Customer Reviews

3:47 Est

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Alright, this is an amazing album. Brilliant in fact. Some of the most creative recordings ever done... BUT... in order to hear this music at its best (and it deserves recognition as an audiophile recording) you shouldn't subject yourself to this recent Bullseye CD. I don't care if the band was involved with the remastering process. They got it wrong... very incredibly wrong. The actual mixes are big, dynamic, open and full of warmth and life. This remaster has horribly compromised dynamics and heavy handed EQ work that ruins the sonic spectrum.

The emotionally climactic crescendos of Little Neutrino have been crushed by a compressor and ruined. It no longer has any dynamic power. The crescendos are supposed to be louder but on the remaster they're reduced in volume to the point of a non-event. Neutrino is supposed to range from a whisper to a roar but on the remaster the whole song screams at you. The drama and excitement are gone. It's not involving anymore. It's called dynamics and was the way it was originally performed and recorded. The band understood this concept in 1976. I guess they need another lesson. The band should listen to the original vinyl to hear how good the mixes were before they mutilated them in mastering.

This remaster, besides being highly compressed and harsh, has a narrowed soundstage. All the signs of poor remastering are conveniently contained on this one CD. California Jam has been narrowed all the way to MONO(!).

I'd suggest you find an Attic or Justin CD to hear how phenomenal this album can sound. My point is, there are several other CD versions out there that sound really nice, you know, the way the band intended it to sound before the CD Loudness Wars took over good judgement.

A lot of these positive reviews are highly misleading. I'm guessing they were written by people employed by the record label. This is their way to combat the negative response the remasters have gotten from the fans.

I wish the band and Bullseye understood the damage they did to this beautiful album. The fans who know better want a properly mastered CD.

I bought the album on vinyl on its first day in the stores, not because of the "they might be Beatles" hype, but because word in the music industry was that the sound was something special. My first experience of Klaatu, therefore, was at the home of a fellow radio announcer who had a much better stereo system than my own at the time. Sure enough--the songs were clever, the production was impeccable and really enhanced the content, and the sonic quality totally blew us away!

Sadly, this official remaster will barely ruffle a loose strand of hair.

The original was a real stretch of the limits of a stylus riding in a vinyl groove, with bass drum and guitar rattling the walls well below 20Hz, crisp but exceptionally clean highs, vast dynamic range, and an astonishingly precise sense of where instruments and voices were positioned in the stereo field. I'd never heard that quality of sound on an LP before, except for a very few premium classical recordings. And, for dessert, there was the goosebump-raising cosmic thunder at the end of "Little Neutrino." Amazing stuff.

It's no wonder, then, that I --like so many others-- was less than thrilled by the audio quality of the Capitol Special Products CD combining this album with the second one, Hope. To their credit, Capitol did retain the low-end frequency response. However, they cranked up the treble to painful levels and squashed the dynamic range with excess compression. (Not to mention the sacrilege of merging the squeak that ends the first album with the one that begins the second.) Could things possibly get worse?

Yes. Unfortunately, the band themselves proved it. It's as if they intended for this release to be the Anticapitol version. Not only is the excessive treble of the Capitol CD gone, but also the crisp, clean highs of the LP. It's hard to tell exactly where the instruments, voices, and effects are positioned. (This is indicative of a full remix rather than just remastering. That's not always a good thing.) The wonderful ambience of the LP is gone. And the bass...oh, mercy...it's peaked heavily in the mid-bass, with distinct rolloff below, more suited for a boombox than a good home stereo. Without that lovely infrasonic trickery, the cosmic thunder won't raise goosebumps any more; it can barely manage a prickly rash now, even with headphones.

Should you shun this album because of the sonic letdown? No. If you already appreciate the music of Klaatu, it does deserve a hearing. You'll gain some worthwhile insights into the songs.

In principle, I'm happy for musicians who end up with ultimate control over their creative output. Klaatu, however, both through the production misadventure represented by this CD and through some poor choice of material on later albums, provide a case study of why even the best and brightest musicians still sometimes need a tough producer, and someone to give them candid A&R advice too.

