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Discussion: The Pretenders: Pretenders II

Posts: 9

Post by progboy January 26, 2011 (1 of 9)
Anyone else want to chime in ?

Post by Tetlee January 26, 2011 (2 of 9)
I have this on its way to me as we speak, will post my thoughts when I receive it. Don't think there's any multi-channel, opinion looks evenly split so far out of the 6 ratings.

Post by Chalkperson January 27, 2011 (3 of 9)
Elvis Costello once said...."you get eighteen years to write your first record, and eighteen months to write your second", that is especially true here, EC is prolific but you have to somehow drag the songs out of Chrissie, unless you really love this record give it a miss...

Post by Tetlee January 31, 2011 (4 of 9)
Have given this a couple of plays now and it's ok, not bad but far from great also.

Haven't owned any previous versions of this album(despite the fact I used to love the group back in the day) so nothing to compare it to, but to my ears it sounds a little muffled and not nearly as clear as I would like(I always consider Spandau Ballet a good example of a perfectly mastered stereo SACD).

Mind you it's fair to say I don't have the best speaker set-up for stereo only SACDs(Arcam Musos together with Logo sub), hence my preferrence for multi-channel which can really shine.

Due to the above I won't write a review as wouldn't be fair without hearing it through decent stereo speakers, but for me I'd give this album a 3/5 star, great album, so so recording. Still recommended though if you can find it for a sensible price.

Post by ProfBoz March 23, 2011 (5 of 9)
I agree with the other posters: this is a disappointing, muddled mess. The redbook reissue from three or four years ago, though probably too bright for some, is much cleaner and powerful. And if you listen to the intro count on "Waste No Want Not" you can hear that the first half second or so has been cut off, which isn't true of the most recent redbook reissue. If I were to hear the redbook and SACD recordings back to back, with eyes closed, and had to identify one from the other, I'd get them exactly backwards.

Post by rammiepie March 23, 2011 (6 of 9)
Perhaps it's time that MoFi abandon their "proprietary" Gain II system and replace it with the Grimm audio converter. A lot of disappointing reissues, IMO.

A great SACD reissue should leap from the speakers and considering the amount of time this reissue company takes to release product, the results have been less than dazzling.

Another poster also denigrated the recent Carole King At Carnegie Hall SACD reissue saying it was "distant."

I'll stick with the 5.1 channel "Tapestry" (which except for a few cuts it duplicates in concert) which in mch allows the album to breathe!

Post by Claude March 23, 2011 (7 of 9)
rammiepie said:

Perhaps it's time that MoFi abandon their "proprietary" Gain II system and replace it with the Grimm audio converter. A lot of disappointing reissues, IMO.

In my experience, MFSL reissues are generally among the best sounding versions of the albums concerned, but they often choose titles which are not so well recorded. The best converter and mastering engineer cannot compensate limited recording quality.

Post by ProfBoz March 30, 2011 (8 of 9)
Claude said:

In my experience, MFSL reissues are generally among the best sounding versions of the albums concerned, but they often choose titles which are not so well recorded. The best converter and mastering engineer cannot compensate limited recording quality.

Well, but the recent redbook reissue sounded fantastic, so that's clearly not the case here. The absence of any high end is just bewildering. Even more disturbing are the hosannas and hype that preceded this release. MoFi has a stellar reputation, of course, and I as much as anyone wanted the SACD version of this record to be something special--roomy, precise, three-dimensional--but it's just not there.

Post by Ernani71 March 30, 2011 (9 of 9)
rammiepie said:

Perhaps it's time that MoFi abandon their "proprietary" Gain II system and replace it with the Grimm audio converter. A lot of disappointing reissues, IMO.

The Foreigner wasn't disappointing at all (I mean sonically; the actual music is another matter). The three MoFi Pixies discs are further proof that there is nothing inherently wrong with Gain II. (Love "Surfer Rosa.") This is not to say that the Grimm audio converter isn't better still.

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