The 2011 reissue of 1999 will be very hard to beat. One of the best pressed and best sounding reissues I have. Didn't Ludwig master that as well from the analog tapes?
The Prince Estate, In Partnership With Warner Records to Release 1999 Remastered and Expanded November, 29th
Prince's standout album 1999 that included "Little Red Corvette", "1999" and "Delirious" first released in 1982 when 1999 seemed a long way off gets the deluxe treatment in time for the holidays. Along with the standard remastered by Bernie Grundman at 192/24 bit edition (as double 180g purple vinyl LP and CD sets) there will be a Deluxe 2 CD/4LP version and a Super Deluxe 5 CD+DVD/10LP+DVD edition (all will include downloads and streaming).
With Bernie Grundman remastering at 192/24 bit and cutting lacquers we can expect good sound but as long as the tapes were there why not just cut the original from the goddamned tapes instead of from files? Was there a problem with the original master tape of 1999 that required cutting from digital files? AnalogPlanet will try to find out.
This is getting seriously annoying. Major labels let the tapes out for AAA releases back when they didn't think money was involved and it was just a few nuts playing with records, but now that there's real money to be made, they insist on doing it themselves and the bean counters are more interested in maximizing moolah instead of sound quality.
The 1999 Super Deluxe Edition includes a total of 65 audio tracks across five CDs and ten 180g vinyl records. The set consists of all of the "officially" released tracks released "in and around 1982" as well as 23 unreleased tracks records between November 1981 and January 1983, as well as a complete live audio performance of the 1999 tour recorded at the late show (the second of two that day) in Detroit, MI on November 30, 1982. Both CD and vinyl sets also include a brand new DVD containing another complete, previously unreleased concert from the 1999 tour, recorded in multi-cam live at the Houston Summit on December 29, 1982.
The Super Deluxe Edition set also features Prince’s previously unseen handwritten lyrics for several songs from the era, including the hit “Little Red Corvette,” plus images of the analog tape reels from the vault and rare photography from Prince’s early ‘80s photographer, Allen Beaulieu. The Super Deluxe Edition is completed with brand-new liner notes by longtime Rolling Stone critic David Fricke, revered Guns N’ Roses bassist and author Duff McKagan, Minneapolis historian and radio host Andrea Swensson, and Prince scholar Duane Tudahl.
So we'll get a picture of the tape box but not the sound from the tapes transferred to lacquer in the analog domain. Swell!
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COMMENTS
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Submitted by DaK on Wed, 2019-09-11 11:06
https://www.discogs.com/Prince-1999/release/3139530
Features:
• Premium HQ-180 Gram Vinyl
• Mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering from the Original Tapes
• Pressed at RTI
• Replicates Original Packaging
Well Now You've Made Me Buy That One!
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Wed, 2019-09-11 13:35
So if I get this digitally remastered one I can compare... Thanks, pal!
Mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering from the Original Tapes
Submitted by PeterPani on Thu, 2019-09-12 07:09
Mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering from the Original Tapes says nothing. There is a lot of vinyl around quoting mastered from tapes, but do not mention that it was done to digital domain and pressed with digital cutter heads. Only if a record says AAA or mastered all analog it might be real analog.
I Think....
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Thu, 2019-09-12 13:26
Back then was before the bean counters decided vinyl was a money maker so I think it was AAA.
Cost Involved
Submitted by audioguy3107 on Wed, 2019-09-11 12:52
Hi Michael, enjoyed your presentation at RMAF last weekend! I don’t know anything about the cost involved with mastering records etc and maybe some of your other readers don’t as well.....talking about a reissue such as this, roughly what is the cost involved with mastering from analog tapes vs. mastering using digital files? Is it that cost prohibitive from a labor/materials standpoint to use analog tape? I’ve always wondered. Thanks!
Costs...
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Wed, 2019-09-11 13:37
Hard for me to say but no doubt $$$$ saved by using the digital master since it's more important for the label to create it for streaming and archiving. Once it's done, cutting lacquers for the record costs less...how much less? To bean counters, pennies matter I guess.
