Can anyone with the physical CD help on this?
Presumably it explains where this came from in the liner notes (which I dont have!) so if anyone could either post what it says or explains the source of this version it would be much appreciated.
I really like it but is it just a different take or what.......?
It's the same take - it appears to have an extra couple of crashes before the slow bit, double tracked vocal, guitars lower in the mix. Dunno what it is, mind.
From first listen it indeed seems to be the same take. So in the end, it's just a remix. ....However, it's great! The album mix always felt a bit thin and weedy, but this simple, no nonsense, balls out remix reveals it as the power rock track it always should have been.
...Shame Flash (single version) didn't get the same mastering treatment as the album. That's my only (small) gripe, otherwise this remaster is fantastic.
So far this is the 2nd of the new remasters to have made it to my preferred versions list!
Here's all the differences I managed to find on my first listen...
-- shortened intro (no "Battle Theme" bit)
-- lead vocals (doubled) and drums all over way more up front in the mix, synths more in the background
-- more hits between the "Ming's Theme" bit and the bridge/solo bit from "Flash's Theme"
-- different (retaken) "Flash! Ah-aahh!" choir bits from 2:06 onwards
-- no explosion at the end
Overall, the album version of "The Hero" still sounds awful because of the cut'n'paste routine used there. Now even more so, because the revisited version sounds so awesome - there's no overly pronounced difference in dynamics and mixing between different sections of the song in this case.
