Have you seen the new R.E.M. reissues? WOW

Am I the only one who likes R.E.M. or has no one seen these reissues yet?

Paradales-I think REM have made a major boo-boo with this series.
I bought Green today (the oldest therefore the one I was most looking forward to hearing improvements on)from my local CD place-it'll be returned tomorrow.

The CD has not been re-mastered!
Therefore it is valid only as a DVD-A release and I think a bit sneaky including what is basically the same CD's as that have already been released.

These discs should have been released as DVD-A only or maybe they might have had the intelligence to actually remaster the Redbook copy included.A two disc release that is pointless to any fan who already has the CD's and doesn't have DVD-A.

Shame since the packaging etc. is nice but what's the point if you don't have a DVD-A player or would like to the older discs updated?

A missed opportunity.

I am going to try and look into this a bit to see if the redbook CD has indeed been remastered or not. My understanding is that it was remastered. I'll get back to the thread when I have more info.

Paradales Green has clearly not-it's the same as the original CD and it sounds really flat.
Compare the production of that to AFTP which sounds great.
It doesn't say anywhere on the disc that it is remastered only the DVD info.
Indeed one would wonder if they would bother remastering the newer ones-I mean even last years album has been released in this format.

Just to put the tin lid on it-the dolby stereo mix on the DVD (I don't have five channel)is terrible too...even worse than the CD.

What is the AFTP version? I am still looking into it. Thanks for the continued dialogue.

Sorry Paradales I mean Automatic For The People-listen to the difference on recording quality merely due to time...I suspect if Green was cleaned up it would sound miles better on CD.

You may be right. I called Warner today and they are going to get back to me with a definitive answer. Though the person I spoke to did not think the regular CD had been remastered. IF I hear back from them, I will let you know.

If they didn't remaster the older discs, I take back the enthusiasm I expressed at the beginning of this post; what a lost opportunity.

Paradales take it from me they haven't with Green.
If they haven't done it with Green which is the oldest release then they won't have with the rest.

Indeed why re-release an album only months old?
These discs are basically DVD-A releases and nothing else except for the odd bonus video or whatever.

From the horses mouth at Rhino Records: "They have not been remastered."

I did a comparison at home before I received the email from Rhino and could hear that my earlier version and the new one sound virtually identical.

Strike another blow for the anti-quality music industry.

A very strange strategy from REM it has to be said.

Thanks Paradales for taking the trouble to follow this through.

My pleasure. You are right that the ultimate blame should fall squarely on REM's shoulders. A missed opportunity.

Thanks, you just saved me a bunch of money! Cheers,
Spencer