Opinions on alternative versions for "The Immaculate Collection"

[Holger 1,191]

Hello,

elsewhere on here we discussed the Q-Sound mixes on "The Immaculate Collection", which substituted the original 7" mixes.

I think the original 7" mixes could have been used, maybe with some early ones ("Everybody", "Holiday"...) getting reconstructed.

With "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me", Madonna would have had 30 singles to included on a greatest hits compilation.

Do you think a 2-CD set could have worked in 1990? Would it have been different back then than it would be today (leaving out all singles past "Rescue Me").

[Donna 16,459]

The original release of the album is perfect.  Sure, I question the absence of Who's That Girl, True Blue and Causing A Commotion, but what was included was great.  And it's not like her team didn't react to the absence to those songs, by releasing the "Holiday Collection".

My issue with this album is what is now on streaming and digital platforms. The mixes they substituted for the original versions such as Lucky Star.  To me, it falsely represents what the album stood for. Madonna purposely remixed and mastered all those songs in a way, to be different to what was already released to the public. She didn't want to just release a typical Greatest Hits of versions that were already available. She wanted to present the songs slightly different, yet still true to form. 

Nothing will be better than the physical release of this collection. A double disc wasn't necessary back then.

[RUADJAI 14,980]

18 minutes ago, Holger said:

Hello,

elsewhere on here we discussed the Q-Sound mixes on "The Immaculate Collection", which substituted the original 7" mixes.

I think the original 7" mixes could have been used, maybe with some early ones ("Everybody", "Holiday"...) getting reconstructed.

With "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me", Madonna would have had 30 singles to included on a greatest hits compilation.

Do you think a 2-CD set could have worked in 1990? Would it have been different back then than it would be today (leaving out all singles past "Rescue Me").

Considering people would have had to remove CD 1 and put in CD 2 I don't think it would have made sense. The Immaculate Collection is pretty concise and banger from beginning to end. I do think some of the songs end abruptly (Material Girl) while Like a Prayer gets a questionable dance breakdown but overall it's pretty immaculate. 

 

[wtg1987 10,169]

I don’t care about streaming but to me it’s a near perfect collection. I still think cherish shouldn’t be there - should have included who’s that girl instead as the jump from La Isla to LAP just doesn’t gel right to me from a fan perspective plus seeing as she hated cherish I’m surprised she included it at all ? 🤔

[Holger 1,191]

2 hours ago, RUADJAI said:

Considering people would have had to remove CD 1 and put in CD 2 I don't think it would have made sense. The Immaculate Collection is pretty concise and banger from beginning to end. I do think some of the songs end abruptly (Material Girl) while Like a Prayer gets a questionable dance breakdown but overall it's pretty immaculate. 

 

Like A Prayer is too long, especially since it's based on the Dance Mix.

[Enrico 15,823]

Also remember that in 1990 not many were buying cds... it was already a double vinyl.

I started buying cds with Erotica and when I bought the Royal Box I didn't have a cd player.

I too would probably replace Cherish with Who's that girl, which was such a huge hit, but the collection is perfect.

[DiegoLCL 5,075]

It works as a piece, as an album perfectly but I don't need and/or want any of those versions anywhere else. The original single edits/mixes are better. (Vogue is better but, anyway...)

Now, whatever is going on that Borderline and Lucky Star are missing on Digital needs to be fixed. Is that so hard? 

[sdvsr2fan 164]

1 hour ago, DiegoLCL said:

It works as a piece, as an album perfectly but I don't need and/or want any of those versions anywhere else. The original single edits/mixes are better. (Vogue is better but, anyway...)

I feel the exact same way. I think the album is a complete masterpiece as a whole, but I usually don't listen to the songs individually (except for Vogue, JML & RM). I think it was perfect for casual fans who didn't have every detail of the original songs ingrained in their minds but loved the overall familiarity with the songs.

I'm a tiny bit surprised Madonna didn't get a jump-start on the "Deluxe" bandwagon with this album. I am a millennial so I'm used to everything having a standard and deluxe version. But looking at how so forward thinking Madonna is, I'm surprised she didn't release a special edition that included a second disc of songs not on the original album (excluding Holiday Collection, since none of the songs were QSound). I think it could have been sold for a pretty penny, but with the limitations of CD's at the time, it might not have not been worth the effort.

[Blue Jean 15,254]

The Immaculate Collection is perfect. No changes needed.

[EgoRod 5,453]

11 hours ago, wtg1987 said:

I don’t care about streaming but to me it’s a near perfect collection. I still think cherish shouldn’t be there - should have included who’s that girl instead as the jump from La Isla to LAP just doesn’t gel right to me from a fan perspective plus seeing as she hated cherish I’m surprised she included it at all ? 🤔

I despise Cherish and love WTG but I do think it have it together after La Isla will make it sound too similar.

[EgoRod 5,453]

10 hours ago, Holger said:

Like A Prayer is too long, especially since it's based on the Dance Mix.

But I always thought the versions were similar to those in the Blonde Ambition in purpose

[Blue Jean 15,254]

10 minutes ago, EgoRod said:

I despise Cherish and love WTG but I do think it have it together after La Isla will make it sound too similar.

Cherish is WAY better than Who's That Girl. I HOPE it is on the tour just to punish you.

[Cyberraga 662]

True Blue is missing, no more objections beside that. The absence of Causing a Commotion and Who's That Girl is pretty obvious - they're movie soundtrack songs. 

