Metallica Ride the Lightning Original DCC Compact Classics CD

DCC Compact Classics is a high-quality CD label that is as popular as Mobile Fidelity. The label will release the masterpiece thrash metal album RIDE THE LIGHTNING, which was reissued from the CD GZS-1136. [DCC High-quality CD Series by Charismatic Engineers] Various high-quality CDs appeared in various ways from the 1990s to the 2000s. However, there are many different methods for making high-quality CDs. As companies began to compete with each other in releasing them, differences in quality and popularity began to appear. The various methods can be broadly divided into three. One is what we might call the “material system.” Normally, CDs are structured so that an aluminum vapor deposition film that records a signal is sandwiched between polycarbonate, but this system replaces the material with a highly reflective metal film or a highly transparent resin to reduce reading errors. These include “SHM-CD” and “Blu-spec CD” (however, the recorded data itself is the same as normal, and it is said that there is a risk of errors increasing depending on the reading tuning on the player side). The second type is so-called “digital technology type”. The CD standard is 16 bits, but high-quality digital remastering digitizes the analog master at 20 bits or more and converts it to 16 bits. This type uses new technology to suppress digital degradation during the conversion. “SBM CD” and “HDCD” are representative. And the third type is the “engineer type”. The original master tape of the album is borrowed from the record company and digitized, and the tape playback environment and process are thoroughly particular. Of course, each manufacturer has its own know-how, and meticulous attention is paid to the finishing, focusing on reproducing “the sound of the master tape itself”. Representative examples of this are “Mobile Fidelity” and “DCC Compact Classics”. And the important thing about this type is “who remastered it”. Since the sound quality is not improved by digital technology or materials, each step depends on the skill and sense of the craftsman, and it will not be the same no matter who does it. Among them, popular engineers have appeared, and many engineers, such as master Bob Ludwig and Bill Inglot of the Rhino label, have become charismatic. The masterpieces they have worked on are especially popular among the many high-quality CDs, and some of them are even sold for tens of thousands of yen even second-hand. And one of them is Steve Hoffman. The analog sound that uses vacuum tubes for mastering equipment is even called magic, and he is the charisma that spread the brand of “DCC Compact Classics” to the world. [“RIDE THE LIGHTNING” embodies “good sounding thrash”] And this work is METALLICA’s “RIDE THE LIGHTNING” revived with such a Hoffman sound. Now, as part of the 2016 box set, “RIDE THE LIGHTNING” has been remastered, but before that, METALLICA had long been known as a “band that doesn’t remaster”. In that sense, this work is an exception among exceptions. I don’t know if Lars Ulrich gave his direct permission, but it was remastered as early as 2000. While general CDs are still in circulation with the original sound, it has been traded at a high price as the “only remastered CD”. Of course, the sound is completely different from the current remastered CD. The current remaster in 2016 is not bad, and I thought it had evolved a lot since the notorious “Death Magnetic”, but it is still on a different level from the Hoffman sound. First of all, compared to the early CD, this work is clearly thick and fat. This is probably the difference in the amount of information. It precisely picks up even the deepest sounds of the layered guitars, and the detail-up is transformed into thickness and three-dimensionality. The early CDs had a three-dimensional feel, with guitar riffs like rough ropes, like paintings on glass sheets, and the glass sheets were layered on top of each other, but this work feels like a rough rope is twisting and traveling and raging right in front of your eyes. Moreover, the rough rope guitar has a sense of string vibration like fine fiber fraying, and its prickly texture increases its destructive power. On the other hand, compared to the current remaster, it is natural and gentle on the ears. The current version is also three-dimensional, but there is a sudden feeling as if the peak was brought out by equalization. In contrast, this work has a three-dimensional feel because the sound of the instrument itself is depicted in detail. In fact, the sound pressure is not much different from the early CDs, but it is powerful, and there is no piercing feeling because it is not brought out by force. It is not an aggression that is deliberately produced, but the aggressiveness of the performance itself can be felt realistically. Heavy metal is often said to have poor sound quality, and there are certainly official albums that are so bad that it is impossible to deny this. Especially in the world of thrash metal, there are countless remastered CDs that sacrifice everything for the sake of sound pressure. Among them, this CD embodies “really good sounding thrash” and “crunch that makes you feel the sound of the instruments”. It is not just that “METALLICA’s masterpiece can be listened to with good sound”, but it is also a sound art in which master Hoffman has made a big impact on the “sound quality of thrash metal”. Even though it is a digital medium CD, music is still a gift of human hands and sensibility. This is especially true for works that were handmade in the analog era. New digital technology and materials are wonderful, but in the end, it is the freshness of the master tape itself and the “feel” of the engineer that reaches the pinnacle. This work is a rare masterpiece that was digitized in the heyday of such a charismatic Steve Hoffman. Like “Mobile Fidelity”, even if you want to get the actual thing now, it is difficult because it was originally produced in limited quantities. The best sound version of the 2nd album, which is completely different from the current remaster, has been released. This masterpiece was digitized by charismatic engineer Steve Hoffman, and you can enjoy the true master sound to the fullest. Taken from the original DCC Compact Classics CD (GZS-1136) Remastered by Steve Hoffman 1. Fight Fire With Fire 2. Ride The Lightning 3. For Whom The Bell Tolls 4. Fade To Black 5. Trapped Under Ice 6. Escape 7. Creeping Death 8. The Call Of Ktulu