"Station to Station" German RCA

Jeff · Postby **Jeff** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:33 am

What's all this about copies of the Smiths RT discs? I've got a shitload of lossless Smiths non-collected B-sides, etc. collected from Oink and would love to trade with any and all. I also own the original RT Hatful of Hollow CD if anyone needs a copy of that.

Jeff T. · Postby **Jeff T.** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:04 pm

Jeff wrote:What's all this about copies of the Smiths RT discs? I've got a shitload of lossless Smiths non-collected B-sides, etc. collected from Oink and would love to trade with any and all. I also own the original RT Hatful of Hollow CD if anyone needs a copy of that.

I cad see the RT UK originals being better sounding than the WEA/Sire stuff.

Xenu · Postby **Xenu** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:48 pm

Trading isn't needed; we GIVE here.

Is the RT "Hatful" ridiculously common or something? I've seen way too many copies. And isn't it the same as the Sire disc?

Jeff · Postby **Jeff** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:19 pm

Xenu wrote:Trading isn't needed; we GIVE here.

Is the RT "Hatful" ridiculously common or something? I've seen way too many copies. And isn't it the same as the Sire disc?

Then put me on the RECEIVING list.

The RT "Hatful" disc is definitely the most common of the bunch, because it was the only version available for several years. I bought it way back in the late 80's because I assumed it would never have a proper US release. The Sire disc is probably identical, but I'll withhold judgment until I've seen some waveforms, EAC logs and sworn affidavits.

Jeff · Postby **Jeff** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:59 am

I recently got an invite to What.CD and was able to download the RT versions of all four original (non-comp) Smiths albums. I have to say that they sound very good. I'm listening to Strangeways right now and it really is a considerable improvement over the Sire disc.

Does anyone know if the RT version of Louder Than Bombs is mastered differently from the US version? I can get a copy of that one as well.

Beatlesfan03 · Postby **Beatlesfan03** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 3:43 pm

Jeff wrote:I recently got an invite to What.CD and was able to download the RT versions of all four original (non-comp) Smiths albums. I have to say that they sound very good. I'm listening to Strangeways right now and it really is a considerable improvement over the Sire disc.

Does anyone know if the RT version of Louder Than Bombs is mastered differently from the US version? I can get a copy of that one as well.

Interesting on the "Strangeways." The US CD (and vinyl for that matter) sounds like it came from a tape that was played on a machine with misaligned heads. I am definitely going to have seek the RT disc.

On one of the usenet boards a long long long time ago, there was a rumor that Sire issued a stealth remaster of "Strangeways" with no change in artwork. You could tell the difference between the two because the "remaster" had that sticker on the top of the CD whereas the regular version had the little WEA sticker tag on the side. Forgive me if I didn't use the proper technical terms here.

Regardless, I picked up a "remaster" and I couldn't hear any difference between the two. Still had that swishy sound on a couple of tracks.

I noticed that in the liner notes, it has two separate mastering credits - one for the US and other for the UK.

I'd take a shot on the "Louder Than Bombs," what have you got to lose?

Jeff · Postby **Jeff** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 3:48 pm

Beatlesfan03 wrote:Interesting on the "Strangeways." The US CD (and vinyl for that matter) sounds like it came from a tape that was played on a machine with misaligned heads. I am definitely going to have seek the RT disc.

That's what I always thought as well. The high end on the RT disc actually sounds smooth, for lack of a better term. Let me know if you want a copy of it.

Still had that swishy sound on a couple of tracks.

That's just Morrissey. :lol:

Beatlesfan03 · Postby **Beatlesfan03** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:51 pm

I neglected to mention that the "Strangeways" tracks on "The Very Best of The Smiths" sound a helluva better than the US Sire CD. Since the comp was geared towards the UK market, I would presume Inglott and Hersch probably had access to the original UK single masters.

I had the "Singles" comp prior to that, and the "Strangeways" songs still had the same swishy thing going, just at a louder volume.

Xenu · Postby **Xenu** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:42 am

Jeff wrote:I recently got an invite to What.CD and was able to download the RT versions of all four original (non-comp) Smiths albums. I have to say that they sound very good. I'm listening to Strangeways right now and it really is a considerable improvement over the Sire disc.

Does anyone know if the RT version of Louder Than Bombs is mastered differently from the US version? I can get a copy of that one as well.

Louder than Bombs is supposed to be identical (despite years of insistence to the contrary from some quarters).

Gee golly, I'd love to hear the RT Strangeways and Meat is Murder. Doesn't the RT Strangeways run at a different speed than the Sire? I recall someone putting up two samples from each disc, and the Sire one definitely ran slower.

Jeff · Postby **Jeff** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 12:09 pm

PM me with your address.

I didn't notice a speed difference on Strangeways, but it does appear that the UK disc is about 25 seconds shorter.

If you want the UK version of LTB to see if it really is identical to the Sire disc, I can send that too. I'm downloading it right now (though at the rate it's going, it could be next month before it finishes).

J_Partyka · Postby **J_Partyka** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 7:24 pm

Jeff wrote:If you want the UK version of LTB to see if it really is identical to the Sire disc, I can send that too. I'm downloading it right now (though at the rate it's going, it could be next month before it finishes).

I'd be interested in some fresh impressions RE: the US vs UK versions of this one ...

Jeff · Postby **Jeff** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 6:23 pm

I've uploaded all 10 Strangeways tracks to Sendspace and have sent the links to David and Craig. If anyone else is interested, shoot me a PM and I'll give you the links.

Meat Is Murder is coming tomorrow.

Beatlesfan03 · Postby **Beatlesfan03** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:28 pm

Jeff wrote:I've uploaded all 10 Strangeways tracks to Sendspace and have sent the links to David and Craig. If anyone else is interested, shoot me a PM and I'll give you the links.

Meat Is Murder is coming tomorrow.

Dude! You made my day (or at least what's left of it)!

Talk about difference. It's swishy no more! The album, not Morrissey. :lol:

I did notice a couple of digital clicks on "Paint A Vulgar Picture" that seem to stand out a bit more clearly on the RT disc than on the Sire disc. The first click comes during the first verse:

"At the record company *click* meeting"

Then another during the second verse:

"...I knew him first *click* and I knew him well"

I initially thought these were glitches when I ripped the Sire disc to iTunes, but they're here on the RT disc as well. So could it be possible that the source for both discs is the same, but just a shittier job was done with the Sire version?

Xenu · Postby **Xenu** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:25 pm

What is this "swishiness" you describe?

Offhand, I can't seem to find that old file that had the obviously different speed in "Stop." I hope I wasn't imagining this...

Beatlesfan03 · Postby **Beatlesfan03** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:34 pm

Xenu wrote:What is this "swishiness" you describe?

The high end on the Sire disc has a weird sound to it, almost as if the tape heads were out of alignment when they played it back.

"Stop Me...," "I Won't Share You," and "Paint a Vulgar Picture" are good examples. Compare those tracks on the Sire to the RT and you'll hear the difference. Though I don't have it anymore, I think they were even worse on the vinyl.

As for the speed, nothing seems to stand out.