Written by Metal Diogenes on 23.04.2022 at 13:25

I love this thing, but mainly the original since the the 1998 remastered version sounds like it was recorded with a potato inside a wet cardboard box. The other remasters are fine IMO, but this one had to be the one that got completely butchered. I haven't heard the newer remasters yet, but hopefully they've fixed it.

So yeah, depending the version Somewhere in Time is either complete win or just terrible soundwise.

Really? I have the 1998 remaster and it sounds great

Written by F3ynman on 23.04.2022 at 19:29

Really? I have the 1998 remaster and it sounds great

I have both the original and the remaster and the difference is very noticeable, here's a comparison with nice visualization. It's another case of loudness war where the remastered version got too compressed and sounds very flat.

Written by Metal Diogenes on 23.04.2022 at 20:06

Written by F3ynman on 23.04.2022 at 19:29

Really? I have the 1998 remaster and it sounds great

I have both the original and the remaster and the difference is very noticeable, here's a comparison with nice visualization. It's another case of loudness war where the remastered version got too compressed and sounds very flat.

Yeah I guess I can hear the difference. But I think the remaster still sounds good for me. Everything is louder and I see how that can be a turn-off, but I dont mind. It makes it easier to hear all the instruments in my opinion.
But they also could have done it a lot worse; you can still hear all the instruments like the bass (unlike in And Justice For All for example) and the instrument tracks are the same as the original (unlike the new vocals in Rust in Peace 2004 remaster).

Whether you like this album depends on if you like them using guitar synthesisers - this is the first time they used it. I love it, so it gets 9. Either way, no filler songs, so you at least have to give them props for that.

I suspect that people who dislike it might be listening to remasters, because I first listened to this album on a remastered CD, and it I hated it, you couldn't hear the wail of the synth at all, just sounded like a sea of noise. Tried again 2 decades later on the original pressing vinyl, and its a world of difference. Compared it on youtube, and confirmed this is the case. Synths sound like mud in the remaster, horrible sounding. This is coming from someone who isn't that picky about the loudness war and remastering either.

Pretty sad its getting low ratings because of that. This is, IMO, one of their best albums. Only criticism is no outstanding song other than wasted years, which isn't that outstanding either, that's why this is a 9 rather than a 10.