Back in May, new wave fans celebrated when EMI released expanded, remastered versions of Duran Duran's 1981 self-titled debut and 1983's Seven and the Ragged Tiger. This happiness quickly turned to anger, however, once fans heard the reissues' music, which many claimed was glitchy and poorly mastered. In a message posted on Duran Duran's website [via Slicing Up Eyeballs], EMI acknowledged these criticisms, but said that there are no plans to recall the albums despite the uproar from fans.
In the statement, EMI defended the remasters, claiming, "We have received both positive and negative comments about the mastering which is usual for any project - although those that don't like the sound of these new records are by far in the minority."
Of course, if the critics really are in the minority, that doesn't explain why EMI feels the need to defend the remastering. One of the most outspoken opponents of the reissues is Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor, who tweeted "the remastering's crap."
In a discussion on Amazon.com, one fan claimed that the albums had been "massacred" and pointed to waveforms as proof of the songs' over-compression.
Another fan, however, wrote, "The sound quality was enhanced to the degree that you can tell a significant difference between the original CD of this album and this remastered version."
Despite insisting that the remastering is up to snuff, EMI did acknowledge that there is a glitch during the camera clicks in the opening seconds of "Girls on Film" (from Duran Duran). The label wrote, "Whilst this glitch is not ideal, as it is in the camera clicks and not within the main body of the music, there are no plans to replace any discs."
Despite the error, EMI defended engineer Andy Walter, saying "There have been some personal comments about the mastering engineer that were highly offensive, wholly inappropriate and unjustified." Maybe this is in reference to the Amazon commentator who wrote that he "should be immediately fired from his position."
This situation is similar to the shoddy remastering of New Order's back catalogue, which contained pop and crackles due to being ripped directly from vinyl. In that case, Rhino recalled the botched CDs.
In the statement, EMI defended the remasters, claiming, "We have received both positive and negative comments about the mastering which is usual for any project - although those that don't like the sound of these new records are by far in the minority."
Of course, if the critics really are in the minority, that doesn't explain why EMI feels the need to defend the remastering. One of the most outspoken opponents of the reissues is Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor, who tweeted "the remastering's crap."
In a discussion on Amazon.com, one fan claimed that the albums had been "massacred" and pointed to waveforms as proof of the songs' over-compression.
Another fan, however, wrote, "The sound quality was enhanced to the degree that you can tell a significant difference between the original CD of this album and this remastered version."
Despite insisting that the remastering is up to snuff, EMI did acknowledge that there is a glitch during the camera clicks in the opening seconds of "Girls on Film" (from Duran Duran). The label wrote, "Whilst this glitch is not ideal, as it is in the camera clicks and not within the main body of the music, there are no plans to replace any discs."
Despite the error, EMI defended engineer Andy Walter, saying "There have been some personal comments about the mastering engineer that were highly offensive, wholly inappropriate and unjustified." Maybe this is in reference to the Amazon commentator who wrote that he "should be immediately fired from his position."
This situation is similar to the shoddy remastering of New Order's back catalogue, which contained pop and crackles due to being ripped directly from vinyl. In that case, Rhino recalled the botched CDs.