November treat for fans of Kate Bush
Posted by: Richard Dane on 05 October 2018
Well, it finally looks like the entire Kate Bush catalogue has been remastered and is being re-released in November. What's more, everything will be available on vinyl as well as on CD.
James Guthrie did the remastering alongside KB. Apart from that, there doesn't seem to be any more detail, particularly with regard to the vinyl releases.
I have everything of Kate Bush's releases on vinyl and CD already, but still I'm tempted, especially by the last box of 12" and rarities. It could get a bit expensive though...
Loki posted:nicnaim posted:
Alley Cat posted:Christopher_M posted:Loki posted:nicnaim posted:I can confirm Rolf has been airbrushed out of the Aerial vinyl remaster. No great surprise I suppose, but when you know every note of this record it takes a bit of getting used to. Really pleased to get this on vinyl again. Unfortunately I gave up after three faulty versions of the original vinyl and went for the CD version. The remaster sounds rather nice.
What utter tosh.
Decorum please. Anyone would think this is the Brexit thread.
As you were....
It's not clear what Loki thinks is utter tosh - the 'airbrushing' I suspect.
The original vinyl comment concerns me as i bought it years ago but have never played it. Then again a few purchases from the river recently have had lots of fine scratches on them which is annoying for new.
Alley Cat,
The original pressing was unfortunately not great, with issues of distortion and sibilance widely reported at particular points on the discs. There is probably a thread from the time of the original release in the forum archives. I’m sure I was far from being alone in having several duff copies that had to be returned and anybody who had a decent original copy is lucky.
Oh ye mortals follow the thread! Yes of course I am referring to the airbrushing. Should have done a selective quotation. Apologies.
Such practice makes me question where we stop. Should I be seeking a penseive into which to discard my un p-c memories such as my childhood favourite 'two little boys'?
Meanwhile back on planet earth, yes Ariel, some sibilance on my original pressing when the VTA was not accurately set. A great test disk in that respect.
I also loved Rolf's songs as a kid, and picked up some of his albums on vinyl second hand for novelty value as a student.
The memories are not 'un PC' at all, I just find mine are tainted by the knowledge of his crimes, and I suspect some people just can't enjoy hearing his voice in Aerial anymore (in all honesty I never liked the voice part there anyway).
Alley Cat posted:Loki posted:Alley Cat posted:Christopher_M posted:Loki posted:nicnaim posted:I can confirm Rolf has been airbrushed out of the Aerial vinyl remaster. No great surprise I suppose, but when you know every note of this record it takes a bit of getting used to. Really pleased to get this on vinyl again. Unfortunately I gave up after three faulty versions of the original vinyl and went for the CD version. The remaster sounds rather nice.
What utter tosh.
Decorum please. Anyone would think this is the Brexit thread.
As you were....
It's not clear what Loki thinks is utter tosh - the 'airbrushing' I suspect.
The original vinyl comment concerns me as i bought it years ago but have never played it. Then again a few purchases from the river recently have had lots of fine scratches on them which is annoying for new.
Alley Cat,
The original pressing was unfortunately not great, with issues of distortion and sibilance widely reported at particular points on the discs. There is probably a thread from the time of the original release in the forum archives. I’m sure I was far from being alone in having several duff copies that had to be returned and anybody who had a decent original copy is lucky.
Oh ye mortals follow the thread! Yes of course I am referring to the airbrushing. Should have done a selective quotation. Apologies.
Such practice makes me question where we stop. Should I be seeking a penseive into which to discard my un p-c memories such as my childhood favourite 'two little boys'?
Meanwhile back on planet earth, yes Ariel, some sibilance on my original pressing when the VTA was not accurately set. A great test disk in that respect.
I also loved Rolf's songs as a kid, and picked up some of his albums on vinyl second hand for novelty value as a student.
The memories are not 'un PC' at all, I just find mine are tainted by the knowledge of his crimes, and I suspect some people just can't enjoy hearing his voice in Aerial anymore (in all honesty I never liked the voice part there anyway).
