Earth Wind & Fire Greatest Hits advice, please

Grant, I am not 'playing' with you. I saw Joe Palmaccio's name on the back of it. I swear.

 

Do you have the CD in front of you? Because you should check out the back of it. You have TWO people here saying the same thing.

 

On the Best of EWF Vol. 1 1999 reissue, there are two names, on the left side on the back it says Wilder, and underneath the Bonus Tracks credits it says Palmaccio.

On the Best of EWF Vol. 2 (space cover) reissue, there are two names but it says "mastered by Wilder and Palmaccio."

 

Well, on the LEFT side it says MARK WILDER! It seems we all are right, because the BONUS tracks were mastered by Palmaccio! The rest of it was done by Wilder.

Whew! See, we were all looking at different sides of the CD! Problem solved as far as who remastered what on THIS title!

 

Well, I'm glad we got that straightened out. Thanks, Duophonic. Guess I won't bother getting it, after all. I still think that Wilder's remastering is somewhat harsh.

 

So, it seems that for all the remasters, older and newer ones, both guys did the mastering. But, one constant is the producer, Leo Sacks. And, Harry Weinger did the boxed set. Don't let that scare you, though, because the box sounds very good!

 

Hey! I'm the one who figured out that both guys did the mastering and whom did what!

If anything, i'd say Wilder's mastering is very smooth and mellow.

 

Grant, why don't you get the one I got? It's got more songs than the other one. Did Wilder also do the two-disc Essential compilation?

 

But, i'm not going to bother because I have all their albums on CD anyway. I don't know who did the Essential comp because I don't need it, but my money says Palmaccio did it. I just checked Amazon. There's no info on producer/mastering.

 

My Essential EWF triple-disc (bonus DVD) says Wilder.

 

Settle down- the hero sandwich is on its way. Thank you very much.

 

I gotta practice for the times when I don't get credit in the liner notes!

 

So, it seems that Wilder is indeed the lead engineer in charge of remastering the EWF catalog.

 

Grant, from what your able to tell from those Palmaccio remastered bonus tracks, do you think his jobs are more lifelike than Wilders?
(By the way, should I have put an apostrophe after the 'r' on Wilder? I've been reading a lot lately, and I see possessives as sometimes having one, and sometimes not. Grammar is confusing.)

 

Hard to say, as those megamixes were mixed especially for those remasered CDs. So, the megmixes and the original EWF mixes from the 70s are two different animals.

 

The decision to put the 45 edit of "Fantasy" on GHV1, probably was one they made in order to fit everything comfortably on vinyl back in 1978. I remember being stunned by the change since all I had ever heard was the LP version. They really should have changed it for CD release IMO.

 

Duplicate post. Gorts please delete. Thanks!

 

Sean I love the EWF GH as well by Wilder (the 1998 one). Wilder is is one of the favorites on the forum. He's done most of the Mile Davis reissues and there are no complaints there either.

 

Sean,

Right now I am enjoying the Mark Wilder remaster of "All N' All", and it reminds me of the vinyl. I like it.

 

Mark Wilder and Seth Foster did that one.

 

Duophonic,

Sounds like you have the remaster of Best Of, Vol 1...the remaster of Best Of, Vol. 2...the Greatest Hits (which is essentially a "remaster" in that the tracks were remastered, even though it was a "new" comp when it came out)...and Essential.

Now for the $64,000 questions. Is the mastering essentially the same (since Mark Wilder did most of the tracks on all of these)? I can't see him re-mastering the tracks for Greatest Hits in 1998 & then doing them again for the 2 Best Of's in 1999...although stranger things have happened! Which collection sounds best to you?

I have the old, original CDs of Best Of, Vol. 1 & Best Of, Vol. 2. Would you recommend an upgrade?

Grant: You're the expert on the singles...feel free to chime in!

Dexter

 

Well, no EARTH, WIND & FIRE Hits set is ever complete IMO, because they've never included the song that I always felt was one of their best..."Evolution Orange" from the "RAISE!" CD. That song and "Let's Groove" sound fantastic on my Made in Japan CD on CBS/ARC (#CK 37548), the bottom end is dead on this CD!

Chris C

 

I would be really happy if someone can answer the above as well. I've got the MoFi That's The Way of the World, but have yet to buy any compilation with EWF and would like to know which one to get. Thank you!

 

I recommend you get the boxed set if you don't plan on buying any of their other albums, which I recommend doing.

 

Not to confuse the issue even more, but the Eternal Dance Box set has been discussed here before.

You seemed to be looking for a clear direction on which compiliation has the best sound. Sometimes it's hard to get real answers. Folks want to tell you to get the Catalog CD's sometimes when all you want is a good comp and then the discussions go off on other tangents as well. All the advice is good meaning but doesn't answer your original question.

The Eternal Dance Box Set is supposed to be outstanding if your looking for
a comp that has more tracks than the Best of, Essential or Vols 1 and 2.

Maybe someone who has heard them all can chime in and tell you which of all of these sounds the best.