[EgoRod 5,453]

2 hours ago, Blue Jean said:

Cherish is WAY better than Who's That Girl. I HOPE it is on the tour just to punish you.

I mean I used 'despise' pretty loosely there. I just find it daft, but I always did. Every time the chorus hits I picture all of this cheering and clapping together while singing with a guitar around a fireplace like kumbaya. As a single I guess is better than WTG, it's more formulaic pop and  the BA moment was kinda cute.

[Blue Jean 15,254]

20 minutes ago, EgoRod said:

Every time the chorus hits I picture all of this cheering and clapping together while singing with a guitar around a fireplace like kumbaya.

[A. A. Aardvark 4,842]

apart from the promo cassette = she's never had a regular hits comp ?

a heard them on the radio compilation would have flew off the shelves
and probably still could
now it'd be a few more volumes
but
i don't feel much poverty about

[A. A. Aardvark 4,842]

2 hours ago, EgoRod said:

I mean I used 'despise' pretty loosely there. I just find it daft, but I always did. Every time the chorus hits I picture all of this cheering and clapping together while singing with a guitar around a fireplace like kumbaya. As a single I guess is better than WTG, it's more formulaic pop and  the BA moment was kinda cute.

i hope she mashes it up with The Carpenters 'Sing'

[deathproof 10,608]

I actually love the Immaculate mixes, always have. I always had had a preference to the 12" remixes/extended dance mixes over the album versions for many of her 80's songs. So Immaculate is like the perfect combo of the extended dance mixes edited down to a single format.

[Material Girl 4,651]

I’m not going to be very positive about this...

I bought the CD as soon as it was released and I found the remixes quite disappointing
There is a cold side in these new versions, LIKE A VIRGIN is the very example. For me, the original version is much better and this end... !

Can't you hear my heart beat... ? well no, I don't hear it

At its release, the only interest I find of this compilation was to hear CRAZY FOR YOU and short versions of BORDERLINE and LUCKY STAR.

Sorry guys but I would have largely preferred to have a compilation with the original singles versions as it was done for other artists.

This Q-sound was really not a good idea

[Aiwa08 16,217]

1 hour ago, Material Girl said:

Sorry guys but I would have largely preferred to have a compilation with the original singles versions as it was done for other artists.

This Q-sound was really not a good idea 

I totally agree with you.

[Holger 1,191]

I think the 30 tracks could have been spread over 2 CDs and 3 LPs.

If they would re-release the album with the original single versions as [b]BONUS[/b] tracks, it could very well be digital only.

 

Quote

Everybody
Burning Up
Holiday
Lucky Star
Borderline
Like A Virgin
Material Girl
Crazy For You
Angel
Into The Groove

Dress You Up
Gambler
Live To Tell
Papa Don't Preach
True Blue
Open Your Heart
La Isla Bonita
Who's That Girl
Causing A Commotion
The Look Of Love

Like A Prayer
Express Yourself
Cherish
Oh Father
Dear Jessie
Keep It Together
Vogue
Hanky Panky
Justify My Love
Rescue Me

 

[EgoRod 5,453]

The promo had WTG in it

[Material Girl 4,651]

I was doing the same cassette when I was teen

Even when it was out, the S-sound system was critisized.

"While The Immaculate Collection closes the first era of Madonna, it just might open a new age for recording. Every track on the album but ”Justify My Love” was processed in QSound, which can create the illusion of three-dimensional space on any stereo system. The process, developed by Canada’s Archer Communications, uses computer enhancement to place each sound at a specific point in front of a listener, ranging from left to right, front to back, and up to down. On Immaculate the effect isn’t overpowering, although the music seems more spacious. Archer spokesman Anthony Ghitter claims that Immaculate uses the process in a ”subtle” way that ”doesn’t reflect the extensive capability of the technology.” Even if QSound dazzles, as Ghitter says it will on Sting’s forthcoming album, the process won’t be listener-friendly. You can hear the width, height, and depth of the music only if you’re centered between your speakers. Maybe QSound will seem like a breakthrough some day, but right now it’s not such a special effect."

https://ew.com/article/1990/12/14/immaculate-collections-qsound/

It seems that this system was used for Sting's 1991 album, The Soul Cages, Luther Vandross's 1991 album, Power of Love, Paula Abdul's 1991 album, Spellbound, and Roger Waters's 1992 album Amused To Death.

Then video games, computers and mobile market have appropriated it.

[Prayer 14,376]

I now wonder if the whole Q-Sound thing was actually... product placement? Like her and Warner were paid for having it on the compilation, logo and hype included, cause the creators wanted to have a good reference point to sell it later to everyone else. In the end they didn't in music and didn't take off, but it had its time on video games.

It's weird that it wasn't even mentioned on the official press release when the Dolby Atmos version of "The Immaculate Collection" was released earlier this year:

https://www.madonna.com/news/title/the-immaculate-collection-now-available-in-dolby-atmos

I mean, linking the two technologies, each one of its time, or at least a mention, was a no brainer.

So maybe it was just an agreement then...

[Candy Perfume Boy 6,074]

9 hours ago, EgoRod said:

The promo had WTG in it

I’ve got this cassette. It’s an oddity, in that it uses the video version of Crazy For You complete with intro alarm clock. I don’t think we ever got that particular version used anywhere else for an audio only release