I’ve just posted this in another thread and I’ll post it here for those who missed. The tape dropout during the English version of “Heroes” in the most recent Bowie box has been addressed and replacement discs are available free of charge from Warners.
I won’t link to the SDE site as it breaks the AW, so here’s the text.
The record label have issued the following statement:
We can now confirm that the “Heroes” audio has been updated via all digital download and streaming partners. CD and LP discs (in a plain sleeve) will be ready to ship week commencing 11th December.
Those who have bought the ANCIANT box set and would like an updated disc of “Heroes” should send an email to heroes@wmgcustomerservice.com. Your email should contain the following info:
• NAME
• SHIPPING ADDRESS (and any delivery instructions)
• EMAIL ADDRESS
• PHONE NUMBER (required by some delivery providers)
• FORMAT PURCHASED (CD or LP)
• PROOF OF PURCHASE (email attachment / photo / scan / screen grab / etc.)
Please ensure that you limit the content of your email to these details only so that the Warner Music Customer Services team can process your order as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Ah, the old proof of purchase…….
We all keep our receipts don’t we.
Yes!
If you haven”t, you should still have the requisite proof on your bank/credit card statement.
And you can send a photo of your box set I would assume from the statement. It does (sort of) make buying from Amazon (or at least online) seem sensible.
I listened to it on streaming a while ago and yes there is a noticeable drop in volume during Heroes…it’s not the global tragedy some on SDE seem to think but nevertheless a pretty pivotal moment on a very expensive box set so I can understand people feeling short changed (and record companies still don’t seem to get that if they raise the price to a premium it had better be absolutely flawless no matter if it’s Pink Floyd or Johnny Hates Jazz).
Pre- internet if a release was mastered wrongly or badly pressed you either had to take it back to the shop and see if it was just a bad batch, write to the record company and angle for a replacement, or just suck it up and move on.
Shame it’s too late for me to get a free repress of Japan’s ‘In Vogue’ compilation – which was mastered with just the right channel of the stereo so you get a weird Mono mix
https://www.discogs.com/Japan-In-Vogue/master/160377
and even more disappointing – the Orb’s ‘Aunty Aubrey’ compilation of remixes some of which were mastered in Stereo, some in Mono which rather kills the widescreen psychedelic fantasia promised by the track listing.
https://www.discogs.com/Orb-Auntie-Aubreys-Excursions-Beyond-The-Call-Of-Duty-The-Orb-Remix-Project/release/13937
Any other examples of famously flawed discs that would have been replaced were they released today and would have had Paul Sinclair’s SDE army of Amazonistas apoplectic with angst?
If Andy Partridge is to be believed – Skylarking
Oooh, off the top of my head:
The Blue Nile – Peace At Last 2CD, distortion on Family Life. This is within the lifetime of SDE. Warners issued fixed discs.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – one of the Salvo 2CD jobbies had CD2 in mono. Also on SDE. Replacements sent.
New Order – 2CD editions of the Factory albums had needle drops from crackly 12″ singles. They went mad on NewOrderOnline and London Records eventually sent out fixed discs. I imagine going back to the Factory master tape archive was not an option as Hooky claims they were simply thrown in a skip.
Squeeze – Excess Moderation had one track mastered from a mangled cassette tape. You hear the tape fold up as it goes over the tape heads, a sound familiar to anyone who ever had an in-car cassette player chew up a tape. It’s like the mastering engineer wasn’t even listening! Where have I heard that before?
Joe Jackson – Body & Soul. The remastered CD has numerous digital glitches. This was a direct-to-digital recording made in a church with vintage microphones, years before that Cowboy Junkies album, so the original release sounds pretty good to start with.
From the pre-CD age, I have a Human League LP which has the labels on the wrong sides. Does that count?
I have a The Beloved 12″ single which has a nasty sampler-related digital glitch. It’s on the forthcoming latest So80s compilation and Blank & Jones have fixed it – spoilsports!
I’m sure I will remember more when I’m bored at work today.
The Scott Walker box 5 Easy Pieces Disc 3 (I think) was one channel only. I remember taking it back to MVC and arguing with them about it.
The Becker/Fagen/Nichols-approved remaster of “Pretzel Logic”. Some bright spark at the European pressing plant cut the first 16 seconds of “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” – the European CD misses the intro of distant rumbling sounds that was on the vinyl LP. I wrote a letter to MCA, and got a reply from their CEO with a copy of the US-CD which was perfect.
The UK edition of The Bible’s Eureka missed a couple of bars of acoustic guitar intro from one of the tracks. The German pressing was fine. Although I prefer to play this on vinyl.
Annoyingly, Cherry Red used the UK edition for the 2CD 25th anniversary edition, and they missed a track from a CD single, despite me pointing these out in advance.
The 2014 ‘official’ reissue of Mike Cooper’s ‘Trout Steel’ is in fact a needle drop, as becomes obvious on headphones, although as it was a download I can’t claim I was directly misinformed. Had assumed a legit reissue is from masters unless clearly stated otherwise?
When Furniture’s The Wrong People was finally issued on CD, their previous label “released” their previous album to download services. This was obviously a needle drop, and not a good one at that. I got my money back for the download and tipped off a member of the band, and the download was withdrawn.