Each unto their own. I guess that's the tension in which all of us who span the decades, find ourselves suspended, as if on the barbs of hastily erected wires. Anyone here still listen to Wagner knowing that he was Adolf's preferred classical muse? How that knowledge of the composer's actions affects our listening pleasure is an individual reaction. The question is whether one wants to or is able to divorce one's emotional response to the music from the personal history of said composer. A complex conundrum, and probably one we should move away from in order to preserve the integrity of this thread.
Moving on to what may well be my favourite Kate Bush album - The Dreaming. I listened to this album a lot during my first year at University. I had a tape of it in my car as well so it would get played regularly on the big drive up and down to Scotland. In more recent years I have listened to it not so much, so I was really looking forward to playing the new vinyl reissue.
Straight away you really notice that while the artwork is again nice and crisp and clear, the contrast is yet again increased, and in this case, the sepia tone has been dialled back. Inside the die cut cardboard printed inner is there, but the thumb cut has gone. Oh, and another thing that has gone is the didgeridoo credit on The Dreaming for Rolf Harris. Disappointingly, the LP is inside the cardboard inner sleeve - no separate anti-static inner here, which is a shame, so you'll need to supply your own. The LP itself is yet again, pretty much bang on - flat, centered, and again the 'BG" initials of Bernie Grundman in the deadwax.
And spinning the LP, it does not disappoint. In fact, it's quite a sonic spectacular. There's a lot of production and studio effects going on with this album and the sheer width, depth and bandwidth that these new reissues provide works perfectly to enhance an album such as this. You get pulled into the sound, at times it's like you are surrounded by the music, effects and voices coming from all around you. If that makes it all sound a bit gimmicky, it's not really, because it serves the music rather than detract from it. And it all adds to the general wonderful weirdness of the album. You just have to surrender to it, sit back and get swept away.
Against my original, the reissue has quieter surfaces (although in this case there's just a trace of out of phase groove noise in the intro, so you are aware it's vinyl not digital) and again the bandwidth is extended, particularly down at lower frequencies. The dynamics and the sense of width and space from the reissue really wins the day here and overall, while the original is excellent, I think the reissue pips it. It's a stunning bit of vinyl - so good, I've listened to it two evenings on the trot. Speaking of trot, how best to sum this one up...? Hee-Haw! Hee-Haw!
Richard Dane posted:Moving on to what may well be my favourite Kate Bush album - The Dreaming. I listened to this album a lot during my first year at University. I had a tape of it in my car as well so it would get played regularly on the big drive up and down to Scotland. In more recent years I have listened to it not so much, so I was really looking forward to playing the new vinyl reissue.
Straight away you really notice that while the artwork is again nice and crisp and clear, the contrast is yet again increased, and in this case, the sepia tone has been dialled back. Inside the die cut cardboard printed inner is there, but the thumb cut has gone. Oh, and another thing that has gone is the didgeridoo credit on The Dreaming for Rolf Harris. Disappointingly, the LP is inside the cardboard inner sleeve - no separate anti-static inner here, which is a shame, so you'll need to supply your own. The LP itself is yet again, pretty much bang on - flat, centered, and again the 'BG" initials of Bernie Grundman in the deadwax.
And spinning the LP, it does not disappoint. In fact, it's quite a sonic spectacular. There's a lot of production and studio effects going on with this album and the sheer width, depth and bandwidth that these new reissues provide works perfectly to enhance an album such as this. You get pulled into the sound, at times it's like you are surrounded by the music, effects and voices coming from all around you. If that makes it all sound a bit gimmicky, it's not really, because it serves the music rather than detract from it. And it all adds to the general wonderful weirdness of the album. You just have to surrender to it, sit back and get swept away.
Against my original, the reissue has quieter surfaces (although in this case there's just a trace of out of phase groove noise in the intro, so you are aware it's vinyl not digital) and again the bandwidth is extended, particularly down at lower frequencies. The dynamics and the sense of width and space from the reissue really wins the day here and overall, while the original is excellent, I think the reissue pips it. It's a stunning bit of vinyl - so good, I've listened to it two evenings on the trot. Speaking of trot, how best to sum this one up...? Hee-Haw! Hee-Haw!
