that they did before; I suspect that most folks are just glad to see high profile releases of popular albums PERIOD, even if predominantly imports. In any case, these Moody Blues releases seem painstakingly remastered and as good as anyone could've hoped.
AuPh
Thanks for the reply, but do you really think their music is fluff?I see it as imaginative, innovative and seminal representation of the music that defined the period. In originality it matched the Beatles.
The variety of these works' styles, melodies, and rhythms was inventive and unconventional for that time. Sitar, melotron, euphonic chorus, and original composition all make this music appealing (to me anyway). Apparently there's a resurgance of interest in their miusic with this generation of listeners.My analogy is classical music. As a fan of baroque music, my cynical audiophile friend sees it as endless sawing on dated string instruments, and that it all sounds alike. Yet I hear originality, emotional depth, and differences between compositions and composers of the period.
In any event, it's interesting how we can see (or hear) music so differently.
Okay, I like the Moodies and I have three of the titles on SACD, however to compare them in any way to the Beatles is in my opinion so far off the mark I can hardly think of what to say. All I know is you can hear the influence of the Beatles on band after band throughout the previous 3 decades. Can you name me one direct decendent of the Moodies style?
I didn't see the poster compare the Moody Blues to the Beatles in quality. However,in terms of originality and what they were trying to do with an album, I would say the Moody Blues consistently outdid the Beatles. Not only in terms of instrumentation, but also in terms of the concept album motif. Sgt. Pepper, as a concept album similar to Days of Future Passed and the Beach Boy's Pet Sounds, is the only Beatles album that could be thought of as a concept album (MMT notwithstanding). The Moodies did that with 7 albums.
Good point to a degree. But why should an artistic style need to be subsequently copied to rate being great? I can't think of any composer who came later that sounded like Beethoven.
I never said the music is fluff, but the "bonus material" is pure filler. I always liked the Moodies; always will. But I won't pay a premium for superfluous or redundant content and, at best, average (C'mon, you guys, be honest: Layla was more improved by SACD than these releases.) sonics. Maybe there's more to be had from the surround experience, but stereo is really not much better than the originals.
Yes, ok, I misinterpreted your criticism of the format with the music. It was the sentence "that's because they suck", where you meant the SACD releases, not the music.But apparently there are many opinions on the SACD releases. Here's an example I found at SA-CD.NET:
I bought all five SACDs and have been a Moody Blues fan since the late 1960's.
The engineers kept these SACDs as close to the original sound as they could. As a result, the emphasis is on the bass, vocals, and a smoooooth sound.
The vocals, bass guitar, and mid-range are outstanding. Better than the record, in my opinion. The SACD is dynamic and makes the CD sound flat. And everything is smoooooth. The instruments stand out. On the CD, I have difficulty telling the instuments from one another.
Being true to the original, in most cases, the drums are muted. It's as if they are behind the curtain. And the trebble is smooth, but drops off way to early. I guess the engineers wanted that smoooooth sound.
Funny, for the "overpriced fluff" I'm paying only about $15 for each. As for disappointing, hardly. They were some of the best releases out last year.
Where can we get these so inexpensively? I really want to believe that's the way the Moodies would prefer it. In fact, I believe most artists are really interested in serving their fans, and the obscene prices of these releases is strictly a marketing ploy. The remastered CD's list for one-third of the SACD prices.
Look over at www.sa-cd.net and also on the link provided. amazon.uk sells them for 7.48 pounds. Minus VAT and plus shipping and it comes out to about $15 per set.
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