I wanted to comment on my experience of the ongoing Super Furry Animals’ remasters, specifically this one.
Like many who’ve posted on this thread, I don’t have strong feelings either way about remasters per se. But the SFA remasters have been an interesting experience. I own most of their albums on original CD release and, I must admit, they’ve always sounded a little “flat” to me. Not bad, just not great. This isn’t a comment on the music, just the mastering.
The albums were mixed simultaneously both to 1/2 inch tape and to DAT. The remastering (of the original album) has used the analogue tapes and the results are impressive. A lot more depth, weight and “flavour” than the original CD.
Kliph Scurlock is overseeing the remastering project. He’s so committed to his approach that he’s ruled out splicing the analogue and digital sources, even if this means living with occasional “glitches” in the analogue tapes.
Overall it’s a hugely impressive effort!