Targets you actually play

OK -- so I haven't reached anywhere near the target geekdom of others on this esteemed forum. But I finally reached 100 targets, and in celebration, I wanted to list the targets that I actually play, based on sound quality and overall appeal of the music -- the ones that aren't sitting in a box somewhere collecting dust:

Cars - S/T (WG)
Queen - Greatest Hits (WG)
Queen - News Of The World (WG)
Kraftwerk - Computer World (WG)
Devo - Freedom Of Choice (WG)
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy (WG)
Genesis - S/T (WG)
Dire Straits - S/T (WG)
Fleetwood Mac - S/T (WG)


Additionally, here's some Targets where the re-master is most likely better:

Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain (WG) -- I play this quite a bit, but the sound is nothing to write home about. My inkling is that the Rhino release is better based on the Crocodiles remaster, which is pretty impressive.
Linda Ronstadt - Greatest Hits (WG) -- definitely exceeded by the DCC

Anyone else want to chime in here -- I'm sure there others with much larger target collections

 

Yes - 90125 (WG) and especially Led Zep - Houses (WG) are the two that get spin around here. But I only have five or six targets at the moment. I'd like to get my hands on all those you mention, though...esp. the Kraftwerk!

 

Ahhh!!!! 90125 -- that's one that I don't listen too enough. Good sounding target.

 

I play all the target CD's I own.

Everytime this topic comes up I cringe, since I used to own A LOT of target CD's - but traded them away when I got the newest re-master of an album that was once a target. I don't do that anymore, so most of the target CDs I own are of albums that have yet to be re-mastered, or were recently remastered in the past few years (since I joined this forum).

 

There's just some that don't get any rotation at my household:

Howard Jones - Dream Into Action (WG or US) -- quite possibly the worst sounding target in existence -- even though the hit track "Things Can Only Get Better" is a bona fide 80's hit.

Just realized, I forgot a couple that are in heavy rotation:

Talking Heads - Remain In Light (WG)
Pretenders - S/T (WG) -- I don't have the remaster -- is the remaster better???

 

Well seeing how the Talking Heads albums haven't been remastered yet - I have them all on target CDs (at least those that were released with a target design).

The "Fear of Music" target CD actually has some real noticable tape dropouts that I always wondered about.

I also have a question - since not every first pressing of a CD made by Polygram in West Germany has a "target" - would the non-target design still be considered a "target-like" pressing? If so then I do have A LOT.

 

Mike, in many cases West German and Japanese non-targets on the WEA labels are the first pressings. An example is John Lennon & Yoko Ono Double Fantasy, which was never released as a target. However, some titles were pressed in West Germany or Japan as targets and non-targets. I have always assumed that the targets came first. Here are some non-targets I have where targets also exist:

* Madonna Madonna: Japanese non-target
* Dire Straits Communique: West German non-target
* Elton John Breaking Hearts: Japanese non-target

There are also both targets and non-targets of Prince Around The World In A Day.

 

Here are some targets I play regularly (well, CD-Rs of them):

* ABBA Greatest Hits and Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (The US non-targets sound great too.)
* The Cars The Cars and Candy-O
* Queen Greatest Hits (the Japanese non-target sounds great too), The Game and News of the World
* Donald Fagen The Nightfly
* Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy
* Eagles Hotel California, The Long Run, Greatest Hits Vol. 2, and Best of Eagles
* Phil Collins Hello, I Must Be Going! and Face Value
* Genesis Abacab and Genesis
* Dire Straits Love Over Gold and Communique
* The Doors The Doors and Morrison Hotel
* Linda Ronstadt Lush Life
* Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac and Rumours (I don't have the remasters yet.)
* Foreigner Foreigner, 4, Head Games, Double Vision, and Records
* John Fogerty Centerfield
* The Pretenders The Pretenders and Learning to Crawl
* Prince 1999 and Purple Rain
* Van Halen Van Halen and 1984

 

I play that one. But, it's not a target... it's an LP to CD-R transfer I did for my wife from my old LP that I originally hardly ever played - but play now all the time. Sound good too, if I do say so myself .

Targets I have that I do play,

Bryan Ferry - Boys and Girls
Berlin - Love Life
King Crimson - Three of a Perfect Pair
Quarterflash - S/T (Japanese Target - which is pre-emphisized, BTW, found out trying to do a cd-r copy)
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

 

Joni Mitchell-Court & Spark

 

Uncanny -- I'm listening to this right now!!!

"Same Situation" seems a bit veiled for some reason. Am I hearing this correctly?

Some nights, I'll just spin a "target selection" for grins. This is one of those nights.

 

Huh????

Just play the original copy -- right?? I can understand playing a CD-R in the car, but go for the original on the home system.

Or do you always play your CD's while eating fried chicken?

 

Barbecue baby back ribs, actually. Seriously, I am a collector at heart, so I make CD-Rs of the first pressings that I listen to a lot and use the CD-Rs even at home. They sound great to my ears. I never, ever take first pressings out of the house.

 

Excellent -- kind of like the Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill (J) I scored on Friday with the requisite BBQ sauce ON THE PLAYABLE SIDE! No scratches -- just looked like someone got carried away during a patio party back in the 80's

Agreed -- first pressings stay in the house -- never in the car. I'd had to lose a target/first pressing to a car/CD thief!

 

Kym's list.

Congratulations on your 100th target, Chris!

Here's the list of target CDs in regular rotation at Kym's:

Led Zeppelin, Houses Of The Holy
Queen, News Of The World
Berlin, Love Life
Rickie Lee Jones, s/t
The Pretenders, Learning To Crawl
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (J)
VA, More Adventures In Modern Sounds (promo edition)

But the one that may surprise you:

OST, Vision Quest - I really like the sound of Sammy Hagar's "I'll Fall In Love Again" and Red Rider's "Lunatic Fringe" on this CD.

 

Vision Quest OST is a great compilation -- from the Madonna track to Style Council to Dio all on one disc. Good pick!

I might actually have to break down and rent the movie -- did this ever become a DVD release?

 

dumb question - what is a target CD

I've never heard of them, is it an American thing?

tim

 

Tim -- no it's a worldwide phenomenon

There are quite a few target CD's on your side of pond as well. During the first two years of CD production, Warner affiliated labels issued there CD's in colorful "target" pattern. All CD's were made in either Japan or West Germany as there were no pressing plants in the United States. Some titles, like "Ocean Rain" from Echo & The Bunnymen appear to be completely for European distribution at the time.

Here's what that disc looks like:

http://www.precisys.com/wea/images/echo_ocean_rain.jpg

 

Barbecue sauce on the disc! Wow! I've never seen that! I've found used CDs with dead bugs inside the jewel case, though.

 

That's a great disc! It was my first soundtrack target! I love it!

 

Talking Heads LITTLE CREATURES slays the stock CD....I don't know why, it just does. I think it's the only target Cd I own at this point.

 

thanks very much - next dumb question - what's so special about them ? - I've always avoided 80's CD like the plague. or are Target ones the exception to the rule?

tim

 

Many original Japanese and West German pressings, whether they be WEA targets or discs from other labels, sound better than later pressings under the same catalog number or later remasters. For one thing, methods to tweak the sound in the digital domain didn't exist in the early-to-mid '80s, so the transfers were done flat. If a good source was used (often the master tapes), the results were very often outstanding.

 

Interesting. The only version I have is the target, so I guess I won't bother looking for any US pressings.