A question regarding RARE EARTH's "MA" cd releases

[jbpintus]

RARE EARTH's 1973 lp "MA" was released a couple of times on physical CDs.

First time was in Europe in 1989 as Motown WD 72286.

Then in Europe once again in 1994 as Motown 530 279-2 and shortly afterwards the same year in the USA as 31453-0279-2.

You might think those two last releases are the same as they share the same UPC, but they are not!

In happens the European 530 279-2 is sonically the worse of them, and the US 31453-0279-2 is the best source as it sounds truly great. Well, nearly... as there's a huge glitch 0:42 into "Big John Is My Name" on that release only...

I wondered if all copies of the US 31453-0279-2 cd had the same defect.

I know this is a useless question as the "FILL YOUR HEAD" boxset, which gathers the first 5 Rare Earth lps, sounds even better than the releases I've written about above and there's no glitch on "Big John Is My Name"
[those like me who bought the set when released know the mistake is elsewhere on that set]

And if you want to know, the WD72286 "MA" sounds better than the 530 279-2 cd, but not as good as the 31453-0279-2 one.

I must have too much time on my hands to create such a post... oops!

Btw, does anybody here have the European WD/ZD 72xxx cd release of "Ecology" ? As it seems that money can buy anything but love AND that cd which I just can't put my hands on, I thought I'd ask you how it does sound like compared to the old 2fer and stand alone "Ecology" CDs. :-)

JB

[mysterysinger]

"Ecology" was re-issued as an LP on WL72219 but I can't see a CD issue for this - was it definitely issued on a WD CD in Europe - maybe not [[though other Rare Earth albums were issued with this prefix)?

[jbpintus]

I'm 100 % sure "Ecology" was released on cd as WD 72219 as I've seen it but I didn't thought it would prove, years after, to be such a difficult cd to locate.

Other Rare Earth European CDs released as WD or ZD 72xxx include "Get Ready", "In Concert", "Ma", "Get Ready / Ecology - 2 all time great ..." and "Greatest Hits and Rare Classics"

[jbpintus]

OT but very funny thing...

Try to search for "WD 72219" on google...

First result for me is a link to an ebook called... Ecology!

[mysterysinger]

I have WD72143 "Get Ready", WD72288 " In Concert", ZD72497 the 2fer plus other series including GH&RC and GR on MOTD. My faves are the Culture Factory mini LP series. But I've not looked out for a WD "Ecology" thus far. Maybe I will now.

[jbpintus]

I don't like the mastering of the Culture Factory "Get Ready" and "Ecology" CDs. Too much distortion on the bass parts...

Their 5 other Rare Earth releases are top nevertheless :

"Dreams / Answers"
"One World"
"In Concert"
"Willie Remembers"

...and of course the previously unreleased "Live in Chicago" from 1974.
Too bad they didn't use the original art for that one,
that they inverted "Get Ready" and "[[I Know) I'm Losing You"
and that one track is missing [["We're Gonna Have A Good Time")...

[mysterysinger]

Shame re the CF inaccuracies - recently, regarding the new Tammi "Irresistible" they said -

Tammi Terrel
Includes - “Hold Me Oh My Darling” &
“I Can’t Believe You Love Me” with Marvin Gaye

Shame about their spelling and I sincerely hope Marvin doesn't appear on that album. I shall buy it when it gets more reasonable in price though, because I'm a big fan of mini-LPs.

[PeaceNHarmony]

Generally speaking are the Culture Factory releases good productions?

[jbpintus]

Yes they are!
Go and get em! :)
RARE EARTH IN CONCERT is smaller in size than the others. But it reproduces the original packaging, complete with insert

As for LIVE IN CHICAGO, it's hard to talk about inaccuracies as the album remained unreleased for 40 years. Maybe after all the original artwork that leaked listed a track not recorded or even played in Chicago. It may have been designed before the recording took place. What we have on the CF cd sounds like an unedited batch of tapes, with abrupt beginnings and endings. You can hear the tape stop. And there's a lot more ambient noise and chat at the beginning of the concert, than we we could expect [similary, we have a funny chat about people risking to get shocked by the wires used for the recording of the show on RARE EARTH IN CONCERT, and it was kept on the record, so...]
And the notes confirm the show ended with "Losing You" and not "Get Ready", making the running order on the cd more coherent than the tracklisting on the original artwork from the unreleased 1974 lp...

As for "Get Ready" and "Ecology" the artwork is the best. Only the sound is so-so to my ears...

[mysterysinger]

You get faithful replicas of the LP covers, all relevant inserts and a CD with an accurate label very much like the albums. Best of all, they are very reasonably priced. I love em! They also do some vinyl releases too.