Juan Atkins – 20 Years 1985 - 2005

"1-1 and 2-1 are each missing about one second at the beginning" from the Notes section sounds like the discs have pre-gap mastering errors.

The first time I encountered this was on a 90s PolyGram copy of White Light White Heat by The Velvet Underground: when I put the CD on it would sound like "-ite Light!" at the start; eventually I tried rewinding into the pre-gap and found I could hear the whole "White Light!" that way. Original Rykodisc CDs of Frank Zappa's Jazz From Hell are known to have this issue - I have one and yes, you miss the first kickdrum on a CD player, but ripping files from discs like these it shouldn't be noticeable, unless you're copying it cue sheet and all.

Anyway, fwiw the copy of the Atkins compilation I've just bought is fine on both discs, so it'll be from a different peessing than the one here.

Out of all the many numbers of Juan's back cat of tunes that he could've picked, he goes and leaves out the essential 'Techno City'. I, for one, would've thought it would be one of the first on his list to add. But it has to be either a general oversight or an intentional leave out track. There's no other explanation for it. I know he wasn't much of a fan of the extended guitar solo in the latter part of the track, but he liked everything else.

Along with the aforementioned compression and snipped intro issues, the tracks on here suffer from horrible noise reduction. Makes it pretty much unlistenable for me. Juan deserves better.

Sure would be nice if Tresor would re-issue this as a 4lp! Perhaps even a well deserved box set is in order for the Godfather of techno??

Best version to get? Most of thems seem to be compressed and there is about 2 seconds missing from the beginning of "Alleys Of Your Mind" (sic!).

PS. there is also 2015 edition in digipack.

I'm not too sure about the audio quality of this release. There seems to be drops in sound in places (listen to Cosmic Cars when the vocal comes in around 20 seconds), also vinyl rips?

Really? Vinyl rips?

I could do that myself. When I buy a CD / digital release I expect the original recordings, direct from tape if needs be. If they are not available (and a vinyl source is the only available), I expect it to be noted.

Oh, and the entire thing is compressed to the point of clipping.

Hey, feel free to correct me if I'm just tripping balls on this.

If you want to make a jumpstart on the early days of techno music, and the genious work of Juan Atkins, this is probably the most complete compilation out there. It goes all the way back to the early Cybotron days, and includes all the way throught the Infiniti, Model 500 and Channel One classics. Besides, the sound quality is crystaline. Although there is one black spot in this release. The magnificent groundbreaking "Techno City" is missing.

Not the first Juan Atkins compilation, we all know this. So, what do we have here that could replace the "Classics" compilation? Many things. Firstly there are more than only Model 500 tracks; second, there is more than classic detroit electro here (the dance number "other side of life" is quite haunting), and finally, all the tracks sound clear, crisp and wonderful. Just a note: many versions are the later ones: "Cosmic Cars", "Off to battle" and "The Chase" have some more synths that the first versions. But anyway, this, among the "Galaxy 2 Galaxy" compilation that was also released in 2005, is a crucial work everyone that is interested in electronica should aquire.