Tyrannosaurus Rex Expanded Editions

[Crummy Old Label Avatar]

Recently out in the UK. Not released in the US. Remastered, expanded double CDs [Correction: My mistake. These are NOT double CDs, but rather one jampacked hour-plus disc - still a great value, though. See my posts below.] of My People Were Fair (both stereo and mono mixes), Prophets, Seers, and Sages, A Beard of Stars, Unicorn, and T -Rex.

Anyone heard them? Lots of inticing bonuses on these. I just ordered all five from Amazon UK, and I'm hoping that they're not compressed and maximized to hell.

[Ess Ay Cee Dee]

nt

[Xenu]

There's apparently a glitch on one of 'em.

I thought the original set wasn't that bad...that said, I *also* didn't notice that Beard of Stars was a needle-drop, so that shows what I remember.

[Crummy Old Label Avatar]

Any idea what and on where the glitch is? I just noticed this customer review at amazon.co.uk. The CD in question is T-Rex --

"This is one of my favorite albums of all time. I am Horrified that a key track on this 2004 remaster, Childe (track 4), has several seconds chopped off the beginning of the track. I have the LP and prior CD issues of this album and this CD is the only one that has the truncated intro. This album deserves better treatment than this. Universal should be ashamed."

Guess I'll be getting a screwed up copy, then. Bah humbug!

[Xenu]

That's it. I think 22drow posted that over at sh.tv, too.

I remember the original issue of T. Rex sounding pretty good, so I'd be interested to see how this compares. That said, I might be time to buy these officially (yes, with the exception of "T. Rex," my early discs are all two-fer pirates. Blame it on the sluggish used market).

[Crummy Old Label Avatar]

Googled this. Universal claims the problem is now corrected and "later pressings fix the problem". Who knows what pressing I'll end up getting from Amazon, though. After all, they were released in October. Can there be a second pressing already? I take Universal's statement to actually mean "We're tired of hearing your bitching. When we bother to get around presisng more, we'll fix it, I guess."

I have the older issues of these -- found them used in Germany a couple years ago. I think they sound quite good. So even if "Childe" is screwed up on the copy I get, I'm not too worried about it, as I already own a good sounding version of the song. I'm interested in the wealth of bonus material on these expanded issues, which is why I bought them.

Just why the hell the first 5 T(yrannosaurus) Rex albums have been unavailable in the US for decades is a mystery to me. Is it a legal/rights/publishing problem? I wonder. It's hard to believe that no one has been interested in licensing these titles.

[Crummy Old Label Avatar]

At long last, here's the skinny on these.

Excellent job by A&M/Universal. Credit reads "digitally remastered by Gary Moore at Universal Digital Mastering, London". All five CDs sound much better than the 1998 versions, hands down. The bonus material alone is quite overwhelming, etc., etc.

Yes, my copy of T.Rex has the truncated intro on "Childe". I am convinced, however, that this was a deliberate decision and not an accidental glitch. (Not that I find this acceptable.) If you listen to the intro on the 1998 version, you'll hear obvious tape artifacts in the left channel. Big deal - it was there on the original vinyl pressing as well. It just is what it is. At any rate, someone decided to excise these 3 seconds on this reissue. It's cut at just the right place, i.e. - too deliberated to be an accident or glitch. If one was not familiar with the song, he/she would never notice something is missing.

What I did was to take the first 3 seconds of "Childe" from the 1998 disc, carefully match the gain, and smoothly edit it back to where it belongs on the remastered track. I spent some time doing this, and it sounds seamless to me. I can post WAVE files of this, if anyone expresses interest.

Aside from the unnecessary "Childe" edit, I'm extremely happy with these.

By the way, the SHtv myth that the 1998 A Beard of Stars CD is a needle-drop is just that -- a myth. Those rumbling, scratchy sounds you hear are the recording itself. It's just a noisy recording, that's all. Something to do, I'd guess, from the amount of overdubs Bolan added to each track. It's virtually a solo album. The departed Steve Peregrine Took was erased from some tracks, his replacement Mickey Finn hardly plays on the album, and Bolan ended up doing almost all of it himself.

I know every inch of this record, and ALL of those artifacts are present in their full glory on the original vinyl and every subsequent vinyl and CD reissue (unless you've encountered some no-noised tracks on various dodgy compilations). Those artifacts are present on my first pressing UK Regal Zonophone copy; surely you can't tell me that THAT is a needle-drop! The earlier, less-overdubbed takes of these songs on the bonus tracks of this new reissue are a bit cleaner-sounding, but you can already hear some of the telltale artifacts in places, a situation compounded as more tracks were added/deleted. I'd also venture a guess that more scratchiness/rumbling came about during the mixdown sessions. A faulty tape machine perhaps? Who knows? Whatever the case may be, this is what A Beard of Stars is, and I've never had a problem with it sonically.

[Ess Ay Cee Dee]

nt

[Xenu]

How much did you pay for 'em?

[Crummy Old Label Avatar]

They're £6.97 each at amazon.co.uk. Minus VAT they work out to £5.93 each ($11.13 as of this evening). Not bad at all, even given the currently worthless US dollar.

But then there's the postage costs (I paid £6.05 [$11.36] for all 5 discs, sent airmail).

Even so, works out cheaper than buying them as imports. I saw one online American vendor who was asking a laughable $24 each.

And just why does Amazon UK get things to me quicker than Amazon US? I've always gotten my UK orders in 7-8 days.

[Crummy Old Label Avatar]

Have one correction to make. These are NOT double CDs. I had originally assumed they were, given all the bonus material. They are jampacked, in the 60-80 minute range, though. Sorry for the misinformation!

[Rspaight]

I've found that it's often (if not usually) cheaper to buy from amazon.co.uk, even with shipping.

Ryan

[Crummy Old Label Avatar]

I've posted WAVE files of "Childe" for your comparison here:

1. The intro to the 1998 version
2. The truncated intro to the 2004 version
3. My restored version (complete). I volume matched and then edited the first few seconds from the 1998 version onto the 2004 track.

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If anyone downloads this, I'd appreciate feedback on the quality of my "restored" version. Can you tell where the edit is?

[Ess Ay Cee Dee]

nt