2007 Joy Division Remasters

Alot has been said about the dubious New Order remasters, but I was wondering what people thought about the JD remasters by London in 2007.(Please refer me to a past post if one exists). I think that they sound great. The artwork has been recreated to a high standard too with excellent live material. Anyone know if they were mastered from original tapes? I know Hooky reckoned that Unknown Pleasures wasn't because the original couldn't be found. Not sure of the whole story on that one though.

I’m not sure if the albums themselves were Remastered from the masters. I thought they were way too compressed; they totally got away from the original mastering. I do not like modern mastering techniques; which crush the music.

I do know that the gigs were Remastered from the master tapes. But I’m not sure about the Birmingham gig; if I had to guess, I would say no.

Granted it was a nice touch that the original tapers handed over their master tapes; but it would have been nice to see something new. Those gigs had been in circulation forever. That always seems to be the biggest problem with JD releases; the complete lack of anything new. And lets not fool ourselves, there is unheard material out there. It’s seems the band doesn’t want to be bothered with going through their tape collections to offer unheard material.

I guess what I’m saying is; I found the 2007 reissues to be a disappointment. I found this new Vinyl box-set to be laughable at best. The same old shit over and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over………………..

Well I played Closer again last night through some decent speakers and it sounds great. Good bass, treble and great instrument separation.

It has always sounded excellent however on vinyl and then later on the Heart & Soul boxset. Not sure there is much difference. Maybe that's as far as it will go sonically. I suppose that's an indication of a well produced, recorded and engineered album. It sounds better than Unknown Pleasures in my opinion; simpler production. My favourite of the two. Although the production on UP was groundbreaking.

Far superior to the botched New Order remasters.

Far superior to the botched New Order remasters.

You need to find the fixed versions, which sound a lot better (the second discs that is, the albums were not revised bar one).

I’m not sure if the albums themselves were Remastered from the masters. I thought they were way too compressed; they totally got away from the original mastering. I do not like modern mastering techniques; which crush the music.

Thye're not too bad on this score, though someone who feels this way shouldn't bother with remasters of any sort then, just get the original vinyl and leave it at that.

But where could one find good examples of the original vinyl versions, Johnny?

Pablo? Is that you?

Indeed it is.

The original mastering found on the UK and USA 1st pressings are the best; *but*, the 1991 Jap CD Box-Set is the best digital source; just as good as the 1st pressings. Listen to the work that was done at the JD Recycle; and then listen to the Heart and Soul Box-Set and the 2007 reissues; no contest. The latter sources are complete shit sonically compared to the Jap Box. It’s not even the correct mastering. H&S box set is really bad, but unless you have the original sources to compare it to, your in the dark. For a long time I thought the H&S box set sounded just fine, until I heard other sources!

I’m posting the 1991 Japanese CD box set on my blog, in a few days. “Unknown Pleasures”, “Closer” and “Still”. The tracks not covered in the JD recycle. I will also have a *best ever* version of the Birmingham Gig, which has been reworked. I would suggest you check it out and compare those sources to Heart and Soul and the 2007 reissues; you will find that the latter sources are garbage.

http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h150160383

Good points. The starting point has to be the original vinyl version. This is surely how Hannett intended it to sound.

The Heart & Soul and 2007 releases appear to be bass light when compared to the Recycle versions. Whack up the bass and I reckon they sound fine. No glitches either. It's all relative however. It will only sound as good as the equipment it is played on.

I will compare them all later seeing as I am enjoying the JD experience once again. I look forward to listening to the 1991 versions because I don't have those.

Darkman wrote: The original mastering found on the UK and USA 1st pressings are the best; *but*, the 1991 Jap CD Box-Set is the best digital source; just as good as the 1st pressings. Listen to the work that was done at the JD Recycle; and then listen to the Heart and Soul Box-Set and the 2007 reissues; no contest. The latter sources are complete shit sonically compared to the Jap Box. It’s not even the correct mastering. H&S box set is really bad, but unless you have the original sources to compare it to, your in the dark. For a long time I thought the H&S box set sounded just fine, until I heard other sources!

I’m posting the 1991 Japanese CD box set on my blog, in a few days. “Unknown Pleasures”, “Closer” and “Still”. The tracks not covered in the JD recycle. I will also have a *best ever* version of the Birmingham Gig, which has been reworked. I would suggest you check it out and compare those sources to Heart and Soul and the 2007 reissues; you will find that the latter sources are garbage.

And what would be the URL of said blog?

http://autosuggestion-darkman.blogspot.com/

I will post the Jap Box tomarrow or the next day! It will be a temporary post, but the Birmingham upgrade will be permanent.

Thanks Darkman. First of all I must say that I don't own the original Factory pressings (although Closer is on it's way) but I have the original vinyl pressings. I have compared these to the Heart & Soul and 2007 releases (these two sound the same to me) and apart from the slight hiss on the CD I prefer the remasters. Cleaner & more detailed sound. The vinyl has a warmth and sound of it's own however.

I have downloaded all 3 albums from the '91 Japanese boxset. When comparing these to the remastered versions I have to say that they don't stand up at all in my opinion. Like the vinyl they have warmth of their own but they sound slightly muffled and stifled. (Disorder & Wilderness being two tracks that sound very different). It's all down to taste but I will continue to listen to the remasters from now on.

While we are on the subject, when were the first pressings of JD CDs on Factory and indeed NO? Was it '86 and were they re-pressed later in '88? Above all, can you tell difference?

To each their own. The Jap Box went back to the original mastering; original vision by Mr. Hannett. Like I said before, a lot of people get very use to the later sources; (myself included). I feel like you can’t get the proper sense of Hannett’s total sound separation with the later sources; or his vision.

On the flip side; it’s not as thou the later sources are as bad as the NO reissues; I guess it just boils down to what you like. Either way JD studio material is something to be celebrated. There are some out their that feel one way, while others feel another way about the sources; but it’s always nice to have them at your fingertips to make your own decision about what you will play personally.

As far as the original CD releases; I thought 1988 was when they were released; but 1986 (as this site lists) could be right. Personal I though it was 1988, but I could be wrong. Would anyone else like to weigh in on this.

Indeed. It's nice to have all sources available, which lets face it most of us do because we are obsessed with this band.

Yes they are far superior to the NO reissues. Glitches? That's a definite no no no... I will not play them even if there is only one fault on each disc. I will stick to the originals for now. NO have been poorly treated down the years. Even the 2nd disc on the reissues was not complete; random choices of tracks on each disc. We needed a full Recycle project as was first planned (all b-sides & mixes etc). But that's history now...

By all accounts JD CDs were released in 1988. NO had them from 1986 onwards I think.