Missing five seconds on _AGW_ remaster

[Douglas Bailey]

I'm listening to the remastered _Another Green World_ CD, and I've just
gotten to "Everything Merges With the Night", and it's not the way I
remember it.

Starting about 15 seconds into the track, the remaster omits about five
seconds' worth of the song: the first two bass notes, along with some
acoustic-guitar strumming and the first word on the vocal track
("Rosalie..."), are all missing.

I don't know whether this is a mastering error or a deliberate change in
the structure of the song (though if it were the latter, I would have
expected a note to that effect somewhere on the packaging). But either way,
I'm not thrilled.

I'm attempting to contact Astralwerks (at ***@astralwerks.net) to
see what's up and whether this is an error or not. If it is, I hope they'll
address it quickly.

In the meantime, I guess I'm holding on to my old EG discs.

doug

[Tom Boon]

Virgin issued a statement about this today:

'Subsequent to approval of a correct version of Another Green World on
reference CD, there was a DDP image file corruption which has affected the
track 'Everything Merges With The Night'. Please take your CD back to where
you bought it, and the retailer will exchange it for you. Although working
as fast as possible to remanufacture, the new discs won't be ready until the
end of next week.'

Tom
www.enoweb.co.uk

Post by Douglas Bailey
I'm listening to the remastered _Another Green World_ CD, and I've just
gotten to "Everything Merges With the Night", and it's not the way I
remember it.
Starting about 15 seconds into the track, the remaster omits about five
seconds' worth of the song: the first two bass notes, along with some
acoustic-guitar strumming and the first word on the vocal track
("Rosalie..."), are all missing.
I don't know whether this is a mastering error or a deliberate change in
the structure of the song (though if it were the latter, I would have
expected a note to that effect somewhere on the packaging). But either way,
I'm not thrilled.
see what's up and whether this is an error or not. If it is, I hope they'll
address it quickly.
In the meantime, I guess I'm holding on to my old EG discs.
doug
--
"I am mesmerised by my own beat like a heartbeat..."
--Wire

[Douglas Bailey]

Post by Tom Boon
'Subsequent to approval of a correct version of Another Green World on
reference CD, there was a DDP image file corruption which has affected
the track 'Everything Merges With The Night'. Please take your CD back
to where you bought it, and the retailer will exchange it for you.
Although working as fast as possible to remanufacture, the new discs
won't be ready until the end of next week.'

That's excellent news: thanks for the update, Tom.

Now to go find that receipt...

doug

[Ginchy]

you are really going to take it back???

surely you must realise that this disc will become a collectors item?

If i were you i would keep it and buy another one!

Post by Douglas Bailey

Post by Tom Boon
'Subsequent to approval of a correct version of Another Green World on
reference CD, there was a DDP image file corruption which has affected
the track 'Everything Merges With The Night'. Please take your CD back
to where you bought it, and the retailer will exchange it for you.
Although working as fast as possible to remanufacture, the new discs
won't be ready until the end of next week.'

That's excellent news: thanks for the update, Tom.
Now to go find that receipt...
doug
--
"It's a semi-automatic; get in the car..."
--The Sisters of Mercy

[Douglas Bailey]

Post by Ginchy

Post by Douglas Bailey

'...Please take your CD back to where you bought it, and the retailer
will exchange it for you...'

Now to go find that receipt...

you are really going to take it back???

I really am.

Post by Ginchy
surely you must realise that this disc will become a collectors item?
If i were you i would keep it and buy another one!

I suppose it might become collectable, but the idea of holding on to it and
hoping it increases in value doesn't really appeal to me. I'm really not
interested in the CD as an item of commercial value: I just want a good
copy of the remaster for my own pleasure.

In any event, as things stand, any collector who (for whatever reason)
really wants a defective copy of the _AGW_ remaster has another week or so
to go buy one in their local shop. I suspect that'll be enough time to glut
the market.

doug

[philT]

Post by Douglas Bailey
In any event, as things stand, any collector who (for whatever reason)
really wants a defective copy of the _AGW_ remaster has another week or so
to go buy one in their local shop. I suspect that'll be enough time to glut
the market.

can anyone confirm the geographical extent of this problem. is it world wide
or just in one of the US or EU?

philT

[Douglas Bailey]

Post by philT
can anyone confirm the geographical extent of this problem. is it world
wide or just in one of the US or EU?

I bought my copy in Burlington MA, USA, and it was missing the five
seconds. Several other people from the US (PA, CA, TX) have posted reviews
on Amazon indicating that they've also got the bad copies, and so far I
haven't seen any US buyer claim to have gotten a version that *doesn't*
have the problem. So based on current evidence, it seems that all US copies
are affected.

EnoWeb (a UK-based site) claimed at one point that their promo copy of
_AGW_ did *not* have the problem. I can't find that claim on their site
anymore, though, and in any event, promo discs are often not created from
the final master, so this doesn't necessarily mean that the UK commercial
editions are error-free.

Given that my US-bought remasters all have "Made in Holland" and UK
catalogue numbers (ENOCD 1-4) on stickers on the cases, I'd guess that the
US and UK editions are probably the same discs, meaning that they *all*
have the five seconds missing. I welcome correction from UK buyers, though.

HTH,

doug

[Tom Boon]

The problem affects *all* UK and US releases -- and I was disappointed to
see that copies of AGW were still available on the shelves in shops here in
the UK on Saturday. Odd that Virgin didn't bother to get them withdrawn.
Perhaps they will be able to prevent the Japanese version going out with the
problem, as that's due for a later release.

