Customer Reviews

Best Of Breathe

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Hands To Heaven" has suffered from poor mastering ever since it made the CD format back in 1987. Even the 'More Pure 80s' CD compilation from 2000 (Universal Records) couldn't bring any new light to this classic U.S. #2 pop and #1 sales single. In fact, the Breathe catalogue has suffered the same fate as other CDs manufactured around that time -- that is, the late 80s/early 90s flat, poor mastering that record labels carelessly threw out to music fans.

Finally, the music gets it's chance to shine here on this 'Best Of Breathe' 2004 EMI Phillipines CD release. It's like listening to the songs for the first time! "Hands To Heaven", one of my favorite singles ever, is a mellow recording, so I wasn't expecting miracles out of the mastering by Ray Ang. However, the recording finally has some width and depth! It sounds fantastic!

Next up is "How Can I Fall?", a #3 pop and #1 sales hit in 1988. Again, compare this to your original 1987 CD pressing, and the differences are huge. Listen to those crisp drums and that roaring bass in the chorus. Their Top Ten single "Don't Tell Me Lies" sounds like it's been mastered in a whole new dimension. It actually has punch and kick! It sounds incredible in comparison to the original flat CD master. It actually does have a bass line, believe it or not! These recordings have never sounded more crisp.

The disc includes all five of the band's Billboard Hot 100 hits, all of which placed in the Top 40. In addition to the above three Top Ten hits included are Top 40 hits "Say A Prayer" (#21), in both it's original and remix, and "Does She Love That Man?" (#34). Notably missing from the compilation is the U.K. #60 single, "Jonah".

At 12 tracks, the collection does fall a bit short. Even though Breathe only released 2 studio albums, a number of their singles featured exclusive 12" remixes and b-side tracks. So where are these? Ah yes, in the vaults ... or lost. They will probably never find their way on CD. And I've never heard any of them!

Now on to the major flaws. The disc features the horrible "Copy Control" technology. What does this mean? It means that the disc will probably be difficult to rip into digital files onto your computer or onto your digital music player. If you do manage to rip the music you may be left with annoying little pops and clicks that interrupt the audio throughout. I am left using an audio editing program in order to remove the annoying little pops! It is not fun having to personally try removing the annoying little pops in "Hands To Heaven", especially when you can't remove them all! Of course there are ways around this, such as capturing the audio into your computer from an outside source. This annoying technology just makes enjoying the music even more difficult.

Note that this is a 2004 release with an apparent 2007 reissue. EMI discontinued it's use of the "Copy Control" technology back in 2006. However, this release seems simply to be the leftover stock from the intial pressing run. I have no idea if EMI intends to reissue this without the protection. Or maybe it has already, and I just ended up with one of the old pressings.

In any case, it's still a solid collection to own, if you can get around the copy protection and forgive the tracklisting flaws. Above all, it's nice having these select tracks in remastered quality for the first time ever! 5 stars for the mastering, 3 stars for the tracklisting, and 1 star for the copy protection!

One of the other reviewers wondered whether he had an old pressing of the CD, since it contained the copy-protection software. For those considering a purchase of this CD, please note that (at least as of this writing) your recording will contain slightly annoying, intermittant "static-like" sounds after it is transferred to a computer hard drive. (If anyone knows of a way to get around this problem without actually editing the music file, please post your solution to the reviews here -- thanks!)

While by no means a misrepresentation of Breathe's proficiency, this CD's spread lacks some of their more colorful recordings. In fact, my only complaint lies with the omission of anthems like "Jonah", "Woman" and "Where Angels Fear" (the reason behind my rating of four stars). Despite those missing few, the remastered tracklisting is exceptionally top-notch -- very befitting of a greatest hits album. That said, I strongly recommend this compilation to fans of Breathe and solid, musical styling alike. Cynics, there's no better time to tear that skepticism asunder!

All I can say is that this hits release has excellent re-mastering 'breathing' life into your favorite hits from Breathe, pun intended. There no comparing the remastered tracks on this release with those of the drab (in comparison) original CD release tracks. It's a sure buy for real fans of this fabulous band.

I guess most is said about the quality of the music, which remains a question of taste.
I just wanted to add on two aspects:
1.: Shipping to Europe (Germany) worked out although there are two things to consider.
-The delivery estimate was not achieved, but the CD arrived 4 days later.
-There is no chance to track the package, I gues my money would have been lost, hadn't arrived the CD.

2. There were no problems to convert the CD into an ipod-format by using a relatively new Mac.

I hope this info might help for further purchasers.

(I don't give full stars because I agree with previous reviewers that 12 songs are not enough for a CD called best of)

In answer to you querey.. the copy protection on this cd, I'm certain is similar to that of the one on the debut cd of the group Velvet Revolver. To get rid of the annoying static is to do the follwing...

Start with a Windows 2000/XP system with empty CD drives.

Click the Start button and select Control Panel from the Start Menu.
Double-click on the System control panel icon.
Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
Configure Device Manager by clicking "Show hidden devices" and "Devices by connection," both from the View menu.
Insert the CD into the computer and allow the SunnComm software to start. If MediaMax has never been started before on the same computer, the SbcpHid driver should appear on the list for the first time. However, on some systems Windows needs to be rebooted before the driver becomes visible.
At this point you can attempt to copy tracks from the CD with applications like MusicMatch Jukebox or Windows Media Player. Copies made while the driver is active will sound badly garbled, as in this 9-second clip [10].

Next, follow these additional steps to disable MediaMax:

Select the SbcpHid driver from the Device Manager list and click "Properties" from the Action Menu.
Click the Driver tab and click the Stop button to disable the driver.
Set the Startup Type to "Disabled" using the dropdown list.

With the driver stopped, you can verify that the same applications copy every track successfully. Setting the Startup Type to disabled prevents MediaMax from restarting when the computer is rebooted. It will remain deactivated until LaunchCD.exe is allowed to run again

I love every song on this CD and cannot stop listening to them! It's the best CD I have ever gotten.

First of all This album arrived brand new, professionally packed and shipped very fast even if i take normal parcel service.
The recording of this album is really good and better than it was at the time release. Thanks to technology, and i did not experiment what the other buyer call quote impossible to burn unquote a new cd from this album.
Good buy but it could have more songs on it...but nothing is perfect

For those who remember the 80's band, Breathe, this CD is a great find. Loaded with all their hits plus some I didn't know were hits, I find myself singing along, especially to "Say a Little Prayer." I love how the dance mix was added to this CD. If you love the 80's dance and catchy lyrics, this is a CD to buy.

Wow Does this take me back. I had forgotten how many songs Breathe sang. I still say the 80's were the best years. Worth every penny. Thank You Amazon.