a-ha's 'Hunting High and Low,' 'Scoundrel Days' 2CD reissues

huh,yeah it does,the tempo seems off until 35 secs,then it becomes normal,didn't notice it before

 

Is that because of how the original master sounds or is it an error? Maybe Chris H can answer if he drops by again?

So far I have just bought the Scoundrel Days release. It is great! There is also a carreer spanning compilation called "25" out these days assembled by more or less the same team but there might be a thread for it already?

 

There was a dropout on the stereo master so another mix had to be edited in for a few seconds. I dont think the speed is different as such, it's just a sonic difference where the edit is.
It sounds a lot better than the dropout though!
For your info, the track was released in 1984 WITH the dropout so the stereo master was already in a bad state back then.
The only way to fix this perfectly would be to go back to the multitrack and remix it. This wasn't an option unfortunately.

 

Thanks for your quick answer Chris. Then it makes perfect sense.

Oh, and while you're here. Do you know if there have been any talk about vinyl reissues for a-ha at all? Maybe there is not a high demand for that (apart from me)?

 

Don't buy at cdwow.

I've had some orders.

Always get the wrong articles (dvd instead of blu-ray), Argentinian version of a cd instead of an sacd, used articles,... (everytime about 1-2 months after some e-mail reminders to get them).

Finally I gave up ... and I didn't even send the last article back. Send it twice back ... then it was out of print so I need to choose something else. I choose the Foo Fighters blu-ray and got a blu-ray totally damaged ... After 51 min. there's an error and it stops playing.

Never again ... cd wow.


No loudness wars for the A-Ha reissues?

 

From what I hear with my ears and what I've read they have plenty of space to breathe dynamicly speaking, so no worries there.

 

OK. That's good news.

Will be on my next order list.

I think this will be my first cdon-order. (Seems like Amazon only has the jewel cases)

 

My experiences with cd wow have been good so far. But I'm also waiting for the A-ha reissues that I ordered from them.

 

CDWOW have been a nightmare.

I pre-ordered both albums at £10.99 but in early July which is obviously a good price.

But....for over a month have been getting fobbed off with 'awaiting confirmation of when our suppliers can deliver stock to us' etc.

They did confirm that these are the digipacks, which is the ONLY reason I'm still hanging on...

Anyway, the other day I noticed on my account listing my 'backorder' items link to the two albums showing 'in stock' but priced at £28.99

After further complaints (laborious since they will not use the phone) it turns out they are IN stock but I can't have them because they are £28.99 not £10.99.

ie they won't consider supplying them to me until they can get cheaper stock from the supplier that is letting them down!! Outrageous.

In short, they do have the stock but do not want to take the hit at supplying at the price THEY chose to set.

I have been given a £3 e-voucher and told 'we appreciate your patience'

 

Typically for cd-wow. When you complain they give you vouchers, so you'll place another order (= another nightmare)

Same for me, and then I got a damaged blu-ray.

And then I gave up with returning goods to them (they can keep their vouchers, and the 20$ for the blu-ray).
I'm not going to waste all of my time, with returning goods and making complaints to get another 2$ voucher.

Sorry ... Off topic. But those kind of shops keep you waiting, till the product is finally out of print So avoid them. What's a 3$ voucher, if there's a huge chance they will sent the wrong package, damaged goods,....

4 months later you're still waiting for your "definitive package".

 

strange negative comments on cdwow. I want to defend them by stating I have never received a wrong or damaged CD or vinyl and always arriving within 10 days.
Nowadays I buy almost all vinyl from their site because of the free shipping and lowest vinyl prices!

 

Got my replacement "Scoundrel Days" booklet from Rhino this weekend.

 

Good! Enjoy the short reading

 

I'm reminding all a-ha fans about this if they want the deluxe series to continue:

 

I bought a nice double cd <non-digipac> of HHAL from a guy on Discogs for $20. Beautiful package, nice sound. I would still keep my original copy, however. Anyone have a wave-form comparison?
I always liked the sound of the original. What a classic album...

 

CD-WOW just told me that there'd be another delay.....

 

I must hear this, I have all the 12" remixes from various masters, love most of the sounds, they were not known for SQ in my eyes/ears, doesn't matter, when they hit they're zenith on 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon' they got so tight as a band, Pal got into his groove, most of my A-Ha is on Lp, the CDs sound bright and tinny, though I have AKG K601 cans.

Thanks for this update, I'm a A-Ha fool

 

Related but slightly OT question:

Anybody know if there is a digipak version of "25" available or expected to be released? I've got a nice a-ha/digipak streak going at the moment and would hate to break it at this point. Not crucial but nice to know before I decide order. Also, the "Hunting High and Low" bonus track on the German release of "25", is that only on the download release of said album?

 

If you have both CDs you can compare waves yourself. There is a wave of the remaster earlier in the thread.

 

Where, in the song, am I supposed to hear this?

 

See the replies from Chris H on that post.

 

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118023766.html?categoryid=4076&cs=1&query=Rhino

No need to hope for more deluxe versions of a-ha albums on CD, then?

 

Yes this is very depressing. The 'benefits' of digital (ipods, convenience etc) have been far outweighed by the devastating impact on retail record shops.

London used to be FULL of record shops, used, big chains (Tower, Virgin) independents etc. I could easily spend a day walking around the West End dropping into all my favourites. Now it's just HMV and a very small number of others.

Call me Mr Grumpy but I would be happy to erase the MP3/ipod from history to bring back record shops and the fun of in-store browsing (not the internet kind!)

In the words of John Lydon "Ever feel like you've been cheated?"

 

Back to a-ha...

I'm officially giving up on CD-Wow since after 8 weeks I'm still getting the 'We have experienced a delay' email on HHAL.

Quick question - I'm in New York in mid-October. If I pop into a a big record store in manhattan will I see a-ha digi-packs on the racks or just jewel case?

Surely it's not just ordering direct from Rhino that gets you the digi-pack version?

Any help would be appreciated - they are not in store anywhere in the UK (jewel case only).

 

You can get them from Scandinavian-based CDON. They're €23.95 a pop but easily available (ordered them there myself). Shipping is €4.95 and they deliver to Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

http://cdon.eu/music/a-ha/default?page-size=15&sort-order=66

EDIT: I see there's a deluxe edition of "25" coming as well, now with a DVD. Nice!