Forums dot lukpac.org

I just borrowed "The Legend" and it's a little disappointing in terms of content. It's more, but it's not as consistently good as that 3 CD "Essential" set (which is pretty cheap now used - got the small-sized remastered edition for $12).

The duets are probably the weakest. Not bad, but except for the ones with June, Cash doesn't come off as a great duet partner. The U2 song is not even an exception. I like it, but U2's just provides backing so it's not really a duet.

The flow and selection on "Essential" is simply stronger, just compare the stuff they left off of "The Legend" with the new inclusions. A few 'hits' sound too derivative of better recordings: "The Matador" echoes "Ring of Fire," even "Rosanna's Going Wild" has a bit of "Ring of Fire." "Kate" has some melodic similarities to "Cocaine Blues" and "Folsom Prison Blues." Then you have an earlier version of "Delia's Gone" that's inferior and lighter in feel to the AMERICAN RECORDINGS version.

Still, you have a few cool, latter day hits like "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" plus "If I Were A Carpenter." But if you have "Essential," you can probably get those tracks elsewhere in one, cheaper package.

MK wrote:Still, you have a few cool, latter day hits like "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" plus "If I Were A Carpenter." But if you have "Essential," you can probably get those tracks elsewhere in one, cheaper package.

I'd be curious to hear another version of If I Were A Carpenter. I've got it on the DCC Sunday Morning Coming Down, and it sounds...for lack of a better term...wonky.

If you want to compare, here's the one on "The Legend." 30 MB, aiff file.

http://s41.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1A8W ... 64OC08572J

Does anyone know how much of a difference there is in the old and new versions of the "Essential" box. I've got the old one, and keep hearing how much better the new one is. Any first-hand opinions?

(And yes, it's hard for me to imagine a better pre-Rubin compilation than the Essential box.)

Ryan

MK wrote:If you want to compare, here's the one on "The Legend." 30 MB, aiff file.

http://s41.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1A8W ... 64OC08572J

Thanks. I don't have the DCC at hand, but that sounds pretty much as I remember it. Maybe even a little worse. I guess it just wasn't recorded/mixed well.

Love that song, regardless of who's singing it. Although it's great hearing Johnny and June trade off on that version.

No idea, I've never compared them.

Be warned, a few songs don't sound too good on the remastered edition of ESSENTIAL. "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord" seems to have been taken from an inferior source because later masterings on GOD and I think THE LEGEND sound MUCH, MUCH better.

I just checked and apparently THE LEGEND used the same crappy source for "Were You There." I guess it makes sense since Anesini mastered both the ESSENTIAL remaster and THE LEGEND but you think Darcy Proper of whoever mastered GOD would've said something. They work on the same floor of the same building. Eh, whatever.

BTW, Ballad of Ira Hayes uses an inferior source on THE LEGEND too. There's a better mastering elsewhere that uses a better master tape, but I forgot the name. I have it on a CD-R but I made no note of the CD it came from.

Rspaight wrote:Does anyone know how much of a difference there is in the old and new versions of the "Essential" box. I've got the old one, and keep hearing how much better the new one is. Any first-hand opinions?

I haven't heard the older version, but I'm pretty sure it was processed with Cedar noise reduction (since all the other "Essential" discs from that era I have are). The new version is not, so if that makes a difference to you...

I've got to make a correction. Anesini apparently uses the ORIGINAL version of "Were You There" on his CD's. Cash actually cut a second 'sanitized' version of this song, using the same take as the original version, but splicing in a new first verse - instead of "nailed him to the cross," he sings "took him off the cross."

It's not a simple case of splicing in some tape, it sounds like they had to mix the whole song again, this time using less compression and echo.

The sanitized version sounds SOOOO much better than the original version, but it's not the original.

MK wrote:I've got to make a correction. Anesini apparently uses the ORIGINAL version of "Were You There" on his CD's. Cash actually cut a second 'sanitized' version of this song, using the same take as the original version, but splicing in a new first verse - instead of "nailed him to the cross," he sings "took him off the cross."

Are you sure it's just that verse that's different? I thought they were completely different takes.