It costs...
Submitted by mraudio on Wed, 2019-09-11 20:04
...WAY more to reissue a pure analog release than a digital one. That's why the labels are doing it. Also, pretty easy and inexpensive to transfer/send digital files wherever the hell they need to go.
The Discogs link got me, too! Tonight I'm gonna party like it's
Submitted by Anton D on Wed, 2019-09-11 17:33
...you know what!
I will buy it, wrap it, and put it under the tree marked..."From Santa."
The Discogs link got me, too! Tonight I'm gonna party like it's
Submitted by Anton D on Wed, 2019-09-11 17:34
...you know what!
I will buy it, wrap it, and put it under the tree marked..."From Santa."
The vocals on 'Little red
Submitted by labjr on Wed, 2019-09-11 20:33
The vocals on 'Little red Corvette' sound distorted on the digital versions I've heard. I hope that gets fixed.
Too bad they're using digital masters for the vinyl release. Takes all the value out of it. I wouldn't buy it.
Censured...
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Thu, 2019-09-12 10:00
I own the 1983 version, single lp, no double lp, because some songs we censured at the time. I still remember being so disappointed because 'International Lover' was not on it. "This is your pilot Prince speaking.
U r flying aboard the Seduction 747
And this plane is fully equipped
with anything your body desires
Read more: Prince - International Lover Lyrics | MetroLyrics
The song ends with an orgasmic finale. I was 16 when I bought this record...
Censured...
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Thu, 2019-09-12 10:07
I own the 1983 version, single lp, no double lp, because some songs we censured at the time. I still remember being so disappointed because 'International Lover' was not on it. "This is your pilot Prince speaking.
U r flying aboard the Seduction 747
And this plane is fully equipped
with anything your body desires"
Read more: Prince - International Lover Lyrics | MetroLyrics
The song ends with an orgasmic finale. I was 16 when I bought this record...
OK, let's see...
Submitted by Tom L on Thu, 2019-09-12 11:29
It's "censored", not "censured".
If you wanted the uncensored version you bought the wrong one. The full track list was on the two LP set, not the single LP that was available in some places. Did your Mom make you get the single LP?
I never understood Prince as a sex symbol, all that fake orgasmic stuff seemed silly to me, but some of my female friends would strongly disagree.
Eat this...
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Thu, 2019-09-12 13:00
censure in British
(ˈsɛnʃə )
noun
1.
severe disapproval; harsh criticism
verb
2.
to criticize (someone or something) severely; condemn
If you censure someone for
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Thu, 2019-09-12 13:02
If you censure someone for something that they have done, you tell them that you strongly disapprove of it.
[formal]
The ethics committee may take a decision to admonish him or to censure him. [VERB noun]
I would not presume to censure Osborne for hating his mother. [VERB noun + for]
Good grief
Submitted by Tom L on Thu, 2019-09-12 14:04
I was not attacking you in any way, but the correct word in this case is censor.
There was certainly censure involved from some parties, but the practice of removing some songs due to their content is clearly censorship, not censureship (not a word, BTW).
censor: examine (a book, movie, etc.) officially and suppress unacceptable parts of it.
Example: "The Prince album was censored"
synonyms:
cut, delete, delete parts of, redact, make cuts in, blue-pencil, unpublish; examine, inspect; edit, make changes to; make acceptable, expurgate, bowdlerize, sanitize; informal clean up.
"letters home from the front line were censored"
Welcome to the world with
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Fri, 2019-09-13 05:48
Welcome to the world with English as lingua franca.
I speak Dutch. Do you?????
Just French and Spanish
Submitted by Tom L on Fri, 2019-09-13 07:15
I'm pretty rough but can make myself understood.
well... yes it did sound
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Sat, 2019-09-14 03:28
well... yes it did sound snarky
The double LP was out of
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Thu, 2019-09-12 13:15
The double LP was out of stock. My mom has nothing to do with it.
