1995 Castle Records CDs

Lego

Lego

Ancient Mariner
I came across some interesting pressings of a few Maiden albums at a record store last week. They're of the Castle Records label, and have some pretty cool bonus CDs included. Can anyone attest to the sound quality on these discs? If it's anywhere near as bad as the '98 editions I'll certainly pass...
 
They're pre-remastered, are they not? Some folks like that shit. I've just bought (eBay - £2.21) a pre-remastered SiT CD...
... looking forward to hearing the difference (--if I can even distinguish the difference).
 
I think that these CDs are way more rare than the 98 editions and they are valuable because of their bonus tracks. I think they were not remastered or at least not as the 98 ones. So, I'd say: get them!
 
There really is a sonic difference. I used to belong to the camp that said "it's only for audiophiles", "you will only hear it on expensive equipment", "it's not really a difference, just a bunch of people wanting to feel superior", but then I gave the Maiden pre-remasters a good, long listen, and there really is a very significant difference.
 
Perun said:
There really is a sonic difference. I used to belong to the camp that said "it's only for audiophiles", "you will only hear it on expensive equipment", "it's not really a difference, just a bunch of people wanting to feel superior", but then I gave the Maiden pre-remasters a good, long listen, and there really is a very significant difference.
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For sure. The degree varies album by album (very prominent on Piece of Mind for instance) but yes, it's certainly not something that only audio nerds will hear, although a well trained ear will pick it up much easier and in greater detail.

Get them.
 
I have almost all in both formats, but for some reason only the remastered on my MP3/phone. (I think at one point I tried to burn both but Windows Media Player didn't really understand that they were different albums & bundled all the tracks together; & I couldn't really be bothered thinking about how to have both digitally.) I really must get round to putting all the pre-remastered on my MP3...
 
Thanks everyone! I'll make the trip back to pick them up :) I have a few orignial pressing CDs that are from the original masters and they sound so much better than the remastered crap. I just wasn't sure if the songs were remastered in 1995 as well.
 
You know, just listening to the original SiT release (pre-remastered) that I just bought, & the funny thing is --it's Steve's bass (& Nicko), more than the guitars, that suffers more than anything [on the remaster]. The bass is far, far more crisp in the original. The rhythm is just this booming mess, in comparison, in the remastered version.
 
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I've got three of these, Powerslave, Fear of The Dark and Killers.

Each with a white sticker on front saying: "2 Limited Edition Picture Discs. Original Album Plus Bonus CD" But I'm not sure if these are the Castle records or not since I can't really find the Castle Records label anywhere on the discs or in the booklets..

But inside there's a picture of Eddie in the X-Factor chair with images of the entire catalog around him and the text "These albums now available as limited editions with Bonus CD"
 
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CriedWhenBrucieLeft said:
You know, just listening to the original SiT release (pre-remastered) that I just bought, & the funny thing is --it's Steve's bass (& Nicko), more than the guitars, that suffers more than anything on the remaster. The bass is far, far more crisp in the original. The rhythm is just this booming mess, in comparison, in the remastered version.
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I couldn't resist to add that red text. ;-)
 
But the later sentences explained yourselves perfectly. So first I was like "WTF", and then I was like the "ooohh yeah" as uttered by Fat Blue @ 0:46 in this clip:
 
SixesAlltheway said:
I've got three of these, Powerslave, Fear of The Dark and Killers.

Each with a white sticker on front saying: "2 Limited Edition Picture Discs. Original Album Plus Bonus CD" But I'm not sure if these are the Castle records or not since I can't really find the Castle Records label anywhere on the discs or in the booklets..

But inside there's a picture of Eddie in the X-Factor chair with images of the entire catalog around him and the text "These albums now available as limited editions with Bonus CD"
Click to expand...

It seems the 2 CDs you have are the EMI editions, printed in the UK.
The Castle ones are identical apart from Killers, which has more Maiden Japan tracks on the bonus disc, than the UK one. Plus Twilight Zone is on disc one, I think.

Also the Eddie in the electric chair back cover are UK editions only. The Castle editions have a double sided sheet with a album related Eddie pic and the bonus tracklist.
Hope this helps or makes sense, even.
 
It definitely does. It is nice to know what I'm in possession of! Thanks!

Yeah my Killers bonus disc only contains 4 tracks

Twilight Zone
Woman in Unifrom
Invasion
Phantom of The Opera (Live)

Fear of The Dark contains 7 though!
 
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