Official Reprise Press Release with some slight new info...

[RockALittle250]

Originally Posted by markolas

I don't get why she didn't just put out a whole live album, as opposed to a few live tracks mixed in with songs everyone already has.

I agree with you. This is more of a Best Of/Live Album than just a Best Of.

[Johnny Stew]

Four live performances I didn't have before... a professional recording of "Rock And Roll"... seven songs that weren't on 'Timespace' or 'Enchanted'.... an 18-page photo booklet... PLUS a DVD with commentary, home movies, interviews and Stevie's artwork.... I'm definitely very pleased.

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

i think i'm just bored with la nicks. i've been team buckingham

I hope he wins me back with the next album -- 'Under The Skin' underwhelmed me to the bone.

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

I hope he wins me back with the next album -- 'Under The Skin' underwhelmed me to the bone.

...at least he put out a new album

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

...at least he put out a new album

And it only took fourteen years!

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

And it only took fourteen years!

zing! okay okay...i'll give you that one

[face of glass]

It's been said before: I'll be getting it for the DVD but the CD could have been better. It's mostly stuff that we already have that's quite likely to have been remastered according to the standards of Loudness War. Doesn't really "tickle my fancy".

Here's a tip to those people who want a modern day remaster of Mirage: JUST TURN UP THE VOLUME ON YOUR OLD CD!

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

*yawn* (no offense, alex)

the dvd w/the voice over commentary and photo booklet are the only things of interest to me (yes, to me). but other than that, it's enchanted part deux, imo. i'm wondering if she'll make like lindsey and rehash the same stories over again w/the voiceover bit -- then again, she's never been quite as canned as he is.

I am only interested in the DVD portion (Which seems to be a growing trend in music releases) of this release.

Too bad Jim Ladd was not the interviewer for the interview section, he was the best person I have heard interview Stevie - And she seems very open to his questions and interview approach.

Here's a tip to those people who want a modern day remaster of Mirage: JUST TURN UP THE VOLUME ON YOUR OLD CD!

I took the original CD, ran it through my JVC stereo equipment & JVC burner and made my own version which has the volume level the same as the 3 recent Fleetwood Mac remasters.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by SandyMac

Who is David Wild?

David Wild, Writer & Moderator

David Wild is an Emmy-nominated television writer, a best-selling author and a Contributing Editor to Rolling Stone. He was also the host of Bravo’s acclaimed interview and performance series Musicians.

A graduate of Cornell University, Wild first worked for Esquire before moving on to Rolling Stone. He has written about music, film and television for the magazine ever since. In the mid-Nineties, Wild started writing for assorted television shows and specials in addition to his book and magazine work. Wild’s numerous TV credits include America: A Tribute To Heroes (for which Wild was the head writer), all the Grammy Awards since 1999, 2004’s Genius: A Night For Ray Charles for host Jamie Foxx, Come Together: A Night For John Lennon and New York City for host Kevin Spacey, Elvis Lives for NBC, the 2005 People’s Choice Awards and the Country Music Awards since 2002. Wild also wrote two White House television specials during the Clinton Administration. He is the author of numerous best-selling books including The Showrunners and Friends. . .’Til The End. He has written liner notes essays for dozens of artists including the Rolling Stones (Forty Licks), Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra (Duets), Simon & Garfunkel, Aerosmith, Van Morrison, Randy Newman and Sheryl Crow.

Born in New York, Wild lives in Los Angeles with his wife Fran and two sons, Andrew and Alec.

http://www.centuryartists.com/centur...avid_wild.html

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by SpyNote

Unless you're completely obsessive and nitpicky like me, you won't really hear much difference.

I am the most obsessive set of ears anyone can meet. Have to be when ya collect Beatle bootlegs, which helps with other artists.

In the past I have taken discs and made mixes that were appealling to my ears only because the original releases have audio flaws that drive me up the wall (I basically made my own remastered versions of all the Buckingham/Nicks era FM discs and all of Stevie's studio releases - Sure helped the sound of "The Wild Heart" album.)

[SpyNote]

David Wild also did the liner notes for The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac. He's an excellent writer and very enthuasiatic about the band, in general.

