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Topic: New Boston Remasters (Read 4709 times) previous topic - next topic
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New Boston Remasters

I just found out that the famous 70s classic rock band Boston has remastered their first two albums, Boston and Don't Look Back. They were released in June.

Apparently, Tom Scholz, who is the lead guitarist and producer in Boston, personally remastered the albums himself after he found out about Sony's "attempt" at a remaster and couldn't believe what they did to the remaster. He is famously very picky about how Boston's music sounds (he is infamous for 6-8 year periods in between albums).

He somehow convinced Sony to let him remaster it himself. He writes about his experience below.

http://boston.org/officialreissueletter.html

Quote
So, we got Sony to retransfer from the original stereo analogue mix tapes (not the EQ'd 2nd gen copy companies tend to use) to 24 bit digital, and went to work in Protools going over every second of those mixes til we were nearly batty. It took Bill Ryan and me eight straight LONG days of work, which btw was precisely when I was supposed to be in the FL Keys celebrating my birthday. Finally we made the final adjustments with Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital, then I joined Kim Hart and Gary Pihl working on the photos and booklet layout revisions. I think you'll like the new pics.

....
   
But the exciting story is what you're going to hear when you put this CD in your player. The difference is amazing to me. The guitars jump out of the speakers on those power chords, Brad's voice is full and warm in the mix like it should have been, the bass is tight and now you not only hear it, you feel it! I never liked these old mixes on 16 bit CD; now they sound great.


Has anyone listened to the remasters to see how he did remastering them? Given his reputation as a perfectionist, I would be shocked if this was a messed up remaster like so many others, but I would like to know for sure before I go and buy the remasters.
iTunes 10 - Mac OS X 10.6
256kbps AAC VBR
iPhone 4 32GB

New Boston Remasters

Reply #1 –
I haven't heard the original pressing in more than 10 years, but I'd have to say that they sound a little better than the 1995 MasterSound releases.

New Boston Remasters

Reply #2 –
Anyone?  Those first two albums just showed up on BMG's website.  I still have 4 free CDs left to choose after fulfilling my membership agreement over 2 years ago, lol.  Just can't find anything there I want, and LaLa.com has a better selection & prices, but I'd grab the first Boston album if the remaster is a winner.

New Boston Remasters

Reply #3 –
I don't know about the sound, but the frightening part is that Boston reminds me of my freshman year in college back in 1976-77. I was in Cambridge/Boston and they were huge when they came out.

I lived across the street from the old Rathskeller, the epicenter of punk at the time. It was said that groups like Boston proved the need for punk.

I heard quite enough of them at that time, no urge to hear it again, thanks. I am sure that Mr. Scholz did a bang-up job, we have engineering degrees from the same college.

Damn, I'm getting old!

New Boston Remasters

Reply #4 –
Quote from: BradPDX on
I don't know about the sound, but the frightening part is that Boston reminds me of my freshman year in college back in 1976-77. I was in Cambridge/Boston and they were huge when they came out.

I lived across the street from the old Rathskeller, the epicenter of punk at the time. It was said that groups like Boston proved the need for punk.

I heard quite enough of them at that time, no urge to hear it again, thanks. I am sure that Mr. Scholz did a bang-up job, we have engineering degrees from the same college.

Damn, I'm getting old!



I so miss the Rat!
"You can fight without ever winning, but never win without a fight."  Neil Peart  'Resist'

New Boston Remasters

Reply #5 –
Quote from: AnEnigma66 on
Anyone?  Those first two albums just showed up on BMG's website.  I still have 4 free CDs left to choose after fulfilling my membership agreement over 2 years ago, lol.  Just can't find anything there I want, and LaLa.com has a better selection & prices, but I'd grab the first Boston album if the remaster is a winner.


I finally did pick up these albums. To me they sound pretty darn good. I don't have any programs to check whether anything is clipping, but I couldn't pick out anything obvious.

As far as remasters go, this is one of the better ones I have heard.
iTunes 10 - Mac OS X 10.6
256kbps AAC VBR
iPhone 4 32GB
 

New Boston Remasters

Reply #6 –
I received the Scholz remaster of the first Boston CD today from BMG.  I haven't had a chance to listen to it on a good system yet so I can't comment on how it sounds, but I ripped it just now the the album gain is -8.28 dB.      That's quite a bit more than I thought it would be.