Madonna (CD) vs. Madonna (LP)
Published July 23, 2003
It's pretty well known that if you compare the CD version of a recording to its LP counterpart that the LP will almost always "win". This is especially true for acoustic music (such as jazz and folk).
It's also well known that almost nobody gives a crap about this phenomenon.
Being the vinyl nerd that I am...ever since I got my hands on both the CD and vinyl versions of the remixes of Madonna's Hollywood and Morcheeba's What's Your Name I've been dying to put them head to head.
Most of the CD/LP tests I've done have been with jazz records. In the rock and pop area the most notable battles in my living room have been with Steely Dan's Aja and, most recently, Dark Side Of The Moon (in which the vinyl reissue lays waste to both the remastered CD and an older Mobile Fidelity gold disc). The differences that tend to stand out the most are: 1. bass focus - how tight is the bass and how low does it go and 2. instrument timbre - are all those little details that give an instrument its character given room to breathe...to make you "see" the instrument? For all of the recordings that I have compared the biggest difference has been with the latter category. Vocals have a lot more detail..and a lot more 'air' in them. Cymbals are also an area to check out : the 'wetness' of a stick's attack on a ride cymbal...the slow decay of a crash, with its many overtones. Last night I wondered what area (if any) would be the standout with this kind of (obviously more electronic) music.
Usually when I make these comparisons it's with a piece of music that I've lived with for a while. This time around that wasn't possible as the only song I've heard with any regularity is the radio edit of "Hollywood", which doesn't even appear in the vinyl remixes. Oh well, I think, it'll be an adventure. So after several listening sessions I picked the most interestings cuts from each set: for Madonna that turned out to be "The Micronauts Remix". For Morcheeba: "Rap Mix (featuring Big Daddy Kane)".
With both songs the LP easily showed improvement in the bass....definitely a little deeper and more focused. Timbre? The vocals on LP were the big winner. The remixes have a lot of 'vocal bits' flying in from all directions...and the analog versions were much crisper. I was actually a little surprised at this because the vocals really have to contend with a lot of digital effects (blurpy synth noises, etc) - which I thought might be toned down coming off the LP. What instead happened was that the vocals, being crisper and a little more forward, stood out above a pretty much unchanged background. Kinda cool.
Ok, all that being said...does this really matter? Most folks made the complete switch over to CD a long time ago (and let's not even get into the mp3 discussion right now). Also, the LP remixes are obviously intended for clubs where 'good' sound isn't an issue anyway. So I don't know if it matters. It sure does make a person realize that there's something missing from the 'perfect' sound of a CD.
Does anybody care?
(PS. If you find a copy of the vinyl Madonna remixes you're treated to the bonus 'Oakenfold 12" Dub')
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
Mark Saleski is a writer and music obsessive based out of the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. On his best day, he hopes to channel the ghosts of Lester Bangs and Jack Kerouac. He spends the hours of 9:32PM to 1:37AM carving out music reviews and essays for Jazz.com, Blogcritics.org and other publications.
- Madonna (CD) vs. Madonna (LP)
- Published: July 23, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Writer: Mark Saleski
- Mark Saleski's BC Writer page
- Mark Saleski's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
honestly, 'wrong' or 'right'doesn't matter. it's whatever you like.
i'm still a vinyl-phile for many reasons, not the least of which is better sound.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/7150)
I have several versions of 12" vinyl of this title (different releases/countries) as well as about 3 versions of the CD single ranging from a promo, to the US store release, to some unreleased versions. I'll say this much... I cannot really tell the difference between the two--however, I don't put them through grueling sound tests.
I will say this though... When releases now come out on CD, they tend to be a little "sloppier." Meaning, presentation and such isn't important. With old 12"... you used to have those "12" double packs" for clubs (ex: Rescue Me, by Madonna). They often were sort of generic, but had great and unusual remixes with a lot of different sounds. Now, they just bang out several mixes by about 5 remixers one one CD, without really much care for them. One of my Hollywood CD releases (I think it's the unreleased or promo version) is incorrectly tracked, whereas it's not just a mistake of a wrong or inaccurate track time written on the disc face... but the disc itself has a bad "map" or TOC (?) file. Bottom line is when you put the disc in, and play like track 3, if you skip to track 4, it starts in the middle of 4...and track 3 starts with track 3 and ends in the middle of 4. It's not my disc player, and it's not this ONE disc itself--but rather, the whole release/distribution of this disc.
I checked with a friend, who happesn to have one, and it's the same with his. I cannot recall now if it is exactly track 3... I'm just giving an example, this title is now very old in terms of release, and I dont have it in front of me. but you get the idea. And that cover of hers... eeeek. It's a close up of those infamous W magazine shots she recently did. They could have used a better one. That close up on the make up looks hideous.
It seems with CD's, they just slap em out and ship em out. There seems to be less care for perfection and presentation. Oh well, I"m a perfectionist living in an imperfect world, thinking CD's are the closest thing to perfection. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right. Sue me. : )