Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx and Louis Gordon Double Metamatic CD this Autumn

Thanks F1 and Newvox. The link above makes interesting reading even if some of the more technical side of CD's and vinyl baffles me.
Peter

No no no. Compared to the number of Britney Spears CDs out there, any John Foxx release is already a rarity, with the majority of copies being sold to a small and devoted fan base. Keeping songs off reissues on the grounds that some things need to stay rarities means screwing a fair number of that small devoted fan base.

If we're supposed to buy the same album yet again, make it a definitive version instead of just the fourth or fifth in an endless sequence of marginally different reissues.

Of course not a new stereo mix, I totally agree. The only reason to go back to the multitracks is to significantly improve the sonics and, of course, lose those nasty tape dropouts from the now knackered 2 channel master.
With care the original mix can be perfectly preserved.

Dave.

I may be on my own here but I fail to see the point of yet another Metamatic reissue. Metamatic is a classic ten track album - to add bonus tracks and demos that aren't up to the high standard of the album itself just weakens the whole package and destorys the continuity of listening to the album all the way from "Plaza" through to "Touch And Go". There's that many "completists" on here that I find it hard to believe John has a CD's worth of unreleased tracks of sufficient quality to add to the album that we don't already know about.

Despite not having any musical qualifications, I know a fair bit about the mastering process and to be honest I think it's a bit of a con bringing out new "remastered" editions of classic albums. All mastering tends to do is make the music a little bit louder and perhaps cut down on a bit of background hiss, but it doesn't make the songs any better. Have you ever taken a CD back to the shop because it wasn't quite as loud as others in your collection, or because there was a slight hum at the end of one of the songs?

Wouldn't it be great to buy an album once and then never have to buy it again?

Originally posted by Herbert the turbot:
Wouldn't it be great to buy an album once and then never have to buy it again?

Now THAT is a good point well made.

I've just bought a new turntable, and my 28yr old Metamatic on thick vinyl sounds absolutely superb.

Maybe the compromise would be to release the double cd as 'Metamatic' ten tracks on disc one, and the second disc of extras for people who want it. As i too sometimes want to play just the album, but at the same time know ive played the whole cd.

I doubt all the tracks from 'metamatic' era have the quality to be on a difinitive release as suggested by Steve, but lets have as many as possible this time round and STILL make it the final re issue. Same goes for the other early solo albums if there to be made too.

I agree and disagree - these things are never easy are they? What it will come down to is if the label it's on does the whole thing properly.

The deluxe 2CD re-issue of Siouxsie & The Banshees 'The Scream' is a good example; the album as originally intended on CD1, and all the rarities, peel sessions etc on CD2.

Having said that, the recent Ultravox! remasters on Island had all the tracks on 1CD - and owning them was the only way I was going to get to hear the non-album track such as "Quirks" and the alternate of "Hiroshima Mon Amour".

I'm hoping that the definitive edition of Metamatic will have a track-list 'to die for'...until the next re-issue at least!

I'm now wondering what The Garden re-issue will have.

to have a double-VINYL-album of such a classic like "metamatic" would be jus' ace for me ! ;-)

however ... maybe in the end this double-cd-album of "metamatic" might be similar in style like "the hidden man" & the "sideways" double-cd-albums were before !? ;-o

Yeah, I reckon there will be an interview on it - seems to like that does our John.

I think the Edsel release was close to definitive, with regards to sleevenotes and lyrics and the related B sides. However, I am sure the rarities such as they will be will sell better on the back of the actual album itself. The early version of Like a Miracle, if it appears, would be worth the price alone for me (I would hope). Another idea would be to have the relevant videos on a bonus DVD (Underpass, No-One Driving, and He's a Liquid), but don't suppose that's very likely.