Rhino Vinyl - The Smiths Reissues

[ringrosso]

It's been done a while ago but I thought I would ask this question again as people's views change over time.

Are the Smiths reissues worth buying on vinyl? Is there an improvement on the original RT records, I'm also interested if the LTB Sire version has been improved upon. I'm guessing some 'may' be an improvement, others not so much.

Any comments or advice would be very much appreciated as I'm considering buying them.

Cheers

 

[VivaGil]

I bought the deluxe expensive box set that came out a while back and I'd say if you don't got em and want em it's a good buy. As far as sound and all that? The remasters are pretty well done and if you have spotify you can check out the complete set they have on their which is the one they used for the reissue.

 

[marred]

I got the vinyl box set as a gift but I've only got as far as The Queen Is Dead. Strangeways Here I come!

They sound great. Some of my Smiths albums were bought second hand so I needed a quality upgrade. What I did notice as far as how The Smiths sounded is how different early Smiths is to later Smiths. A short span of time I know but anyway, those first two albums sound so different to the last two. I can't believe I never really noticed it.

I am not of the school that drools over The Queen Is Dead. I much prefer the sound of The Smiths and Meat Is Murder. It's so raw and punk like versus the lovely and beautiful flourish of The Queen Is Dead and Strangeways Here We Come. I still love all the albums though. My favourite is still their first album.

 

[ringrosso]

Sounding positive...any more views would be appreciated.

As I am highly unlikely to get a box set now, can I ask, are the 180g albums that are readily available the same versions as in the box. I know there are 10" versions and believe that are different mixes???

 

[Cornflakes]

I can only really speak about digital, but the 2011 remasters are a little less crisp and have a better EQ compared to the Rough Trade CDs (fuller and more "real"). I'd say they are worth getting if you listen to the Smiths a lot. But they were done for digital, so I've no idea about vinyl.

If you're someone for whom digital just won't do, one thing to note is that the remastered versions of YJHIYB are slowed down compared to the old versions, and these are really a must have. So, why not dip your toe with either Louder Than Bombs or The World Won't Listen and take it from there?

As far as I know, only TQID was issued as a 10" in the remastered version. Other 10" discs you might see are likely to be 1993 pressings.

 

[modrevolve]

you should poke around the Steve Hoffman forum where all the audiophiles hang out..I'm certain they've had this discussion before.

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/forums/music-corner.2/

 

[fredkocherpepsi]

I have older pressings of Meat Is Murder, Strangeways, Hatful Of Hollow and Louder Than Bombs
I have reissues of s/t and The Queen Is Dead

The one big difference I notice is the quality of the vinyl itself. As for sound, I would love to compare the reissues and originals side by side.

 

[Cornflakes]

Here are some audio files comparing different versions from UK CDs.

This one switches every 20 seconds. Rough Trade 1985, WEA 1993, WEA 2001, Rhino 2011.

http://www.filedropper.com/hsinhistorical

This one starts with the 1985 version, then switches to the 2011 version after 15 seconds.

http://www.filedropper.com/hsin8608

The best versions are 1985 and 2011, and it's not so easy to choose between them, IMO. 2011 is fuller but muddier. 1993 is basically a flatter version of 1985 and 2001 is basically a clipped version of 2011.