Cars Heartbeat City CD

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 Egomaniac hijacks Cars
This album is ruined by the decision of the "mastering engineer" Steve Hoffman to ignor the original intent of the band and producer Mutt Lange by ignoring the pacing and presentation of the original album by adding unnecessary spacing between the tracks. On the original, the songs were presented without spaces. Also, the are errors with the HDCD encoding, which causes many players to emit a popping noise at or near the end of many of the tracks. Don't waste your money.
Submitted by richard (Cleveland, OH, USA)
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 Don't fall for the 24K Gold hype this time
You might think that words like "24K Gold", "From the Original Master Tapes", or maybe even the label name "Audio Fidelity" would lead to a masterful re-release of this gem from 1984. But all I want is a refund. First off, for the first time ever, the album now has gaps between the songs - something that has never occurred on this release - not on the original vinyl, cassette, or any prior CD version. The seamless intent of presenting this album as one continuous flow by The Cars and the album's producer is gone, apparently based on the whims of this start-up label's mastering engineer. Original album artwork - gone. Lyrics printed out - not on this edition. HDCD-encoded? Most of the time. If you have a player, you will see that as the songs start to fade, the HDCD encoding apparently ends, with an audible click on at least two of the songs. Better off not listening on an HDCD player. This is nothing more than a gimmick disc for one of the better titles of the early 80s. The sound quality isn't even much improved over the 1990s remaster, still available for $10.00 or less ANYWHERE. A very disappointing title, and a very disappointing kick-off to a new 24K line from a label that had promise. Will be interesting to see reviews on upcoming titles by The Band and the 614th remaster of the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" to see if any improvements are made in Quality Control. I certainly won't be spending another dime on this campaign until they get the job right. Buyer beware! Two stars for the great songs only, this is at least a 4 star album in it's original form.
Submitted by Steve (Louisville, KY)
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 Butchered!
Some Einstein thought spaces added between songs was a good update?Sound quality is good until defective HDCD encoding starts making popping sounds.This one due for a recall.
Submitted by dave a (amsterdam)
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 Why there are gaps
They assembled the master and cut the LP and CD--without gaps. Then they cut up the master to make the singes. Then they put it back together with leaders. Cut to 2008. The bonehead mastering engineer cut straight from the master reel, unaware that this reel had been spliced and reassembled(despite having previously used same for the Cars Greatest Hits on DCC). But it looks like the disk may be redone. Check in a few months. Also--no lyrics in the booklet.
Submitted by edbarry (New Hope, AK)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  7 of 10 found this helpful.

 Great Mastering...
The cd sounds terrific on my system. Perhaps the naysayers have an agenda. I wish more titles sounded this good.
Submitted by Jim (Boston MA) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  12 of 21 found this helpful.

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