View Full Version : Reprise: "Kink Kronikles"
Ralpho
05-24-2002, 11:50 AM
I think I've officially been bitten by the Audiophile bug! I just got a copy of "The Kink Kronikles" and while the material is great; I gotta tell you - I can't even enjoy it! really - I'm totally pissed & frustrated with how god awful this sounds! I think this has to be the worst I've heard yet!. I know it's about the music but pleeeease!! Where the hell does Reprise get-off allowing this great material to be released with such total disregard for sound quality? Someone else mentioned this same frustration with the "Loud, Fast & Out of Control" set, but at least those are older recordings. Compared to the MFSL "You Really Got Me/Kinda Kinks" This is Garbage! (Not cheap either @$25.00!) I feel Jipped!:mad:
Didn't MFSL use fake stereo for their Kinks CD?
Anyway, you may want to look through the old threads on the Kinks.
The tapes don't sound that great to begin with, but to my knowledge, only the early PRT CD's are correct, probably a flat transfer from the right tapes.
The Castle remasters use some denoising as well as some really bad EQ, probably in an attempt to liven up the sound of those tapes, but only making it a lot worse.
I love the Kinks, but the early stuff has alot of problems associated with them. Release, ownership and quality all add to this. I just would love a definative version of Something New, Lola vs Powerman, and many others. Like the Stones, Beales, and Animals, I wont hold out for the definative remaster's.
Uncle Al
05-24-2002, 01:33 PM
Kinks Kronikles goes from sounding very bad to acceptable. Most of their early catalog - no matter which release we discuss - has the potential to achieve "acceptable", but rarely does.
, they are some great tunes though - and absolutely essential. Kinda like trying to achieve audiophile standards out of the first Stones album - it is what it is and that's all that it is (paraphrasing Popeye).
Vivaldinization
05-24-2002, 01:44 PM
I've never thought KK was too bad. It isn't unlistenable by far, and is at worst somewhat muddy. Great songs, and still essential.
And FWIW, I now have a complete collection of PRT CDs, and I can honestly say that with the exception of Arthur (which does sound a bit better), there's really no huge difference between the PRT's, the early Castles, and the US Reprise's. And for the last time: my US Reprise of Arthur is *not* in reprocessed stereo!
-D
That's always frustrating, spending a lot of time and money finding what's the absolute best version, only to find that it's barely that much better than what you already have.
indy mike
05-24-2002, 02:24 PM
That MoFi Kinks twofer has some genuine stereo, but then it also has a bizzarre rechanneled You Really Got Me - kinda like they wanted to ape the sound of the Yardbirds' take on I Wish you Would (Could???) - cavern like echo heaped on high. Aside from that the sound is kinda brittle to my ears - if it's cheap/used pick 'er up, but don't expect a sonic revelation...
BeatleFred
05-24-2002, 11:02 PM
I bought alot of the Kinks reissues on CD and I must say, in comparsion, the plain 'ol regular Kinks Kronikles CD actually sounds pretty decent. In fact, the best sounding "Waterloo Sunset" Ive heard so far is on the the regular KK CD. Its warm, smooth, and I like the stereo separation. The version of WS on Castle's Something Else '98 reissue sounds very brittle in comparison to me. For a more hi fi sounding Kinks, a track like "Stormy Sky" from 1977's Sleepwalker CD on Velvel sounds pretty good- probably because they recorded on better equipment by that time.
peterC
05-25-2002, 01:59 AM
Originally posted by BeatleFred
I bought alot of the Kinks reissues on CD and I must say, in comparsion, the plain 'ol regular Kinks Kronikles CD actually sounds pretty decent. In fact, the best sounding "Waterloo Sunset" Ive heard so far is on the the regular KK CD. Its warm, smooth, and I like the stereo separation. The version of WS on Castle's Something Else '98 reissue sounds very brittle in comparison to me. For a more hi fi sounding Kinks, a track like "Stormy Sky" from 1977's Sleepwalker CD on Velvel sounds pretty good- probably because they recorded on better equipment by that time.
Yes me too. I ordered all the 1998 Castle remasters in advance on import and paid a small fortune. Boy was I disappointed! I already had most of the bonus tracks on other CDs and the only remaster which sounded a little better than the original CD versions was Arthur.
KK sounds OK to me.
Maybe the best sounding Waterloo Sunset is the stereo mix on "The Songs of Ray Davies Waterloo Sunset".
Evan L
07-23-2002, 02:11 PM
An especially frustrating Kinks release(for me)is "The Village Green Preservation Society", which, in it's Reprise incarnation has to be one of the worst sounding CD's ever. One of the cuts has unbelievable hum in the beginning, and not sounding like it's from the master either. The cut is "Phenomenal Cat", BTW. Still, despite the (goat sound effect here)BAAAAD sound quality, it's still a great album. Been searching out a vinyl copy, but have never found a mint one. It didn't sell many copies to begin with, hence harder to find.
