I got a promo copy of Crystal Visions today
 

I don't know how many of you know, but I am a Book Buyer for a midsize chain of entertainment stores in the Western US. One of my couterparts on the Music Team gave me his promo copy of CV today. This did not include the dvd, or artwork, and it is watermarked to discourage copying.

The tracklist is the one floating around the internet and there is not much to report on the older tracks. Silver Springs is from the Rumours remaster, Dreams is the radio edit, Standback, ICW, and Planets are the album versions. (Planets is NOT the extended version). HAEWAFY is indeed missing.

Rhiannon, is good as far as live versions from the last 10 years goes. No big surprises.

The two tracks from the Melbourne shows are very nice. For those of you concerned with the repetition of EO17, let me just say that the reinterpretation for the orchestra makes the song fresh. Landslide for me has always been about Stevie and Lindsey alone onstage, her voice and his guitar. This version is probably the only solo version I will cherish. The girls on backing and the strings give it an ethereal feel that is totally different from the directness of the Mac live version.

What can I say about R&R but HELLA YEAH! I would never have pictures Stevie doing this song, but she tears it up!!


All in all, the cd will be great for those out there who don't have Enchanted or Timespace, but for the rest of us, the few new tracks give us something to hold on to.

Awesome! I've been hounding my Warner reps for weeks for a promo copy :laugh:

Thanks so much for posting this! Your description of Landslide with the MSO makes me feel alot better about it being the 1st single.

You haven't heard it before? Its been available as a bootleg for almost a year...

True, but after overdubs and mixing I will bet that it sounds like a completely different performance.

Probably, but you still get the general idea from the bootleg :)

Thanks for the info! But i wanna wait till i hear the album version, although i plan on buying the promotional single on ebay. :angel:

I'm nervous for her now..Lanslide???

I miss the day of "promo" copies weeks before the actual release!
Was in the music business for years... got these things all the time...

Thanks for the review... looking forward to it!

Nothing to be nervous about... None of the tracks on this would get played on the radio... The slightest hope would be/is AC and going with Landslide is the obvious choice... And by the sounds of it, it sounds great!

Of course... it's never been released as a single before. Um... wait... it's been released as a single by Smashing Pumpkins. By the Dixie Chicks. As a live track from The Dance. As a maxi-CD single of remixes.

Oh, never mind. :p

I'm sure a suit up in Warner Brothers probably thought to cash in on the Dixie Chicks phenomenon... which would have been a great idea, um, four years ago!

I still do get 'em,
 

thank God for small independent metal labels :thumbsup:

are you KIDDING me?

are you KIDDING me???

who actually thought that would be a good idea? i find that quite depressing. it's like saying, please, help me ensure this album tanks.

on edit: well, lookie there. a whole thread on that very topic.

which i obviously missed. :sorry:

Got that right... Some of the best music I have heard came to me via promos from these labels...

Actually, if Warner Bros. wants a sure-fire song for radio to play, it is "Landslide." Radio stations love that song because listeners love that song.

Hopefully they'll also send out promos of "Rock And Roll," too, but it's unlikely that one would get as many spins as "Landslide." AC stations are Stevie's best bet for airplay these days. She could record the hardest rocking song of her career, and Rock stations aren't going to give it the time of day.

Well, I'm trying to make the best of what we have here...this is what is being released as a single, and we have no control over what Stevie and Warner Bros. does, so i'm going to make the best of it and be as positive as possible, even if you don't want to be...

Bravo! I'm with you in the whole "ACCEPT THE THINGS YOU CANNOT CHANGE" mindset. Yes, I think Landslide is tired but hey, we'll see what happens. I can't wait to see the CD artwork and hopefully, there will be a few new shots included...:)

Eh, she can express her opinion, even if it isn't always praising everything Stevie does. Landslide has been released as a single too many times, including The Dance. I love the MSO version but it's been done. Many times. Rock and Roll was a stronger choice, IMO.

yeah, no. as kelly points out, i can express my opinion. i don't owe stevie or you or anyone else anything. i can't pretend to be positive about something that i don't believe is a smart marketing move. i want this to be a success! (though, personally, i don't believe that releasing yet another greatest hits package is a good move either, so you can jump on me for that, too). i can be a fan - and don't even try to tell me i'm not simply because i call a spade a spade - i have been a fan for 20+ years. but it doesn't mean i blindly support and praise everything she does. i certainly wouldn't want a friend of mine to always smile and tell me i'm wonderful and doing the right thing if she knows i'm putting myself in jeopardy. i think a better friend is truthful and honest - tells you when you're screwing up - and stays by you through the good times and bad.

have the studio tracks been noticably remastered?

How long is live Edge. Did they cut much of it. I would be extremely dissapointed if they don't keep the ending with the "Somewhere deep in the middle of the nigh I still think about you... I know what it sounds like" as well as the long jam while she shakes hands.

And this live Rhiannon, can you tell when it's from. Is it a different version thats never been released or live in Boston or something.

I understand how you feel, but I really don't think "Landslide," or any other single, will make or break this CD.
'The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac' debuted at #12 on the charts and has sold over a million copies, without the benefit of a single.

Randy (ravenofrhiannon) told me that, yes, the songs have been remastered.

His promo copy was sent bare-bones... no artwork or liner notes... so there isn't any notation regarding where/when "Rhiannon" was recorded, but he said that it's definitely a recent solo version.

I'll have to ask him about "Edge"... or if he sees this post, he can answer the question for you. :)

"Landslide" is not a single as such, its basically a promo they will send to radio to play to advertise CV. Its not exactly going to chart or anything...

Yes, I was wondering that myself (if they cut edge at the end).... And on the promo video at the beginning, the Rhiannon that's played is live - and sounds very recent - but it could have been any number of performances... I'm curious about that too. Cause where there's one... There's bound to be more!

