@Jaffaman posted:Same situation as the original release 40.5 years ago.
You mean the #1 chart position, or the fact that you can't get a digital download in the USA? 
😜 Album released in NZ and Australia months before being released elsewhere.
Having just heard the new mixes, I am more than pleased with them. I like the reverb on Neil's voice on "I Got You", the uncluttered "Double Happy" and the louder percussion on "I Hope I Never". By the way, has the original 7" remix of 'I Hope I Never" even been reissued on CD? The two CD anthologies I've bought over the years (and the vinyl "Enz Of An Era") have the album mix.
The only disappointment are the very quick fade outs. I'm not sure if this was Eddie's choice but they do sound rushed and unfinished. The live tracks are good but like a lot of people on this forum find them a rather odd choice for "bonus" tracks on this album.
Out of interest one of the pages in my booklet is printed upside down. Anyone else has this oddity? Not that I'm bothered as the booklet is the same as the 2005 remastered edition; which brings up another point - no sleevenotes at all?! The packaging leaves a lot to be desired and deserves better treatment.
All in all despite these complaints, it's a thumbs up for me.
Yes - I noticed the quick fadeouts as well. Very strange. This will be the third time they have used the same booklet then. My copy arrives later this week, hopefully with its pages the correct way up. The 7" remix remains exclusive to the 7".
I think Eddie should have teamed up with the CH Deluxe team and properly done all the enz albums the same way. True colours 40th is mixed a bit better but it is still thin sounding and the bonus tracks really don’t make any sense at all.
The mastering on the CH albums is not very good; though the track selection is as you note excellent. (I think, anyway.)
I think the problem with Split Enz regarding bonus tracks, is that there may be a few too many cooks in that kitchen, not only Eddie but I imagine Tim and Neil and probably the others have veto power; and Tim in particular for some reason seems un-eager to delve into his unreleased past.
https://www.frenzforum.com/top...9#641679540245809379
the CH remixes were pretty damn good I think apart from temple.
They were remasters, not remixes.
I'm glad you like them; I prefer the sound of the original albums for the most part.
But I certainly treasure the seven discs of other material that we got. I've read some grumbles, but I don't agree with them. Also I'm glad that there were vinyl reissues too, as I'm addicted to needledrops -- in the case of Time on Earth, it's like listening to a new album.
Re. the True Colours bonus tracks: someone has tampered with at least 2 of the credits (Firedrill and Lost For Words) which allows all band members except for Mal to be listed as solo composers in their own right. I Walk Away and Ninee Kneez Up are different performances from those on The Living Enz; if anything, the balance on these live tracks are superior to the actual album itself. Tim and Nigel are up in the mix on True Colours; Noel is negligible overall compared to the lead up Eddie spoke of, while the brilliant guitar work + the drums have lost all their original edge and crunch in tone. As mentioned during earlier posts, the fades are abysmal -especially with Neil’s songs. It’s wonderful to read that the album is doing well in NZ but having listened many times to what has been done with the 40th anniversary remix, I sincerely hope that Eddie isn’t tempted to do the same to Time & Tide in a couple of years’ time. For those who want the best of both worlds, the January 1980 live gig (at Night Moves?) found on YouTube is a superb performance of most of the True Colours songs. Noel certainly shines on Poor Boy, How Can I Resist Her?, and I Wouldn’t Dream Of It (for 3 examples).
@Jaffaman posted:😜 Album released in NZ and Australia months before being released elsewhere.
Will it become available elsewhere for sure? Postage, packing and import duties are too expensive (for me at least) to have them imported to Europe. So for sure hope these are being released in the other parts of the world where we live!
There is no certainty about anything these days.
Can anyone confirm about these extra "previously unreleased" tracks?
Recently lost my local Sanity Music (thanks to corporate greed - was in January BEFORE Covid hit) and every online listing I can find aside from iTunes is just the typical 11 tracks found on every previous release of TC.
I tend to still prefer physical copies as backups as opposed to online downloads. 
Same here, NF addict. I'm avoiding physical shops as much as possible atm, but everything says only the standard 11 tracks, even discogs.
I'm also hoping the coloured vinyl will get a UK release, but it would be good to know one way or the other as it's very tempting to order them in from Australia anyway and end up taking a hit on tax an import duty!
I love the vinyl releases - they look great and obviously are selling well in NZ. There was a whole stand devoted to them in my local JB-HiFi and a few days later they had all been sold. It was great to see the Enz with a no.1 album again in NZ!
I was a little underwhelmed with the mix. It sounds fine to my ears and Tim’s voice really does seem to come to the fore, but I think my expectations had been built up to be blown away in the same way when I first heard the Frenzy remix. So my expectations were probably a bit out of whack.
Funnily enough I love the live tracks. I still hold that they have nothing to do with True Colours, but they sound amazing and it is good to hear something different (not just rehashes of the 93 or 06 concerts).
I would happily buy more live Enz albums with songs from tours prior to 93 (and the earlier the better).
Listening to the vinyl for the first time now and I’m really enjoying it. TC didn’t need a ton of work really but it’s managed to make it sound fresh and even more alive. I agree with the comments about the weird fade outs, though.
Any band’s most successful record is bound to be liked less by the hardcores, and it’s not my favorite by the Enz, but you can’t deny True Colours is a great album. To have gone from the fire before Nambassa to this in a year is astounding.
Received my CD in the mail today from JB Hi-Fi. (Something to listen to during semi-lockdown here.) I'm finding the new mixes interesting to hear, but not necessarily "better" than the originals. And yeah, my booklet has a page upside down too. Will need to have a tinker with my staple-remover...
Lucky me. My booklet has its pages all the right way up.
I just got my CD in the post. I like it a lot, it seems more “Split Enz” than the original mix, and the live songs are more of a treat than I thought they’d be. I really like “Firedrill”.
It is too compressed and limited for me, I had to keep turning it down as it was bothering my ears, but a bit less so than the 2006 remasters. I still enjoy it.
I am not certain if anyone has ever noted that all CD versions up to the 40th Anniversary Remix by Eddie Rayner of “True Colours” were not based upon the Mushroom version of the original LP but upon the A&M version. This is even true of the 2006 Remaster. The 40th Anniversary Remix is the first in the series where Eddie Rayner, for some reasons, went back to the Mushroom version. Among the differences are the lack of human voices at the beginning of “Shark Attack” and “Poor Boy”, the high whooping tone in “Missing Person” going from right to left / left to right (which is balanced in the middle in the A&M version), or Noel Crombie’s percussion restored at the end of “Poor Boy”. These and other subtleties were only present in the Mushroom LP version up to this time. You can easily check at https://www.youtube.com/watch?...wGgL7Ne9BEgoym5Bt9WG .
I've just listened to "Shark Attack" on an original Mushroom LP (ENZ1) and the voices at the beginning are clearly there. As they also appear to be from your A&M pressing - i.e. it appears that there is only one original mix used by both Mushroom and A&M. The 40th anniversary remix has introduced the changes as you might expect from a remix. Am I missing something?
I just checked my Mushroom laser etched lp and the voices are there too.
Thanks, David! I checked again. I was definitely misguided by a (crackling!) digital copy of the 2020 Remix vinyl edition and I thought it was an original Mushroom LP. This can now be excluded after you and Camus played your own Mushroom LP and found the human voices etc. there. Then Eddie’s Remix is unique in that he introduced these innovations. Never late to learn.