The music on this CD gets 100 stars. However, if you want to hear the music on Klaatu's first album (actually entitled "Klaatu") and the dynamic brilliance of songs such as "Calling Occupants" and "True Life Hero" and "Little Neutrino" (which has always reminded me of Peter Frampton meets the Sci-Fi Beatles with the Beach Boys), then you should purchase the Collector's Choice Music CD edition. Not only will you also get Klaatu's second LP entitled "Hope" you will also get excellent sound reproduction. Many reviewers have commented on the less than desireable remastering of this CD. I have absolutely no complaints with the Collector's Choice version of this album along with "Hope." As a matter of fact, I heard things on the CD I never heard on my vinyl years ago. The music is superb. If you are reading this, then you already know Klaatu or know about them (and, you obviously have good taste!) Klaatu should have been bigger. The band members were all incredibly brilliant and creative. Yes, it is true that Klaatu was, without a doubt, influenced by both The Beatles and The Beach Boys, but there was so much more to their music than that. If you love The Beatles, you will love this. But, don't buy it just for that. These guys could have made it bigger had Capitol records promoted them more after their first two LPs. Such great talent! Musical masterpieces! Incredible creativity! Imaginitive lyrics! Poetry in music! Stories brought to life in sound! - Buy this.... or better yet, buy the two-fer with both "Klaatu" & "Hope" from Collector's Choice Music. These two albums work together perfectly on one CD. So, why buy one album on CD when you can buy two!

Good lord! I don't care if I'm in the minority on this - the Bullseye remaster of "3:47 EST" is THE worst-sounding version yet of this great album - actually, it may be the worst-sounding remastering EVER. It is compressed to hell with all the warmth squashed out of it, making it VERY fatiguing on the ears.

The Bullseye remaster of "Hope" suffers from the same problem, as both discs were remastered by Glenn Belcher. The Bullseye remasters of "Sir Army Suit" and "Endangered Species" done by Joe Lambert sound far better. I wish Lambert had done ALL of the discs.

For "3:47 EST," I highly recommend the earlier CD reissues on the Attic and Justin labels. They may be a little bass-shy, but AT LEAST they sound just like the original vinyl.

I can't believe people are championing this remaster! The only good thing about it is the booklet! The band should be ashamed of releasing this. Hopefully their upcoming "Sun Set" box won't sound this awful.

Five stars for content, one star for the sound!

...maybe not, but they sure came close! What strange songwriting by this most bizarre of bands. Ranging from psychedelic to hard rocking to progressive to just bizarre--I don't know if listening to this is a guilty pleasure, or if it really is as good as I think it is.
I won't bother with Beatles comparisons, others have written about that. I will say that the music contained here lies somewhere between post-Sgt. Pepper era Beatles, early Alan Parsons Project, Meddle to Animals era Pink Floyd, and (yes) Radiohead. Then again, other songs remind me of other bands: "California Jam"(Beach Boys), "Anus Of Uranus" (Crack The Sky), Sir Bodsworth Rugglesby (The Boston Symphony meets The Muppets). It is just a strange mix of demented music.

What is most amazing to me about this CD is the production of the music. The sound quality is just awesome, with all sorts of effects, guitars and keys swirling around inside your headphones. Now keep in mind that I say this about the double album CD version. I have heard that this is actually a very flawed mix compared to the individual remasters. I have not heard the other versions, but I can say that I think the double album version is great. (I may have to buy them seperately to hear what everyone's been talking about!)

Anyway it is in the production of sounds that draws my comparison to Radiohead. To me, listening to this CD for the first time was much like listening to "OK Computer" or "Kid A" for the first time. There is a lot to listen to, and I mean that in a good way.

At the price that Amazon has this available for, I would recommend the two-fer package. If you want to check the remasters individually, I would recommend the following:

Klaatu: (a.k.a. 3:47 EST) Buy this one if you are more interested in the more rocking "Beatles-ish" sound.

Hope: Buy this one if you are more interested in the "Pink Floyd-ish" sound.

Hope this helps.

Forget that Capitol records killed this band's career by letting the public believe that Klaatu was the Beatles secretly reunited (shame on them)! Forget that the name of this band was taken from a Sci-Fi movie (Like Duran Duran didn't do the same?)! Forget that The Carpenters covered thier best known song! Just forget all that junk, and LISTEN TO THE RECORD! YES! LISTEN! This band should have been BIG! It's sad that they only gained a cult following. There are so many fine elements on this record. Who cares about ths stinking singles charts? Who said good music had to be POPULAR? This is just a great LP. It has stood the test of time, and made it to CD. Thank god somebody in the industry recognizes a classic LP when they hear one. So, they weren't the Beatles...they never claimed to be. And Who Cares? Just Listen to the record. It speaks for itself.

