STEWART COPELAND

by **BinaryXtreme** on 03 Jul 2007 16:19

I really wonder what this will sound like if they ever record it. I know after doing some reading that Sting has written it but god it just makes me drool with anticipation to think of new material by the band. On another note, I have Message In A Box: The Complete Recordings and I've downloaded a few songs from the new album of the remastered versions. Can anyone who has it tell the difference at all between the 2 releases? Now when the Complete Recordings came out it was a breath of fresh air but with the new release, I'm just not hearing the difference no matter how I tweak my set up. Any thoughts?

by **Spec A!** on 03 Jul 2007 16:24

I don't have the latest but can speak to the DTS Every Breath You Take, The Classics album- the surround sound mix in that is totally different, brings out parts in songs you never knew were there. Plus Every Little Thing has a COMPLETELY different drum track than the original release!!! Same thing with the DVD release of the same name.

Season of the Witch- HA! Are you gonna see Rob Zombie's remake?

by **blueboy** on 03 Jul 2007 17:06

You will only notice a difference in sound with the newly remastered versions if you are really picky (like me).

Basically the sound is "cleaner", (particularly on the first three albums) due to better conversion from the analog sources, and the fact that some of the master tapes used were better than the safety copies used for MIAB.

The other thing you might notice is that they sound a little "louder", and that is unfortunately due to the fact that most new albums today are over-compressed and limited to make them sound louder than competing releases. Thankfully, the mastering engineer who did the new releases didn't go too far, and the result is still listenable.

The problem for me though, is that extra compression and limiting affect the transients in the drum sounds. Stewart's snare and kick for example, don't "jump" out of the mix with the same sharp attack that they have on the MIAB versions, because the surrounding music is louder relative to the percussion. If you listen to the kick drum in the intro and first verse to ELTSDIM as an example, it slowly builds with excitement as the kick has a punchy and spikey quality that "snaps" and pushes the rhythm and builds tension leading up to the exploding chorus. On the new version, the kick sounds like it "plods" rather than "pushes" due to the extra compression and rounder EQ. I'm very sensitive to the transients in music, and this new version just leaves me cold and bored.

I was really disappointed because I bought the whole catalog on Super Audio CD, and was hoping to hear virtually "untouched" master recordings. They should have done a separate master for SACD with the full dynamic range intact, and then used the "contemporary" sounding compression for just the regular CD releases.

Sorry if this sounds like it is getting into TJ7 "Anal"-lytical territory, but most musicians and audio engineers will probably understand what I'm getting at.

by **policerule** on 03 Jul 2007 17:14

you know blueboy... it was sounding a little technical at first, but i got the message - no pun intended.

so basically you are saying that the MIAB is all you need?

what is this sync. 3 stuff? sting wrote something? am i completely unaware of this? please explain...

any yes, spec. A - i'm going to see rob's masacre of a classic just for kicks. that is just about the worst idea i've ever heard, but i'm going to give it a shot. i'm a huge fan of the original.

by **Krokodyle** on 03 Jul 2007 17:25

>> They should have done a separate master for SACD with the full dynamic range intact, and then used the "contemporary" sounding compression for just the regular CD releases.

I agree.

I have a couple of the original CD pressings, a couple of the 1995 (?) remasters, and a couple of the recent remasters. I've never taken the time to listen to them side by side, but I'm guessing they all have their pluses and minuses.

The official 5.1 disc(s) is certainly interesting, especially if you isolate some of the channels. For instance, only listening to the surround channels, or just the center channel. With a song like Every Little Thing, you really get to appreciate just how incredibly layered that recording was (surround channels) as well as hearing Sting's vocal & bass track alone (center channel). I ended up making an audio disc of 'the best' of these mixes (from the DVD) for my own personal enjoyment. I haven't compared the DVD 5.1 mix to the DTS Surround CD yet, I'm guessing they're identical.

I recently grabbed the fan-made 5.1 mixes of the Synchronicity and Ghost In The Machine albums. I did a cursory listen, and they sound very good, once I listen to them in detail I may post further about them.

by **BinaryXtreme** on 03 Jul 2007 17:29

Yes, Sting wrote a song Synchronicity 3: Season Of The Witch. I read this when I was in Denver and have seen it a few times in different articles since.

http://idolator.com/tunes/sting/sting-p ... 237793.php

I think the first time I saw it at length was in the Denver paper but I can't find the link or anything. There is a reference to it in the link above but it's crude. I love the camel idea, lol.

by **Krokodyle** on 03 Jul 2007 17:30

The "Message In A Box" set drove me nuts (in a bad way), because not only was it incomplete, the way the albums themselves were broken apart got under my skin. Yeah, it's just a personal preference, but still...

by **BinaryXtreme** on 03 Jul 2007 17:33

[quote="Krokodyle"]The "Message In A Box" set drove me nuts (in a bad way), because not only was it incomplete, the way the albums themselves were broken apart got under my skin. Yeah, it's just a personal preference, but still...[/quote]

The only thing great about it was it's really cool packaging.

by **Krokodyle** on 03 Jul 2007 19:09

>> I really wonder what this will sound like if they ever record it. I know after doing some reading that Sting has written it but god it just makes me drool with anticipation to think of new material by the band.

Getting back to the original point of your thread, I do wonder if they will. I can imagine it's a step-by-step process. First get through the tour without killing each other, and if moods are still good, perhaps working on material.

Of course, who knows? I normally don't put much credibility into Page Six items, but at the same time, they *can* be reasonably accurate 'fly-on-the-wall' accounts of incidents.

If Synch III *was* ever done, it would be hard to top the previous two. It would have to be something driving, powerful, and with the same urgency as the other two Synch songs (if not greater). Something on a grand scale. Anything less would be pointless, imho.

by **blueboy** on 03 Jul 2007 19:52

By the way folks....

If you read the article...you will realize that the reference to Synch3 "Season of the Witch" is a joke.

...but I hear Rush is planning to cover it on their next album anyway, and that there is still a plan to have Fergie come out and do a rap medley of "My Hump" during "Behind My Camel-toe"!

:roll:

by **Johnny O** on 03 Jul 2007 20:16

Yep, it's all a joke...

By the by, Halloween III was subtitled "Season of the Witch"

cheeky...

by **BinaryXtreme** on 03 Jul 2007 20:22

[quote="blueboy"]By the way folks....

If you read the article...you will realize that the reference to Synch3 "Season of the Witch" is a joke.

...but I hear Rush is planning to cover it on their next album anyway, and that there is still a plan to have Fergie come out and do a rap medley of "My Hump" during "Behind My Camel-toe"!

:roll:

[/quote]

You know, it's weird because it comes up every now and then but the Denver paper just had such an amazing write up about it. The link I posted was hilarious but I guess stuff just picks up steam and gets it's own life. God I wish I had a copy of the article.

STEWART COPELAND

Synchronicity 3: Season Of The Witch

Synchronicity 3: Season Of The Witch

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