Even includes Heartbeat from her never on cd CBS album! That's the song that Don Johnson had the big 80's hit with. Wendy wrote it, & her version is far superior.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/wendywaldman3

Also available on a 2 cd set (PROBABLY burned cdr) from Wendy for $20 shipped.

http://www.wendywaldman.com/store.html



To bad it's missing Is He Coming At All. Looks like a great collection; I personally don't really like Time In The Desert (because it's really country), but other then that........ I may buy the download as an upgrade from my needle drop of Which Way To Main Street. And HOPEFULLY as an upgrade to the crummy sounding OOP CCM releases.

I just emailed her & asked about the mastering. I'll post if she writes back.

That's so weird--last weekend I got out my Wendy Waldman cds and realized I hadn't listened to any of them in years. I have the WB best-of and Collector's Choice versions of all the WB albums. Excellent songwriter whose records were right there with the best singer-songwriters of the 70's. The WB collection is very well chosen, but of course it doesn't have any material after Strange Company. I'll be interested in this, especially if there's new mastering. Thanks for the post, Geff.

I never was a Wendy Waldman fan (nothing against her, just never really knew her stuff) but I'm a big fan of how this is being handled. I love how this collection is broken down by album and all. I wish that kind of thing was done more often for compilations. Actually, I think my rule for compilations is that when available, they should always include the single versions. Beyond that though, showing this kind of layout is a nice thing.

I looked closer on the website, & there is said to be new mastering by a name I didn't recognize (Ken Hoffman). I'm still hoping Wendy replies to my email.

I bit.

WARNING: CD Baby charges sales tax on downloads in the entire USA.

I'm currently dl'ing it. I will post about sound quality when I hear it. I am currently not able to compare it to the CCM cd's, as they are all packed for my move.

I just listened to a bit. I can say most of the albums have a distinctive sound; rather then the comp having a consistent tonal quality. Largely, it's quite good. Unfortunately, the 2 worst sounding are my favorite: The Main Refrain (a bit muddy; almost like it was mastered from a cassette), & Which Way To Main Street surprisingly sounds just like the compressed CBS LP. It's a different kind of compression that what I usually complain about; it doesn't sound screechy; just everything sounds really squashed together.

I always assumed it was a very bad vinyl pressing (this has never before been on cd); I was wrong. Apparently the compression is in the mix (I'm only speaking of the selections from Main St).

While again, I don't have the CCM CD's available to compare with (they are packed in giant tubs with the rest of my cd's in prep of my move), memory says that this is better. Some of it sounded really good.

For those who care, it's a "DR12"; which is quite good for a modern pop cd.

With the sales tax on the download, those who prefer disc are better off buying the (likely burned) cd set from Wendy's website then the dl I bought; it's only a $3.50 difference as I don't believe she charges tax & she doesn't charge USA shipping.

I'm really enjoying this. Especially if you didn't pick up the CCM's, this is a no brainer.

Hopefully some day we'll get Hi-res; & I'm still irritated that she left off my favorite song, Is He Coming At All. After I move, I'll rip that from Main Refrain & add it in!

I bit on the CD version, which arrived the other day. They certainly look like regular CDs, not CD-R, which is nice. They're also signed by Wendy, which is nice. The sound is not bad, except that the levels haven't been equalized from album to album -- some album groups of songs are much louder than others. Like the tracks were copied from different sources and the levels were never evened out. The levels for the tracks from The Main Refrain are the lowest, unfortunately. Makes it hard to listen to all of disc 1 because I can't control volume with my remote. I don't know about the dynamic range. One other complaint -- the track Living Is Good (Main Refrain) sounds pretty bad -- shrill and screetchy. The other tracks from that album aren't bad, though. Odd. I need to compare the levels on the CCM discs -- maybe they were just duped from those. Overall, I'm glad to have this, though. Lots of good music here.

That's great news! Years ago I bought her orphans V1 collection from CD Baby & it was a burned cdr.

She (or her webmaster) never replied to my email.

When I unpack I'm also going to compare to the CCM's. I hope they're truly remastered as stated; the only thing I didn't have on factory pressed cd already was the 6 tracks from Which Way To Main Street & I did own the vinyl LP & made a needle drop cdr.

I agree with your comments on the sound Q.

I checked my CCM versions, and there is definitely a difference in levels from album to album, with The Main Refrain being quieter than the others. Makes me wonder if the "remastering" was mostly tweaking the EQ on the tracks from the CCMs. I also listened to the WB compilation, Love Is the Only Goal, and the levels are nicely equalized on that. I also noticed that "Living Is Good" sounds nice and smooth on the WB. That disc sounds better overall than the CCMs or the new comp, but it's only one disc. Still, the sound on the new comp is good enough that I would recommend it.

I wish I would have kept Love is... When I bought the CCM's, I sold the Warner. Normally, CCM did decent work, in fact these may be the worst sounding CCM's I've ever heard.

Wendy sells the albums separately (usually as '2fer's") also, but I suspect they'd be the same masters as on this comp. I've also seen expensive Japan cd's on ebay, but never bit.

At $15, I'm not upset that I bought it, either.

I really don't think the CCMs -- or this new comp -- are so bad, but the WB comp is pretty sweet. Dug out my vinyl copy of The Main Refrain today, and that still sounds pretty good, too.

I'm pretty sure a kept a needle drop of my old vinyl Main Refrain also. Packed like my other cd's at the moment.