[JazmenFlowers]

Originally Posted by face of glass

It's been said before: I'll be getting it for the DVD but the CD could have been better. It's mostly stuff that we already have that's quite likely to have been remastered according to the standards of Loudness War. Doesn't really "tickle my fancy".

this is likely true, but we are in a separate class from the general public. this collection is necessary at this point. it does it's job as far as a "greatest hits" goes. those who bought Enchanted will buy this for the live stuff and the DVD. those who didn't buy Enchanted will buy this for the great collection of hits and the DVD.

Originally Posted by face of glass

Here's a tip to those people who want a modern day remaster of Mirage: JUST TURN UP THE VOLUME ON YOUR OLD CD!

I don't think that's necessarily true. remastering is more than just "pumping up the volume" -

[Serrart]

I could have done without Stop draggin' my heart around, for a personal allergy to this song, but for the rest it seems to me a really great best of, and the dvd is an unexpected gift (metaphorically, since we'll pay for it, but it's been a wonderful idea ). Do we know already which Rhiannon version would be?

Romy

[SandyMac]

Thanks for the info. on David Wild.
Yes, I agree, that it should have been Jim Ladd doing the interview because Stevie always seems so relaxed when talking to him.

[face of glass]

Originally Posted by JazmenFlowers

this is likely true, but we are in a separate class from the general public. this collection is necessary at this point. it does it's job as far as a "greatest hits" goes. those who bought Enchanted will buy this for the live stuff and the DVD. those who didn't buy Enchanted will buy this for the great collection of hits and the DVD.

Yeah, the thing is that the DVD could have been released separately though. But then there wouldn't have been a large enough market left for the CD. As Brian J. pointed out, the way Crystal Visions is now coming out is a common industry practice these days.

I'm just questioning the need for this very best of CD since Timespace already exists. Street Angel and TISL, in spite of containing many tracks that range from good to great, haven't really given Stevie any classics. So I can't really see that the CD adds anything of real significance to the public. And us Chiffonheads have been shortchanged too - there's ANOTHER live version of Rhiannon, most probably own the Deep Dish track already and everyone's got a live version of Rock And Roll and the Melbourne tracks via their bootlegs. While it's better that the live tracks will now be commercially available, there was an opportunity for an entire live album that's now been missed.

In short, a very best of/greatest hits package usually should give something extra for the casual fan and maybe something new for the hardcores (such as new tracks or outtakes), both of which the CD of Crystal Visions fails to do. Yeah, we'll get to exercise our completism and I probably would buy it anyway if it was just the CD that was going to be released. I'm that much of an anal completist anyway.

And of course it's a way to bring Stevie's body of work back to the public eye again and gather as much attention for it as possible - the CD of Crystal Visions should do fulfill its job there. That's the only good point I see for its release though.

I don't think that's necessarily true. remastering is more than just "pumping up the volume" -

True, it should all about going back to the original tapes, cleaning up whatever anomalies there are (but not via noise reduction!) and then trying to make those sound as close to the original as possible with new clarity. And since even we have better A/D converters on our computers than whatever the remastering guys of the record companies had back in the '80s, it's good enough of a reason to put out remasters of stuff that has been released on CDs before.

But not if the new remasters are done according to the Loudness War ideology that is so prevalent these days. I'm not going to start explaining much about how it ruins the dynamics of the original recordings and all that schpiel (I wouldn't have the vocabulary or all the knowledge for it anyway), a good YouTube link will do in this case. I'd just like to add that if an album is remastered according to the standards of the Loudness War, then a CD pressing of the same album that was released in the '80s is actually the better alternative because it sounds more like the originally released recordings.

Loudness War has just been getting more frantic because the record companies think that people want overcompressed loud-sounding stuff for their iPODs and because most new releases go that route anyway. All I'm asking is: why the hell should reissues of past recordings go that route too? Why should they compete in volume with most of the current new music? It's still going to sound like it's come from another era so most teenagers will turn their backs on it anyway, although some, bless their hearts, will always be drawn in.

I hope that this won't happen with Crystal Visions though. We'll see.