Boston Remasters

[Turnitup]

I just got this months "Guitar World" and there was an interview with
Tom Sholtz getting the lowdown on the remaster of Boston's first
two efforts. I found his process and plan interesting. In a nutshell
he thought the vocal and alot of guitar parts needed to be more in the
forefront of certain tracks, and that there were improvements needed
in the bass and drum departments. He took all the 2 track tape he had,
and put it thru the computer 1/8 of an inch at a time, and made his
changes, even stopping a vocal part in midword and changing the pitch.
Anyway, I ran out and bought both, and did a side by side test, and the
remasters are WAY better produced. There's sounds heard not even
audible on the first discs. If you like classic rock, and want a much
improved version of "Thee" classic rock album of the 70's, check them out.

[bonanzadave]

I'm all over that !!

[Steve Gonzales]

That is great news. I have some great memories of Boston. I was in my mid teens when they ruled the airwaves for a couple of years. Every once in a while I play a couple of tracks and wax nostalgic . The "AAD" tranfers that I have are nowhere near as good as the vinyl of the original releases. The comments you attribute to Tom Scholtz, echo mine to a "T". I believe he has an engineering degree from M.I.T and has always been a stickler for detail. I hope his attempt at remastering is as successful as Jimmy Page was with the Led Zep's DVD/CD box set. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Thanks for the info.

[johnaec]

Wow!

John

[Mr. Widget]

Wow!

John

John,

I wouldn't have taken you to be such a Boston fan. The Boston story I recall was how on their first tour they only knew the material on their first album so they played through the album's 7 or 8 songs twice...

Widget

[johnaec]

I actually am a Boston fan, mainly for the effects in the original "More Than a Feeling".
John

[KenWH]

Anyone know how these re-mastered offerings compare sound quality wise to the "Boston" sacd? I recently bought the sacd and it's of ok quality...but nothing spectacular imo.

But it's full of great songs that I remember my older brother and sister listening to when I was a young'n.

[Bob Womack]

I'm going to have to look this up. The original wasn't very amazing. Tom was the guy that got me interested in audio engineering, lo these thirty years ago. I know he originally did the mixes through an Auditronics 501 series and probably could have stood to have had a board with more headroom. To have them remixed from the multitracks sounds pretty exciting.

I've got to tell you that Bill Szymcyk's remastering of the James Gang's Rides Again and Thirds is spectacular. I've heard some less-than-stellar remasters and these two stand in stark contrast. Gorgeous.

Probably the worst one I experienced was Yes' Close to the Edge. The first transfer to CD was dull and noisy. Really horrible. When they got Joe Gastwirt to remaster it the result was much better.

Bob

[mbask]

Well thats one i'll be going to get tomorrow...An all time favorite of mine.
the first album was always a favorite of mine ,not only because of the great songs, guitar playing, and singing..but it had a great balenced sound at any volume. High
caliper for that time.. Right up there with Steely Dan and Supertramp..etc...
But the remix is even BETTER!?!?!?
can't wait thanks for the news

[Turnitup]

Well thats one i'll be going to get tomorrow...An all time favorite of mine.
the first album was always a favorite of mine ,not only because of the great songs, guitar playing, and singing..but it had a great balenced sound at any volume. High
caliper for that time.. Right up there with Steely Dan and Supertramp..etc...
But the remix is even BETTER!?!?!?
can't wait thanks for the news

For once, the re-master is Much better. I have the sacd of the 1st disc,
and it beats that. The sacd never was all that good to start with. I think
the biggest change is in the second disc ("Don't Look Back). I mean, the
new version of the title track is VERY good. After a week of spinning
these, I'm still astounded. Happy rock'in, and as always..CRANK IT.

[johnaec]

I broke down and bought the remaster of the first album yesterday. The recording quality, (or at least the result), IS much better than the original.

John

[Cyclotronguy]

How does the remaster stack up against the better vinyl, anyone have any idea???

Cyclotronguy

[Turnitup]

How does the remaster stack up against the better vinyl, anyone have any idea???

Cyclotronguy

I thought the remaster reminded me of a virgin LP. Way better than the
first issue CD. Think of a new LP played for the first time, with no
background noise. I say give it a listen, you'll be impressed, the guitars
and bass, are much improved, I've been playing it about 3 weeks now,
and I'm still picking up improvments. Later

[dllyons]

Thanks for the tip Turnitup !!!!!!!!! I'm heading out, as we speak, to look for these !!!!
I love Boston, especially the first two albums ! They are from an era that brings back very very fond memories, and a time when I changed my musical tastes frompop to what we know now as classic rock- Boston, Foreigner, Aerosmith, BTO, Bad Company, KISS, Frampton, etc. etc. The best !!

[jblnut]

Mine just arrived in the mail and I'm listening to it now through the SB Live Platinum and Sony MDR-V6's (everyone is asleep). WOW - what a difference over the original. I had been using the original CD release to show people how bad CD's can sound. The remaster sounds a lot more vinyl-like and it a tremendous improvement. Looks like some of the remastering was done two towns from where I live (Southborough, MA). Maybe Tom lives there now - he can afford it I'm sure .

Thanks again for the tip on this. Can't wait to hear it on the 250's with a few hundred watts making the meters dance .

Gotta keep up my avatar's reputation...

jblnut