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Since I've investigated the "Plain Brown Wrapper" stuff, I've become curious about various CD pressings of "Safe As Milk" and "Mirror Man". I was wondering if anybody had any different pressings besides the ones I have. Here's what I've been able to determine...

Safe As Milk (Castle UK - CLACD 234):
This is a mono folddown of the stereo mix, aka the "British" mono mix. Sounds like poo.

Safe As Milk (One Way - OW 29088):
This is a poor sounding copy of the stereo mix, with the clipped intros and dropouts and shit that plagued the 1970 reissue LP. The "Plain Brown Wrapper" bonus tracks sound good though. Trust Us (Take 9) fades out.

Safe As Milk (Remastered BMG CD):
The stereo mix sounds best here, but the mastering isn't too hot. The bonus tracks sound good but again, they've been compressed and loudened. This is the best source for "Trust Us (Take 9)" since other sources fade out or are mangled.

Mirror Man (UK Castle - CLACD 235):
Unlike the Castle "Safe As Milk", this CD is excellent. It sounds just like the remaster only it hasn't been compressed and loudened.

Mirror Man (Remastered BMG):
Good sound quality, like the UK Castle, only it's been compressed and brickwalled which alters the dynamics.

I May Be Hungry But I Sure Ain't Weird (Sequel):
Excellent sound and hands-off mastering make this disc the best source for the Plain Brown Wrapper stuff. However, the end of Trust Us (Take 9) is loaded with dropouts from what sounds like a loose cable. The remastered version doesn't have this problem, so it is thus essential for an un-mangled version.

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My guess is that they transferred the Plain Brown Wrapper/Mirror Man masters to digital at some point and this was used for all CD versions. Safe As Milk, however, has only recently been restored to the original master, as far as I know.

I'd be interested to know if there are any other CD versions that I don't know about, most notably a mastering of the stereo Safe As Milk master that hasn't been modernized. Amazon lists a Castle version of "Safe As Milk" with a different lineup of Plain Brown Wrapper outtakes than the One Way, only the UPC matches the Castle disc I reviewed above which has no bonus tracks. I don't feel like purchasing more copies to find out.

Interesting question, this.

Firstly: as far as I can tell, the "Wrapper" stuff isn't always derived from a digital source. For starters, a comparison between the Teichiku and Sequel "May Be Hungry" discs revealed a lack of digital sync...make of that what you will. My recollection also is that the One Way disc didn't sync with either of them.

As for "Safe as Milk" permutations: I have tons, and would be happy to sendspace them to you. At the very least, I have the Castle set, the One-Way set, and the "The Best Beefheart" and "At His Best" variants...and probably one or two others. I've never been able to track down the Repertoire version, though.

While I've never done digital comparisons between the above versions of Safe as Milk, all have the same odd, treble-heavy, unbalanced quality the pre-Buddha-reissue ones featured.

Do you have the Teichiku "May Be Hungry"? I'm very happy with the Sequel but there's the "loose cable" problem with Trust Us - Take 9.

As for "Safe As Milk", I'm gonna assume that all CD's before the remaster come from the bad tapes, but I would like to hear the Repertoire someday. Is there a Castle version with bonus tracks like the amazon listing says?

Give me a bit. I'm sort of swamped at the moment. I don't know whether the Teichiku is an improvement on that cut; what's the problem?

Constant dropouts in the last minute or so.

That amazon listing of a Castle with bonus tracks was just an error. I didn't notice that it was just the remaster tracklisting.