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The original UK issue of "Axis Bold As Love" has a completely different stereo mix from the original stereo Reprise issue.
For that matter, the the UK didn't even feature a proper stereo mix for "Are You Experienced" upon its original release. The original UK Track stereo release is rechanneled from the mono tape while the Reprise issue is proper stereo.
What do you think this could be attributed to?
Could it be that America was favored with the original stereo masters since America caught on to the stereo buzz just a bit sooner than the UK (by a very narrow margin since at least Sgt. Peppers had identical proper stereo mixes on both sides of the Atlantic for it's original release).
Any Thoughts?
Steve
Follow Ups:
Just two days ago I listened carefully to my daughter's remastered (1997... already!) "Are You Experienced?" USA CD, and was surprised by the "poorness" of the stereo soundstage. Then I compared with my original Canadian Reprise (2 or 3-color steamboat label) LP. The CD does have much better drums, but I found the rest to be exactly the same (the pitch is altered though).What I'm getting at is is the poor stereo, bland bass guitar sound, etc. a result of 1966 experiments with "RnR stereo" and wild psychedelic imaging, panning, etc., and not really suceeding at it, or is because this is an incorrect mastering job or sourcing?
Is the UK or US MONO the way to go for this particular album?
You'd be pleasantly surprised, maybe even shocked to hear the purity of Jimi's voice, closely matched by his guitar. They just jump SO life-like out of the speakers, you might not miss the panning effects.
The US Reprise mono sounds much more dull and craggy for the most part. The UK Track used the first generation mono tape for their release while the US received a runner tape copy of the master, resulting in a cloudier, less life-like sound. Keep in mind that back then, the instrumental backing tracks were already a generation down on the multitrack tape because they were copied from two tracks down to one track on another four track tape to make room for more tracks. (That's alot of tracks-but I digress)
The songs "Purple Haze" and "Hey Joe" aren't on the UK Track LP, but you can find those singles on the Track label relatively easily (read inexpensively) on eBay. Those boast the same kind of realism that runs rampant on the Track LP counterpart, and the originals are mono too. The drums ain't so crusty either. Big and beefy, I would say.
I'm with you concerning the stereo Reprise issue. Even though Reprise was given the actual stereo mix, it must still have been a runner copy from the original stereo master. I attribute the uneven sound to yet another generational loss. Why the UK didn't use the first generation stereo tape for their initial release could make a bit of sense since even though they were recording in the UK, they were marketing for America.
Oh, one more thing-- don't expect a huge bass sound to report from the mono UK LP. Sounds to me like the mastering engineer did the ol' bass cut for everything below 35 hertz or so. You shouldn't miss that either because everything else sounds so real, so clean, you will be transported....
Hope this helps!
Toasty
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