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Remasters rule over YEAR?


jtpolk

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How do you handle, in the metadata, in iTunes in particular, releases where the album was released in the 1950's or 1970's, yet the date in the metadata is set for 2010 or 2012. Compilations are another matter, and the release date of 2005 of an album for an artist's work spanning decades is acceptable.

 

This was brought into sharp relief when I downloaded Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story, released in 1971, but has a date reflecting it's remastering, 2012.

 

Other examples...

 

The Eagles, Hotel California, 2011

Jackson Brown's Running on Empty, 2005,

McCartney's Band on the Run, 2010

 

Digital Remasters all, even though the albums were released in 1977 (Hotel California and Running on Empty) and 1973 (Band on the Run).

 

Then it gets ridiculous with two Blue Note releases. Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage (recorded in 1965) and John Coltrane's Blue Train (released in 1957). They both have the Year set to 2012.

 

This remaster dating makes a hash out of creating a playlist in iTunes of something like Jazz of the 50's, or Rock/Progressive Rock of the 1970's.

 

Since I have discovered that the release date in iTunes is read only (Doug's Scripts for iTunes has this information), I was thinking of altering the Year to the correct value for Release Year, then putting something like "2012 REMASTERDATE" at the beginning of my comments field.

 

I am using latest version of iTunes on iMac running Mountain Lion, my imported music files are in Apple Lossless format.

iMac 27-inch, Mid 2010 -> iTunes/BitPerfect -> TOSLINK or HDMI -> Marantz NR1402 -> Pioneer SP-PK51FS "Andrew Jones" 5.1 speakers. Headphones: Grado SR80i Stereo Headphones. Other players: Pioneer DV-610AV-S Universal Player SA-CD/DVD-A/CD/DVD, Digix Blu Ray Player, Auvio HD-Radio Tuner.

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The way I handle it is in the Year space I always have it as the original release date for the album. I do make a place in the Comment field whether it is the Original CD release or a Remaster. I tend to identify 'special' releases (The Beatles listed as 2009 Stereo Remaster) or audiophile releases (MFSL Or DCC versions) and now downloads (HD Tracks 24/96). If it is a compilation I will identify by the year of its release. If it is a "Deluxe Edition" that includes both the original CD and a CD of bonus tracks or live material I go with the original release date for the main album and the "current" release date of the bonus material.

 

I have considered going back into the Comments field and placing the actual release date of the CD (as opposed to the actual year of album release in the Year field) but at the moment that seems like a daunting task and I will either have to get really bored or more obsessed to do that.

"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open."
Frank Zappa
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Thanks for your reply. Sharing how you handle this gave me some good tips. Being an old fuddy-duddy programmer, I am in the process of laying out my documentation on how to handle as many variations as I have music sources and some that I don't have. The baseline is that now I am replacing the album release date into the iTunes Year field, and moving the remaster or hi-res download release information down to the first item in the comments. That is firm, and I have done it with my latest purchases (Stevie Wonder's Talking Book, Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story and especially three Spyro Grya albums released in 1979-1980, but ripped from 1994 CDs).

 

Luckily, I do not have that many albums to manage, as I have only been purchasing music actively for the past couple of years.

 

Again, thanks for your insights, they have helped me.

 

enjoy!

iMac 27-inch, Mid 2010 -> iTunes/BitPerfect -> TOSLINK or HDMI -> Marantz NR1402 -> Pioneer SP-PK51FS "Andrew Jones" 5.1 speakers. Headphones: Grado SR80i Stereo Headphones. Other players: Pioneer DV-610AV-S Universal Player SA-CD/DVD-A/CD/DVD, Digix Blu Ray Player, Auvio HD-Radio Tuner.

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I have the date is always original release date of the CD (for Pop & Jazz, for classical I use date of composition), and have any remasters etc. in brackets at the end of the album title, e.g.:

 

Album: Come Away With Me (24/96), Album: We Get Requests (K2HD remaster), Album: Dire Straits (SMH remaster)

 

If available, I mention the year of the remastering in the comments field (e.g. R2008).

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Personally I always use square brackets when I add some form of description to a albumn title as I find some album titles already have normal brackets as part of their title...

 

So those albums would become:

Come Away With Me [24/96], Album: We Get Requests [K2HD remaster], Album: Dire Straits [sMH remaster]

 

Eloise

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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Personally I always use square brackets when I add some form of description to a albumn title as I find some album titles already have normal brackets as part of their title...

 

So those albums would become:

Come Away With Me [24/96], Album: We Get Requests [K2HD remaster], Album: Dire Straits [sMH remaster]

 

Eloise

I utilize the square brackets in the title also but my usage under Album Title is to identify versions of the album I may have. For instance:

 

U2

 

1. The Unforgettable Fire (main album identified in Comments as MFSL Gold CD)

2. The unforgettable Fire [bonus Tracks](and identified in Comments as Deluxe Edition CD)

 

The Beatles

 

1. Rubber Soul [1965 Stereo Mix]

2. Rubber Soul [1987 Stereo Mix]

3. Rubber Soul [Mono]

 

Then each of the above are identified in the Comments box as 2009 Stereo Remaster CD Box Set or 2009 Mono Remaster CD Box Set

"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open."
Frank Zappa
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  • 2 weeks later...
Personally I always use square brackets when I add some form of description to a albumn title as I find some album titles already have normal brackets as part of their title...

 

So those albums would become:

Come Away With Me [24/96], Album: We Get Requests [K2HD remaster], Album: Dire Straits [sMH remaster]

 

Eloise

 

Was just about to use Tuneinstructor to rename my Hires accordingly, as I liked the idea, then noticed that I didn't have square brackets on my iMac keyboard. Luckily, friend google helped.

 

So for anybody else having this problem: it's Alt-5 and Alt-6 respectively.

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