I bought 3:47 EST on the recommendations of a few Klaatu reviewers on this Amazon site, particularly Klaatu Bob's review. I rated it at 5ive stars. I have been looking for Klaatu's debut album on CD now since the mid 80'ies, when CD's came into existence. A couple years ago I almost bought the Capital Klaatu/Klaatu Hope combo CD, but I didn't like the price. I'm so glad now that I didn't buy it then.

I first heard Klaatu's debut on an 8-track tape with a friend of a friend's stereo in his car, parked in their garage way back in '76, or early '77. The four of us high school friends just sat there listening to Klaatu on this friend Scott's 'killer' car stereo. We were all mesmerized by this new music (of course, they were getting stoned, but I didn't need to for some reason). We must have sat there for the whole duration of the tape - about forty minutes. A couple days later my friend John had bought the album and later he let me borrow it. I had practically worn out the grooves of the record, and worn down my needle before I gave it back, that album was So Good.
It truly is an eclectic masterpiece. Almost every song is a different style of rock/pop. I've never heard an album more different in styles ever since. Two songs have Klaatu's Beatles influences factored in. One song sounds like a satirical approach of the Beach Boys. 'Little Neutrino', the most obsure track on the CD, sounds almost like the Pink Floyd of the late `60ies, with the singer singing through a talk box connected to his Guitar, somewhat like Joe Walsh used to do. The song before that, 'Sir Bodsworth Rugglesby III' is like Broadway Show Tune Music with the singer sounding like an old English Sea Captain half singing/half talking the lyrics, about a journey back from Hell. 'Anus of Uranus' has Great Guitar work and sound effects, but I can't compare it to anyone. 'True life Hero' Rocks and the Guitar really shines. Overall, this CD has the most variety of any CD from any group that I have ever heard of. Some people might not like the so stark differences in a CD, but I think it's Great!

Both my friend John and I loved every song on Klaatu's debut album, so much so that we were eagerly anticipating the release of their 2nd album. You can read my review (When I can get around to writing it) on the music of the Klaatu Hope CD.

The debut (now Klaatu 3:47 EST on CD) took 3ree Years to make (inconsistently from '73 to '76) according to the linear notes inside 3:47 EST. Perhaps, that's why it has sold so much better than any of their other CD's.

Recommendations: Buy the richly remastered Klaatu 3:47 EST. It is well worth the money. Also, I highly recommend reading KlaatuBob's insightful review (product details on Klaatu 3:47 EST, this page). Also Rockin Randy's review, found on the Klaatu/Hope dual cd product reveiw page. And Dean A Lisi's review, found on the same page, captures the Klaatu/Beatles matter in a nutshell.

I am amazed at how Polar Opposite some of these reviews are, like, say, between Kym in Hawaii's review, and Klaatu Bob's review. I think it's obvious that people actually HEAR the music differently,(or, perhaps they have too much wax build up in their ear cannals,Ha Ha). But really, some people can hear bass notes easier than the high notes, and visa-versa. People are uniquely different in everyway, even the musical clarity in our ears. This Bullseye CD version of Klaatu 3:47 EST sounds absolutely GREAT on my system. I'm sure if I listened to the other CD versions I would find some differences between them, but not enough to matter. The Bullseye CD is Great on it's own. It's good enough for me, and I think it is good enough for anybody. It all just comes down to how accute our hearing is, and mostly, sonic preferences. Priority wise for me: the music will always come 1st., the best sound quality is 2nd.

Well, I hope all, or some of this can help you.

It was a replacement for the one that was "stolen" by my now "ex" about ten years ago...The replacememt was in excellent condition and it was just as good (or even better) than the one that was taken...Klaatu was a innnovative band...It's a shame
they didn't catch on well here..

I have not recieved 3:47 CD, It has been over a month. I contacted the seller and they said it was going to be shipped soon. I am still waiting, Thank you, Terry

OK, I wasen't real sure who Klaatu was until I found my mothers old vinyl record one day. From the moment I put it on I was blown away from this album. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of old 70's music or music in general.