Okay dude, fess up. Is that banner one of your creations or is it a real promo image you found somewhere? I'm stumped.

As far as the choice of a single, I've always said that I think "Rock and Roll" would be a great one and if it's released could actually be a semi-hit for Stevie much like the way Silver Springs live from the Dance was. I have faith that even if Landslide gets released first, they'll still release RnR.

You, me, and everyone else are entitled to their own opinions, i never said you weren't. No one said you had to agree with everything Stevie does, i certainly don't. Just don't attack me for trying to be excited about Landslide being a single as you did in your original response to my previous post.

I completly agree with you! Although we have known about this song being on Stevie's set list since 2005, and have heard boots, second hand recordings, or even the live performance in-person, Rock and Roll is a new song (and the only new song) on this album, because it isn't a song she's ever done before on any previous album. This is much like SIAB for Timespace, although that song was never in her setlist, it was a new song on that album. I think because we've known about it being on her setlist since 2005 that we don't consider it a new track, but it is, whether it is recorded live or in the studio.

Naturally it was expected the word "remastered" would rear its head in regards to this new release (I'm in the minority as I am interested in the DVD moreso than the audio disc)

For anyone who may not know what the term "remastering" or "remastered" means, the below is the definition from wikipedia:

"Remastering-

Remastering is, at its core, the process of creating a new master for an album, movie, or any other creation. It tends to nowadays specifically refer to the process of porting a creation from one medium to another, but this is not always the case. For example, a vinyl LP originally pressed from a worn-out copy tape many tape generations removed from the "original" master recording could be remastered and re-pressed from a better condition tape.

Here buzz-speak and practical application collide. In actuality, all CDs created from analogue sources are technically digitally remastered. The process of creating a digital transfer of an analogue tape re-masters the material in the digital domain, even if nothing "special"--no equalization, compression, or other processing--is done to the material.

Ideally, because of their high resolution, a CD or DVD (or other) release should come from the best source possible, with the most care taken during its transfer. This does not always happen. The earliest days of the CD era found record companies using whatever tapes they had lying around to create their CDs, with frequently underwhelming results. An nth-generation tape equalized for vinyl frequency response might be deemed perfectly acceptable by a record company, and (importantly) might be much easier to locate than the "original" source master. Additionally, the earliest days of the CD era found digital technology in its infancy, which also aided often poor sounding digital transfers marked by dropouts, underutilization of Signal-To-Noise Ratio, etc. The earliest days of the DVD era were hardly any different, with early DVD copies of movies frequently being produced from worn prints, with low bitrates and muffled audio. When the first CD remasters turned out to bestsellers--see, for example, the box set boom--companies soon realized that new editions of bare-bones back catalogue items could compete with new releases as a source of revenue. Back catalogue values skyrocketed, and today it is not unusual to see expanded and remastered editions of fairly modern albums (e.g. "New Miserable Experience" by the Gin Blossoms).

Theoretically, digital remastering should solve some of these problems. Original master tapes, or something close to them, can be used to make CD releases. Better processing choices can be used. Better prints can be utilized, with sound elements remixed to 5.1 and obvious print flaws digitally corrected. The modern era gives content providers almost unlimited ways to touch up, doctor, and "improve" their creations and products, and as each release promises improved sound, video, extras and others, producers hope these upgrades will entice consumers into making a purchase."

I was wondering if either of the Rhiannon and Rock 'N' Roll live versions might be from the Montreux Jazz Festival last year? I seem to recall someone posting that Mark Needham had mentioned on his website having done some post production work on this show so perhaps Crystal Visions is where it will surface? Anyone know anything about this?

Actually, songs that are not commercially released chart all the time. They are listed as album cuts, but log enough airplay points to chart. If you look on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, many of those songs are not available on a commercial singles format (e.g. CD, iTunes, etc.). That's why I don't think it's a requirement to have a commercial release to be considered a "single."

It's highly unlikely, however, that Landslide w/ the MSO will make a dent on the mainstream chart. It should be ok on the Adult Contemporary charts.

It's great news to hear that the MSO songs are getting the dubbing and mastering work they deserve :thumbsup:
Also curious about the long Edge! I really hope they keep that ending... :nod:
So excited!! Three weeks!

Yeah, my bad. I got mixed up with how our charts work and how your charts work :)

Well its a very good thing that they tinkered with the MSO tracks, coz for those of us who were there, you couldn't even hear the MSO, so these tracks will sound brand new to us!

p.s - i dont remember hearing bootlegs from the show.... where have all my downloads gone?

Oh, it's completely one of my creations...

Billboard had to change the way they account for things when the physical single started to disappear. Years ago, you HAD to have a commercial single available in order for the song to chart on the hot 100. That, along with airplay combined decided on the tracks placement each week on the charts. Since record co's started reducing the physical singles they put out, Billboard had to make a decision and some changes to the way they compile the charts, cause so many songs ended up being huge radio hits, but because you couldn't actually buy the single, they were excluded from the charts... So they changed it. Then along came itunes...

Its still actually like that in New Zealand - our charts are based on single sales :laugh:

oh my god! i wasn't attacking YOU. i was commenting on the situation. now i understand why you responded as you did. i'm sorry you misunderstood my post. it wasn't for one second aimed at YOU. i'm not sure how you mistakenly thought it was. but in any case, if i offended you, though there was no intent on my part to do so, i offer my apologies.

Thanks catinthedark, i apologize to you too for the misunderstanding :wavey:

Randy (ravenofrhiannon) asked me to post the following response for him, since he wasn't able to post earlier....

EO17 is not edited down, the 'Somewhere deep in the middle of the night...' is on there.
I would bet my platform boots that Rhiannon is from 2005.