You certainly don’t need me to tell you Blue Lines is a classic. That’s well established. While the material was so good it inspired a new genre, the recording itself was tinny and dry. Twenty years on, we finally have a decent remaster.
The new mix is noticeably louder, and the bass has been cranked a bit. A glance at the waveform doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
There’s definitely some serious compression and clipping going on here, and it looks like the whole thing has been pushed to 0dB and limited, while the original peaked around -0.40dB,
Still, the engineers have struck a pretty good balance. The clipping isn’t noticeable, and the soundstage has plenty of space. Shara Nelson’s vocals soar easily above the copious bass on “Safe from Harm,” and they sound less strained and reedy than on the original master. The stereo image on “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got” is better, and though the backing vocals have been panned a bit more towards center, it’s an overall improvement in clarity. Continued...