Post by Bartwald on Aug 26, 2004 15:00:33 GMT -5
Reissuing classic albums with changed lyrics and stuff? That should infuriate fans, huh?
From http://www.knac.com:
There are eight of these discs—basically everything except Killing Is My Business, which had been dealt with previously. If you are in any way economically challenged, buying this many discs at one time is most likely problematic at best. If you’re interested in getting a couple of these, but aren’t sure which, the two that would probably satisfy the discerning Megadeth listener the most would be Countdown to Extinction and Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying. The reason being that both of these remasters have been altered--and yes, in some ways improved--with the least amount of disruption to the spirit of the original sound. By Megadeth standards, Countdown to Extinction may have been the most polished sounding release to begin with, so unlike the majority of these reissues, the task here seems to have concerned making Countdown appear slightly more raw. What is left are classic takes on “Symphony Of Destruction,” “Sweating Bullets” and “Foreclosure Of A Dream.” The guitars are slightly lower end on this disc, basically the changes are as they should be—improvements that don’t cause the listener to go, “What the fuck? Is that how the old one sounded?” The additional tracks on this are primarily demos for “Countdown to Extinction,” “Symphony” and “Psychotron.” These demos sound exactly as you would expect—early renditions with little production. A decent, almost Motorhead-like tune called “Crown of Worms” is also included and released for the first time in the United States. In addition, the liner notes have been expanded with Mustaine describing his disappointment at Countdown initially coming in at number two on the charts squarely behind Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus. You remember that one, right? It was the song you first kissed your cross-eyed cousin to while you sat on your grandpa’s flatbed truck during that Saturday night hay ride so long ago. Those were the days, huh?
Peace Sells primarily works because the bass is prominent and clear. The drums are also established as a separate force rather than simply being included in the slightly more jumbled wall of sound that most fans know from the cassette days. “Good Mourning/Black Friday” is one of the highlights as is “Devil’s Island” and “Wake Up Dead.” Yep. Some of the vocals have been redone, and there is a guitar effect in “The Conjuring” that makes a couple of lyrics in front of one of the bridges nearly inaudible. The drums at the beginning of “Peace Sells” although very distinct here, regrettably sound a little less powerful than in the original. At the end of this disc, there are four bonus tracks, which are demos from the Combat Records days right before the band signed to a major. “Wake Up Dead,” “The Conjuring,” “Peace Sells” and “Good Mourning/Black Friday” are all included as they were recorded with original engineer Randy Burns.
Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying and Countdown to Extinction seem to be the two discs in this project that succeed the best at staying true to the original sound while using technology to bring out some of the effects that were initially lost due to low budget production. Make no mistake though, if a listener is completely adverse to the idea of the sounds of their youth being altered in any way, then it’s not going to make any difference how good these remasters are—they won’t be appreciated. The fact is that Mustaine has taken some unprecedented chances with regard to rerecording vocals and in some cases switching up the sequence of certain lyrics—most notably on Rust in Peace—which require long time fans to approach these creations with an open mind. Although remastering for profit isn’t anything new, the way Megadeth fans respond to this type of massive sonic overhaul of an entire catalogue is sure to be viewed by other bands as well as the recording industry. What it comes down to essentially concerns whether or not metalheads are willing to shell out fifteen bucks for records that they most likely already own (in a form they may prefer) simply for some extra tracks and the chance to have their memories of their beloved music changed even if ever so slightly.
From http://www.knac.com:
There are eight of these discs—basically everything except Killing Is My Business, which had been dealt with previously. If you are in any way economically challenged, buying this many discs at one time is most likely problematic at best. If you’re interested in getting a couple of these, but aren’t sure which, the two that would probably satisfy the discerning Megadeth listener the most would be Countdown to Extinction and Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying. The reason being that both of these remasters have been altered--and yes, in some ways improved--with the least amount of disruption to the spirit of the original sound. By Megadeth standards, Countdown to Extinction may have been the most polished sounding release to begin with, so unlike the majority of these reissues, the task here seems to have concerned making Countdown appear slightly more raw. What is left are classic takes on “Symphony Of Destruction,” “Sweating Bullets” and “Foreclosure Of A Dream.” The guitars are slightly lower end on this disc, basically the changes are as they should be—improvements that don’t cause the listener to go, “What the fuck? Is that how the old one sounded?” The additional tracks on this are primarily demos for “Countdown to Extinction,” “Symphony” and “Psychotron.” These demos sound exactly as you would expect—early renditions with little production. A decent, almost Motorhead-like tune called “Crown of Worms” is also included and released for the first time in the United States. In addition, the liner notes have been expanded with Mustaine describing his disappointment at Countdown initially coming in at number two on the charts squarely behind Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus. You remember that one, right? It was the song you first kissed your cross-eyed cousin to while you sat on your grandpa’s flatbed truck during that Saturday night hay ride so long ago. Those were the days, huh?
Peace Sells primarily works because the bass is prominent and clear. The drums are also established as a separate force rather than simply being included in the slightly more jumbled wall of sound that most fans know from the cassette days. “Good Mourning/Black Friday” is one of the highlights as is “Devil’s Island” and “Wake Up Dead.” Yep. Some of the vocals have been redone, and there is a guitar effect in “The Conjuring” that makes a couple of lyrics in front of one of the bridges nearly inaudible. The drums at the beginning of “Peace Sells” although very distinct here, regrettably sound a little less powerful than in the original. At the end of this disc, there are four bonus tracks, which are demos from the Combat Records days right before the band signed to a major. “Wake Up Dead,” “The Conjuring,” “Peace Sells” and “Good Mourning/Black Friday” are all included as they were recorded with original engineer Randy Burns.
Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying and Countdown to Extinction seem to be the two discs in this project that succeed the best at staying true to the original sound while using technology to bring out some of the effects that were initially lost due to low budget production. Make no mistake though, if a listener is completely adverse to the idea of the sounds of their youth being altered in any way, then it’s not going to make any difference how good these remasters are—they won’t be appreciated. The fact is that Mustaine has taken some unprecedented chances with regard to rerecording vocals and in some cases switching up the sequence of certain lyrics—most notably on Rust in Peace—which require long time fans to approach these creations with an open mind. Although remastering for profit isn’t anything new, the way Megadeth fans respond to this type of massive sonic overhaul of an entire catalogue is sure to be viewed by other bands as well as the recording industry. What it comes down to essentially concerns whether or not metalheads are willing to shell out fifteen bucks for records that they most likely already own (in a form they may prefer) simply for some extra tracks and the chance to have their memories of their beloved music changed even if ever so slightly.
