Search - Simple Minds :: New Gold Dream

Remaster problem for a fantastic record!

Intergalatic Purveyor | California | 02/08/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I ended up buying this remastered version when I already owned the limited edition LP style CD remaster. I was going to sell the LP version and keep this one but something strange happened. When I put this in to listen to it took less than 10 seconds into Someone, Somewhere In Summertime to realize something was wrong. This remaster is not the same as the LP style CD. Not even close. To put it simply, someone has taken quite a bit of the top off this record (the sheen you could say) and it sounds wrong, all wrong. Having owned the original LP when it came out in 1982 (purple and gold vinyl!) and the original A+M CD version I have a fairly good idea of what it should sound like. And basically this remaster is compressed and all wrong.



You have to ask yourself why there would be two different remastered versions of this CD. It is really strange. The lushness of the synthesizers, the guitars, the cymbals and little details are all muted and not upfront like they should be, they have been shaved off and are now back in the mix. It is literally like they have been shaved off (by equalization I assume) during the remastering process. Jim Kerr's vocals on the other hand are up front too much, in contrast to the some of the instruments, when they should be buried in the mix more and with more reverb on the them. I have no idea how this was done by the remastering engineer but it was done. It is basically, remixed and remastered, as if someone didn't know what it was supposed to sound like and decided to change it.



I had a friend over who is not a Simple Minds fan (doesn't know this record at all) but he installs high end home theater systems and I played him about 30 seconds of the first track from each CD and asked him if he noticed anything about the two different CD versions. He noticed the difference easily. That tells you something.



If you want to buy this CD buy the other limited edition LP style version. It sounds like what this classic record should sound like. The remastering is superb.



Consider this a warning.



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