Thanks Richard. Your inputs on this set are extremely helpful as always . I’ve got the first four albums on LP coming as a Xmas present. It’s a leap for me as, whilst I know that I like ‘The Kick Inside’ , I never pursued Kate any further in terms of album ownership. I heard bits of her subsequent albums on friends systems, but didn’t buy them and didn’t think I really needed to. I’m now eagerly awaiting these high quality Vinyl albums being delivered. Comforting to know the SQ is faultless. Let’s see how I react to them musically. Exciting to have 3 ‘new’ analog era albums to discover!
Loki posted:Steve O posted:Has anyone listened to the remaster of Aerial yet? Is it true Rolf Harris has been removed and replaced by her son Bertie? Mine is ordered but not yet delivered. Took the free delivery option as I'm not home to take delivery this weekend.
Just wish Before The Dawn was remastered - I hate that recording.
History cannot and should not be erased, otherwise we are lying to ourselves.
Not really sure what you mean by this Loki - removing Rolf Harris or remastering Before The Dawn. If it's removing Rolf Harris I agree with you, if it's a vote against remastering Before The Dawn I don't. 
I now know through ownership that the remaster has Rolf Harris removed. Not entirely sure as to how I feel about it other than to say it sounds strikingly odd when listening. Only time will tell if I get used to the difference.
As a side-note my copy had to be returned as side 4 had a pressing fault. The others have been nigh on perfection in every way. Thanks for the input on my question everyone.
Steve O posted:Loki posted:Steve O posted:Has anyone listened to the remaster of Aerial yet? Is it true Rolf Harris has been removed and replaced by her son Bertie? Mine is ordered but not yet delivered. Took the free delivery option as I'm not home to take delivery this weekend.
Just wish Before The Dawn was remastered - I hate that recording.
History cannot and should not be erased, otherwise we are lying to ourselves.
Not really sure what you mean by this Loki - removing Rolf Harris or remastering Before The Dawn. If it's removing Rolf Harris I agree with you, if it's a vote against remastering Before The Dawn I don't.
I now know through ownership that the remaster has Rolf Harris removed. Not entirely sure as to how I feel about it other than to say it sounds strikingly odd when listening. Only time will tell if I get used to the difference.
As a side-note my copy had to be returned as side 4 had a pressing fault. The others have been nigh on perfection in every way. Thanks for the input on my question everyone.
Remastering is polishing not erasure.
Over the past week I've had change to listen to the new vinyl LP reissues of The Hounds of Love...
...and the Sensual World;
As is now pretty much the norm, the artwork reproduction is nice and sharp but contrast is increased. On both sleeves you lose a bit of the warmth to the images and also some of the detail within the dark background on the cover The Sensual World. Otherwise it's mostly good news, with nice repros of the lyric printed inners. Only shame is that the LPs come inside the printed inners, with no ant-static lining. It would have been nicer to stick with the black ant-static inners used elsewhere and have them alongside the printed card inners. Still, it's a minor niggle and I had some new ant-static inners standing by.
As for the albums, well HOL sees the "Special Single Mix" of The Big Sky, which sounds slightly out of place - I'm not entirely sure why it was decided to alter the album like this. The mix sounds much more compressed than the rest of the album. I'm not a fan. Then again, with this album, I tend to go straight to side two anyway, and here the reissue is really good. It's almost a week since I did a quick comparison with my original copy, but overall I think I gave the nod to the reissue - at least on side two, that is.
As for The Sensual World, it's a difficult album for me; it took me a while to warm to the album when it was first released. It's nice - in parts - but just a bit dull compared to The Dreaming or even Never For Ever. It's an excellent album by any standards, but I guess I was just a little bit disappointed after so many fantastic albums. Again, I tend to mostly listen to side two these days. And the sound quality was bit of a step backwards too. The reissue doesn't exactly cure it of its problems. The sound can be a bit stark and there's some hardness in places that tips over to almost sibilance. I probably need to do a proper comparison against my original and also the CD. Somewhat symbolically, this was the last KB album I bought as an original on vinyl, until the release of Aerial. I'll get to that one in due course...