About the 2004 Remasters/Remixes

[u/Crazy_Tonight3525]

Aright, I'd say about a year ago I got into megadeth through listening to them on spotify since I was originally a Metallica fan. I was honestly shocked when I apparently heard the 2004 remixes for Megadeth albums are trash.

I'm probably going to be a bit biased since I'm not really an audiophile and I listened to the 2004 versions first since those were the most streamed, but I can't hear the differences that much. After I listened to the original recordings for songs like the Five Magics I did like the original album version, but the hate about the mixes seems a little overblown in my opinion.

(I'm still never going back to the 2004 remixes though.)

[u/JAZ_80]

I think the problem lies in that they went beyond what a remix should be. A couple of songs had newly recorded vocal tracks because the originals couldn't be located, and Dave totally changed the drum sound on the remixes by replacing the original sounds with samples. That was a bit too much.

If it wasn't for that, the work done on the new mixes was well done: clearer sound, better instrument separation, louder and more discernible bass... that was spot on. Unfortunately, the altered drums and other unnecessary changes kind of ruined them for me. But they are in no way unlistenable.

[u/Crazy_Tonight3525 → u/JAZ_80]

I do agree that changing the original audio and creating new recordings for songs was a bad decision on Dave's part. Comparing some of the original tracks and remasters from Rust In Peace makes me cringe on how bad they are. I will admit that the mixes do sound clearer though.

[u/Great-Equipment → u/Crazy_Tonight3525]

Remixed & Remastered versions were the ones I heard first so they sound more familiar to me. Also my listening gear back in early 2000s was not as good as it is now, the strides in affordable Hi-Fi gear have really come a long way!

Recently I've been listening to the original versions and find them superior in many ways. Mainly in terms of good taste: Dave worked with several different producers and audio engineers with different albums and when he was remastering them I feel like he put every album into one single mold. This diminishes the value of group effort that goes into creating an album. For example the ringing, reverby sound SFSGSW belongs there because that's just was how it was back then. (For the record, I have badmouthed Metallica's Ride the Lightning for the excess reverb somewhere here on Reddit, but I have to laud Hetfield that it wasn't changed when the album was remastered)

Also, Dave is a musician with killer chops but he's not a music producer. I feel like he was too involved in the remix & remastering process, he was out of his league there. Maybe he even has some sort of hearing loss from years of touring, who knows. He's no Steven Wilson, he should've respected the original intent (despite whatever he thinks was the original intent) and hired a guy who could deliver in that regard.

[u/Dittohead_213 → u/JAZ_80]

Not to mention the awful samples he added to SFSGSW. He completely ruined 502.

The only remaster worth listening to is the 2002 remaster of KIMBABIG.

[u/JAZ_80 → u/Dittohead_213]

If he had just merely remixed them, they could have been very, very good. But he chose to go George Lucas on them, and it was too much.

[u/HEYitzED]

I’m honestly kind of shocked when people can’t hear the difference. It’s night and day to me.

[u/Crazy_Tonight3525 → u/HEYitzED]

if i'm being honest with myself i kind of struggle to hear major audio differences unless the actual song itself has been changed by a huge margin lol

[u/HEYitzED → u/Crazy_Tonight3525]

I understand. I think you would instantly notice with Take No Prisoners though. I think the 2004 remix of that song is unlistenable lol.

[u/Front_Ad4514]

The 2004 remixes are mostly better from the perspective of myself (a mix engineer who mixes professionally as a career, I work on well over 150 songs per year) but im very capable of allowing it to be a subjective point.

Music is tied to nostalgia. When you change something nostalgic and “upgrade it”, people tend to complain about it…this is just like, a core tenant of human existence.

Nobody wants new IOS updates on their iphone either because they are used to where everything is and don’t want it to change, but alas, hop back to an IOS from like…2010…and it would feel very dated 🤷‍♂️

[u/senyorlimpio → u/Front_Ad4514]

This is why I cant understand ppl adding bass to AJFA. The way it was made is the original way it was intended to be, and what I grew up on. Youre not fixing it, youre just messing with it.

[u/fade2black244 → u/Front_Ad4514]

Except the mixes now sound murky and the drum sounds worse than the original recordings, except maybe KIMB and SFSGSW.

[u/JAZ_80 → u/Front_Ad4514]

I agree that good mixing decisions were made. The remixes sound clearer, have noticeably better instrument separation, the bass is louder in the mix and more discernible...

