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TechnoTV - A Charlie Brown Christmas
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List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $7.81
Your Save: $ 7.17 ( 48% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Fantasy
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0888072300668
Format: Extra tracks
Label: Fantasy
Manufacturer: Fantasy
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Fantasy
Release Date: 2006-10-10
Studio: Fantasy
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Poor reproduction
Comment: While I love this soundtrack, I was hoping to get a good quality recording. Instead, this was like listening to a scratchy old cassette tape or an L.P. Very poor sound quality for this CD.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Like the Charlie Brown Christmas Special?...
Comment:
Have just finished listening to this...
Do you like the "Charlie Brown Christmas" special?
Do you have any other soundtrack of this?
If you do (like the special) and you don't (have any other soundtrack)...
Buy this one. (Everything else boils down to technical fisticuffs...)
Really...and at Christmastime, too! Tsk, tsk, tsk...
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Christmas Classic -- and yes, it's been remixed.
Comment: As you may have noticed by the mixed reviews, this is a newly remastered version of A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Original Sound Track Recording Of The CBS Television Special released in 2006. I'm a fan of the new version, although the old one is certainly not bad and has its own charm. A lot of effort went into this remaster, because I've heard plenty of things that have been 'remastered' and either not improved or actively made worse. There is a significant difference, though. The 'old' version sounds exactly like what you hear when you watch the TV special, so if you want pure nostalgia, buy that one instead.
I actually bought both recordings so I could compare them back-to-back. I didn't do blind A-B testing, but I did listen to both CDs, both as a whole and in pieces. To me, the 'new' versions of the songs sound cleaner and more spacious, but not compressed. The effect produces something that sounds more like a recording of a live performance. I do not understand the comments related to the piano part being muddled or lost -- because to me, if anything, I can hear more of Guaraldi's subtleties in the new mix. The 'old' version does sound a bit brighter at the high end, but it's hard to say if that was intentional or an artifact of the noise (since there is just a lot of high-end hiss in general in the 1988 version). The average volume level *is* noticeably higher on the new recording (which another reviewer pointed out as a negative), but I feel that better use has actually been made of the available dynamic range on the new remaster. The volume levels of the different parts have been brought more into balance on several tracks.
As noted by other reviewers, several of the tracks have slightly different/longer versions from the 1988 CD release. This is not really stated anywhere -- the lengths of the first 12 tracks on the back of the two CDs are listed as exactly the same, but some of them are not actually the same length on the CD! Apparently, however, just to confuse things more, the alternate takes of "Linus and Lucy" and "Christmas is Coming" have been restored to the 'old' version in the later pressings of the 'new' CD. (The explanation given was that the 'old' version of "Linus and Lucy" was actually a composite of two takes, and they originally used the full version of one take on the 'new' recording -- and they just flat-out used the wrong take of "Christmas is Coming" on the first batch of CDs.)
Ultimately, you may have to listen to it yourself to make up your mind. To me, this version is probably truer to what Guaraldi was hearing in the studio when he laid down the tracks. But is it what you heard on your television in 1965? No, not quite.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An unfortunate remaster of a classic Christmas album
Comment: My wife knows that the Christmas season has not officially begun for me until I start playing this album. Guaraldi's unique musical whimsy is so perfectly captured on this recording that I can't imagine Christmas without it. I've also been a composer, arranger and producer for 15 years. From the perspective as a fan of this music and also as a producer, I think this remaster is inappropriate and unfortunate for many of the reasons already stated. Any time you take an iconic recording that's been around for 40 years and try to do the original recording engineer one better, there better be either a specific problem with the original master you're trying to address or you'd better be an absolutely brilliant and careful producer.
The original recording of this soundtrack was, despite some comments to the contrary, excellent. For the technology available (it likely was recorded to 4 tracks), the mix is great. Furthermore, because it IS 40 years old, it's got that great "vintage" sound to it that isn't necessarily a bad thing at all. (Not every record should sound like it was recorded today!) There isn't a lot of tape hiss. The dynamics are full and the sound is warm. What's not to love?
I guess what I'm trying to say is that, while colored by the technology of the day, nothing musical was *lost* in the original mastering of this recording. And I think that original "sound" is part of its enduring charm.
Now take the new remaster. It *is* way to compressed -- the dynamics of the original performance are lost. Some unnecessary noise reduction has clearly been applied, and while there is now NO tape his whatsoever, some of the fidelity is gone with it, too. Finally, the sound stage (the perceived "spread" of the music over the stereo space) is not only less interesting, but it's wildly different from the original master.
There are some albums in my collection that have benefited greatly from a careful remaster. Sometimes, the person who did the job the first time around clearly didn't know exactly what they were doing or didn't have the right equipment, and notes that had never been heard are discovered by a new producer years later. Sadly, there is no such studio magic occurring on this remaster. It just feels like a ploy to get more people to buy this album, or to get them to buy it again. But, there are extra or recut tracks, you say! Well, again, if you have reason to respect the original producer (which I think we do in this case), then I think we can assume that we are hearing the original master as he or she intended us to hear it. Remember that ANY time a band goes into a studio, stuff gets recorded that you'll never hear. And what you don't hear is usually agreed upon by the producer and the musicians. So to put stuff back onto the record without being able to talk to the artist (Guaraldi is dead) is pretty gutsy and presumptuous, in my opinion. Rest assured -- there's no real reason to buy a remaster of this album. The original master will not only sound more familiar to you, but it's musically superior. Merry Christmas!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Peanut Christmas
Comment: Normally things that trigger one's childhood are not a good thing....but this CD is an exception! This is the best Christmas CD I have ever bought! Every year I treat myself to a new Christmas CD...and this year I finally picked up the Peanut's Christmas CD....I had wanted it for many years...but I just hadnt gotten around to it. It is really the best! It takes you back to your childhood, and watching all the old Peanut holiday shows just like it was yesterday. It makes wonderful background music for gatherings and parties, or just great ipod music....I'm sooo happy I bought it!
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Editorial Reviews:
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The first time you listen to this disc you will undoubtedly be transported directly back to your childhood. Charles Schulz's Peanuts characters will go toe-tapping and funky-dancing through your mind's eye. Play it a few more times, though (ignoring the dialogue snippets, if you can), and you will begin to truly revel in Guaraldi's wonderful, humorous, deep piano playing. You'll hear why he's such an influence on new age ivory tickler George Winston, but you'll also realize that Winston's holiday music never quite sparkles with the underlying passion, and humor, that twinkles in these grooves. Buy it for the nostalgia--keep it because it will remain one of the most enchanting albums in your holiday collection. --Michael Ruby
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