BMG CD's ARE worse

The Rush CD was just called "2112" which you cn buy in any store. The BMG version "Chronicles" only has the first and second part of "2112". So the discs aren't identical and that would better define if it's really BMG's fault or not.
I did not think a compilation CD would be remastered but this one did say "Manufactured for BMG". That statement bothered me. Perhaps "remastered for BMG" would be more like it?

cdc, Your BMG version is a different version than the store-bought version. But it's not different or inferior because it's a BMG edition. It's different because the CD title "Chronicles" has earlier mastering of the material than the current CD of the album "2112".

In other words, if you bought "Chronicles" in a store today, it would also sound comparatively worse than the "2112". When Mercury Records remastered the individual album CDs I do not think that they did the same for the Chronicles set. This is probably because they were issuing two new compilation sets at the time, Retrospective. Or if they did, then you may have an older copy (that's why I asked when you got the BMG disc).

By mastering, people here mean the process of prepping a recording for CD format. Sometimes the record labels put a new date to indicate the remastering date (e.g., "(c) 1976, 2002"), but sometimes they do not (e.g., "(c) 1976" only). I think this depends on whether the label feels that a newly mastered recording warrants copyright registration as a "new" work. Obviously, that Rush album was not mastered (for CD) in 1976.

In most cases, record companies will change the artwork or place a sticker on the plastic to advertise a "new mastering". But this is not always the case: the Bruce Springsteen catalogue was redone with no change to the packaging. The Who's Who's Next CD used to be like that too; in the U.S. MCA originally issued a "Steve Hoffman" master of that album on CD, then changed to another master without changing the packaging. (The Who's Next CD is currently a totally different package, with bonus tracks and yet another remastering.)

So with something like Springsteen's catalogue someone could potentially have two similar looking versions of the disc and think, "BMG's CDs are better sounding than my Tower Records copy!"

Marakanetz, it seems to be important to you to pay more for CDs that are not labeled as being from BMG, ColumbiaHouse, or, perhaps, the Musical Heritage Society. As they say in Texas, go head-on.

Hello Brianmgrarcom! It is indicated on the back of the CDs where it is manufactured. Made in the E.U., Made in the U.S.A, Made in the U.K., Made in Japan, etc, etc ...

For example, The Carpenters'Greatest Hits might have many mutations and versions. Different compilation, less or more songs, different year of release, re-masters, anniversary issues, etc, etc ... All will sound different. Sad but true!

Sometimes, the recording company lose the rights and the rights are transfer for example from Polygram to Warner Music.

Hope this helps.

As I mentioned earlier, the CD in question may have been compared to a remastered version. In this case the remaster will usually be louder and sound better. When the CD medium became popular, many companies wanted to get their products on the market as fast as they could. Many times 3rd and 4th generation mix down tapes were used instead of the original masters. This coupled with the use of early generation AD converters made for sucky sounding CD's. This is the reason vinyl sounds so much better than earlier CD's. 1995 was the year digital recording got much better because of the much improved AD an DA converters.

The Japanese issues are much better in general and sound as good as most remasters of today because they took the trouble to use the master or first generation mix down tapes for their releases.

BMG, more than likely, simply makes a digital copy of the CD that they are going to sell. If it is an early generation CD, then it is going to sound like it. BMG is owned by Bertlesman Music Group. They have access to many original releases but not as many as Columbia House.

Columbia House is owned by Sony Music and Universal and have a much larger back catalog to choose from. Therefore they have many more original releases to choose from.