Unlike many other artists, I never thought of Prince being fake...
As a matter of fact, Prince has been instrumental in me becoming an unbigoted human being. His music has been a great help on finding my own identity.
All of that plus he was a musical prodigy.
His orgasmic singing is scat singing taken to a whole new level, as was his androgynity.
So you never got back to the record store
Submitted by Tom L on Thu, 2019-09-12 14:07
all those years ago to buy the real album?
That's too bad.
Also, androgynity not a word.
Define 'real'.... Is mine
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Fri, 2019-09-13 05:50
Define 'real'.... Is mine less real than yours?
The realness of an LP is not in question
Submitted by Tom L on Fri, 2019-09-13 07:23
All physical objects are real...but the two-LP 1999 may be considered the "real" album as it is the configuration Prince always intended to be released. The one-LP version was produced by Warner Brothers for Walmart and some other retailers who would not stock the uncensored version.
Now take a look at the supersized 1999 that was recently announced!
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/prince-1999-reissue-882749/
If you look at the discogs
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Sat, 2019-09-14 03:27
If you look at the discogs website of 1999 it is remarkable how many different releases this record has. I'm not experienced at all in this matter, though. Could it have to do with its explicit lyrics?
Probably, but...
Submitted by Tom L on Sat, 2019-09-14 06:22
It's surprising how many versions of some albums are released, especially when you look at the international ones. Take "Underwater Moonlight" by the Soft Boys, a nice record that wasn't a huge hit and has no troublesome lyrics or any other strange factors...there are 20 versions listed!
That's how the record biz once worked, I guess.
https://www.discogs.com/The-Soft-Boys-Underwater-Moonlight/master/50152
The day the music burned? Could this explain it?
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Thu, 2019-09-12 10:22
No....
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Thu, 2019-09-12 13:29
We've explored that subject well before The New York Times story ran! However, Prince was the kind of guy who kept his tapes in his own vault, though my man Malachi says he was not particularly concerned with his older material and there were some issues with older tapes. Still better than being burnt in a fire!
May be why the Carpenters 180g reissues sounded very digital.
Submitted by BillK on Thu, 2019-09-12 15:41
The 180g Carpenters box and individual LPs sounded very digital, and Richard was straightforward about stating he had to do it from digital masters because the originals burned. :-(
The difference was obvious as soon as I played the 180g versions, now I am on a hunt for GOOD copies of the originals but they're all very pricy on Discogs for anything that wasn't used as a Frisbee or drink coaster. :-(
Now, back to Prince. :-)
1999 was recorded in
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Fri, 2019-09-13 05:52
1999 was recorded in Hollywood.... An official list of burned tapes was never released.
Nonetheless...
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Mon, 2019-09-16 09:14
I believe he would have taken the tapes home to Minneapolis following mastering.
No, a list was actually published..
Submitted by DangerousKitchen on Fri, 2019-09-20 11:34
..and as devastating a loss as it is, Prince was not named on it. More to the point, I feel the better bet for 1999 at this time is not the "newest" but the older re-issue from 2011, which you should still be able to find in both US and UK pressings (featuring the same US matrices.)
Warner Brothers...
Submitted by Ivan Lietaert on Sat, 2019-09-14 00:14
... Prince began performing with the word “SLAVE” written on his cheek because WB treated him so badly.
Shouldn't Prince fans boycot this release, if there is any decency left in this world?
Why so bad?
Submitted by culturcide on Sat, 2020-02-08 22:38
Hi Michael
I just got my 10LP super deluxe version. Could you explain why the new Bernie Grundman cut of the main double LP could sound so 'muffled' compared to my original 1982 pressing (also BG)? Switching from the old to the new is like wrapping 10 pairs of sexy black stockings around my head and ears (although it doesn't sound sexy anymore). It even sounds shite compared to my original 1985 CD. How does that even happen in 2020?
No regrets though... wanted it for the Vault and live discs... and its oh so sexy mirrored box.
Best from Down Under.
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