I am someone who absolutely dislikes it when record companies remix the albums from a classic artist like MCA did with The Who's catalog. I wish they would just remaster to better the sound...not alter history.

Over the years I have bought The Who reissues for bonus tracks, liner notes, etc. I have found some of the remixes to be fairly true to the original, but some like the "Who Are You" album are so radically different that I can't listen to them (I can't stand the expansive echo applied to Daltrey's voice on "Who Are You").

The only two remixes I have yet to buy are the ones for "Quadrophenia" and "The Who By Numbers." Are they much different than the original mixes? I'm not sure whether it's worth buying them.

This one fan hates the harsh brightness of the remixed U.S. "Quadrophenia" CD:

http://www.thewho.info/Quadrophenia2.htm

If you are a fan of the original mixes, this fan highly recommends buying many of the Polydor CD's made in Germany, although I cannot find them for purchase anywhere on the internet. I've tried several import stores.
They are probably all out of print.

I'm no audiophile, but I've never heard a version of "Quadrophenia" that truly satisfies me, probably because I love that album so much. Therefore, while I do prefer the 1996 US remaster to the MFSL gold version, it should be noted that that probably means that the MFSL lab is the superior-sounding version, as all of my audio preferences tend to fly in the face of those who can actually understand waveforms and whatnot.

The deluxe editions of Tommy and Who's Next restore the original mixes.

I have those and they are terrific. I wish all the Who albums were like that.

Needless to say, so many of the Who albums sound terrible. I really think part of the reason was that unlike Zeppelin, the Stones and other big name acts, The Who used a lot of cheap studios to record their albums. Part of the "Who's Next" album was done at Olympic Studios in London, which is probably why that album sounds the best of all the Who records. So many of the others like "Quad" were done at dreadful studios.

One of the most bizarre remixes is on the 30 Years Of Maximum R&B box set. "See Me Feel Me" begins with the studio intro and then goes into a live rendition of the song. Why they felt the need to graft a studio intro onto a live version is beyond me.

They also faded out "Overture" from Tommy two minutes early, right before the vocal was supposed to start.

Generally speaking, I don't think The Who remixes are radically different from the originals, but I agree, they should simply remaster the stuff, not remix it.

I've been on the fence about buying The Who Sell Out for so long because it's a remix. Now, I don't have to be on the fence anymore. The original mix was restored on the new deluxe edition. Probably the first time I won't have to rebuy something to get the original mix. In fact, I've never bought this album before in any format.

For years, MCA claimed that the original master tapes to Tommy had been destroyed by the group's former manager, Kit Lambert. Original MCA CDs were made from copy tapes, MFSL's gold disc was made from an alternate mix in Pete Townshend's library and for the remaster, a new remix was done.

When they decided to release the deluxe edition, miraculously, the original two track masters were discovered. Turns out they hadn't been destroyed, after all.

"That one fan" of which you speak is notoriously full of shit. Disregard 90% of what he says.

I think The Who By Numbers sounds great on the remixed CD (it sounds much better than the original CD), and Quadrophenia is alright, but I prefer the MFSL version. As far as the difference, I can't tell you as it's been too many years. But I listed to The Who By Numbers CD often and enjoy it, so that's all that matter to me. The Who Are You CD is the one that I really can't get into.

Do the remixes of Quad and Who By Numbers radically differ from the original though? I mean, there is night and day difference between my original MCA copy of Who Are You and the remixed version in terms of different instruments fading in and out, the way Daltrey's vocals are treated, etc. At the same time, I can't tell the difference between the original Face Dances and the remixed version.

Thanks for the advice on avoiding "that fan" manmancer. I have heard similiar things. More reason to avoid him.

I haven't listened to the "By Numbers" remaster in a while (I even have the original MCA CD somewhere as well) but I don't recall any radical changes having been made from the original...the only Who remaster that (to me) was truly a "night and day" difference was "Live At Leeds". For all of this talk about stereo/mono mixes and so on, the one original mix that I'd reccommend to Who fans is the original six-song version of "Live At Leeds". While I don't mind any of the remasters one bit, I do think that the "classic" version of "Live At Leeds" that was the default version of that album for twenty-five years should never simply be discarded as antiquated.

