Good re-issue but the sound fell short of the ECM legendary
x_acto | Boston, MA USA | 02/15/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"While the Metheny Group performance in "First Circle" deserves 5+ stars (no doubt about it since the album original release in 1984), the sound quality of this re-release missed the mark.
"If I Could" track 4 and "Mas Alla (Beyond) track 7 sound reasonably good (these have few percussions). However, "Yolanda, You Learn" track 2 and all the other tracks with lots of percussion sound congested and compressed.
I would have given this album 5 stars if at least it sounded as good as Metheny's 1993 "The Road to You" Geffen GEFD-24601, (which sounds great in comparison).
For having been re-issued in 2008 and with the current 24-bit Resolution Digital Processing, Remastering and equipment readily available in the Pro Audio Industry, the Universal Music Group should have been capable of re-releasing this CD without smeared percussions or compressed dynamics.
If the UMG marketing people -and Pat Metheny- are listening, perhaps they'll ask their sound and mastering engineers to get it right on the next re-release (hopefully it won't take 6+ more years to get it done).
To get loyal Metheny and the legendary ECM sound fans to purchase the next re-issue of this album, at a minimum, the music label should offer it on an clean sounding, uncompressed CD and a 192KHz 24-bit DVD combo that really do justice to the very detailed and dynamic sound of this album's original ECM master tape.
"
THIS IS NOT A REMASTERED VERSION!!
António Emiliano | Lisboa, Portugal, EU | 07/13/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"First Circle
This is NOT a remastered version of the Pat Metheny Group's 1984 masterpiece. I have been eagerly waiting for a digitally remastered reissue of First Circle, one of the greatest jazz records of all time, and I thought this was it. But this is just a Japanese reissue (or reprint) of the AAD 1984 disc. There is nothing in the liner notes that mentions a new master; also the copyright notice has the date 1984 and the disc has the tag AAD. It was not printed from a new master. The description that Amazon gives for this item is **misleading** and should be revised. I bought the CD for a steep USD 28.29 (+S&H to Europe) and I will keep it though, as a collectible item. See http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?t=20661 for a discussion of Japanese ECM reissues. If you're looking for a true remastered edition of First Circle do NOT buy this item. Be patient..."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
