Killers - Sam's town

Posted by: Trilobyte on 13 October 2006

Has anyone listened to this yet?
Is it me, or is the recording quality as harsh and compressed as "Hot Fuss"?
Shame, because I like the music and cranking it up becomes hard to listen to after 10 o'clock.
Conversely, a best of ZZ Top - Rancho Texicano, sounds fab, yet these recordings are done in the 70's(80's ones not so hot), being meaty and dynamic.
I guess that I may have opened up the analog v digital recording quality can of worms. Certainly in my experience, early 80's recordings are disappointing - thin and sterile sounding, especially if compared to the amazing 24-bit RVG remasters of early jazz classics.
I'm not into recording sound quality per se, music being more important, but I find it hard to understand why some recordings can sound so much worse than others.
What do you think - are there any more examples like this?
Posted on: 13 October 2006 by jayd
For a vivid illustration, compare ZZ Top's "Sixpack" (which contains 6 of their early albums on 3 cds) to your Rancho Texicano. The Sixpack was horribly remastered (and in many cases remixed) - it's unlistenable, in my opinion. Pity, because those early albums sounded so, so good as they were.

I bought the Sixpack, then tossed it as soon as I got the original albums.