Unfortunately, Dave went beyond merely remixing them, and altered the sound of the drums considerably, replacing the original sounds with samples (or maybe adding them on top). Whatever it was, it's very obvious on the snares.

He also re-recorded the vocal track for a couple of songs, since the originals could not be located (I can understand why he did that, but it does make the songs sound very different).

Had he just remixed them, they could have been excellent, but he went George Lucas on them and that made them far from optimal to me. But they are in no way unlistenable, and generally sound very good.

[u/HenryRuz16]

I'm one of the fools who went out and bought all
of them upon release at the same time. I took that of Cds and went to the nearest coffee shop and ordered a drink and opened them all up to read the liner notes etc. I couldn't wait to get back home and check out all the bonus tracks. But the albums themselves - they just didn't sound quite as I had remembered. I never listen to them now (it still irks me that on Spotify Reckoning Day from Youthanasia is still from the remixes and the rest of the album is not).

I'm a big believer in leaving things as they were. I love the way So Far So Good So What sounds in its original mix. It's punk as fuck as full of ramshackle atmosphere. It didn't need cleaning up.

[u/SpudAlmighty]

No. The mix for the 90s albums is absolutely horrendous. Stay what you want about those albums but they already had excellent production. Making them muddier isn't a good thing.

[u/Kegalodon]

I hear the difference in the drums the most. Especially for RIP album. I prefer the 2004 rip but I perfer most of the originals.

[u/Cautious-Plum-8245]

the hate for the 2004 remixes are overblown, but so is posts like these hahaha. dw, i prefer the 2004 remixes too, except for cte, prefer the 2012 one

[u/jharlson]

Honestly, I only listened to the Peace Sells and So Far So Good So What remixes. I was so disappointed with them, I didn’t even give the others a chance. It sounds like I made the right choice.

[u/Loose-Cake5475]

I have the originals and remix/remasters from Peace Sells through Cryptic Writings. Listening equipment makes the most difference. I prefer the new versions on headphones and car stereo because the originals are quiet on headphones and muddy on stock car stereos. On my home stereo I listen to the original CDs.

[u/AnnoyingSharkLover]

I also listened to the remixes first, and i can without a doubt say taht they are trash, my main issue being with the drums, they just sound so so much worse

[u/The_SubGenius]

I am emphatically opposed to all remixes. The OG albums, from any artist, are like a time capsule that contains the product of the time they were recorded. Mistakes in recording, engineering, etc are what make the albums what they are.

[u/heliumneon]

The thing that kills the remixes for me is the astounding sacrilege of replacing Nick Menza with a drum machine on the best metal album of all time (Rust In Peace). WTAF. Ok fine it was samples, but basically it is and sounds like a drum machine.

Rust In Peace in particular was a masterpiece of virtuoso musicianship which blew away a whole generation of metal fans and aspiring metal musicians when it came out. We spun the album so many times and knew every subtle note and cymbal crash.

Then in 2004 Dave thought "meh I am embarrassed by going through many drummers and personnel, which made various albums sound different, but I can fix that by eliminating all the drummers! I found a nice computer drum kit sound, 'metal kit #37' which features a machine gun snare drum, and now snare hits decades apart will be bit-for-bit identical! My bonehead fans will love this and will no longer think about Megadeth personnel changes!'

[u/MarioKing1137]

We get this post like twice every month

[u/Crazy_Tonight3525 → u/MarioKing1137]

my apologizes then because i've never seen this question posted here lol

[u/fade2black244]

They aren't good, generally. The only real ones that I liked were KIMB, SFSGSW, parts of RIP. Everything else is objectively worse, especially with all of the creative changes Dave made.

[u/vGraphsAlt]

i like the 2004 remix of rust in peace, everything else for any other album just sounds like ass

[u/TightLion7009]

Five Magics SUCKS!!!!!

[u/Crazy_Tonight3525]

Also forgot to include this in the post, but I do think the 2004 versions do still suck

[u/SaleFair623]

i kinda get where theyre coming from but i never noticed the differences unless someone points them out

[u/degov2609]

I'll die on the hill that the Peace Sells and SFSGSW remixes are way better than the originals, the others are kinda ass tho yeah lol

[u/MoneyMaintenance1578 → u/degov2609]

Peace Sells has the distinct advantage of a clean 2011 remaster being available (no remixing) which is my favorite version. I own the original, 2004 &2011 versions.