Hi

I've only owned the remix of by numbers until I recently picked up the classic lp of the original mix, haven't really listened enough to make a proper judgement although on the remix they segue They are all in Love and Blue Red and Grey into each other, which was an odd decision. Bonus tracks are weak IMO..
The Quad remix is very faithful to the original mix, the main difference being for me is Roger's vocal's were pretty buried in the mix on the original and are more upfront on the remix. If your a Keith Moon fan then stick with the original as they are more in your face than on the remix. It's been a while since I've compared the 2 but I certainly don't recall any radical replacement of the instruments across the stereo spectrum ala the Beatles YS songtrack. The remix cd sounds great, mastered by Bob Ludwig... Hope this helps a bit, give me a shout if you want me to compare any particular favourite track...

Okay. I'm confused. I thought the Who remixes were done by Jon Astley and that Quad wasn't part of the remastering series as of yet. Obviously, I'm wrong but was Quad remixed/remastered by a different team that the others?

While never publicly stated, I always thought the remixing was Townsend's attempt to re-visit the past and upgrade the sound of the the albums while preserving the original performances.

Jon Astley remixed Quad, and Bob Ludwig remastered it. Remixing and remastering are not the same thing.

Most classic rock artists elect to just remaster their CD's, but not remix them (which I think they should always do). Remastering essentially takes the original mix and makes it sound better (in theory) for the CD format. It doesn't alter the integrity of the original recording as it appeared on LP. Led Zeppelin did this to their catalog, for example.

But what the Who did, and what the Doors recently did, was remix their records in addition to remastering them. They took the original mixes and altered them so that different instruments and effects would come in and out compared to the original mix. After Astley finished a remix, the recording was handed over to Ludwig to remaster the music to make it sound better for the CD format.

What bothers me about the Who remixes is that some are more faithful to the original mix than others. The Face Dances remix sounds nearly identical to the original mix, whereas the Who Are You remix is radically different than the original mix. Some of the Who Are You songs like "Guitar and Pen" and "Music Must Change" are so different that they sound like alternate takes. I'm so glad that I still have the original MCA CD of Who Are You because some of my favorite Who tracks are on that album, and the remixing permanently destroyed them for me.

I need to dig out and scan those articles from back issues of ICE which intially reported bonus tracks and the like for what would become the 1996 "Quadrophenia" reissue.

Hi

Quad was remixed along with the rest of the classic catalogue in 95-96, Jon Astley gets a remix credit but Andy McPherson did most of the leg work. The recent Deluxe edition remasters are all the original mix (apart from Leeds and My Generation) and are a mixed bag sonically (mastered by Astley) but have great track selections.

The Quad '96 remaster didn't include any extra tracks like the others, did it?

I guess the lack of updated graphics on the outer packaging and lack of bonus tracks led me to believe this one hadn't been remastered.

No bonus tracks for Quad per decision by Townshend. Personally I have both the MFSL and the remix. I like the remix inthat Daltry's voice is brought further up in the mix. A "correction" that satisified members of the Who I might add.

Rick A.

The reason given for the lack of bonus material for "Quadrophenia" (a valid one IMO) was that if the new set somehow altered the tracklisting and 2-disc format of the original set, fans would have been upset--bonus tracks would have wound up on a third disc. That, combined with the expensive reproduction of all of the original album art, would have created a package that would have wound up costing too much. Still...the two-disc "Sell Out" was rumored for two or three years. I'd certainly buy a pimped-out 3-disc Quadrophenia, given the opportunity.

I've really enjoyed the Who's entire reissue program. It wasn't until about seven or eight years ago that they started to get redundant with the issue of best-of packages like "Then And Now" and "The Ulimate Collection". One thing I really like is the way in which they have made their bootlegs more or less obsolete, although I do have an "Upgrades For The Box Set" disc which contains stuff like the full, uncut Keith Moon comedy bits from that set.

as for Quad, on the every version except the '96 remix there are 3 'honks' around 2:49 into "The Dirty Jobs", right after Daltrey sings 'you men should remember how we used to fight'

it bugs me that they were removed and makes me wonder what else was changed, nice packaging for the '96 but when I play Quad on CD, I reach for my MCA version from '85 (first cd I ever bought)

I have the WG Polydor pressing of Who Are You and Quadrophenia (orig. mix) and they sound way better than the MCA version. Even the original mix Japanese version sounds good. Though I wish they were recorded as well as ELP albums from the early 70's.

Same here! I have no specific recollection of what I ever did with it, but I assume I let it gather dust after I picked up the MSFL version. I wish I still had it...I also remember how it came in two seperate jewel boxes, and both came in a killer longbox. I wish I'd saved that longbox, too...

I still have mine. Glad I kept it.