Bronski Beat – The Age Of Consent

The stereo mastering is a little inconsistent:

The new 2024 stereo vocal and instrumental mixes of The Age Of Consent (TAOC) have no limiting applied and this is also the case for the original mix of Hundreds & Thousands (H&T) and the Bonus H&T tracks. The 2024 vocal mix of TAOC is exceptionally close to the original so here you have a complete set of unlimited stereo vocal mixes that sound fantastic.

The 2024 stereo vocal and instrumental mixes of H&T, bonus H&T tracks and bonus TAOC tracks have limiting applied but it’s not aggressive and seems just about ok.

The original mix of TAOC appears to be the Matt Colton remaster (not the original master) and the limiting is aggressive in places.

Would have been nice to get the original master of the original mix in 24/96.

When extracting the vocal stereo streams off the Blu Ray it’s not clear which of the dual 24/96 stereo streams is the 2024 mix vs original mix but it looks like the 2024 mixes are the first of the two 24/96 stereo streams in each vocal case. This is backed up for all but one of the 26 tracks by comparing the 2024 instrumental stereo (easy to identify as no original stereo instrumental mixes so only one stereo 24/96 stream) to the 2024 vocal stereo as the two waveforms are very very similar on all but one track. The one exception is Cadillac Car but I suspect the 2024 and original vocal streams were accidentally switched at the authoring stage.

For me. This is a great album for it's time. Loved it at release, was something new. Listening at it today. Still has something that catch me. Still great. Mayby it's the soulfullness of it. The joyful electronic music with the soulful song. I don't know but this album wan't go anywhere from me. BTW The vinyl sounds great!

Groundbreaking album with haunting lyrics and brilliant synth work. One of the best of the eighties.

Difficult to comprehend that this album is nearly 40 years old. A seminal album that gave light to many LGBT persons, in what was a horrific, dark period of history that sadly, again, is coming full circle. As relevant today as it was then. Fantastic pressing, packaging and bonus material, makes this a perfect reissue.

Utterly fantastic album. So far ahead of the game on release and has not (to these ears) dated, unlike a lot of other stuff released at the time. Soulful catchy electronic music to dance to. Subject matter would not be out of place nowadays either. The recording sounds amazing, warm, clear, an excellent record in every way. Treat yourself to an original, you can pick them up surprisingly cheap.

Incredible sounding pressing of this album on virgin vinyl, extremely dynamic, this is the one to have.

Very clear and clean pressing. Alot of detail and separation.

What to say about this album? Life-affirming. Life-changing. A kick-ass classic for any dance floor, any time.
What to say about this pressing? Man! Turn that sh%t UP! Sounds BADDASS!

Great and under rated Synth pop LP with some stark lyrical themes wrapped up in simple pop genius. 'Why' is an amazing track that still sounds way ahead of the pack even today. The dour 'Love and Money' is another highlight as is the punchy single 'Small Town Boy' the ideas and messages on this record haven't dated at all.

What an amazing album! I find myself listening to this gem more and more often these days. Pure talent!