Welcome back.
Slowly, I am returning to this project. Time away has been eventful; the Analog Loyalist batcave has a new location and, after meeting the band, a new appreciation and outlook on this series.
So it is that I slightly divert from this blog's stated mission and bring to you my remastering attempt of Joy Division's legendary 1978 RCA album sessions bootleg Warsaw, from the original 1989 CD release on RZM. It's critical to disregard any other known CD release of this bootleg, because the most common version, 1994's Movie Play Gold CD issue of this, is flat-out terrible. Too (FAR too) bassy, low-quality source material, the works. I suspect the best bootleg version of this session is the original 1981 LP issue (also on RZM), but I don't have a line on a decent transfer of it.
Legend has it that RZM is code for (Alan) Erasmus, an original Factory partner who, with Tony Wilson and Peter Saville, started Factory Records in 1978. The legend states that Erasmus (say it aloud, and then say R-Z-M) arranged the 1981 bootleg release of the aborted 1978 album, and then further arranged for the material's first appearance on CD in 1989. Frankly, I believe it.
None of the CD releases of this set have been spectacular in sound quality. I think the problem is that the original tape was not that great, and that the mastering-for-CD process - possibly to disguise vinyl lineage, as I suspect that the original LP was the ultimate source for all the various CD issues - really clamped down on the upper midrange and higher frequencies. It's always sounded muffled, and boomy (the 1994 Movie Play Gold release, with the baby on the cover, is the worst in this regard). I've fixed this. I've also fixed up some of the harsher song starts, as it's easy in the digital domain (ain't no ProToolin' in 1978!) and the CD has a few of the intros cut off. Why did I fix them? Because the missed intro to "Transmission" has always bugged me, among others. "Interzone" too.
I think this is the best we're going to get with this material. Already it blows the few tracks released on 1997's Heart and Soul box set away, and unless someone leaks the original mixdown tape from the 1978 session, we won't find better. That said, I do have a line on a dub of a band member's personal cassette copy of this session, but I don't have it handy and what I remember from listening to it when I did was that it wasn't really all that much different or better than the '89 CD release. I am trying to dig it up again, and if it does indeed better this, then I will tart it up and post it as well.
Joy Division
"Warsaw"
(unreleased May 1978 album sessions)
RZM CD 01 (1989 pressing)
November 2012 Analog Loyalist mastering
01 The Drawback
02 Leaders of Men
03 They Walked In Line
04 Failures (of the Modern Man)
05 Novelty
06 No Love Lost
07 Transmission
08 (Living In The) Ice Age
09 Interzone
10 Warsaw
11 Shadowplay
FLACs here.
Enjoy!
I really appreciate your efforts in doing this. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks, man! This is a fantastic addition to any collection. Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteGreat to have you back. Thanks so much for the post.
ReplyDeleteGreat to have you back Mr A.L.
ReplyDeleteHere you are spoiling us once again!!
Many thanks for this.
Bless you!
i have the 1981 RZM LP...if ya need a transfer of it, lemme know...
ReplyDeletethanks!
Sure!
DeleteCool, then I have a 1st gen of it. Thanks J-Not
DeleteCreatured
Wow, I had no idea the rzm version was the better copy. Since the movieplay gold version was such an upgrade over my old retropop version, and so easy to find, i figured that was the best out there. thanks so much for straightening me and the world out!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. I appreciate your hard work and generosity. Well done.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, thanks for all of your efforts. :)
ReplyDeleteSuperb! Much appreciated.
ReplyDeletenice stuff. thank you!
ReplyDeleteawesome. thank you!
ReplyDeleteWow! Another beautifully remastered project. Well done and thank you Sir!
ReplyDeleteAL: I also have the original 1981 RZM vinyl album + 7", bought it new at the time. I have an older MacBook Pro with an Apogee Duo (FireWire) and Audacity along with an Audio Technica LP120 (with built-in pre-amp) for ripping, if "notsaved" can't help you out.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks D - TB
ReplyDeleteTB - this place is ideal for putting out "that gig" that went nowhere with the abandonment of that project by the powers. Could I?
ReplyDeleteYes please. Thanks AL!!! This is a fantastic treat. You rock :)
ReplyDeleteI read about your trip to meet New Order. It sounds great; they are a fantastic live band (when everything works as expected!) I last saw them around 2002... they played a big Joy Division encore that totally rocked!
Cheers bro!
You are SO FUCKING AWESOME...really great stuff! It's good to have you back. :)
ReplyDeleteI honestly prefer JD over NO, and I always thought these sessions were under-rated to hell. Thank you so much; they sound superb.
Thank you thank you thank you, so good to jhave you back & treating us to these remasters, I have the movie play gold version of this so can't wait to listen to you remaster.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for this! You are amazing, sir. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication!
