OK, 3 More XTC remasters reviewed.

[markl]

A few folks asked me to post on these. I got 3 more of them:

1. Drums and Wires (1979. Their first album hinting at the great music to come. Not for beginners.)
2. English Settlement (1982. Considered by many--though not me--as their "best" album. The one with "Senses Working Overtime".)
3. Big Express (1984. In my opinion, this is the "sleeper" XTC album. Overlooked upon first release.)

I got two of these from CD Universe. Cheapest prices I could find (they're imports) about $15 each. Amazon had inventory trouble with #1 above and shipment was delayed. CD Universe was cheaper and better overall.

1. Drums and Wires. Hadn't listened to it in years, and musically it's still too rough and "wired" sounding. A few classics on here though including "Making Plans for Nigel". Sound quality is so MUCH better than the version I had, it's not even funny.

2.English Settlement. Big drum sound. Crashing cymbals. Better separation of instruments. More dynamic. Really brings out the contrast in Andy's and Colin's voices. This is such an ENJOYABLE album. Puts you in a good mood despite sometimes grim subject matter. Maybe this is the best one!

3. Big Express. God I love this album. Their most political record for a group that always had a strong social conscience. One of the most endearing (or annoying, depending on your point of view) things about the group is its very English class consciousness. They speak for the underdog and the downtrodden consistently throughout their career. Much, much more bass than the version I owned previously. This is a much more "hi-fi" sounding recording than the other two. They had a budget for this one! This one just really makes my day!

Don't hesitate if you're a fan!

markl

 

[MacDEF]

Thanks, markl! I've been waiting to hear from you. I can't wait! I'm one of those people who thinks that English Settlement is their best album; it's actually one of my favorite albums of all time.

P.S. Did your remasters come with an extra CD? I've seen the Japanese releases which each have an extra CD of material.

 

[markl]

Hey MacDEF,
No extra disc, but it does include the same extra tracks as the late 80s versions I owned before.

A whole other CD of material? Where did you see those?

markl

 

[MacDEF]

Somewhere on one of the online stores the description said "remastered - extra CD"

By the way, figuring out WHICH version of the albums is the new remastered one has been a real pain

None of the online stores says what *year* their "remastered" albums are from. Even if you have them in front of you it's hard.

I just got the remaster of English Settlement tonight (Japanese version). Nowhere does it say "remastered" anywhere on the packaging. Luckily my local record store is really cool -- they opened it up for me and we finally found in VERY tiny print on one of the inserts "Digitally remastered by Ian Cooper at Metropolis Mastering - November/December 2000." So I'm assuming this is THE remastered version?

The packaging is really nice -- a textured sleeve meant to look like an LP sleeve. Inside are paper LP sleep replicas, complete with lyrics (although they're a bit harder to read than they were at full size

Since English Settlement was a double LP, there are two of these, one for LP1 and one for LP2. Mine also has another insert that unfolds to 18.5" x 9.5" and contains the lyrics (in readable typeface

) for all the songs in English and Japanese.

The sound is noticeably better than my original CD, although not incredibly so. The bass is better, and it just sounds more musical. Like markl said, you can really differentiate between the voices on this copy. Basically, whereas the old CD sometimes made me think "GREAT music -- I just wish it sounded better," now I don't think about the sound at all. Sounds awful, I know, but sometimes my equipment is *too* revealing.

I paid $19.98 for mine, which is more than the Canadian remasters I found online. If I get more of the remasters, I'll probably get them over the web for $16.

 

[markl]

Yes that's the same remastering. Darn, a whole disc of extra material. Oh well.

I always thought that English Settlement was a bit murky as a recording, almost as if they had set the mikes too far from the band. The remaster does not solve this problem, but I think it's giving us virtually all that's there.

markl