[Anders]

Quote:

If the ABKCO releases sell well (which I'm sure they will) look for Virgin/EMI to get Bob Ludwig to master SACD/CD versions of Virgin catalog Stones also........

Feel a little confused here. In the middle of 1990's I bought some Virgin CD:s in a limited edition with original album packaging, scaled down to CD size. These albums, Exile on Main Street etc, were remastered by Bob Ludwig.
Assumed that Virgin had released them later as ordinary CD:s, but maybe not.
Anyway, there are already remasters by Bob Ludwig of some Virgin albums.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally posted by Anders Feel a little confused here. In the middle of 1990's I bought some Virgin CD:s in a limited edition with original album packaging, scaled down to CD size. These albums, Exile on Main Street etc, were remastered by Bob Ludwig. Assumed that Virgin had released them later as ordinary CD:s, but maybe not. Anyway, there are already remasters by Bob Ludwig of some Virgin albums.

No confusion, Bob Ludwig did indeed do some great "CD" remasters of the Virgin label Stones albums in mid 1990's. But now we have large volume production of SACD/CD hybrid discs available that will sell for same price as CDs, you don't think Virgin/EMI will let ABKCO scoop them for long do you.

The sick thing is that all of us that just bought the Virgin Stones remasters will buy them again "if" they are released as SACD/CD hybrids........what a business

 

[Anders]

I had Exile on Main Street on LP (but has lost this double album)
I bought it as CD on the Virgin label
I bought the Bob Ludwig remastered CD, still Virgin
I will probably buy the SACD hybrid if it is released
What will they find out to get me to buy it a fifth time?

Yes it is sick! We feed them and what do they use the money for? Making billion dollar contracts with some stars and waisting billions on promoting artists of mediocre quality!

 

[FCJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by Anders I had Exile on Main Street on LP (but has lost this double album) I bought it as CD on the Virgin label I bought the Bob Ludwig remastered CD, still Virgin I will probably buy the SACD hybrid if it is released What will they find out to get me to buy it a fifth time? Yes it is sick! We feed them and what do they use the money for? Making billion dollar contracts with some stars and waisting billions on promoting artists of mediocre quality!

It's called "deep catalog." From what I've read Virgin paid a lot to get the Rolling Stones Records back catalog, and the only way to recoup that investment is to reissue the stuff again and again in different packaging. Gets all of us to buy it multiple times. . . .

At least this is only the second time ABKCO has released the 'Stones London stuff. I wonder what (and when) the third will be. . . .

 

[andrzejpw]

is big hits a sort of best of compilation?

 

[carlo]

(post to come from a rolling stones junkie)

andrzej,

of the list FCJ has provided the essentials in my opinion are (artwork versions that i think are cooler will be in parenthesis): Get Yer Ya Ya's Out, Let It Bleed, Got Live If You Want It, Out Of Our Heads, Between The Buttons (UK), Aftermath (UK) - incidentally this has one of the great side 1, cut 1s of all time: Let It Bleed. most of those will take you a while to digest, so you should have fun with it. as bruce mculloch says, greatest hits albums are for housewives and little girls, but Hot Rocks! is good ****.

Anders,

yeah, its sick but god damn its fun. i'll refrain from telling you how many copies of rolling stones albums i own, but i will say if you knew you wouldn't feel so bad

re: the virgin remasters,

for what its worth, in my opinion most of them are just okay. none of the cd issues can touch the mono (vinyl only, early) pressings of this stuff... this isn't a cd vs. vinyl thing, but i own first pressings in both stereo and mono formats of most of the great stones albums (and just picked up the mono, first pressing of between the buttons) and the mono sounds amazing while stereo sounds pretty damned good.

incidentally, the decision to release the rolling stones catalogue is what convinced me to finally buy an sacd player

best,
carlo.

 

[andrzejpw]

schweet! Thanks guys! Do you guys know when these will be out? And which ones will offer the best sound quality? Or will they be comparable?

 

[FCJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by andrzejpw is big hits a sort of best of compilation?

