Rhino is being forced to redo the recently released New Order "collectors editions after being bombarded with complaints from hundreds of irate New Order fans and even the band. Since the discs recent release, fans have reported some 300 errors with the reissues, mostly relating to poor sound quality, Reuters reports, leaving many buyers demanding their money back.
As previously reported, Rhino reissued New Orders Movement, Power, Corruption & Lies, Low-Life, Brotherhood and Technique, packaging each with a bonus disc made up of vinyl-only rarities, instrumentals and remixes. And it appears to be these bonus discs that are the main problem. Fans are reporting that pops and crackles can be heard on many of the bonus tracks, suggesting they were transferred directly from vinyl rather than from the original master tapes. Whats more, there are even some complaints that certain tracks dont play, period.
On bassist Peter Hooks MySpace page, the former member of the now-defunct group described the whole situation with Rhino a "mess, blaming the label for not giving the band finished copies to listen to before the reissues release.
Due to the massive backlash, Rhino, which is a Warner affiliate, issued a statement Thursday (November 20) saying the label will be redoing all five of the albums and will allow fans to exchange their flawed copies for new ones.
"Warner Bros. UK, Rhino and New Order regret that the initial pressings of the Collector Editions of Movement, Power, Corruption & Lies, Low-Life, Brotherhood and Technique contain some minor audio problems on the bonus discs," Reuters quotes the statement as saying. "We are now in the process of correcting the problems, but it should be noted that due to the age and condition of some of the original source tapes, the sound quality may vary. A further statement will be issued once the corrected product is available. At that time, the procedure for exchanging CDs will be announced. Thank you for your patience while we resolve this situation"
Hook also released a statement on the status of the reissues. Here it is in full:
This is a very difficult one. We are aware of the problems and because we did not have finished product to listen to, it has, shall we say... slipped through the net. My great friend Claude Flowers has taken it on himself to sort this mess out personally, but please be aware that, after the fact, it is going to be very difficult, unfortunately, because many of you have purchased them already (a great compliment in itself). We are doing all we can to try and get fresh masters made and available somehow to try and remedy the situation, so please bear with us.
I have said before how difficult it is compiling this stuff, the masters Steve [Morris] and I listened to were all basically from people's collections, so it was then left to someone in the library department to compile, as much as possible, from original masters. This is where it seems to have gone wrong. Unfortunately, it is industry standard these days to not have production masters of the CDs or the sleeves, much to Pete Saville's amazement, but that's just the way it is. Hopefully they might resurrect the process after this.
Here's hoping,
Hooky
As a strange side-note to this tale of reissuing reissues, few reviews of the New Order "collectors editions make any mention of any sort of sound problems.
New Order "Everything's Gone Green
As previously reported, Rhino reissued New Orders Movement, Power, Corruption & Lies, Low-Life, Brotherhood and Technique, packaging each with a bonus disc made up of vinyl-only rarities, instrumentals and remixes. And it appears to be these bonus discs that are the main problem. Fans are reporting that pops and crackles can be heard on many of the bonus tracks, suggesting they were transferred directly from vinyl rather than from the original master tapes. Whats more, there are even some complaints that certain tracks dont play, period.
On bassist Peter Hooks MySpace page, the former member of the now-defunct group described the whole situation with Rhino a "mess, blaming the label for not giving the band finished copies to listen to before the reissues release.
Due to the massive backlash, Rhino, which is a Warner affiliate, issued a statement Thursday (November 20) saying the label will be redoing all five of the albums and will allow fans to exchange their flawed copies for new ones.
"Warner Bros. UK, Rhino and New Order regret that the initial pressings of the Collector Editions of Movement, Power, Corruption & Lies, Low-Life, Brotherhood and Technique contain some minor audio problems on the bonus discs," Reuters quotes the statement as saying. "We are now in the process of correcting the problems, but it should be noted that due to the age and condition of some of the original source tapes, the sound quality may vary. A further statement will be issued once the corrected product is available. At that time, the procedure for exchanging CDs will be announced. Thank you for your patience while we resolve this situation"
Hook also released a statement on the status of the reissues. Here it is in full:
This is a very difficult one. We are aware of the problems and because we did not have finished product to listen to, it has, shall we say... slipped through the net. My great friend Claude Flowers has taken it on himself to sort this mess out personally, but please be aware that, after the fact, it is going to be very difficult, unfortunately, because many of you have purchased them already (a great compliment in itself). We are doing all we can to try and get fresh masters made and available somehow to try and remedy the situation, so please bear with us.
I have said before how difficult it is compiling this stuff, the masters Steve [Morris] and I listened to were all basically from people's collections, so it was then left to someone in the library department to compile, as much as possible, from original masters. This is where it seems to have gone wrong. Unfortunately, it is industry standard these days to not have production masters of the CDs or the sleeves, much to Pete Saville's amazement, but that's just the way it is. Hopefully they might resurrect the process after this.
Here's hoping,
Hooky
As a strange side-note to this tale of reissuing reissues, few reviews of the New Order "collectors editions make any mention of any sort of sound problems.
New Order "Everything's Gone Green
