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Posted: |
Feb 15, 2013 - 5:42 PM
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By: |
Ifukube
(Member)
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I recently picked up Intrada's FOUL PLAY soundtrack CD and yes, the song "Ready To Take A Chance Again" is indeed in real stereo, not in a "mono mixdown" version (as it is on every Manilow CD). However, it appears the audio levels are changing a little as the song is playing...at the 49 second mark, the audio jumps a little higher, then seems to stay there or go back a drop, and at the roughly the 2:00 mark, the sound gets louder again as the song is lifting. Even after I burned the CD into my computer and listened to the song back on mp3, I can still hear the audio levels changing throughout the song. Can anyone else confirm if they hear this anomaly also?
Second, there seems to be an issue with the sound quality in general, but it's more noticeable with the songs, and not as detectable with the score tracks. In a nutshell, the songs seem to have a more tinny/shrill sound overall...there is no richness or much bass to them. Another (and better) example of this is track 5, Copacabana...which sounds like it is almost devoid of any richness and bass, unlike the versions on Barry's regular CDs, where all of his songs sound firm, rich and have a warm sound.
So, while I'm happy to have this soundtrack for the rare music and score, the sound quality is a bit disappointing to me and sounds like the source was taken from film elements or whatever. Has anyone else noticed that the sound quality isn't the best?
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Posted: |
Feb 18, 2013 - 11:29 PM
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By: |
Ifukube
(Member)
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Let me conclude by saying I'm happy to have both releases and hope for remastered re-releases in the future.
Of course this is all speculation anyway, but I doubt that Paramount has better or different mastertapes in their vaults, and I had just assumed anyway that Intrada's CD was remastered, but unfortunately, there is no technical information in the booklet that could shed some light on the audio source, the remastering, info on the original LP...nothing. It's pretty obvious that Intrada must have used the only source that was available to them, and as it turns out, it seems to be the same source that was used for the original LP.
What I would like to personally see though, is a FOUL PLAY soundtrack CD that can get access to Barry Manilow's proper Arista recordings (which sound better), as the two songs found on the FOUL PLAY CD are from inferior film or soundtrack elements. However, I don't think for one minute that we'll ever see the better Arista masters substituted on to the FOUL PLAY soundtrack, so in the end, we'll probably always be stuck with the original FOUL PLAY audio source.
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Posted: |
Feb 20, 2013 - 12:03 AM
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By: |
Ifukube
(Member)
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Forgive me if I'm not following this properly, but as you are a Manilow fan and already have better recordings of the 2 songs featured anyway, why would you want a further release? You've already stated the score tracks are pretty decent.
That's a good question, but "Octoberman" pretty much explained it. In addition, the stereo mix version of "Ready To Take A Chance Again" is ONLY available on the FOUL PLAY soundtrack, it is not available on any other Manilow CD, so that is one reason why it would be nice to see this soundtrack improved audio-wise in the future.
The story of "Ready To Take A Chance Again" in particular, is an interesting one because as I mentioned above, the FOUL PLAY CD contains the only true stereo version - all other versions of this song on CD are in a mono mixdown version...all of them, that is why Manilow fans were thrilled to buy the Intrada CD, because it has the only known stereo mix of the song.
Reportedly, the reason for all of this, is because the true stereo mix of this song has been buried on the master reel for Side 1 of the FOUL PLAY soundtrack, and Arista/BMG probably never knew the stereo master was there, etc, etc. I personally bought the FOUL PLAY CD for two reasons - to enjoy the Charles Fox instrumental versions of that song, and also to enjoy the song in true stereo for the first time, but since it doesn't sound as good as I hoped it would (tinny, with audio levels that are noticeably rising throughout the song), I was somewhat disappointed with it. Also, the "Copacabana" track on the Intrada CD is even worse...incredibly tinny/shrill.
As for the score tracks, they sound OK, but that is only because the vocal songs are much worse. The truth is, the score tracks could also use a little more bass and warmth too. Unless better mastertapes exist (which I doubt), or unless someone can work some magic with the current masters in the future, I'm afraid this Intrada FOUL PLAY CD will be the best one for some time to come.
Also, it would be nice if Arista/BMG could finally get a hold of the true stereo mix of "Ready To Take A Chance Again"...perhaps they will be able to restore or remaster it properly.
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leafblower, I only bumped up the thread to post that Varese was re-issuing this.
Okay, I really hope you're just teasing him good-naturedly by calling him Leafblower because I just howled at my desk at that. Maybe I've had too much coffee, but that was funny. Leagolfer, did you find it funny? I think you should change your name until your keyboard is fixed, in which case it'd be: LEAFBLOWER.
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And a reminder of why the thread is bumped up if he missed it.