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Rhino again ruins another classic!

Rezzak | 06/07/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Rhino records now officially has screwed the pooch. I used to think they had the best remasters for years but they completely screwed everyone on the horrible so called remasters of New Order's catalogue. it took them a year and a half to get the thing remastered for a second time and replacement discs sent out to angry customers and they still did not pull the originals off the shelf! Now for this Stooges release Rhino made similar mastering mistakes. Not only did they have a pressing error and printed the original cds on the wrong discs (disc one and two were switched around) but they also mastered the amazing John Cale mixes at the wrong speed. Rhino's statement that for this issue they mastered the Cale mixes at the speed of the original tape tells us nothing we don't already know. Yes you did, but it sounds wrong. Please explain why you mastered without correcting the speed. It sounds plainly wrong if not unlistenable and I would not recommend this set to anyone. There is also an error in 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' on disk 2. It's a shame because the sound of the Cale tracks is better than the deluxe set once you go to the trouble of correcting the speed yourself. A nice package but shoddy work, Rhino. Do you accept returns?"

A sloppy DISASTER

Charles A. Miller | Baltimore, Maryland U.S.A. | 07/02/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The packaging is 5-stars (a great, hard-backed "book" which is the size of the 7" record). Included is a 7" record of the one of the titles on the discs (rather than a vintage reproduction, rendering it pointless), and on those 2 CDs there are three versions of the classic, self-titled first Stooges albums:

1. the official release;

2. the original John Cale mix; and

3. the entire album again, this time, alternate versions or non-truncated versions, and a very rare 1968 track in great sound.



So what's wrong with that? In the case of #1 and #3, nothing. These are great tracks, including nearly an hour's worth of rarely-heard material. Unfortunately #2, the original Cale mix, is a deal-killer. Rhino was utterly asleep when they made this as the speed is oh so very s-l-o-w. It's as if no one bothered to listen to what they were releasing or were too stupid to know just how painfully slow it is... point-blank unlistenable. Additionally, and as a previous reviewer pointed out, the alternate version of I Wanna Be Your Dog inexplicably cuts off before the track ends without explanation, while a previous incarnation of this track did not.



The official explanation from Rhino was they just released what they found in the vaults "as-is" for historic value. Seriously?!



A must avoid... if nothing else, to let Rhino know they need to actually bother to listen before releasing material as a high-priced collector edition. FYI, I was also informed Rhino horribly botched their New Order collector's set as well. Apparently, this is an on-going problem for this once great and now incredibly tone-deaf label."