ReplyDeleteThanks !
ReplyDelete.... curious ... what is "that gig" ??
"RZM" is also the acronym for the Reichszeugmeisterei in Nazi Germany which was the quartermaster for all the party, SS and stormtrooper uniforms, insignia and such. An RZM tag was put on every single piece of equipment to show that it was official and passed their strict guidelines. I wonder if the guy who came out with the RZM record used that name as a play on Joy Division's early Third Reich fascination like the cover of the Ideal for Living ep and of course their very own name.
ReplyDeleteBut more importantly, I was just lamenting to myself that no one has done a full remaster of the RCA demos and wouldn't you know, later that same day you post this beauty! Thank you so much!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteThank you, thank you, thank you!
ReplyDeleteMany, many thanks!
ReplyDeleteIs it a 'lost" gig?
ReplyDeleteRelax all, it's not a "lost" gig nor is it JD. Just an upgrade to a NO gig.
ReplyDeletethanks so much, this is sensational, as with all of the things you've done, the quality achieved is remarkable.
ReplyDeleteOne question - what happened to track 12? (As you said) I can't recall if that was on the vinyl copy though it is on the CD, guessing it is the same version as from the flexi?.
thanks again
D
Many, many thanks for this good, dedicated work! you should be knighted ;-) and FLAC rules!!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Thank you very much indeed for this.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a week later - is "notsaved" coming through with a vinyl rip for you or not, A.L.?
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard. So… a ripping bakeoff? Go ahead an do yours.
DeleteThanks man, well done. The difference with earlier versions of these recordings is astonishing. This time you can actually listen to these songs and enjoy them. Chapeau.
ReplyDeleteMarx
WoW!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this!
I can hardly wait to listen to a better quality version of one of the best LPs of all time! (IMHO)
hello,
ReplyDeletethank you ever so much for this.
i was always bothered by the overly bassy sound in "transmission"...i could never attempt to do anything with it, but you've breathed life into these tracks.
thanks for your efforts.
shouts out to you.
Thank you very much!
ReplyDeleteThis bad-ass, thank-you so much! This might just be favorite studio album of theirs even if it wasn't intended as one.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful early Xmas present, this and University of London set. Brings back memories of hanging around Kansas City in the late 80s and buying all of these no-rent bootlegs of JD shows and rarities...those, of course, sounded awful, but I was willing to believe, just imagine that the hissy LPs and cassettes (later CDs)sounded better and transported me there. The younger me would have tears to even imagine this existed. Hope to see more, and truly do wish that whomever is handling the JD catalog right now would consider an official release. I'd be front and center to buy it!
ReplyDeleteIan & Joy mean so much to so many people after all these years. Whatever does anyone to enhance their legacy is worth celebrating for. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
ReplyDeleteChris from Athens.
Fantastic, thanks so much for posting this! I only have a dodgy bootleg cd of unknown origin of this found at a market up to now. Excellent!
ReplyDeleteThanks
ReplyDeleteThanks for your time and patience. Now, instead of your yummy flacs future gens will have to have mp3z ripped from youtube
ReplyDeleteI love the pre-Hannett drum sounds
i have an RZM orig LP that sounds awful. and i have the cd version with the grey cover with the baby on the front that sounds even worse, but i remember the electronics/synth sounds on that CD version being slightly different than what i have on the RZM vinyl. but what i also have is a different boot called "Pearl Harbour"(blue vinyl/white labels version, white sleeve with metallic red graphics/printing that ive never seen documented anywhere on line) that has this entire LP sessions on it, and it sounds light-years better than any other version i have ever encountered. totally clear & full of natural high-end without being 'crackly', and the low-end is abnormally deep and clear. but its obviously a 're-boot' of a different vinyl source as theres vinyl noise in the actual recording, on top of the actual vinyl pressing noise. its super clean with no pops or clicks, just mild sounds of the needle being in a vinyl groove here and there. i can flac it no problem if no-one else has come thru for you. contact me.
ReplyDeleteJust listening to this on youtube, blows my mind :D I want the FLACs, but the link doesn't work any longer... where can this be found?? Thnks for help, Paul, Basel
ReplyDeleteThe RZM LP has been bootlegged into infinity ... each subsequent "re-issue" being a re-recording from the latest vinyl version .... I`m not surprised the original LP is better than any subsequent re-presses ... even later re-presses on the RZM label were not made by the original people who pressed the first RZM LP .... the people who did that original LP faded away and left music behind ... believe me. ... the original RZM "Warsaw" LP was pressed in the USA and the vinyl, in paper sleeves, was shipped to the UK .... the outer sleeves were pressed in the UK ... and , Hey Presto, the first UK Joy Division bootleg LP was out ... it had NOTHING to do with Erasmus.
ReplyDelete