Remastering 101 : FTD Elvis Today Rocks
Pasarias | Texas, USA | 03/10/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First the bad news : the 10 songs on the original album are inferior sounding in every way to the 26 extra tracks. Older recordings share similar problems. The final mastering (`professionalizing') of these recordings - including mixdowns due to a limited number of tracks and technical adjustments to accommodate both radio and `records' - so compressed the sound spectrum, and the soundstage, that modern resuscitations of the unprocessed tracks often sound amazingly improved. The only answer is to remix from the original `raw' session tapes before remastering. Of course, then you have something new and different; not the original, but a version that is truly `new and improved' (unless you love the original and think that `they' screwed it up by changing it). To please everyone, companies could put the remastered version on one disc and the remixed-remastered version on a second disc, but with CD sales drying up ... fat chance.
Perhaps this is why we still don't have Remastered Beatles releases - Apple wants to improve the sound, but it doesn't wish to destroy the magic of the original mixes. How do you rerecord Tomorrow Never Knows when the tape loops were mixed live; or I Am The Walrus when the final mix included a live BBC Radio feed? Much of rock & roll's magic is `in the mix'. And let's face it, 60 year-old ears don't hear as well as 20 year-old ears, equipment changes, people are not in the same `frame of mind', some artists have unfortunately passed on, etc. You can't recreate the art of the moment or just have computers do it. George Martin brought in his son Giles to remix Beatles recordings for Cirque du Soleil (check out the DVD-Audio version of The Beatles Love to see how far this reinvention can go). The Who have remixed everything for some of their remasters - and thus today's versions are not the same as before. Look at My Generation thru the eyes of Amazon reviewer Terestai : "... it was discovered that many elements were recorded directly to the finished mono mix. Therefore, isolated tracks of these "add-ons" didn't exist to be put into this stereo remix. Such elements include the guitar overdubs on "My Generation" and "A Legal Matter", the vocal harmony in the second verse of "Much Too Much" and, most noticeably, the doubletracked vocal in "La-La-La Lies" ..." The latest Doors remixes `fix' numerous issues, and let's not even get into multi-channel Super Audio mixes. By the way, listen to the early Rolling Stones DSD Remasters to hear what can be done without remixing. All that said - yes, "you can't always get what you want, but ..." : Ernst could have pumped up the volume on those first 10 tracks and punched up the sound some.
We are here, however, to celebrate the rest of this great package. The sound is full, loud, clean - glorious, especially the 6363 Sunset `practice' material which closes the second disc. I now own 7 of these FTD (Follow That Dream) releases and this is the most revelatory of all (check out the shopelvis site for all 63 titles)! You have to experience the textures to believe them. Elvis has never sounded so, well, alive. There are 3, 4, even 5 `takes' of some of these songs. We are not talking false starts and breakdowns here (often fun enough in their own right), but rather different moods and sometimes different arrangements. A few of these alternate takes (`And I Love You So', `Green, Green Grass Of Home', `Fairytale', etc) are so much better than the original releases it makes you wonder about Felton Jarvis, the original producer. [To be fair, Felton tried to deal with some of these problems when he released Guitar Man - a nice 1981 LP (never issued on CD) which stripped away the overdubs on some earlier Elvis releases and revealed the great recordings underneath.]
From the opening licks of a spontaneous, great sounding Tiger Man outbreak, Elvis and the band rock with an energy that was often sucked out of the original album. The piano sound, the guitars, the vocals, the very spacey airiness is like being right there in the studio with E. Strangely enough, according to Ernst Jorgensen (The Complete Recording Sessions ), it was Elvis himself who hated the original session mixes which open the second disc. Elvis commanded Felton to remix the entire set and overdub strings. I hate to disagree with the master, but the emotion and feel of these unadorned mixes and early takes is often far superior to the final line-up of the original LP. This expanded 2 hour-plus FTD edition chronicles Elvis's last studio work for RCA. His final 16 studio tracks would be recorded at his beloved Graceland home.
The little booklet, which comes with all of the FTD 7 inch mini-LP packages, is superb. It includes tracking dates, session info, musicians, pictures, etc. The box has the great shiny covers that often grace European imports. These FTD releases are `soft boxes', no hard-shell plastic case for protection - shippers must be careful ! If you love late-period Elvis music, this is the only version of Elvis Today to own. Enjoy .,."
Very good latter day Elvis
Dustin Blythe | Mishawaka, In USA | 03/09/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"By the time he made this album, Elvis was deeply into his phase of studio weariness and his penchant for gravitating toward maudlin, "tear in your beer" country-rock was never stronger. Nevertheless, "Today" is one of his best albums of the 70's if you know these things going in. The production is quite good with very deep lows and clear highs. Highlights of the album include "And I Love You So" which Elvis sang to his then girlfriend in the studio, "Pieces of My Life", "Bringin' It Back" and "Green Green Grass of Home" which Elvis recorded after hearing Tom Jones' version. The story is that Elvis heard the Jones recording on the radio while traveling in the south and called the radio station and had them play the song numerous times. Finally Elvis went to a studio and laid down his version.
I have the Follow That Dream version of the album which comes in a 45 record size foldout package which has two cds. The original album is on disc one along with nine outtakes and disc two contains the original session mixes (without overdubs) and material recorded at RCA's Sunset Boulevard studios in California. This edition also contains a booklet with numerous photos and notes from the time of the recording. However, I have also owned the RCA remastered cd from 1991 and I recommend that disc to anyone interested in this album. The sound quality is comparable to the FTD edition and very good on it's own merits."
Bad mastering
Blues Bro | Lakewood, Colorado USA | 05/11/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"What a dissapointment this FTD release was. The original album sounds horrible. Sounds like they took a copy of a copy of a copy of the master and then applied Noise Reduction to it to make it sound as dull and lifeless as humanly possible. This is the worst version of the original album ever released. Amazing! Shame on you Ernst! Listen to every FTD release before releasing it from now, will ya?
The rest of the tracks, the alternates and outtakes sound OK. So, this is not definitive. You still need to find a decent copy of the origianl album. Save your money."
Track Listings (36) - Disc #1