Advice on Something/Anything?, Every Picture Tells A Story, and Eat A Peach

[Matt]

I have the Rhino CD of Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything. I was wondering if it's worth getting the MFSL disc of this baby?

I also have the recent remasters of Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells A Story and the Allman Brothers Band's Eat Peach. I've heard great things about the older Dennis Drake mastered discs of both. I was wondering how the remasters compare with those, and also how they'd compare to the MFSL versions?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Sckott]

Just a different sound. Much more flat, when you're talking about Something/Anything, and both Eat A Peach and Every Picture on MFSL sounds absolutely great, IMHO.

There's a small problem with the Drake "Eat A peach", "Little Martha" has some audiable crackling in it. For "Every Picture Tells A Story", just don't get the remaster. Both the MFSL and the Drake sound really fine. the differences between the Drake and the MFSL are "there", but they're not that far apart from each other as "Peach" and "Something/Anything" is from the MFSL counterparts.

[Mal]

Definitely worth getting the MFSL Something/Anything on CD. It beats the Rhino version hands down (surprise, surprise:p ).

The main difference is that the MFSL version sounds rich/warm/full as opposed to the clinical/hard/thin Rhino sound.

Another plus is that at the very end of the album (after S.L.U.T.) there is a sound like a punch-out or something which is missing on the Rhino version. This wouldn't normally bother me, but when your playing 'sounds of the studio' these things really add to the whole experience :D.

[Claviusb]

Originally posted by Malc S
Definitely worth getting the MFSL Something/Anything on CD. It beats the Rhino version hands down (surprise, surprise:p ).

The main difference is that the MFSL version sounds rich/warm/full as opposed to the clinical/hard/thin Rhino sound.

Yes, I wasn't sure what to expect after being disappointed so badly by all of the Todd discs done by Rhino. Seems like the better I got my system to sound, the worse the Todd discs got. I got brave though after picking up the "Just Ignore Me" discs, I bought the MFSL Something/Anything.


Another plus is that at the very end of the album (after S.L.U.T.) there is a sound like a punch-out or something which is missing on the Rhino version. This wouldn't normally bother me, but when your playing 'sounds of the studio' these things really add to the whole experience :D.

I'm with you on this Malcom. I'm curious, Malcom, have you heard the Todd reissues on the British Essentials label? They are already out-of-print after coming out in '99 but there are a couple left out there.

[Mal]

Claviusb,

I've not heard the UK Essential discs but I don't expect them to be that good. For "Runt" and "Ballad of Runt" I would recommend the US Rhino/Bearsville CDs (the first ones released). There's no mention of Ken Perry or Bill Inglot and they sound pretty much like flat transfers to me....

[Matt]

Thanks for the replies. I'll probably look for Something/Anything? on MFSL. As for the others, I bought the remasters through Columbia House a long time ago, but I may look for the Drakes to see how they stack up (the MFSL versions are pricey, but it doesn't sound like it's worth track them down).

[David Powell]

As I recall, Dennis Drake also did the Allman Bros. "Dreams" box set retrospective. This is a must have for any fan of ABB.

[tomcat]

There are at least 2 remasters of "Every Picture Tells A Story" around. As far as I know, the latest one is done by Suha Gur in the maybe well known series of early 70' Rod Stewart Remasters (the ones with the round sticker).
During "the Great Who's Next Craze" a few months ago I also ordered the "remastered CD" of EPTAS at hmv.com. I was surprised when I saw it was an other remaster than I expected. This one is from April 1995, done by Roger Wake and Mike Gill. Apart from the horrible graphics, they used the latest digital processing stuff like Prism Sound 20bit A/D, SADIF (maybe a typo and they meant SADIE?) 20bit digital editor and Prism Sound Super Noise Shaping system. Reads like the Gus Dudgeon gear on the Elton John remasters...
Now fasten your seat belts: "The result is enhanced sonic performance not previously available on the CD medium"!!! Smells like Elton spirit...
If someone has this and other versions of EPTAS, I would appreciate comments on its sound quality. I can't say much since I do not have any other version.
Greetings
Thomas

[Matt]

tomcat,

To the best of my knowledge, over here in the U.S., there's only been two issues of EPTAS that Polydor made widely-available on CD: the Drake edition and the new remaster by Suha Gur.

The name Roger Wake sounds familiar: I think he or his mastering company mastered the "Gilded Palace of Sin/Burrito Deluxe" two-fer I bought in the UK awhile back. That two-fer was also marketed as a "remaster," and was never made available in the U.S.

[Dave]

Well guys,

I guess it's my turn up at bat as I do own EPTAS on MFSL, mind you it's the UD2 version. It does sound pretty good for a UD2 (no smiley face eq. problem here), nice wide sound stage.

I don't have any other version to compare it with though. It does sound like they could have backed off a bit on the high end in the vocals though and the instrumentation is good. It could be just the sound of the master tape. (shrug):D