So tell me what remasters have come out in the past couple of years that I ought to consider getting just based on the huge improvement in sound quality.

I've always resisted rebuying things I've already owned, preferring to add new or new to me cds to my collection. I often think the extra tracks are at best a waste if they are compiled on a seperate disc that I don't listen to often, or at worst annoying if they aren't as quality. And I hate hate hate when they put the stereo/mono versions of the album back to back. I want to listen to the album once not twice, just give me the best version, damn it.

Since I've bought my mp3 player and listened to lots of stuff on random its become pretty apparent how bad some of my old favorites sound compared to newer releases.

I'm thinking as a start I probably out to upgrade

D jr "Bug"
D jr "You're living all over me"
Echo & the b'men "Ocean Rain"
Echo & the b'men "Crocodiles"

What else?

I think Hex Enduction Hour got reissued this year? How's the sound quality on that one?

How bout Village Green Preservation Society? Mine's the original and maybe I should upgrade that. There's several versions right? Which should I get or is the sound not that improved on any of 'em?

Give me more ideas?

np: Jacques Brel "Infiniment"

Brinsley Schwarz' 2-fers are all amazing-sounding.
Brinsley Schwarz/Despite It All
and
Nervous On the Road/The New Favourites Of...

Both awesome.
But only the latter is really a solid (2) record(s), throughout.

to me, the best one was...

Queensrych 'The Warning' re-issue..

the orignal was so muddled and sounded ike it was recorded under water...I was unable to listen to it for years...

then the re-releases came out a few years back, and it sounds amazing now....

The remastered version of Fugazi's Steady Diet of Nothing sounds much, much better to these ears.

The Village Green 3-disc is probably the best sounding version.

The Can reissues are quite nice.

apparently the newer editions of simon & garfunkel albums sound a lot better than the originals, although i havent heard them.

yeah the can and amon duul II remasters sound nice. in general, the SACD cds (dylan's whole collection included) sound a lot better.

In addition to those listed, I'd add:

Sonic Youth - Dirty
The Waterboys - This Is The Sea
Jimmy Cliff et al. - The Harder They Come OST (by far, the best sound improvement of all remasters/reissues I own)

I've only got the old version of Steady Diet, but I could definitely agree that the remasters of the other older Fugazi albums sound much better than the originals.

It seems that no version of Village Green sounds great, unfortunately. I don't really think the 3-disc one sounds that much better than the old Reprise ones.

But yes, the Can ones are huge improvements, and the next batch is scheduled for late June!

I'd really like to hear the Amon Duul II remasters.

To my ears at least, Hex is much the same, only now it's Hex Enduction Too Damn Long With Pointless Extras.

The DLR-era Van Halen remasters sound 10 times better than the original issues.

I agree on the Harder They Come. I think its the only thing I've upgraded so far and really part of my motivation to upgrade more.

What about the Clash S/T? I think that got reissued recently didn't it. Anyone buy it that owned the original version.

The four first Can albums have been remastered and they sound like new recordings. Absolutely the most stupendously wonderful example of how remastering indeed can improve the listening experience.

The next four are scheduled for release June 28. Start saving your cash, kids.

These are really big improvements but there aren't many extras so as long as you know that going in, it's worth it even if you already own them. You may want to add the first Dinosaur album to your list as well. Inferior to these two but still good stuff. It's the biggest improvement in sound quality as well.

I actually don't think the sound quality on the self-titled Dinosaur album I have is that bad so I probably wouldn't update that one but the quality on Bug and You're living all over me is pretty bad so those are i think definite pickups.

As I said earlier, I think most extras end up detracting from the album so I'm actually glad that D Jr didn't add a lot of stuff to them.

I own the London Calling and Story Of The... remasters, and they're both amazing. I have yet to pick up the s/t, but I imagine it's just as good (and it can be had for cheap - I've seen it as low as $7.99).

Are these the remasters from 2000 or the once recently released. The ones from 2000 are awful quality.

Converge- Petitioning The Empty Sky
Converge-When Forever Comes Crashing

These discs sound ten times better than the originals. You can really feel the power and guttural screams. Guitar work is much clearer and not just jumbled with the rest of the mix. Hardcore to the bone bitches.

A lot of the early Richard/Linda Thompson albums have been reissued, as well as early Fairport Convention stuff.

Same with the whole back catalog of the Go-Betweens, everything up to 16 Lovers Lane. They are all two disc sets, so you don't have to listen to the extras if you don't want to. I don't have all of these yet.

most if not all of those Felt albums...

X-Ray Spex--Germfree...
Redd Kross--Neurotica
Soft Boys--Underwater Moonlight (this really was a few years ago)
Television albums (don't have them)
Beat Farmers--Tales of the New West
Townes Van Zandt--Live from the Old Quarter

The Rich Kids "Best of" cleaned up the Mick Ronson production work quite nicely.

Duckyboy -

Are you just listing reissues that you are aware of or reissues with marked improvements in sound quality.

I don't want to repurchase things if they don't significantly sound better and I don't recall any major issues with the original version of Television "Marquee Moon" or my Richard Thompson/Fairport Convention cds.

I don't know about the Television stuff...I was just assuming. Maybe with some of these they just sound better in that they are louder, you don't have to crank the volume up as much. A lot of this stuff I did not re-buy--I didnt have it before but knew that previous releases were older, so probably weren't as good. The Go-Betweens stuff was released not too long ago by Beggars, so those, in reality, probably aren't too bad.

I have an older version of "I Want to see the Bright Lights Tonight" which kind of sounded like shit. A friend bought the reissued version and its much better. I bought the remastered version of "Unhalfbricking" to replace my old one. While I'm glad I did, I don't know if it's essential to do so. Maybe if you find it cheap...

I've got the 25th anniv. legacy edition of LC (2004), and the sound quality is excellent (although I'm probably in the minority when I say that the bonus disc and liner notes don't justify the price of admission). I actually found The Story Of... to sound pretty damn good, although it was one of the first remasters I picked up - I may have to revisit to validate.