Vivaldinization
07-23-2002, 03:12 PM
You really feel that way? The Castle and PRT issues aren't that much different, and we all know how people feel about the '98 issue. HOnestly, it's just a crappy sounding album, like Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
-D
peterC
07-23-2002, 05:30 PM
A site search of the word "Kinks" will lead to much discussion of the various CD versions and remasters.
A Google search however could be far more "interesting"!!
proufo
07-23-2002, 06:33 PM
Originally posted by Ralpho
I think I've officially been bitten by the Audiophile bug! I just got a copy of "The Kink Kronikles" and while the material is great; I gotta tell you - I can't even enjoy it! really - I'm totally pissed & frustrated with how god awful this sounds!
Stay away from this and any other forum where sound quality is discussed. Do not read any HiFi magazines either. Do most of your listening in the car or with a boombox, equipment that you will not concern yourself on quality while listening.
You may still be saved but it's up to you.
Hey Pablo! I think that just the fact that he's here at all say's it's pretty much too late.:winkgrin:
peter
07-23-2002, 07:05 PM
Regarding the Kinks:
1. The MoFi two-fer does use true stereo for most of the first LP. Why? Well, because that LP was done in true stereo for export. Seen it on ebay may times and it's listed in the UK RC Price Guide. You Really Got Me is re-channeled because it was originally a UK single, and, as we all know, the singles of our fave UK 60's pop artists did not see a stereo release (at least in the UK) for some time, if one was ever done at all. Witness: "Hey Jude" first appeared in stereo in the UK on the blue LP in 1973.
2. Village Green: I have the 1996 stereo Castle re-issue LP and I like this a lot. I also have an orig. US two-tone Reprise copy which is OK, but the Castle is better. My US copy is pressed by Capitol, different (SMAS) catalogue number and matrix. This is listed in the most recent Goldmine guide and is termed a "Record Club" release. I don't have a non-Capitol one.
3. More Kinks: I really like, though they are impossible to find, the early 1980's re-issues of the first six UK Kinks LP's. The first four (Kinks, Kinda, Kontorversy and Face) are mono, which Something Else and Kelvin Hall are stereo. I am missing the Something Else, but I have the rest. Very nice all analogue sound, very warm. Never bought the UK Village Green and Arthur LP's in the late 70's as a teenager because they were only available in non-gatefold sleeves (originally, both had gatefolds). I do have a gatefold Lola from this time period and it too is nice. I also like the recent 2001 Castle vinyl re-issues, though they are from digital sources and hence, a little sharp. The vinyl medium helps though.
And, I hope, so does this post.
proufo
07-23-2002, 07:17 PM
Originally posted by Dave
Hey Pablo! I think that just the fact that he's here at all say's it's pretty much too late.:winkgrin:
Hello Dave. It's never too late to protect the bits of innocence Ralpho has left, however small it may be.
You may be correct though, had it been ANY other artist I could accept that Ralpho is redeemable but The Kinks?
Paraphrasing Alex from A Clockwork Orange, "How can Ralpho feel sick while listening to lovely, lovely Kinks?
Ralpho, welcome to the dark side.
proufo
07-23-2002, 07:23 PM
Originally posted by peter
More Kinks: I really like, though they are impossible to find, the early 1980's re-issues of the first six UK Kinks LP's. The first four (Kinks, Kinda, Kontorversy and Face) are mono, which Something Else and Kelvin Hall are stereo. I am missing the Something Else, but I have the rest. Very nice all analogue sound, very warm. Never bought the UK Village Green and Arthur LP's in the late 70's as a teenager because they were only available in non-gatefold sleeves (originally, both had gatefolds). I do have a gatefold Lola from this time period and it too is nice. I also like the recent 2001 Castle vinyl re-issues, though they are from digital sources and hence, a little sharp. The vinyl medium helps though.
And, I hope, so does this post.
Something Else in stereo is quite distracting, the mix being made by engineers playing with the new stereo toy. Get or keep your mono. UK originals go for over US$70 at ebay. Still in my wish list. So many records, so little cash.
Except for some wandering music here and there (and I may be nit-picking), the VGPS stereo mix is OK, not annoying at all.
Originally posted by MatrixMan
An especially frustrating Kinks release(for me)is "The Village Green Preservation Society"....... Been searching out a vinyl copy, but have never found a mint one. It didn't sell many copies to begin with, hence harder to find.
I found a British PRT pressing from the mid 1980's. Probably not as good as an original, but better than my CD. Worth hunting down.
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