Dead Or Alive – Youthquake

A lot of very valid comments here. My rating is for the music. But of all the DOA songs, YSMR is my least favourite having been remixed to death over the years. And another entire disc of it is too much. Would have been far better as a 2CD (in regular packaging) taken from the first 2 CDs of the 'Boom Box' release with better mastering and fault fixing. Plus a booklet should have been included considering this is the 40th anniversary edition.
Oh, and the packaging is likely to result in one or more of the discs being pre-scratched too...

Another mid Dead or Alive modern release that has a number of issues and nothing new. How shocking lmao

Information regarding sourcing on this set:

3-09 and 3-11 are vinyl and lossy sourced, ripped from YouTube - the same sources as the Boom Box.
3-06 is vinyl sourced - the same source as Still Spinnin’.
CD4 has clicking issues - the same sources as the Boom Box.

Bizarre track listing on this set, though. The inclusion of the Metro mixes of You Spin Me Round and the exclusion of a number of original edits and live b-sides is strange, especially considering there's more than enough room across three discs (excluding the full live disc on CD4) to include them. Exclusions include:
- In Too Deep - Live at Hammersmith Odeon 4:37
- Big Daddy of the Rhythm - Live at Hammersmith Odeon 3:29
- Cake and Eat It - Live at Hammersmith Odeon 5:38
- My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me to the Doctor) - 7” US ‘WIPE-OUT’ Edit 3:26
- You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) - Alt. Album Version with Spoken Intro 3:21
- Cake and Eat It - Alt. Album Version with Unfaded Intro 4:41
- It’s Been a Long Time - Alt. Album Version with Spoken Intro 8:01
- I Wanna Be a Toy - Instrumental 3:57
- Special Mix - Nonstop Version 8:45
Also, no new material. This would've been a great place to finally include the original instrumental of You Spin Me Round, or other previously unreleased edits/mixes - but nothing. Everything here, excluding two(!!) tracks, was included on the Boom Box, and those, namely the Alternative Metro 7" Edit and Buzzing Bees Mix of You Spin Me Round, were included on Still Spinnin'. If you already have those sets, there's really nothing here to warrant the purchase of this, except the packaging; the design of which I really like! It's a shame that this disregards original mixes in favour of including three versions of Spin Me that weren't released until 2003, and if the Metro mixes made the cut, why didn't the other mixes from the Evolution period?

Mastering-wise, this is similar to the Boom Box and Still Spinnin', although it's marginally better than the latter. Still brickwalled, however. When comparing the original album to the original 1985 EU CD, the original sounds entirely better. If you're buying this for that alone, I'd pick up an original instead. If you don't have either of the two aforementioned box sets and want this for the included mixes and the live disc, however, this might be for you!

I can confirm that the mastering is the same as the singles box set. If you brought this hoping that Demon records would fix the sound issue, you will be disappointed. The sound is loud and equlised so everything will be on the same loudness level. After such huge feedback after the singles set was released, I dont understand why demon made the same mistake again, if its not a vinyl sourced track its a mastering cesspit instead. What a disappointing release. After 40 years the label didnt even bother to include a demo or unreleased track. Hopfully another label like Cherry Red will take over with a better reissue of this in the future as they did a great job with the Kim Wilde reissues.

Anyone else have an original US pressing with the side 2 label blurry/double stamped? Just noticed mine was and was interested to know how common.

Recently acquired this pressing and if you dont have the 2018 reissue or the 2016 reissue then i would recommend this one. The bass is good, the sound quality is pretty decent and the pressing is flat without any pops or clicks. The artwork on the other hand is just a photo copy with some overdone contrast.

Great sounding pressing. Some pops here and there, but the overall quality of the music comes through fantastically.

Comparing this CD to the one included in the "Sophisticated Boom Box" set - the main album tracks have L/R channels reversed. I think the "Sophisticated Boom Box" version is correct?

This could be a Cult record, or not. Ian ..

Are we 100% sure that this version is a gatefold? Because the 3rd and 4th pictures can be the pictures of the inner sleeve despite of the gatefold. Thanks