Yes, Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) was the first Stones best of, released in the mid-60s. If you buy "Hot Rocks," you can safely avoid either "Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass)" or "Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol.2)," since Hot Rocks duplicates most (if not all, I forget) the hits on both of these compilcations.

If you're starting from scratch, pick up Hot Rocks first, then go for the individual albums. I would start with Let It Bleed, Beggars Banquet, and Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out (which is an amazing live album, recorded in 1969 at Madison Square Garden, that contains a version of "Midnight Rambler" that blows away the version on Let It Bleed). Next, I would pick up Aftermath (the UK version, which is supposed to have superior sound), Between the Buttons (ditto), and maybe "Hot Rocks, volume II.

 

[FCJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by andrzejpw schweet! Thanks guys! Do you guys know when these will be out? And which ones will offer the best sound quality? Or will they be comparable?

They're all due on August 27. Regarding sound quality, we'll wait and see. . . .

 

[carlo]

whoops, on my post above i meant to type "Aftermath (UK) - incidentally this has one of the great side 1, cut 1s of all time: Paint It Black"

FCJ,

i thought the only difference between the uk and us versions on the sacd remasters was the artwork?

best,
carlo

 

[royboy2k]

So... what makes Hot Rocks so different from other greatest hits compilations? Is it just 'cause they're all such good songs?

 

[kelly]

I usually find myself in the complainers camp with any given thing so it's odd to find myself on the other side of it. I don't "get it" when people complain about remasters, or things released in a better format, or things released in special edition, etc.

But then... I didn't buy the Stones the first time around. Any of them. I didn't buy the Virgin ones the second time around either. Were they good? I dunno. Maybe I should have researched it more but what I had heard I didn't think was very good, so I passed. I had other artists that were putting out better quality recordings.

I bought Rush's 2112 and it sucked pretty badly. So I didn't buy another Rush CD as badly as I wanted to. I waited. They remastered them and I found the remasters acceptable, so I bought every last one of them. Led Zepplin's first versions on CD were pretty bad too, so I kept my Led Zepplin II and Physical Grafitti and decided to wait. They've been remastered but they're still not very good--what I hear on the radio sounds better (on the radio(!)) than my CDs but still not like the vinyl did. Not even close. Not even on a bad turntable. So I'm still waiting.

I think people just get mad because they're impatient. But you know, if they're doing the best work they can do at the time then I'm a happy camper, even if they do something even better 2 years later.

And, it sounds like... from the reviews... that these Stones remasters are worthy. I'll be picking them up.

And incidentally, I think the format war is over. And I think Sony won. I'm actually kind of happy about that, too.

Finally -- I have to know and haven't read anywhere: Does anyone know if the SACD layer has a multichannel section? Or 2 channel only? I'm ever curious.

 

[FCJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by carlo whoops, on my post above i meant to type "Aftermath (UK) - incidentally this has one of the great side 1, cut 1s of all time: Paint It Black" FCJ, i thought the only difference between the uk and us versions on the sacd remasters was the artwork? best, carlo

No, the track listing is different between the US and UK versisons. In fact, I thought that the UK version substituted "Mother's Little Helper" for "Paint It Black" on "Aftermath." I'm also sure that "Between the Buttons" is different, too. The UK versions of the Stones albums generally didn't have singles on them.

Regarding the improved sound quality, I saw it mentioned in the "All Music Guide" that "Aftermath" sounded better in the UK version.

 

[FCJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly I think people just get mad because they're impatient. But you know, if they're doing the best work they can do at the time then I'm a happy camper, even if they do something even better 2 years later.

I wish this were always true, but there are examples where marketing drives the decision, not sound quality improvements. Take the Blue Note RVG reissues. Some of the reissues in this series (and some of these CDs were reissued at least a couple of times before) actually sounded worse than the ones reissued before. I have heard, though, that Blue Note is considering SACD reissues. One can only hope. . . .

For some reason I doubt that the Stones reissues will be multichannel, but I haven't read anything either way. It's a good question, though. . . .

 

[CaptBubba]

I hope these are well done, the reason I got rid of Hot Rocks was becuase the recording stunk. I just couldn't listen to it.