Strangely, the promo CDs -- which were pressed, not CD-Rs -- have the full
version of the track. This includes the compilation promo CD. I removed the
reference to the promo from EnoWeb when rewriting the news story because I
only mentioned it in my attempt to find out whether UK copies are similarly
afflicted.

Doug, I'd advise you and other purchasers of the Astralwerks release in the
US to contact Astralwerks (address at
http://www.astralwerks.com/contact.html ) as they are taking a more
proactive attitude to this situation than Virgin in the UK. From a report
I've received from another EnoWeb visitor, it looks as though Astralwerks
should be able to save you the journey.

Tom

Post by Douglas Bailey

Post by philT
can anyone confirm the geographical extent of this problem. is it world
wide or just in one of the US or EU?

I bought my copy in Burlington MA, USA, and it was missing the five
seconds. Several other people from the US (PA, CA, TX) have posted reviews
on Amazon indicating that they've also got the bad copies, and so far I
haven't seen any US buyer claim to have gotten a version that *doesn't*
have the problem. So based on current evidence, it seems that all US copies
are affected.
EnoWeb (a UK-based site) claimed at one point that their promo copy of
_AGW_ did *not* have the problem. I can't find that claim on their site
anymore, though, and in any event, promo discs are often not created from
the final master, so this doesn't necessarily mean that the UK commercial
editions are error-free.
Given that my US-bought remasters all have "Made in Holland" and UK
catalogue numbers (ENOCD 1-4) on stickers on the cases, I'd guess that the
US and UK editions are probably the same discs, meaning that they *all*
have the five seconds missing. I welcome correction from UK buyers, though.
HTH,
doug
--
"You got to watch for the exit wounds
When girls say 'yes'..."
--The Jazz Butcher

[Douglas Bailey]

Post by Tom Boon
Doug, I'd advise you and other purchasers of the Astralwerks release in
the US to contact Astralwerks... as they are taking a more proactive
attitude to this situation than Virgin in the UK.

Hmmm. I've already e-mailed them once with no response, but I'll give them
another ping and see what comes of it. Thanks again for the information,
Tom.

doug

[Brian or Sharon Beuchaw]

Post by Douglas Bailey

Post by Tom Boon
Doug, I'd advise you and other purchasers of the Astralwerks release in
the US to contact Astralwerks... as they are taking a more proactive
attitude to this situation than Virgin in the UK.

Hmmm. I've already e-mailed them once with no response, but I'll give them
another ping and see what comes of it. Thanks again for the information,
Tom.
doug

Ashley at Astralwerks (hint at a contact address there :-)) emailed me
back within a couple of days of me contacting them at
***@astralwerks.com and said if I sent them my snail mail address,
they'd send a corrected copy out when they got it (without me sending
anything back, thankfully) in a couple of weeks.

brian

[Douglas Bailey]

Post by Brian or Sharon Beuchaw

I've already e-mailed [Astralwerks] once with no response, but I'll give
them another ping and see what comes of it.

Ashley at Astralwerks (hint at a contact address there :-)) emailed me
back within a couple of days of me contacting them at
they'd send a corrected copy out when they got it (without me sending
anything back, thankfully) in a couple of weeks.

She's now written back to me, too, with the same message. Astralwerks seems
to be doing its best to address the problem.

doug

[Douglas Bailey]

Just to follow up: I received the corrected _Another Green World_ CD in the
post today from Astralwerks, along with a note from Ashley apologising for
the problem with the original release.

The new disc does indeed correct the problem: "Everything Merges With the
Night" is back to 3m59s in length and has the first "Rosalie" restored.

Kudos to Astralwerks for addressing this issue so quickly. I'm very pleased
at how painless they've made this.

doug

[Robert Buchanan]

That's good news. Can you see anything on the packaging to indicate
that it's been corrected (a new catalog number, an extra sticker, or
something like that)? I want to buy the CD, but can't tell if a copy I
see in my record store is the corrected one or not. If I can avoid
the hassle of buying a defective one and having Astralwerks send the
corrected version I'd like to.

Thanks,
Buck Buchanan

[Douglas Bailey]

Can you see anything on the packaging to indicate that it's been
corrected (a new catalog number, an extra sticker, or something like
that)?

Sorry, but I can't be much help on this point: Astralwerks sent my
replacement disc in a blank jewel case, rather than in the full sleeve. So
I don't know whether they're marking the packaging in any way to indicate
the corrected disc.

doug

[Robert Buchanan]

For anyone else following this thread: According to Astralwerks, there
is no way to distinguish whether the Another Green World disc is
defective without listening to it. The packaging of the corrected
version is identical to the defective ones. They are very friendly
about mailing a corrected version to you, though.

Buck Buchanan

[Xepha]

You'd think they WOULD repackage the new CD, given the glaring typo
for track 14 on the back of the sleeve.

[Douglas Bailey]

Post by Xepha
You'd think they WOULD repackage the new CD, given the glaring typo
for track 14 on the back of the sleeve.

I hadn't caught that before. Grrrr...

doug

[Robert Buchanan]

Post by Xepha
You'd think they WOULD repackage the new CD, given the glaring typo
for track 14 on the back of the sleeve.

Is the typo on the sleeve of the original vinyl, perhaps? If not,
maybe they'll correct it for the eventual SACD release.

Buck

[Xepha]

I don't know about the original vinyl. Everything seems present and
correct on my original CD.