I keep hearing all about these "Target" CDs...

I think it is the self-titled debut being raved about. I'm glad to hear that Learning to Crawl sounds good as well, for I bought one off ebay today.

 

You will like it!

 

No, he's referring to the Pretenders s/t target.

See also: Pretenders s/t West Germany Target CD

 

Get it anyway!

I have this Target and it sounds fantastic!

 

One of my favorite sounding targets is Fleetwood Mac S/T.

 

Who is qualified to start a list of either good sounding targets or bad sounding targets? That would be nice to have....

 

Yes, but Learning to Crawl is pretty good also.

 

I'm thinking.... DAVE!!

 

I like the Talking Heads and Foreigner Target CDs.

 

Here is an old thread of some of the target collectors favorites
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=31261&highlight=sounding+target

 

That's a great idea.

I'll start with a bad disc. Eagles- One Of These Nights. The original US CD is great. The Target is from a bad tape that doesn't sound as nice. The top end is dulled and there's a weird midrange notch. BTW, the remaster is almost as colored as the Target. Not good. The original US CD sounds closer to the DCC Steve did.

 

Going back to Learning to Crawl, I must have just missed the target of this back in the day. I know I bought the LP new when it came out. I thought I got the cd new too, but now that I think about it, I could have only gotten it by mid '85 - during the design change-over - because I didn't have a cd player until early '85. Besides, I already had a tape made for my car from the LP and I had plenty of disc's to catch up with first starting with stuff I didn't already have on LP (except for a select few, like Heart ).

I have a few targets - there were still plenty in stock for a while during that change-over period. Unless they were in a blister pack, there was almost no way to know what you were getting. I'm happy with the sound of all the ones I have. I've always liked them for the look because of friends of mine who had CDs before I did. I remember being disappointed when I'd finally get to buy one that I'd previously seen and find that the one I got was not a target anymore. Inxs' The Swing was one I wish was still a target by the time I finally bought it.

 

I've alywas liked the songs on "Learning to Crawl," never got the disc before in any format. I
I'll have to start doing a search...what's the catalog number for this Target disc?

 

WEA / Sire 9 23980-2 (on inserts)
Real Records / WEA / Sire 9 23980-2 (on disc)

 

The West German Learning to Crawl target sounds great, and it is also one of the coolest-looking targets. I love that red and purple combo.

 

That CD was the only one I had when I started on the forum (the only one I had acquired accidentally).

Sound & design =

 

i just looked and my Pretenders s/t and is a Japanese version, noticed i have a Rod Stewart Camouflage cd aswell plus Ratts' s/t.
hmmm, gunna look through my collection of 2500, should be a afternoon well spent.
i know i have ZZ Tops' Eliminator, even though it sounds, um flat, sounds good, but i wish it would get a deluxe re-issue and you know what....? by what i hear the digi packaging of the new Eurythamics re-issue's----> has set a new standard for re-packaging.

 

Yes, WEA (and their subsidary labels like Sire, Asylum, etc) was the only company to release targets.

Regarding noise reduction, EMI is probably the worst offender. This includes their labels such as Capitol, Virgin, Parlophone, Apple, etc. As far as least likely goes, in my experiences, it isn't typical for Sony/BMG reissue titles (especially titles put out by Legacy) to have NR. EMI titles remastered in the UK seem to always be done at Abbey Road Studios, whereas much of Sony/BMG seems to be done at Sony's in-house facility, unless of course, the artist has complete control (regardless of label).

 

is there a sound quality difference between the "made in japan" pretenders target cd's and the "made in west germany" cd's?

 

I just noticed that my old copy of Lone Justice is a target pressing. Of course I have no idea if this sounds better or worse than other copies of the album, as it's the only one I have ever heard.

 

The only comparison so far I've done is with Madonna Like A Virgin and my preference is the Japanese target over the W. Germany.

 

But, this is for releases after about the late 80s and into the 90s. Many EMI, Parlophone, and US Capitol releases prior to about 88 or 89 didn't use much if any NR. At that time, Virgin was independent and many UK Virgin releases didn't have NR either. At least all my first issue Tangerine Dreams have all the hiss in the world. They still sound good, but it's obvious that no NR was used on them - yet.

 

I have heard both great and el-stinko.

 

I disagree about targets only being from WEA.

I may have sold my copy of Abba's The Visitors, but it was definitely a target disc and it definitely sounded 10x better than it's US issued counterpart. Plus, i thought that some early MCA discs pressed in W Germany and Japan were in this lot as well....like my first Lyle Lovett and the first of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road......

 

No, the term "target" only applies to WEA discs. The term refers to the design that WEA used on its discs in the early days. The term is not applied to any early West German or Japanese pressing that is a flat transfer of the master tapes. See the picture of the Moondance target that was for sale in the Classifieds section this evening. Note the target design on the disc.