Joni Mitchell remasters on the way

@wolf_garcia I couldn't agree with you more about Joni.

One thing I definitely noticed -- as an example -- was that a piano which sounded like a fairly mediocre upright now sounds like a genuine grand piano. In another track, I heard percussion instruments I had never heard before, in 30 years of listening.

@georgeab Agree! Good to keep an open mind on these things.

I'm not one who believes that every -- or even most -- remasters make a difference. But some really do; and when you're talking about an artist like Joni, the chances are high this is being done with some care.

@tomcy6 Gonna fire up my streamer right now!

@rpeluso I think I could be swayed toward your approximation of Hissing!

@dpop "Remastered loudness." How you know that in advance is beyond me. And we will have to disagree about Miles of Aisles. If that sounds as good as it can be to your ears, well, we have different sensibilities.

@lalitk Glad to see you know some of the specifics about this release before pooh-poohing it. Details matter, don't they?

@dpop Thanks for your reply. 

In the meantime, I've just gone an compared about a dozen tracks with the Joni remaster. Instruments sound fuller and more natural, dynamic range sounds expanded, and soundstage is larger and more articulate. The live album sounds less muddy.

What are others hearing? Do you hear more compression and limiting (as dpop says happens, usually) or do you hear something else? Curious to compare what I heard last night with your reactions.

My experience with Steven Wilson mixes of Jethro Tull -- wow! not compressed and limited at all. 

In my experience, remastering is not always a bad thing -- though it often is a way to put old wine in new bottles.

@dpop

Thanks for your further elaborations, and indeed for contributing so much to this thread despite your complete disinterest in hearing let alone buying these releases from Joni. Very generous of you!

Let me be clear — what I especially like is when the remaster reveals notes previously un-hearable in the original. That's what I mean by "muddy." 

It's not a preference for "brightness" in terms of the aesthetic sheen of the music. It's the desire to hear more of the contributions of the musicians on stage or in the mix.

@wolf_garcia I'd be curious if you stream music to hear what you think about these remasters. I think @orgillian197 is spot on with his account of the results of the remasterings in this group.