i bought two of the rolling stones remasters today, beggars banquet and let it bleed. i don't own any sacd equipment so i supppose my critique is akin to commenting on the digital technology of attack of the clones by watching it at a standard projection theatre.

what i can tell you validly about beggars banquet is this: it's faster, ever so slightly. the press releases have touted this as the first time the album will be heard at proper speed. the difference is just tiny enough to have a disorienting effect on the listener. to me, it was like experiencing the world when one is sleep deprived: everything seems a wee bit off. i did the math: every minute on the remaster is equal to 61.2 seconds on the old issue.

let it bleed is also a shorter album now: the new cd more closely resembles the original lp as the 3-4 second intervals that were inserted between tracks on the original cd have been deleted, so it's now as it was meant to be heard. and after my first listening, again it's a small change but it's a definite improvement.

so what does it sound like on antiquated equipment? having listened to both the original and remaster of let it bleed, certain things make themselves clear. it feels as if the masters have been scrubbed: after listening to the new, one can hear, as if they were at a latter-day stones concert, the rust and age clinging to the vocals and instrumentation. there's no hiss and it's a lot cleaner, but not less murkier -- i'll use "gimme shelter" as an example. the drum parts have been bolstered and given more heft. the bass, which feels flat and amorphous on the original, now seems almost palpable -- it's now like a living, breathing entity, an onerous cloud that ambles and menaces. the miasma is still present, it's just better defined now.