[mb-users] Remastered albums.

[Michelle .]

There's been some confusion with the definition of a "remastered" album.

While designations such as "reissue" or "special" or "rerelease" means the 
same album in different packaging or put out several years later, 
remastering is a different kettle of fish.

Remastering is basically when the original recorded tapes without much 
tinkering or engineering are altered to change the "feel" of the album, e.g. 
adding more reverb, creating "space", adding more silence to the beginning 
nd ends of tracks, bringing some instruments further forward in the mix, 
etc.. You end up with a different album, with the same tracklisting.

For example, recordings from the 60s may sound "tinny" compared to the range 
of bass sounds we have today; when an older album is remastered, the bass 
levels may be increased to make it sound more modern.

Where the MusicBrainz database is concerned, this may mean the TRMs of the 
album may be slightly different to the fingerprint maker (or they may not, 
depending on the amount of remastering). However, to the listener, the 
difference will matter.

Thus, I believe that while "reissue" can be removed from the album name, 
"Remaster" or "Remastered" cannot, to distinguish the different versions.

I have no idea about the style, but from what I've seen in the database, 
"(remaster)" at the end of the album title seems to be a popular choice.

Thoughts?

Michelle (dirtyboots)

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