RHINO Compact Discs

[woodward]

I am curious about something. What is the consensus of members of the forum regarding purchasing CDs issued by RHINO or COLLECTABLES?

Do you think that the quality is identical, poorer, or in some cases better than a CD on a major CD company?

Would appreciate any thoughts on this. I always felt that they were inferior but I stand to be corrected on my thinking.

Thank you.

[soulster]

Rhino was once an independant label in Los Angeles that specialized in high quality records and CDs starting back in the 80s. They found their niche by releasing high quality compilations, and their chief sound engineer was the famed Bill Inglot, a serious record collector. The guys who started the label were hands on, and produced and compiled a lot of the CDs. Rhino was also noteworthy for their extensive liner notes with almost every CD project. When you buy a Rhino CD, you are getting high quality sound. Perhaps not always the best with every single CD, but they strove to bring we collectors the best possible that was available to them.

Bill Inglot went the extra mile to find the best tapes possible. He didn't just accept what the labels gave him. He got into the vaults. Sometimes he would travel to another city to get to the correct tapes. But, as all comps have, there are sometimes errors as far as the correct version of a song is concerned.

Rhino was sold to WEA in the 90s after a partnership. They still exist today, but are nowhere near what they were in the 90s.

Collectables is another reissue label that started out as a reissue label, primarily reissuing 45s. However, it's a crapshoot because they pretty much accept whatever they get from the labels, and their sound quality has been very spotty in the CD age. The emphasis of that company is to put out what the other labels won't, and to save money.

[Ngroove]

Is it not Rhino the only way, for a while, to pick up many classic Atlantic singers CDs, or even today, the budget-friendliest way to get many of them?

Owner of I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You / Lady Soul / Aretha Now / Otis Blue / The Dock Of The Bay / The Very Best Of Sam & Dave, and they all sounds awesome. Once had The Very Best Of Wilson Pickett too, but that one was inferior-ly tinny.

[reese]

I bought some Collectables cds that had selections taken from vinyl, and scratchy vinyl at that. To my recollection, this wasn't noted in the cd credits. I remember this being the case with one of their Gloria Lynne collections, as well as one from Linda Jones.

[Motown Eddie]

Is it not Rhino the only way, for a while, to pick up many classic Atlantic singers CDs, or even today, the budget-friendliest way to get many of them?

Owner of I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You / Lady Soul / Aretha Now / Otis Blue / The Dock Of The Bay / The Very Best Of Sam & Dave, and they all sounds awesome. Once had The Very Best Of Wilson Pickett too, but that one was inferior-ly tinny.

Since Rhino is owned by Warner Music [[which also owns Atlantic Records), it is still the only way to get reissues from the classic Atlantic artists from the '60s.

[lockhartgary]

I bought some Collectables cds that had selections taken from vinyl, and scratchy vinyl at that. To my recollection, this wasn't noted in the cd credits. I remember this being the case with one of their Gloria Lynne collections, as well as one from Linda Jones.

IIRC, The Mad Lads LP on Collectables vinyl I once owned also had been mastered from scratchy vinyl.

One of the founders of Lost Nite records went on to start Collectables.

[soulster]

Is it not Rhino the only way, for a while, to pick up many classic Atlantic singers CDs, or even today, the budget-friendliest way to get many of them?

Owner of I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You / Lady Soul / Aretha Now / Otis Blue / The Dock Of The Bay / The Very Best Of Sam & Dave, and they all sounds awesome. Once had The Very Best Of Wilson Pickett too, but that one was inferior-ly tinny.

Before Rhino went into a partnership with WEA in the early 90s, the Atlantic, Warner Brothers, and Elektra labels released CD comps of fairly good quality. Some believe that they are still the best. However, they used the stereo tapes, which were NOT the hits from a technical standpoint. These stereo mixes cannot be remixed because the multitracks were all destroyed in a 1978 warehouse fire. All that exists is either the stereo tapes, or the mono singles tapes. In the early 90s, Rhino was instrumental in getting all those MONO singles mixes back on the market, many of them not having seen a release since the 60s at that point. Rhino redid many CD comps with the stereo mixes for better sound. Rhino and WEA worked in tandem. The labels would release product by the major artists, and Rhino would release the rest. BTW, That Wilson Pickett CD was also redone by Rhino.

Rhino took over the reissue of the R&B titles. And, since Bill Inglot helped Motown get their vaults in shape, Rhino was also able to reissue several Motown comps. Inglot did the two Hitsville U.S.A. boxes, too.

[soulster]

Since Rhino is owned by Warner Music [[which also owns Atlantic Records), it is still the only way to get reissues from the classic Atlantic artists from the '60s.

Technically, since 1968, Warner is Atlantic Records. They just shortened the name from WEA [[Warner/Elektra/Atlantic). It used to be called Warner Communications in the 70s and 80s.

[soulster]

IIRC, The Mad Lads LP on Collectables vinyl I once owned also had been mastered from scratchy vinyl.

One of the founders of Lost Nite records went on to start Collectables.

Collectables is notorious for taking things from vinyl. While I don't have a problem with that practice when necessary, the problem is usually the quality of the work. Most labels just don't put in the time it requires to do a quality disk dub/needle drop. Back in the 90s, the technology and plug-ins just weren't there to make it happen. Today, the software is very cheap, and there are people who can do disk dubs so well that you literally cannot tell it's from a record! I know because I do it all the time! There is a label called Real Gone that has lately been releasing comps from the ABC/Dunhill catalog. The niche is that they are doing the original singles. The problem is that ABC Records threw out most of their mono tapes in the early 70s to save money. So, how are they doing this? They won't say, but some high quality mono tape copies were found in Europe, and for those that absolutely cannot be located, that are using the 45s. The trick is that those 45s are so well done that you cannot tell they are from vinyl! Now, if other labels would just do that...