Blondie Greatest Hits - a question about NR

Mal, what's the total playing time of your CD, 49:17 or 48:49?

 

Update:

The Japanese 1st black triangle pressing (CP32-5349) does not have the tape drag, but my other Canadian Chrysalis CD does. Also, there are 14 tracks on the Japan pressing and only 12 on the Canadian pressing.

1. Heart Of Glass (same)
2. Denis (Jpn) Dreaming (Cdn)
3. The Tide Is High (same)
4. In The Flesh (same)
5. Sunday Girl (same)
6. Dreaming (Jpn) Hanging On The Telephone (Cdn)
7. Hanging On The Telephone (Jpn) Rapture (Cdn)
8. Rapture (Jpn) One Way Or Another (Cdn)
9. Picture This (Jpn) (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear (Cdn)
10. Union City Blue (Jpn) Call Me (Cdn)
11. (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear (Jpn) Atomic (Cdn)
12. Call Me (Jpn) Rip Her To Shreds (Cdn)
13. Atomic (Jpn)
14. Rip Her To Shreds (Jpn)

 

Dave, what's the total playing time of your 1st Japanese pressing?

 

I would like to know that too, is the only one that has "Maria", cool song.

 

What's your opinion on this compilation?

Atomic - The Very Best Of Blondie (1999)

 

The sound of the current comp
'Sound And Vision' (w/ the dvd of videos) is acceptable,
but not particulary "vintage" or "analog" sounding.
They re-equed the s*** out of it. 'Maria' is present.

The remix of 'In The Flesh' is horrendous.

Admittedly, I have heard much worse stuff from EMI in the last 3 years.

The sound on the DVD is nowhere near as hard/strident as the cd.

 

This is the US version of the one shown in post #13. I believe the song list is the same and a previous poster stated the mixes are also the same.

 

What the heck is wow?

 

I don't know about remixes, but, it follows the pattern of modern mastering techniques. It gave me ear fatigue but YMMV. Btw, I recall the back liner or booklet said something about being mastered at 24bit/96k.

 

Tape speed fluctuation.

48:55 Roland.

 

Dave, thanks.

So it looks like there are already three different masterings of the non-remastered version of this album:

48:49 (copy of Dr. Merkwürdigli, EMI Swindon) - with tape fluctuations
48:55 (Dave's copy, 1st Japanese pressing) - w/o tape fluctuations
49:17 (Roland's copy, 1st WG pressing) - w/o tape fluctuations (at least I can't here them)

Mal, what is the timing of your copy, and what pressing do you have?

Thanks.

 

Just picked up a copy of this. Thanks for the advice.

 

I was contemplating a Japanese mini-LP version of "Best Of Blondie" at Newbury Comics today. Claims to use the "2006 remasters" as the source. Anybody have this one?

 

I just had a friend needle drop a bunch of mint Japanese Blondie 45's. I'd bet they sound better than any released product.

 

I'm posting this here since it seems like the most recent and/or popular thread on Blondie. Blondie is one of my all-time favorite bands; the first LP I ever bought was Parallel Lines, I've owned multiple copes of all their albums on LP and CD, have more or less every book written about them, and a framed promo poster for Autoamerican on my wall. And (click my profile) I'm playing this stuff back through a... decent hifi setup.

I finally got the DCC CD of Parallel Lines and am underwhelmed. I know, I know, I know. I'm an fool who can't possibly have ears or a brain. But while the remaster is loud and overly-EQ'd and the original CD is from tapes that weren't in pristine condition, the DCC sounds quite veiled with almost no high end at all. I'm not a new-comer here and I'm well aware of the reverence people have for this mastering. In addition, I have nothing but respect for our host's mastering prowess. The DCC copy sounds fine - full of warmth and life. But after playing all my many CD copies many times, I will have to say that for all its faults, the original Chrysalis CD will still be my go-to copy. Not getting rid of the DCC by any means, but just find it a bit "dull" sounding. Not trashing it and don't mean this to be a controversial post, but if you've got the common as dirt CD original, you've got the best sounding CD copy, IMHO.

 

saturnsf: I actually agree with you. I'm not sure why the DCC Parallel Lines sounds like it does -- maybe it's just an accurate reflection of the master tape -- but it sounds a little muffled to me. I'll confess that after my ears have adjusted to it (i.e., after listening for a couple of minutes) I'm not bothered by the sound, but whenever I first put it on it just sounds so closed in that I long for a treble knob. I think this is the only DCC gold cd I have that (un)impresses me in this way.

 

My Best of Blondie CD does not have the tape drag issues so it is one of the better CDs of the comp.

 

I read through the whole thread and haven't been able to find an answer.
As I don't have any Blondie in my collection, what is the best compilation CD to get, what's considered the best combo of a solid track listing and good sound that's easy to find i.e. no imports?

 

This is the only comp I kept after getting all the original albums. Yeah, the EQ is a bit harsh, but the selection is killer. Plus watching Debbie in DVD . The import version has an extra track IIRC.

I think the Blondie remasters aren't as bad as most people here talk about them. They are somewhat harsh and a bit loud, but not to be avoided like the plague. They are certainly not brickwalled.

If you shop around, you may find a good deal on the Singles box set, a classy package. I got mine for about $30.